Lilyʻs "Deliciously Donut" 8th Birthday Sleepover [w/ Corn, Edamame & Black Bean Salad]

In our family we donʻt have birthdays.  No, weʻre more birthday week kind of people.  In a family of six I really enjoy being able to focus on one person and remember why they in particular are so special to our family unit.  Last week our oldest child turned eight.  I still canʻt believe it, I feel like Iʻm still in a little bit of shock.  Like I gave birth 8 years ago and forget everything up until today and how do I already have an eight year old? Breathe.

For Lilyʻs birthday she really wanted to have a sleepover with her best girl friends.  They had a blast playing dress-up, shrieking and running in circles and watching movies into all hours of the night.  Literally, all hours, I got the last one to sleep around 2am.  Mom life is hardcore sometimes.

The theme for her sleepover was Deliciously Donut!

Cake by Mom!  I used this awesome Wilton cake pan that can do any number or letter.

Happy Birthday to Me shirt from Childrenʻs Place via Noni of course! 

Chocolate Milk and Sprinkles for breakfast, what else could a little girl ask for?

Lilyʻs birthday "cake"! 

Happy Birthday Lily Pax!  You are loved. 

Teaching Daddy how to make a bracelet, her new favorite hobby. 

Pre-sleepover spaghetti dinner with friends!  

In addition to her birthday sleepover we had; cupcakes at the beach with friends (twice!), went to see the new Planes: Fire & Rescue movie and went to the annual Midsummerʻs Night Gleam at Fosterʻs Botanical garden.  All in all a great week to celebrate a rad little girl.

On the night we saw Planes we had dinner at a friendʻs house in Waikiki and since I had a random bunch of corn I decided to make this salad.  Super light, fresh, and fast it was great on a hot day.  I took the pictures before I added the cilantro but I really like the flavor with it included. 

Corn, Black Bean and Edamame Salad

2 ears of corn, cooked, with kernels cut off

1 can of black beans, rinsed

1 jalapeño, diced 

1 cup shelled edamame, cooked

1/4 cup cilantro leaves, chopped

For the vinaigrette:

2 limes, zest & juice

1/4 cup Apple Cider Vinegar

1/4 cup honey

1/4 cup olive oil

salt & pepper

• Combine corn, black beans, jalapeño and edamame in a large bowl.
• In a separate jar combine all ingredients for vinaigrette adding salt & pepper to taste,  mix dressing well and pour over salad ingredients. 
• Add fresh cilantro and toss to combine.
• Cover dish and refrigerate at least one hour.  

I've got a restless heart. [Hawaiian Granola]

I've always been a bit of a nomad.  I grew up as a Navy brat moving from the West to the East coast and later when my parents divorced traveling that same distance to see one or the other.  As my Dad was stationed different places I would visit him in Guam or San Diego.  When Andy and I started dating the restlessness continued, I never imagined myself being the kind of girl you could "tie down."

After dating for a year we moved down the coast of California to be with his family and after another move back to Stockton we got married and moved yet again to Hawaii.  Since that time we have moved homes countless times, gone to the mainland and back and never stayed in a house much longer than two years.  Even the one we bought.  Errr. I have lived in 4 states, a U.S. territory, and over 15 cities. I wanted to get restless tattooed on my knuckles, it's that bad.

But sometimes the restlessness makes me nervous.  Am I destined to be one of those people who isn't happy no matter where they are?  Or am I the type of person that's thankful to be where they are.  I hope I'm the latter.  I love Hawaii, this time around, I've made it a point to be thankful for the things I do have.  A beautiful ocean, lush palm trees, no rent to pay in a crazy expensive place.  And when the parts that make me sad creep in, like the fact that we couldn't afford to leave this place even if we wanted to, family is always at least a 5 hour plane ride away, and there's no In-N-Out, Chipotle OR Trader Joe's.   I force myself to look again at the good, because I know there is so much and I am so blessed.

Whether I am here, there, or anywhere if I'm with my family and if I'm in God's will it doesn't really matter anyways.  And if God wants to cure my itchy feet and Hawaii is where we're meant to stay I will be ok with that.  Or if he wants to give us that push to the next place we're supposed to be I'll be ok with that too.

I'm tired of being restless.  I want to be rested and refreshed.
Where you go I'll go, where you stay I'll stay, God I'll follow you alone.

 [The Swap!  Look at that awesome teepee!]

But right now I'm in Hawaii!  And I made granola for a local Peaceful Parenting Network swap I just went to which was awesome.  All us Mamas got together with whatever we had to get rid of and swapped, haggled and gifted all of our kids stuff for other people's kid's stuff.  It was pretty awesome and a great way to save money, get some new to us stuff and just hang out. 
I made this granola as an extra bargaining chip and it turned out great!  Definitely easy to adapt to your likes or allergies, add more honey if you like it sweeter, dried fruit or even chocolate chips at the end!

