Lizard Cupcakes

My little Saxon is turning 5 and we're having a "reptile party".

I'm trying to find ideas and I LOVE these cute Lizard cupcakes.

I found them HERE and it sounds like she put fondant in a mold to get these cute lizards!

What a cute idea!

Loving Coconut Lately

I have been LOVING coconut this summer!

Did you know that coconut oil has an amazing variety of uses?

I use it on diaper rash and it seems to be the miracle cure.

It soothes and works almost instantly.

My littlest guy is 11 months old.

I'm about ready to be done nursing him, but I don't want to have to go buy a ton of formula.  He's almost old enough for milk, but not quite.  Plus, my kids seem to start off a little sensitive to cow's milk.  We've tried soy, but that seems to upset their stomachs.  We love almond milk, but I'm too afraid to give something made with nuts to my baby before he's one.

So, while I was trying to decide what to do, I came across coconut milk and decided to give it a try.  I actually really love it!  It has a distinct coconut flavor though, so I'm not sure that I would pour it on my cereal, but I love to drink it, and so does Dalton.  I read a suggestion online where someone froze it in a popscicle mold and made coconut pops :)  I can't wait to try.  I want to make all kinds of smoothies with it too.  It just tastes like summertime.  So far, we haven't had any negative reactions.  It seems like Dalton handles it just fine.

Another benefit is that is has less calories than milk, and more added calcium.  It has about 5 grams of fat per serving (and since my sister-in-law is always reminding me) kids need some fat in their diets.

 About a week ago, I was at Costco and they were sampling VitaCoco.

It's coconut water made from green coconuts.

I liked it because it reminded me of Brazil.

In Brazil, they have street vendors that sell coconuts.

They use huge knives to cut the top off the coconut and stick a straw in it.

I might have bought it just because it reminded me of living in Brazil, but the lady giving out samples really sold me on it.  She said it has more potassium than 2 bananas and more electrolytes than gatorade.  She said it's great for when your kids are sick to re-hydrate them.

So, I bought some.

My kids don't love it, but I put a little spoonful of apple juice concentrate in it and then they think it's juice :)

I saw an ad for VitaCoco in flavors.

Mmmm, I'll have to try them out...

I have been thinking lately, that making a birdhouse with my kids would be a fun summer activity.  My kids are fascinated by birds.  In fact, today they found a dead baby bird that they wanted to keep, and a bird egg that they also wanted to keep.  Ummm...no.

So, I googled "birdhouses" and found this cool step-by-step to making a coconut birdhouse.

Check out the instructions here. 

It's so natural and original, I can't wait to let my kids make on and hang it in our neighborhood.

I'll let you know how it goes... :)

Brazilian Lemonade

I was browsing through recipes last night over at Our Best Bites, and came across on for Brazilian Lemonade.

I lived in Brazil for over a year.

I have to admit, I never had Brazilian Lemonade.

I did try it at Tucano's, however, and it is very good!

But I never had it in Brazil.

So, of course, this recipe was screaming my name because I was dying to know what makes regular lemonade, "Brazilian Lemonade".

Well, there is a secret, and I should have guessed it...

Sweetened Condensed Milk.

They use it for EVERYTHING in Brazil.

Almost every dessert requires sweetened condensed milk.

They use it for frosting, cake filling, docinhos, pancakes syrup, etc.

I lived in Pelotas, Brazil for over 6 months and they are the capital of Brazilian sweets!

Now that I know the secret, I can't wait to try it!

Here's the recipe:

Brazilian Lemonade
4 juicy limes (try and find ones with thin, smooth skins; they’re the juiciest and the thin skin cuts down on the chance of your drink being bitter)
1 c. sugar
6 c. cold water
6 Tbsp. sweetened condensed milk
Mix cold water and sugar very well and chill until ready to use. This step can be done ahead of time.
Wash limes thoroughly with soap (I just use hand-dishwashing soap or regular hand soap); you need the soap to get the wax and pesticides off of the limes because you’re using the WHOLE lime, baby. Cut the ends off the limes and then cut each lime into 8ths.
Place 1/2 of the limes in your blender.
Add 1/2 of the sugar water, place the lid on your blender, and pulse 5 times. Place a fine-mesh strainer over a pitcher (the one you’ll serve the lemonade in) and pour the blended mixture through the strainer and into the pitcher. Use a spoon to press the rest of the liquid into the pitcher. Dump the pulp and stuff in the strainer into the trash. Repeat with remaining limes and sugar water. Add sweetened condensed milk; DO NOT leave this step out unless you will die of a horrible sweetened condensed milk allergy because this is the secret ingredient! You may want to taste test it at this point; I used giant, thick-skinned limes tonight and didn’t test it and it came out a little bitter. If it’s bitter, just add some more sugar and maybe a little more milk.
Serve immediately over lots of ice. This does not keep well, so don’t make this in advance (although you can cut the limes, mix the sugar water, and measure the sweetened condensed milk in advance). Serves 4, although I can pretty much guarantee you that people will want more; I usually plan on 1 1/2 servings at LEAST per person.
Recipe by Our Best Bites

I can't wait to try out this recipe, and dig out some of my other favorites from Brazil!

