Bold

My Nordstrom magazine came in the mail yesterday and am in love with all of the bold colors!
I am getting so antsy for spring, and seeing the new spring collections has me even more excited.
Here's some of my favorites from this season:

 (all images via Nordstrom.com)

I had to include that cute vintage bathing suit and some sandals because I'm not just excited for spring...I'm so excited for summer!!!  I'm sick of my black winter coat and boots.  Summer is my favorite time of year, and spring means that summer is coming so I can't help but love spring too!

Shamrock Shake

 I got the idea for this recipe from a health information newsletter that I get.  I changed it just a tiny bit and decided to try it out for my family.  We love going to Roxberry to get smoothies but it gets so expensive.  I've been trying to come up with good smoothies combinations that my kids will love, that will be healthy, and that will be affordable.


So, this is Green Smoothie #2:

1 ripe avocado

1 handful of baby spinach

1 scoop of yogurt

1 ripe banana

1/4 cup flax seeds

1 1/2 half cup orange juice

ice

 I made a huge batch because my kids told me that they wanted smoothies.

Well...Bridger told me that he wanted orange juice and I told him that I bought it for smoothies...at which point he reassured me that he really wanted a smoothie.

Bridger did not like it because he told me that it tasted like guacamole.

Saxon wouldn't try it because he was expecting an orange smoothie since I told them I was using orange juice.  He was sure that I had tricked him.

Dalton loved it though!

I really liked it too.  The avocado made it creamy like an ice cream shake.  Nate said he could definitely taste the avocado, but it didn't bother him.

I guess it was only a partial success since my kids wouldn't touch it :)

Safe and Sound

I love Taylor Swift's new song with the Civil Wars.

It's from the Hunger Games Soundtrack.

Is anyone else going to see the Hunger Games when it comes out?

Have a great weekend!

St. Patrick's Day Ideas

I'm so excited for St. Patrick's Day!  I love having a reason to celebrate!

My kids have been busy trying to design a "leprechaun trap" to see if they can catch one.

This is what we're doing for St. Patrick's Day:

I saw this cake idea on pinterest and thought it was genius!

It's a leprechaun trap cake.  You cover the whole in the middle with pretzel sticks and then put gold coins on top.  When the leprechauns climb up to get the gold coins, they will fall through into the whole in the center of the cake.  The cake inside is rainbow.

There's a great tutorial for how to make it if you click on the link.

We are definitely making this the night before St. Patrick's Day!

(via Not Martha)

On the morning of St. Patrick's Day we will put on our new St. Patrick's Day socks (all from the dollar spot at Target) and we make sure to wear green so we don't get pinched :)

Since the leprechauns will turn our milk green in the middle of the night, we will have green milk with our Lucky Charms.

(via Thoughtfully Simple)

I always make our traditional "corned beef and cabbage" meal for St. Patrick's Day dinner.  My mom always made it when I was growing up, and now I love making it for my kids.  Lucky for us, it's also incredibly simple.  I just buy a packaged beef brisket from Costco or the grocery store.  It comes with directions and a seasoning package.  I just put in in the crockpot with the seasoning and a little bit of water.  Then I put carrots and potatoes on top and let it all cook together for at least 8 hours on low.  An hour before, I will chop the cabbage into big chunks and add that on top.  It doesn't take very long for the cabbage to cook and you don't want it to get soggy.
I don't even like beef, but I make it every year because I love just eating the veggies.  My husband and kids love the beef because I only make beef on St. Patrick's Day :)

(via babble)

I just found this cute new recipe online, but I'm going to try it.
Pot of Gold Jello...too cute!

(via Family Fun)

I can't wait!
What are your favorite St. Patrick's Day traditions?

Green Smoothie #1

In honor of St. Patrick's Day coming up, I wanted to share with you a few of my favorite Green Smoothie recipes over the next few weeks.

I love making smoothies for my kids for breakfast, or for a snack.

It's also a great way to sneak things into their diet that they wouldn't normally eat.

Last night we went for a 5 mile walk.  We bundled the kids up and put them in the jogging strollers with their portable DVD players.  They fell asleep after the first few miles...it was awesome!  I love going for long walks, but sometimes I'm starving after. I don't really want to make something to eat since we are usually about to go to bed, so I'll usually just try a smoothie.  This is the one we made last night...

1 box of coconut water

1 scoop of yogurt

1 handful of baby spinach

1 handful of frozen pineapple

1 banana

1 Tbsp. milled flax seed

Just put in all in the blender with some ice.

I love smoothies because you can adjust the recipe according to what you have.

If you don't have coconut water...try water, or juice, or coconut/almond/soy milk, or whatever sounds good to you.  For example, my frozen pineapple is actually a frozen fruit mix.  I think I ended up with mostly pineapple and mango but a few papaya made it in too.  Just make sure you have enough liquid...you don't want it to taste like spinach puree :)

Actually, this one mostly tasted like banana, but it was really good!

