thankfultwenty. [Slow Cooker Beef&&Broccoli]

Nicole's Official Thankful 20.
It's the small things. :)

[Thankful for this crazy kid!] 

1.  Going pee BY MYSELF.  If this ever happens it's a miracle, a joyous miracle. A shower is even more awesome.

2.  When the Wii remotes actually have batteries.  This is a rare and elusive thing.  If they don't have working batteries I then try to rotate the same 6 batteries hoping some combo of 2 will magically work.

3.  Free stuff.  Anything free makes me pretty happy.  Things to do with the kids, free food, free baby-sitting.  I'll take it all.  And the best?  Free coffee of course.

4.  When you get a really good lock screen/wallpaper combo on your cellphone.  Yeah, that makes me happier than it probably should.

5.  Unsolicited advice.  I really love when a stranger tells me something I don't want to hear or care their opinion about.  Oh, the baby's too old to breastfeed?  You don't think my carrier is safe?  Actually that was a joke.  Please leave me alone.

6. Mom time.  I am so grateful to have such an awesome husband that is always encouraging me to take a little time for myself.  Trips to Target, coffee with a friend, a nap.  All awesome.  I love him so much for that.

7. The "ignore" button on my cell phone.  It's not that I'm trying to ignore you, I swear, I mean I acknowledged that you're calling me by hitting ignore. Right? ;)

8. Pacifiers!  Tulip is a pacifier baby, just like her big sister Lily.  Those little inventions have saved many a Mom [&Dad] hours of crying.

9. E-mail.  That way if I have something I need to say to you that's too formal to text but I'm really avoiding having to talk to you about than I can e-mail you!  Problem solved.

10.  Potlucks.  Cook one thing and you magically have a whole meal with lots of options!  Hopefully some of them are semi-decent.

[Thankful for my new Kitchen-Aid!  Thank you Mama!]

11. Coastal.com.  Free glasses?  Yes, please!  Without them I would be rocking 3 year old glasses with a super weak prescription or ripped contacts that I'm sure would be eating my eyes alive.
If you want a pair just use the code: FIRSTPAIRFREE  Your welcome!

12. Bobby pins.  Without them I would probably cut my bangs off in a fit of rage one day.

13. Group texts.  When I can't be with my best friends I can at least harass both of them via text about watching Magic Mike at noon on a Tuesday.

14. Airplanes.  Without them I would never get to see my extended family.  At least not without an 8 day boat ride.

15.  Pinterest.  I'm sorry I love it so much, I just do.  I have a rad shirt that says, "Keep Calm and Pin Something" I'm that cool.

16. Tom Hardy.  Especially in Lawless when he's wearing a cardigan.  Yeah, pretty much.

17. That I'm not in The Walking Dead and I don't have to listen to Andrea & Dale every minute of the day.  Two most annoying people EVER.  I hope the walkers get you!

18. Magic erasers.  Otherwise my kid's wouldn't get to use the walls as their own personal coloring pages.  Oh, there not supposed to do that?  Could have fooled me.

19. Cloth diapers. Thank you for saving us ridiculous amounts of money every month & covering cute butts in the process.

20. Breaking Dawn Part II.  Not because it was so good but because I can finally stop making Andy take me to see them and we can do something different for our anniversary than watch the world's most ridiculous love triangle made square.

I know this was supposed to be a Thanksgiving thing but I've been kind of grumpy lately.  Shit has been going wrong, life has been frustrating and hard but I need to remind myself there is SO much to be thankful for.  The big & the little.  Thank you God for it all. <3

And now I leave you with this tasty recipe for.....

Slow Cooker Beef & Broccoli 

1 cup Beef Broth

2 tbs. Sesame Oil

3 cloves garlic, chopped

1 lb. sirloin, cut into strips

1 16. oz. package Broccoli Florets

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup Soy Sauce

2 tbs. Corn Starch

White Rice for Serving

[1] In a bowl whisk together beef broth and cornstarch.  Pour into slow cooker.