Happy Hula-Gan Hawaiian Granola

4 cups oats

1 cup rough chopped Macadamia Nuts

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup honey, preferably local

1/2 cup Chia seeds

1/2 cup Hemp Seeds

1/2 cup uncooked Quinoa

1/2 cup unsweetened shaved coconut

1/2 cup Coconut Oil + 2 tbs. for Greasing Pan

1.  In a large mixing bowl toss together all ingredients until everything is well coated with the oil.

2.  Grease a baking sheet with more coconut oil and pour the mixture on top.

3.  Bake in a 325 degree oven for 15 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes until granola looks toasty!

4.  Let cool and store in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.

This granola is great on yogurt, as a snack, with milk or whatever!

Awkward. [Slow Cooker Honey Parmesan Pork Recipe]

I have always been a person that can't take a compliment.  I just don't know how to handle it.

Maybe it's my self-deprecating nature that I haven't quite gotten rid of, but I can never just nod and say "Oh, yes thank you!"  I always feel like I need to justify why that compliment doesn't really apply to me how someone else could have/did do it better, how it's not really what you think, how I'm really just not enough. 

Compliment:  "You're looking great after the baby!"

Me: " Well not really.....I'm still above my pre-pregnancy weight, years of being a fat girl have helped me learn how to dress and mask the tummy flab."

Compliment:  "You always do so much with your kids!"

Me: "Eh, well I mean, Andy helps a lot and I'm usually screaming at them so I don't know if it counts."

Compliment: "That's cool you play drums for your church."

"You take good pictures!"

"You're always cooking such yummy stuff!"

Me: "I'm not that good tho, I just do it cause Andy does."

"I just have a good camera."

"I'm ok but it's really just a way to save money, the chicken I made the other night was too salty.  Boo."

As I write these things I know they are real responses to things people have said to me.  And it's not to say, oh look how awesome that I am just complimented constantly!  No.  It's more of a wake-up call to myself to accept them.  To be happy and take some credit for the work I put in everyday to raise my kids, take care of my family, further my education, be a healthier happier person.  Why is it so hard for me to be kind to others, to give compliments and really mean them but when it's the other way around I am so convinced that the person is just "being nice?"

How do I expect my children to be proud of themselves if I can never be proud of myself?

I hope my kids grow-up to know they are beautiful. strong. smart. kind. handsome. funny.

When someone tells me anything slightly complimentary I always have the urge to shrug it off, look the other way, the one exception to this rule is Andy.  He can tell me I'm pretty all day and I'll just blush cause I'm really just a sucker for my husband. 

So maybe I need to change that.  It's ok to be proud of myself.

To be proud of my homebirth, of my strength as a woman.

To be proud of myself for going back to school after 9 years while 8 months pregnant.

To be proud of myself for getting through the hardest year of my life and grown from it,

proud of myself for the strength God has given me.  

It has taken me years to finally like myself, the person I have become, and maybe now I can accept that other people just might like me too. :) 

Time for food!  Made this pork in the slow cooker the other day and the combo was unexpected but super tasty!  Haven't used the slow cooker in awhile and it reminded me why I like it so much!

Slow Cooker Parmesan Pork

1 [3-5] Pork Roast or [3-4] Thick Cut Boneless Pork Chops

3/4 cup fresh grated Parmesan Cheese

1/2 cup honey

3 tbs. Soy Sauce

2 tbs. dried Basil

4 cloves garlic, minced

2 tbs. Olive Oil

1/2 tsp. salt

2 tbs.  Cornstarch

1/4 cup water

[1] Place pork in the bottom of Crock Pot.

[2] In a medium bowl whisk together all ingredients.

[3] Cook on low for 6-7 hours or on high for 5 hours.

Chow down! 

The Hectic Homeschooler!

This morning while I'm going to the bathroom Lily comes in with the iPad.

Me: Hey!  I don't want you to take a picture of me while I'm going to the bathroom!

Lily: It's not a picture, it's a video.

Fail. 

As we enter into our second year of homeschooling I have come to learn, that I still have a lot to learn!

Right now we kind of un-school, we don't have a set curriculum and the kid's are still young enough where I think it's beneficial to just learn by doing, trying new things, learning character and how to be as people just as much as book smarts.

We try our best tho and as Lily enters the 1st grade and Jonas goes into Preschool I'd really like to get into a more set schedule of things, I'm sure adding a new baby to the mix in a few months will really help.  Sarcasm for those who can't tell. 