Confessions

Do you ever have moments when you mind tells you that you know better?

When you know you're taking the easy way out?

When you just hope no one is looking?

I seem to be having lots these moments lately...

Confessions of a busy mom:

1.  Sometimes I let my kids drink my diet coke.

2.  Sometimes I let my boys pee on a tree so we don't have to go hunt down a bathroom.

3.  Sometimes I give in to a treat just so they stop begging!

4.  Sometimes I let them wear their costumes out and about just so they stay entertained while I run errands.

5.  Sometimes (lots of times) I let them watch a movie in bed to fall asleep.

6.  Sometimes (way too often) I let them sleep in my bed.

7.  Sometimes we go to the gas station to get sodas just because we're bored.

8.  Sometimes I lie because I'm tired of saying "no, because I said so."  You know, things like "the store is out of treats today" or "the library doesn't let us borrow movies, only books," etc.

9.  Sometimes I let them have a slim fast for breakfast (they call it "chocolate milkshake") because we are running so late...  We also eat quesadillas A LOT for dinner...quick and easy.

10.  Sometimes I let them get away with something because I am too tired to fight another battle.  Even when my mind is screaming "you should say something, they can't get away with this.." I am esp. guilty of this in public.  I may threaten "we are going to leave if you do that one more time!"  But if we really leave the grocery store before I am done shopping, I am the one who has to go back and do it all over again.

(Sigh...)  I guess I have a few things to work on :)

Summer Fun on a BUDGET

Summertime is my favorite time of year.

I love the warm weather.

I love being outside all of the time.

I love the possibilities!

I get the comment all the time that I "do a lot of stuff" with my kids.

I didn't know that was unusual.

We do "do a lot of stuff" but we certainly don't have money to blow.

So, we have to be careful with what we decide to do.

I take some time to figure out what there is to do, and we plan ahead.

So, here are some suggestions for how to have tons of fun, in the summer, on a budget:

1.  Go to the pool.  

We have several public pools by us that only cost around $3 to get in.  We always try to go in the morning and be home before lunch, or go right after lunch and  be home by dinner.  Eating out at the pool is a good way to spend way too much money!  We actually got a pool pass as a gift and have enjoyed it all summer.  Decide how many times you think you will go.  It may be worth it to buy a pass.  Since we have a pass, we go several times a week.  There is no pressure to stay all day and "get your money's worth" when you have a pass, because you can just come back the next day too...if you want to :)

2.  Swimming Lessons

This is the highlight of my kids summer.  We didn't do the expensive private lessons, we did the cheap group lessons.  It was $25 for 9 lessons.  My kids loved their classes and loved the attention from the teacher.  It got us out of the house and on the move early, every day.  I find that we get a lot more done when we leave the house early.

3.  The Rodeo
This is of course a local thing for us.  Every city has their "thing" and in Utah, the rodeo is a big thing.  We always plan on "kids get in free" night and we bring our own snacks and drinks.  We go really early to get seats with easy access to the aisle in case of bathroom emergencies :)  My kids love dressing up like cowboys.  Since I'm not from Utah, the rodeo is still kind of a novelty and we really have fun going to it.

4.  Spend time in nature.
We love going to the day picnic areas in the local canyon.  We bring a cooler of food to snack on and BBQ.  My husband loves rock climbing so sometimes we do that too.  Other times, we just let the kids explore and run around and make s'mores.  It's one of our family favorites and it's free :)

5.  College sports.
We love taking the kids to sporting events.  Baseball is a perfect one for summer weather.  We either go to a college event, or a minor league game because they are so much cheaper and less crowded.  The minor league games usually have themes according to who is sponsoring the event.  For ex: "Macey's presents 'Kids get in free' night and fireworks" or "Smiths' presents $1 hot dog night!"  We usually find the one that suits us and plan for that night.

6.  Have a party.
Sometimes we turn lunchtime into party time.  When Alice in Wonderland came out on DVD, my kids were dying to have a "mad tea party."  So, we spent about an hour preparing costumes, and then I dug through my pantry and came up with a menu.  We did peanut butter and jelly, but used cookie cutters to turn the sandwiches into shapes.  I put frozen raspberries into their drinks to turn them red, and we set out little bowls of fruit.  Then we made cookies that said "Eat Me". 

7.  Running through the sprinklers.
I think every kid loves that!  It never gets old.

8.  Plant a garden.
We go out and spend a few minutes on our garden every day.  If you don't have a yard, you can plant an herb garden on a windowsill.  It's not only fun to watch it grow, but I find that it makes me more creative in my cooking.  Plus, there's something gratifying about cooking things that you've grown and tended yourself.

9.  Find the local library.
We just discovered that our library has "summer reading time".  It's free, and my kids love it.  They go once a week and hear stories and make crafts.  They get little prizes for reading every day of the week.

10.  Find the community center.
I get a lot of ideas for things to do from our local rec center.  They offer all  kinds of fun (and cheap) little classes and groups for kids.  We've done "bubbles at the park" and "toddler gym" and "itty bitty ball".  Each one is about $3 per class for kids over 3.  The younger ones come with me for free.