[2] Add sesame oil, garlic, brown sugar & soy sauce to slow cooker.  Mix well.

[3] Add in sirloin.  Cover and cook on high 6 hours or low 8 hours.

[4] Add broccoli florets, mix and cook an additional 30-40 minutes depending 

on how done you like your broccoli! 

[5] Serve over steamed rice! 

The Pregnant Mommy Wall [w/Cheesy Chicken Jalapeno Bake]

The end is drawing near.  Just not near enough.

I've hit the pregnant Mommy wall.  And it's not even my due date yet.

Pregnant Mommy wall is kinda like what I imagine Runner's Wall is, since I don't run and have no intention to unless my life depended on it.  Some women hit that wall at 12 weeks, and you will hear ALL about it on their Facebook for the next 5 months.  Oh yes, lucky us. 

My back hurts and if not my back then my ribs or my head.  That might be from the other kids but who knows at this point?  People are starting to drive me [more] crazy than usual and Andy is doing more damage control than normal.  I really want to savor this last little bit of time, I really do, but I can't.

I'm just so grumpy.  So hot.  I feel like a roly-poly especially in the middle of the night when the thought of getting up to go to the bathroom sounds almost worst than peeing in the bed.

I'm so tired but I can't sleep. The baby feels so huge inside of me now that when she moves I literally feel elbows & knees poking out of my stomach.  Ahh, the joys of pregnancy.  As much as I complain about it all tho I am trying to hold onto that joy.  The same advice I would give to my expecting Mamas I'm trying to give myself, although I'm probably more stubborn than most of them and hate unwanted advice, even my own.

[39 weeks!]

I know in a week or two this will [most likely, please God let it be] over and these last few days will be just a blur of 3 kids instead of 4.  Of preparing for her instead of holding her.  Of feeling her stretch on the inside instead of little feet on the outside.  Pregnancy is such a short time and I know what a blessing it is that I CAN have healthy pregnancies.  I have lost babies in my lifetime and I never want to seem ungrateful for the lives we have been blessed with.  When all I want to do is complain I'm trying to remember all God has blessed me with.

The 3 beautiful faces I kiss everyday.
The 1 wonderful husband that is always there to hold my hand, and give me a shove when I need help getting out of bed.
The 2 little feet currently kicking the crap out of me from the inside.

As much as I complain I am thankful for it all.

And food!  I am so thankful for that.  I have become a ravenous beast towards the end of this pregnancy and have gained 18 pounds so far.  My inner low self-esteem teenage girl is trying not to shriek in terror and calm myself down knowing it is normal, healthy & good for the baby to gain weight.  With Lily I lost 15 pounds, with Jonas I lost 10 & with Oliver I think I gained 5 so I'm also getting a little paranoid that this is a monster little girl.

So I've been known to eat dinner.  Than a bowl of cereal & than 5 clementine oranges.
I can't be stopped.  I'm the bottomless pit!
I made this the other night and it's one of those things you just can't stop eating.
It was so good and easy.  Just one more thing to be thankful for.

Cheesy Chicken Jalapeno & Rice Bake.
[Also known as Murderous Mayan Mexican Bake,
since we've been watching a lot of Sons of Anarchy lately.]

2 cups rice [I used a mixture of white & brown but you probably could use either or]
2 cups [8 oz.] shredded Monterey Jack Cheese
2 Jalapenos diced small [We like stuff hot so do less if you don't!]
1 cup evaporated Milk
1/3 cup chopped Cilantro
1 1/2 cups cooked diced chicken [I used all white meat]
Salt & Pepper to taste
2 eggs, beaten
2 tbs. melted butter

[1] Preheat oven to 350 degrees & butter a 2 quart casserole dish.
[2] Mix all ingredients together in a bowl and pour into casserole dish.
[3] Bake for 50-60 minutes until a knife comes out clean.
[4] Enjoy!

I served this with tomato slices [for Andy] and tortilla chips, just for a crunch but it's fine without!