I've been experimenting a lot with green smoothie recipes lately and this is one of my favorites.  I've made some that taste too much like spinach.  Some look too much like mud and no one will try them.  We called this one a "Leprechaun Smoothie" and that sold my kids on it :)

What's your favorite greens smoothie recipe?

Just Wait...

One of my cousins linked to THIS article from her facebook page and I really liked it.  It's called "Joy, or 'Just Wait'."  

The author address how everyone likes to try to scare new parents by telling them "Well...just wait until they are walking...then they'll get into everything."  Or, "Just wait until you have kids...then you'll never get any sleep."  It reminded me of how much it used to drive me crazy when Nate and I first decided to start a family.  I would hear all the time "Just wait until you have kids...then you..." followed by a whole array of threats from "you'll never be able to wear a bikini again" to "you'll never be able to go out to eat again" and all kinds of ridiculous things.  It didn't scare me, it annoyed me and made me more determined to continue to do things that I wanted to.

The pattern continued when I got pregnant with Bridger.  "Just wait until you have two!..." And again with Dalton..."Three is the worst!  Then you're outnumbered!" 

I was torn between thinking that some people were truly just trying to help me prepare myself for life-altering situations, and thinking that people don't want to feel like they are struggling alone.  Parenting is challenging for everyone.  We all feel like we fall short.  Maybe if we try to doom others to falling short also, we won't feel so bad about our own challenges.

 When Nate and I first got married, I had just been accepted to the University of Utah to get my master's degree in social work.  I wanted to keep going to school, and I wanted to start a family.  I wasn't sure if I could do both at the same time.  I talked to one of my cousins who had done the program and she said it would be extremely difficult to do with kids because the program is so time consuming.  After a lot of thought, I decided to start a family instead of going back to school.  I could always go back to school later if I wanted to.  


I have never regretted my decision.  Despite all of the "just wait..." warnings that I received, parenting is the joy of my life.  Is it challenging?  Absolutely!  Did I have to make sacrifices?  Of course!  Can I still wear a bikini...ummm...that's debatable LOL (but my cousin just had twins and she can still wear a bikini!)  But being a mom brings more joy to my life than anything else I could be doing right now.


As the article suggested, maybe we should tell new parents "just wait until your baby smiles at you for the first time...it will melt your heart."  Or, "just wait until they first time that they throw their little arms around you and tell you that they love you!"  My kids do a million funny things that make my day.  


Bridger stuck a seed from a cherimoya up his nose because "it wanted to have a party in my nose!"  Just wait until something like that happens!  LOL.  Just wait until the birth of your first child.  Your life will change...but it will be better.

One of those days...

Yesterday was one of "those" days.  You know the ones, right?  The one where:

-the car was in the shop.
-we ran out of milk (and no car to get to the store).
-Baby has decided that he doesn't want to nap anymore.
-it was freezing outside, which meant that we were stuck inside.
-Baby pooped in the bath.
-house is a mess.
-etsy orders piled up.  One complicated custom order put me behind.
-It's almost midnight and Bridger is begging for Jello.
-Baby is sitting on my lap pounding the keyboard and managed to erase this post once already.
-husband is grouchy (long day for him too).
-we never did do Saxon's homework.
-Baby poured a bottle of Blue Bug Juice on the carpet.
-Someone peed all over my toilet seat and I didn't notice in time.
-Just noticed play-dough in the carpet.
-Baby is happily ripping up my newest Us Weekly and I'm letting him for the sake of getting this post up.
-the snow is several inches deep on the road already and still coming down...I wouldn't care except that driving in the snow terrifies me and I have to take Saxon to school in the morning.
-Baby is now pulling out the DVD's...and it's almost midnight...
Wow...lots about Baby...looks like he's been the culprit behind a lot of the trouble today.
At least he's cute:

On a happier note, I picked a winner for the giveaway!!

The winner is:

#2 MEG

Congrats!  Make sure to email me for instructions on how to claim your prize :)

Have a great weekend!

Independent

Isn't it amazing how kids think that they are "big" from the time they are tiny?

My babies are always trying to copy us or copy bigger kids.

Saxon, who is officially "big" at 5 years old, is always asking if he can drive!

Last night, Dalton decided to show us how big he was by brushing is own teeth:

He started out with "big kid toothpaste".

His is the "baby toothpaste" without fluoride since he swallows it still.

The blue toothpaste is Saxon's.

Showing off his clean teeth:

And he's very proud of himself for being so big!

Each of my kids tries to be "big" faster than the last.

They have to keep up with the big brothers :)

I'm trying to find a balance between encouraging them to be little, and letting them explore their independence.

Next year Saxon will be in kindergarten and Bridger will be in preschool.

I'm kind of sad...I'm not ready for them to be so big!