11.  Museum.
We actually bought a membership to a local dinosaur museum.  We go all the time.  My kids never get tired of seeing the dinosaurs.  However, the local colleges by us have free museums.  BYU has a life sciences museum, and art museum, and a dinosaur museum, that are all FREE!

12.  Outdoor Mall.
The outdoor mall by us has a huge fountain that they let kids play in.  We got sometimes and let the kids get sprayed by the fountain.  They have a blast, and once again, it's free.  There is also live music in the summer.  My husband and I can sit on a bench and enjoy the music and the weather while my kids splash in the fountain.

13.  Star gazing.
Last night we laid out blankets on the driveway and looked at the stars.  My kids tried to find pictures in the stars.  My husband downloaded a free app on his phone that pinpoints your location, and they shows you the constellations above you.  It was really fun and my kids learned something.  Nate and I did that once when we were dating too :)

14.  The dollar theater.
We have a few dollar theaters by us.  Movies are so expensive now that unless I'm dying to see it (like Harry Potter) we usually wait.  It's not such a risk to see a movie you're unsure of either.  We just took my kids to see Thor and everyone really liked it!  They have since been pretending to be Thor.  I would have never paid for everyone to see it in the theater because it would have cost a fortune and they may not have even like it!  For a dollar?  It's worth the risk...

These are a lot of ideas that work for us.  You just have to do a little research.  Every area has it's "thing".  I spent 2 weeks in CA (without Nate) and we found something to do every day that was free.  We spent a lot of time at the beach.  That never gets old :)

So, be creative, and enjoy this last month of summer!

Another mom moment...

You're going to have to indulge me in another "proud mom moment"... :)

My Grandparents took this video of Saxon at Shaver Lake and just emailed me the youtube link.  Since I just posted Saxon first time knee-boarding in my Lake Holiday post, you can see how far he's come...

(Since I posted this on both this blog and my family one, you can obviously tell that I can't contain my excitement over it :)  I'm so proud of my little guy!)

The Legacy of the Lakehouse

Just before I was born, my Grandpa bought property at Lake Holiday in Illinois.

(Back then, we all lived in Chicago).

My mom used to take me camping there when I was a baby.

A few years later, the family all worked together and built a house.

A few years later, my family moved to California.

We were still able to go visit occasionally because we could stay at the lake.

When I was in college, my roommate came with me to spend a week at the lake.

Now that I have children of my own, I take them to the lake.

It's my tie to Chicago.

When Saxon was 10 month old, my Dad took him on his first knee-boarding trip...

It's the kind of place where you sit in the grass and eat watermelon all day...

Saxon is wearing the same life-jacket that we wore as kids :)

The kids all learn to fish at the lake.

Someone created the "you have to kiss your first fish" rule.

Saxon did.

He didn't even hesitate as he smooched his fish :)

About 6 months ago, I decided to paint a family tree for my Grandparents, and use the lake as the setting.  I intended it to be for their birthdays in April, but it was a lot more work than I had anticipated.

My Grandma (my mom's mom) is a professional artist, so I recruited her help when I first thought of the idea...

And this is the finished product:

I am very happy with it.

I found the perfect frame at Hobby Lobby.

The painting has a lot going on, and the frame (unfinished, weathered wood) has nothing going on.  It's the perfect contrast.

Now that it is finished, I am so excited to give it to them.

I called my Dad to tell him that it's ready.

He said "Good, because Grandpa just sold the lake".

What?

We are all heartbroken!

Now, I guess it will serve as a memory of the place that has come to mean so much to so many generations.

Love Letters Journal - tutorial

A few months ago, my mom told me that she wanted to keep a journal of letters to my little sister (who was a senior in high school).  She wanted to write to her about every time she was proud of her and how much she loved her.

Then, more recently, one of my cousins started a private blog of letters to her daughters.

I decided that I should start a journal of letters to my boys.  Not something that I write in everyday necessarily.  Just somewhere for me to write to them when I'm proud of them, and about the funny things they do and say.  Even if it's just a quick one line about something that happened, at least it won't be forgotten.  When I give it to them one day, I want them to know how much I love them and have always loved them.  I want them to know that I loved them and worried for them and thought of them and enjoyed them everyday of their lives.

I started with 3 composition notebooks.

(They go on sale for back to school at Wal-mart and at Walgreens for 49 cents)

Then I cut their names out of contact paper, using my cousin's silhouette that I borrowed.

Contact paper is perfect for this because it sticks, but it doesn't do any damage to the cover when you pull it off.

Then I chose a color for each boy and started painting.

The contact paper sticks so well that I didn't need to worry about being careful.

The lines stayed sharp even though I put a lot of paint on.

After it dries, just pull up the contact paper.

The paint scrapes off the cover really easily, so be careful.

Because it scrapes off, if there are any mistakes, just take a q-tip and scrape it off.

Since I didn't want it all to scrape off, I coated it in a clear-coat sealer.

I think that modge-podge would have been perfect to seal it in, but I couldn't find mine :)

Then, just start writing...

Keep the journal somewhere convenient so you won't forget to write. 

Try making your own.

One day, it will be a treasure for your kids.