When you know better, you do better. [Pumpkin Angel Food Cake w/Salted Caramel Glaze]

I am officially tired.  I feel horrible for even saying this but I am so done with this pregnancy.

Part of me is trying to cherish every last part, to remind myself this is PROBABLY my last baby and enjoy all the wonderful things that come with being pregnant.  Feeling her kick, how womanly I feel, getting away with wearing a bikini when there is no way in hell I would wear one otherwise.

[36 weeks, last Saturday at Haliewa Alii Beach Park]

But I'm just so tired.  My back hurts, my stomach feels stretched beyond belief.  I can't keep up with school, WIC appts., cleaning, and now a pissed off toddler with a sprained wrist.  I just want to cry most days, and take a nap.   Thank God for my wonderful husband who would let me do just that if I just asked, but alas Mommy guilt just won't let that happen.

Yesterday the family celebrated Labor Day by attending a birth rally in Waikiki.  The family that protests together, stays together right?  Just kidding.....it wasn't a protest just a call for health care to support evidence based maternity care instead of care based off of opinions and basically just the way "they've always done it." [If you want to know more check out www.improvingbirth.org] We had a great time getting to meet some awesome people in the birthing community here on Oahu.  I got to talk to other women about encapsulating my placenta, home birth, and ring slings without anyone batting an eyelash. 

National Rally for Change at Kapiolani Park

Lily might have gotten TOO into it.  She was shouting "Eat your placenta!" at cars while they drove by and when the cops came to check our permits she told Andy, "I would never talk to cops!"  Not quite sure where that anti-authority attitude came from....well maybe I can guess.   We did a prayer at the end saying what we were grateful for and I am really just grateful that my daughters will grow up not being afraid of childbirth, knowing pregnancy is a beautiful, natural and healthy thing.  Not an illness. 

Which is what I keep trying to remind myself.  

36 weeks + 3 days and it will all be over soon and I won't even know where the time went.

Although hopefully these weird pregnancy dreams will stop, I dreamt last night that I gave birth easily at home, baby's feet first [not likely.] But then I found out the baby was a boy and I was pretty pissed off about it and wouldn't even pick a name for him. 

 So I told Andy we better pick out a boy's name too just in case.  I hope I wouldn't be quite so melodramatic if that were to happen but when I told Andy this he was not so convinced.  Hmm. 

[Feels like it.]

Again this is one of the blogs spiraling into nowhere.  My Mommy brain feels like mush. 

Soon, soon this little girl will make her entrance and I'll remember what I knew all along.

It is worth it. <3

Side note:  Super excited, Fall is here!

Well pretty much as "here" as it's going to get.  It's still hot, there's no way I'm getting to wear any kind of scarf or Ugg boots but Hey, the Fall flavors are back at Starbucks and I'll take what I can get.

Along with my beloved Salted Caramel Mocha I'm definitely getting in the pumpkin mood!

Made mini Pumpkin muffins the other day and still had enough left for another recipe, so Pumpkin Angel Food Cake with Salted Caramel Glaze it is!

Next month is pumpkin patches, costumes && FOUR adorable kids to dress up!

I can't wait. 

Pumpkin Angel Food Cake

w/Salted Caramel Glaze

Pumpkin Angel Food Cake:

1 box Angel Food Cake mix

3/4 cup pureed pumpkin

1 1/2 tsp. Pumpkin Pie Spice

1 tbs. flour

1 cup water

[1] Put oven rack on lowest setting & preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

[2] In an electric mixer beat all ingredients together.

[3] Pour into an ungreased Angel Food cake [tube] pan.

[4] Bake for about 45 minutes until top is nice and brown.

[5] Let cool for 15 minutes then turn upside down onto a glass bottle and finish cooling for 2 hours.

Salted Caramel Glaze:

1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup heavy cream

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. sea salt

[1] In a small sauce pan melt butter and both sugars together.

[2] Whisk constantly while it comes to a boil and let cook for 2 minutes.

[3] Add heavy cream, continue whisking, cook for another 1 minute.