The past few weeks I've really been struggling with the choice to homeschool, I've just been feeling overwhelmed and it feels like something I'm failing at.  I think these are just normal feelings and when I stop to think about it enough I realize how much I love having my kids home with me and how good it feels to be the one to teach them what I feel is important.  

That being said, I do need to catch up!  My goal is to have Lily be a solid reader by the end of this year and I've been trying to think of some things to help with that.  I saw these Speak & Say balls on Pinterest to use at slumber parties with like Truth or Dare questions and I thought it would work well for other things.  So I made one with Kindergarten sight words & one with easy addition problems.  

This was a really cheap & easy project!  I found the balls at Wal-Mart for $1.68, even here in Hawaii and permanent markers are one of my many obsessions.  

With homeschooling comes more hectic-ness that already comes with having young children.

Especially one named Oliver Crash, that child has been testing my patience everyday!  

I now feel bad for telling people Jonas is my "hard" child, it seems Oliver came along to prove his Mother wrong.  

So yes, off course, but coffee!  One of my loves along with my family, sleep, and organization.

Recently figured out how to make my own coffee creamer and I am in love!  I always have the ingredients on hand and it has so much less junk than the bottled stuff, not to mention cheaper since a small bottle can cost $5 here and I go through it like water, literally.

So far I've made up these two recipes and can't wait to try more!  

You can really do whatever sounds good to you but this is what I had on hand for my first two batches.

Homemade Creamer

For the creamer base you will need:

A mason jar

Heavy Cream

Whole Milk [or skim if you want it a little lighter]

Depending on your size jar use equal parts heavy cream & milk, make sure you leave a good enough space for about 1/2 cup more liquid for add-ins.

Vanilla Honey:

2 tsps. Vanilla Extract

1/4 cup Honey

Add to creamer base & shake well!  I like my coffee sweet so feel free to add a little more honey or sugar after you add creamer to coffee.

Maple Brown Sugar:

1/4 cup Brown Sugar

1/4 cup pure Maple Syrup

Add to base & again shake well!

The possibilities are endless really....can't wait to try some more! 

Don't tell me what to do [or] why I hate baby sign language.

We have recently been teaching Oliver baby sign language, we went to a free preview class that one of my parenting groups had and we all enjoyed it, big kids and all.

I see the benefits of it, I really do.  It's kind of amazing to see a child that can't talk yet really communicate with you.  The problem is, I don't like being told what to do.  

Not by my husband, not by my kids, and yes I admit it, sometimes not by God.  So while this baby sign language could be an wonderful exploration into how much smarter your baby is then the next, it has become a twisted game Oliver likes to play.

We learned a ton of fruit & veggie signs at the class along with some easy basic like please, thank you, more, etc.  Oliver has learned MORE.  Oh sure, on occasion if he feels like it he will sign "please" and "all done" usually "all done" after he has thrown his plate of food on the floor so it's already pretty obvious.  But "more" is his favorite!  And eat, of course.  

It's a frustrating thing to have a 1 year old follow you around all day long signing eat, more, more, more, more!  Like a 4 year old that asks "Why?" constantly.  It's cute in the beginning, but after about 3 days you're going crazy.

I have no idea what he wants more of?  I ask him and he'll storm to the fridge or go to the pantry and randomly start pulling things off the shelves like Panko bread crumbs & fast acting yeast.  I honestly doubt he wants more of that.  So yeah, at the age of one I feel like he's just messing with me.

And he knows it.

Ollie trying to look innocent after demanding MORE, MORE, MORE! 

He finally conceded that more watermelon was actually what he wanted.  

But darn it my kids are cute & adorable and all that other proud Mommy stuff and no matter how much I might complain I love them more than I could ever imagine. 

So here's a recipe for some fun treats I made for them today, hopefully to take on a  zoo trip this weekend!

Honey Nut-O Treats!

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup honey

1 cup creamy peanut butter

1 tsp. vanilla

5 cups Cheerios [or generic Toasted O's like us cool Moms do]

[1] Mix the honey and sugar in a medium sauce pan.  Bring to a boil, stirring constantly.

[2] Let boil for about a minute until everything is smooth.

[3] Turn the heat off and add peanut butter and vanilla.  Whisk. 

[4] Add in the Cheerios and stir to coat everything evenly.

[5] Drop spoonfuls of the mixture onto waxed paper and let cool!

I keep these in the fridge cause it's humid here so they take awhile to set up.
Edit: Also I suggest making these pretty small, while the kids liked the taste they are hard to eat!  I would just use a greased teaspoon and make small drops, you will get a ton that way too! :)

Have fun!