[4] Turn off heat and add cinnamon and salt.

[5] Let cool completely before pouring over cake.  

The 7 Series: [1] Food [Goat Cheese Risotto Recipe]

So I recently got an Amazon gift card for my baby shower.  This already excites me to no end, I'm one of those people with an Amazon wish list constantly in the making, that falls asleep to images of strollers I can't buy or random iPhone accessories I don't need.  So when I got the gift card, along with a note from my sweet friend that said I could *gasp* spend it on myself!  I did just that.

I mean seriously, this little girl already has everything in the world she could need, and Mama's not gonna lie.  She likes to spoil herself sometimes.  So with my $25 burning a hole in my pocket I ordered a DicAPic waterproof case for my phone, I am constantly death-gripping my phone at the beach in order to get pictures of the kid's swimming while hopefully not losing my uninsured phone in the abyss & a book I had seen on another bloggers IG [crunchy_candid]

[Me reading my book at Pokai Bay this last weekend.]

The book is called 7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess by Jen Hatmaker.

It's written by a Christian Mother of 3 and is basically about how she reduced 7 areas of her life down to 7 things each for a month.  I've just started reading Chapter 2 and I really dig it so far.  Since I'm trying to become a blogger with more purpose, and less scatter-brained rants about my children's bowel movements I decided I'd try and do a small series following along with her 7 things.

So first up, Food!  In the book Jen narrows down her food choices to just 7 things.  I will go ahead and put a disclaimer right now that I'm not going to do as she does.  Do not ask a 35 week pregnant woman with already finicky eating habits to now narrow down her choices to just 7.  If I was forced to choose tho my list would look something like:

1. Dr. Pepper

2. Coffee

3. Chocolate Milkshakes

4. Cereal

5. Bread

6. Smoothies

7. Pork Belly

So you see, not very healthy and more than half of those things are drinks.  I'm not going to put myself in that position.  I am a lover of food, but also, I hope, learning not to be a person of excess.  We start each Monday with a full fridge and by Sunday it's pretty bare bones.  I like it like that.  It keeps my fridge clean, I can see what we have & most of the things in our fridge are fresh foods.  

I have lost over 50 lbs. in the past 6 years, even AFTER having 3 kids.  Ok, right now I'm up 16 pounds but I have the baby to blame at least.  I attribute most of that to learning to eat better, loving my body, and wanting to give my kids a healthy attitude about the food they eat.  For the most part, we try. We also live off a budget of $60 a week for food for a family of 5.  While I would love to feed my family only organic vegetables, free-range chickens & grass-fed beef I live in reality.

  I do what I can while being thankful for everything we have, knowing how blessed we are.  

And I guess that's where I will go with food, that my family understand it's purpose.  We know food is nourishment for our body's, we don't waste it, we don't complain and we certainly don't turn down free food.  But food is not our everything, the amount of whole grains we eat does not effect our worth as humans.  Drinking water from the tap will not kill us, in other places it might.  We are blessed beyond belief to never go to bed with empty stomachs and if Oliver smashes one more Go-Gurt into his hair & carpet I will scream.

The end. 

Just for the purposes of this blog I will give the prices I paid for the food here, 

just in case you're wondering what a meal like this does to my budget. 

Plus this recipe is SOCLOSE to being 7 ingredients, I thought it fitting. 

Goat Cheese Risotto

1 cup short grain rice [.25]

2 Shallots, diced [.99]

1/2 cup Goat Cheese [1.50]

1 lemon [1.75.  Seriously? wtf lemon.]

Thai Basil, minced [Free from our Garden]

4 cloves of garlic, minced [.25]

2 1/2 cups Chicken Stock [1.25]

1/2 cup White Wine [.50]

Olive Oil

Salt & Pepper 

Grand Total: $6.50 Serves at least 2 adults who eat a lot!

And 3 kids who would rather eat toast. :/ 

[1] In a large saucepan heat olive oil on medium heat.

[2] Add the onions and cook until translucent.

[3] Add the garlic and cook one more minute.

[4] Add your rice and stir for about 90 seconds, toasting the pieces, 

make sure you have enough oil to coat the rice.

[5] Add your white wine, stirring until it is all absorbed.

[6] Add your chicken stock,

 1/2 cup at a time making sure each addition has been absorbed before adding the next 1/2 cup. 

[7] When all your liquid has been absorbed and rice is tender,

 grate in the zest & add juice of your lemon.

[8] Stir in your goat cheese and season to taste with salt & pepper.

[9] Plate & sprinkle with Thai Basil!  Enjoy! 

Sunday Funday.

I'm sure I've said this before but Sundays are a notoriously busy day around our house, especially Sunday mornings.  Andy works his 2nd job 7 days a week and goes straight from his cleaning job to downstairs at the church to start doing sound check, etc. 

Which means grumpy Mama, who doesn't like to wake up early is also in charge of getting myself and the three kiddos up, dressed & fed in time to go downstairs for church by 10am.  This is probably not a big deal for other awesome Moms that can set their alarms and jump out of bed like they mean it.  Not for me.  I procrastinate, I check Facebook, I hit snooze, I complain and then I start running around like a chicken with my head cut off. 

So I'm gonna switch it around on this blog and give you a recipe first!  You might like this if you hate reading my writing or came here just to eat.  Makes sense.  But since Sunday mornings are so crazy it helps if I am smart enough to plan ahead and bake something on Saturday that the kids and adults scrambling to get everything done have something to grab and eat while getting ready.

This Sunday's breakfast was......

Snickerdoodle Muffins! 

I made these ones especially for the Praise Leader of our family since Snickerdoodle's are his favorite cookie.  I also figured all the kids would actually eat them since they don't really contain anything that might be considered good for you.  But oh well, cause they are tasty!

adapted from www.eatmedelicious.com

2 Sticks unsalted butter, room temp.

1 cup sugar

2 tsp. Vanilla

2 eggs

3/4 tsp. Baking Soda

3/4 tsp. Baking Powder

3/4 tsp. Cream of Tartar

3/4 tsp. Freshly Grated Nutmeg

1 1/4 cup Greek Yogurt

2 1/4 cups AP flour

For the coating:

3/4 cup sugar

1 tbs. cinnamon

[1] In a stand mixer cream the sugar and butter until light and fluffy.  A few minutes.

[2] Add vanilla and eggs one at a time, waiting for each egg to incorporate.

[3] In a separate bowl whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, cream of tartar, and nutmeg.

[4] Alternating flour mixture and yogurt add to your wet mixture.  Starting and ending with flour, scrape bowl if necessary.

[5] In a shallow dish whisk together coating toppings.

[6] Using an ice cream scoop, I like my stolen Jamba Juice "disher" spring loaded scoop.

Scoop the batter into your coating and roll each scoop around till it's fully coated.

[7] Place each ball into a greased muffin tin. 

This recipe made about 24 muffins for me!

[8] Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.

So after a good morning of muffins, praising God and fellowship we left to go check out Olomana Gardens in Waimanalo.  Andy has been wanting to see this place for awhile and usually the tours can be a bit pricey.  But being the bargain hunters that we are we found out today was an open house with free tours and a potluck!  Can't beat that. 

Olomana Gardens has a huge aquaponics set-up.  Which I know nothing about but maybe Andy will get to guest blog about this someday for those that are interested.  The tour was pretty cool with lots of information and a beautiful backdrop of Waimanalo Valley. 

We saw their fish tanks, the duck weed they were growing, along with Papayas, Taro, tomatoes & pretty much anything else you could imagine.  The kids got to pet horses, chickens, and a pig so everyone was having a pretty good time!  Jonas was so excited cause he helps Andy a lot with their aquaponics system so he kept running ahead with the tour guide pushing a lot of older Asian men out of the way.  Rude, perhaps.  Cute, definitely. 

The open house was pretty neat too, free beer & aquaponics?  Andy was in heaven.

It's such a joy spending time with our kids as they explore new things, especially things we're interested in too.  And hopefully, somehow, tying it in with homeschool, just so we don't feel guilty for the days we miss in the classroom. ;) 

Made one last stop at Sweet Home Waimanalo to try out their famous smoothies and check out the food.  It's a bit pricey but definitely looked good if you're into organic, healthy, locally grown stuff.

We tried a Peanut Butter Bellows Smoothie & a Local Kale Smoothie and took a beautiful drive along the ocean back home. 

God is so good to us, I only hope that we do him justice in giving him everything he deserves from our lives knowing we can always give more. <3 

Brave Review & Yogurt Avocado Dip

Took Lily & 3 of my younger sisters to see Brave today.

And I must say I was pleasantly surprised!  It was so good, and I am not one for kid's movies in the slightest.  If we ever attempt to watch one together at home I end up getting up about 20 minutes into it to start cleaning the kitchen or something, I just can't focus that well on what I feel is "kid stuff."

I can barely focus on adult stuff so I guess thats a whole different story.

I really had no idea what the story was about, just that she was a little red-headed archer who liked to get into trouble.  Little did I know that it was a perfect Mother/Daughter movie and was so happy that I got to take Lily to see it.  We've been having some screaming matches lately, which I do admit start on my end and maybe she's just now getting old enough to be able to yell back.  My short-fuse is something I struggle with everyday and I hate the fact that my kids will come to know that about me.  

I am constantly praying for patience and restraint, my weakness being taken out on my children never feels good. 

It was a great wake up call, and being pregnant & hormonal didn't help add to the dramatics of it all.  But I am truly blessed to have such a loving, spunky, kind, and yes, brave daughter.

The story was cute & presented in a way that I liked.  Neither the mother or daughter were in the wrong but each had a different way of thinking & were in a different place in their lives.  In the end all that mattered was the love they had for one another.  

It will definitely be one we buy, Pixar never seems to fail!  

[My happy crew after the movie!  They loved it!]

And now for the food!  This recipe doesn't really tie into the movie at all but the color did remind me of all the beautiful scenery in Scotland.  Either way, it would make a great movie snack....if you can just find a way to sneak it in.  

Yogurt Avocado Dip

adapted from www.twopeasandtheirpod.com

1/2 cup Greek yogurt

2 ripe avocados

1 jalapeño

1 small handful cilantro

2 cloves of garlic

Juice of 2 limes

Cumin, Salt & Pepper to taste

I used our Ninja for this but a blender or food processor works the same!

[1] Peel & seed avocados.  Add to blender with Greek yogurt.

[2] Roughly chop jalapeño, cilantro & garlic.  Add to blender.

[3] Blend on high until everything is blended & smooth.

[4] Season to your taste with lime juice, salt, pepper & cumin!  

Serve chilled with pita chips.

Side note:  If you don't like spicy you can omit or seed the jalapeño.  We love spicy in our house so I did not! 

5 in 5. Edition: 2

Again, I will tell you just how much I love an easy project! 

I don't mind elaborate ones as well but it usually helps me if I have most things on hand and I can do them in under 30 minutes, cause that's about as much time as a child under 2 will probably ever give you.

So here's another set!  

1.  Slow Cooker Dulce De Leche

[1] Slow Cooker [2] Mason Jar [3] Water [4] Sweetened Condensed Milk

So easy & tasty!  I used this to top mango cupcakes and stirred it into my iced coffee but it would also be good in brownies or pretty much anything!  Just open up the can of milk, place into a clean mason jar and close tightly, you can also do this directly in the can but it creeped me out a little and you're probably going to want to put it in something else so you might as well do it to begin with.  Put the mason jar in your slow cooker and make sure it is completely covered with water!  Put it on high for 6 hours or low for 8.  The advantage of doing it in the jar as well is that you can see through it and see how dark your Leche is getting.  Yummy! 

2.  Tooth Fairy Money

[1] Dollar Bill [2] Hair Spray [3] Glitter

Our oldest, Lily, just lost her 1st tooth last week!  This made me want to cry and also have slight flash forwards of a teenage daughter and how much I hope God does not show me what I deserve from my teenage years.  We were so excited to do tooth fairy things & make it magical, etc.  Then she told us that her Aunt had already told her that I'M the tooth fairy.  Buzz kill man.  But we went ahead and made it fun, for us, and hoping she might still believe a little bit.  When she woke up the next morning to glittery money and her tooth missing she was pretty amazed. :)  5 year olds are so easy to fool.  Really. 

The money is a lot glittery than it looks in this picture and super simple!  Just spray the bill with the hairspray and shake on the glitter!  It dries really quickly too!

3. Cousin Jaz's Mexican Squash Casserole

[1] 1 Zucchini [2] I can of corn [3] 1 small can of tomato sauce [4] Shredded Cheddar Cheese 

First off, I will say I consider oil, salt & pepper to be freebies.  You will need all of those here!

I can't remember exactly when I learned how to make this but one of my favorite in-laws taught me how to make it!  I know it was a long time ago, maybe when we lived in Guadalupe and Jaz worked at the awesome Hot Dog on a Stick in Santa Maria.  Either way, good memories come with this recipe & I wish I got to see this beautiful woman more often than I do. 

Slice a zucchini in half & then into half moon pieces.  Not super thin, this will cook in a pan and then bake so you don't want it mushy.  Heat oil in a pan and sauté zucchini with a little salt & pepper.  About 5 minutes, add 1 can drained corn or fresh if you have it, even better!  I like a little char on my corn then I add the can of tomato sauce.  Mix well and pour into a baking dish, it's a pretty wet mixture.  Top with as much cheese as you like, I LOVE cheese as you can see.  Bake at 400 degree F just until cheese is melted and it's done!  Andy loves this with rice and pork chops.  It's the Mexi/Filipino in him.

4.  Spring Clean your mattress!

[1] Baking Soda [2] Lavender Oil [3] Mason Jar [4] Sieve [5] Vacuum

I have an obsession with cleaning and I have a really sensitive nose.  Two random facts about me that happen to match up.  I can't stand bad smelling things or just random funk.  We got a mattress from a friend when we moved back here, for which I am very thankful!  I figured a good cleaning never did any mattress bad and the lavender helps promote good sleep.  After we did this our mattress smelled so fresh, ahhh.  Fill a mason jar, with baking soda and about 4-5 drops of Lavender oil.  Shake well.  This recipe made enough to clean my mattress twice, you could do carpets with it as well, etc. And since nothing in here is toxic and even edible I don't mind the kids playing in it while it "soaks."  Use the sieve to sprinkle the mixture over your mattress and let it sit for at least 30 minutes.  I let mine sit for a few hours cause really it can't hurt.  Then vacuum!  If you have a hose attachment that would be awesome, we don't so I just lift the whole vacuum up. 

5.  Make a Happy Birthday balloon number!

[1] Balloons [2] Tape

This one is pretty obvious but still I had never thought of it until I discovered Pinterest, uh-oh.  For Jonas' 4th birthday this year we didn't have a big party like we have had every year before so I wanted to make sure we had different ways to show him how special he is to us & how excited we were for his birthday!  We did this on our living room wall after he went to sleep so when he woke up he was pretty excited.  

Blow up your balloons, how many you need depends on your number, how big you want it, etc.  One multi colored bag from Target was more than enough for us.  Don't blow them up too big otherwise they'll be a pain to stick to the wall.  I taped the base of each balloon and once I had them all in place I used rolls of tape to stick all the balloons to one another, it really helped.

Sow your seed in the morning, and at evening let your hands not be idle, for you do not know which will succeed, whether this or that, or whether both will do equally well.
Ecclesiastes 11:5-7

5 Things I miss about California. & 5 Things I don't.

5 Things I miss about California, and 5 Things I do not. 

I miss.

1.  Being close to almost all of my family.  Having my Mom & some of my siblings in the same town as me.  Family dinners on a whim, the kids being able to see my Grandma.  Helping out, family gatherings, BBQs around the fire pit in our backyard.  Coffee and shopping trips with my little sister.  My kids growing up with their cousins. The free baby-sitting.  Oh, the free baby-sitting. 

2.  The food.  In & Out. Chipotle. Not to mention all the places that are particular to Stockton.  Good sushi at Co Co Ro, fried chicken from Manny's California Fresh.  Oh the list could just go on and on.  Being pregnant just makes me want all the good food that much more.  I would kill for a carnitas taco plate from Tepa Taquiera right about now, well maybe not kill.....but stab for sure.

3. Road trips.  There was SPACE!  Lots of it!  True, some places were far.  But we always loved a weekend of packing our van to the brim and going where the wind blew us.  Down the 1 to visit family in Pismo Beach or a little further down to the Santa Monica Pier.  Stopping at rest stops to run around and enjoy being together in our own little contained unit.  Nothing but wind in our hair, good music on the stereo, the sounds of kids arguing in the backseat, sunglasses and the knowledge that we still have hours to go.  Ahhh, my version of peace. 

4. My best friends.  Two women that will forever impact my life.  That taught me what REAL friendship was, after 27 years of living, to have two people show me THIS is what friendship is.  Not someone using me for their benefit, lying to me, back stabbing or generally acting as if all of life is a shitty fucked up high school experience. [Can you tell I didn't like high school?]  Who I rarely get to talk to now with an ocean between us but I know I could call them at anytime with anything and they would be there, listen without wanting, love without judging.  

5. Seasons.  I love anticipating each season as it comes.  Except maybe Summer in the Valley, ok especially not summer in the Valley.  But feeling those first breezes of Spring, opening up all the windows in our house and soaking it all in.  Or when the leaves first turn colors and the air turns crisp.  Each season bringing new things.  Apple Hill in the fall,  Christmas tree farms in the Winter.  Cherry Festivals in the Spring.  I miss it all. 

I do not miss.

1. The violence.  Coming from Stockton didn't scare me.  I wasn't afraid to walk down the street, to play with my kids in the front yard, to go to the movies at night.  Until people started getting shot everyday, for anything, pretty much anywhere.  I'm not a very paranoid person but I did start getting worried that a stray bullet might find me on a bad day.  Scary crap. 

2. The bad attitudes.  Something about people there gave off an air of entitlement.   I know this is a generalization and not meant to be but it kind of got old hearing people complain about how their welfare was cut or they don't have enough money but they were able to sell their food stamps cause they just "have to have their nails done every month."  I'm sure it happens here too, I just don't have to hear about it.  So that helps.

3. The obsession with looks.  Here in Hawaii you will see some big girls in bikinis.  I don't mean that disrespectfully.  I consider myself a bigger girl, but here big girls ARE beautiful.  Not just hypothetically in a song but really.  People are proud of their bodies, or simply just don't care what you think.  That is a refreshing idea.  When we lived here before and I was about 40 pounds heavier and 9 months pregnant I felt perfectly fine going outside to get my mail in a sports bra and shorts because I wasn't afraid of some asshole driving by yelling "fat ass" out there window like they had done to me in Stockton, while I was pumping gas.  Seriously?

4. Black Widows and Snakes.  We just don't have those here.  Oh yes!  It's nice not to think "There's a spider in my house, maybe it will bite me in my sleep and I'll die.  I guess we'll see." 

5. Running into people you know.  Some people might like this, might like reminiscing, talking about the good old days or other such tom foolery.  Not me, I would prefer not to see you unless I make a point to see you.  Most of the times it's just an awkward hello, like "Oh, hi, yeah I used to know you a long time ago but now I really could care less about what you're doing."  It just takes the ease out of that knowing I most likely won't see anyone I know.  Just because we both never left our hometown doesn't mean we have something in common.  It's especially nice when there are people I know if I saw I might have to practice my anger management more than I have worked on so far, so I just might rip their throat out.  Maybe.