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.  

Relax is a four letter word.

Today I had an argument with my husband I've probably had at least 10, 20, 50 [??] times since the past 10 years we've been together. 

 And that is in my inability to relax I make everyone else feel like they can't either. 

And darn it, I hate to be wrong.  I really, really do.  But I do know this is a problem, I would love to relax!  I see other Moms that can watch a TV show in the middle of the day without getting up halfway through because they feel guilty that there are dirty dishes in the sink and the kids are just laying around.  But maybe it's a sign that I'm just not letting go enough, keeping God in control and just enjoying the blessings he has been so gracious as to give me.  My children, my husband, our time together.  We have worked hard to have a schedule in which we get that ever precious commodity that just seems so hard to come by, time.  And do I really want to throw it away stressing about every thing that still won't get done?  

No, I know the answer but it's figuring out how to make my brain understand it as well. 

We learned recently at one of our marriage classes that men have a "Nothing Box."  Seriously.  Where they can just tune out and think of just that, nothing.  I have no grasp of that concept. 

I feel like 5 minutes in my brain is just a constant stream of what I am doing, need to be doing, just did, should be doing, or didn't have enough time to do yesterday.  And it shouldn't be that.  5 minutes in my mind should be praise, worship, adoration, thankfulness for all God has given me.  I will never have a perfect home, perfect children, or be perfect.  I don't aspire to be.  But I do aspire to be able to let go of the mess, to sit with my kids in the midst of piles of laundry and read books.  To be able to laugh with them at the mess we made in the kitchen instead of thinking about how tiring it will be to clean it all up.

So I'll keep trying.  Keep praying for God to grant me his grace once again.  

To continue to let go for the sake of those who love me, and for myself.

  To love myself enough to make it happen.  

That being said....I refilled all my Febreeze bottles today.  I have a slight obsession with Febreeze but that stuff can get pricey!  And I'm not willing to give up the freshness of Febreeze.  Especially not with a semi-potty training toddler running around.  Found a few different recipes on-line and kind of tweaked them to make the one I like best!  For now anyways. 

Home Made Febreeze

[About 25 cents a bottle compared to $5.00!]

This mixture fills up a 32 oz. bottle.

So if you have smaller ones, like I do, just halve it.

1/8 cup white vinegar

1/8 cup of your favorite fabric softener, I used what was on sale.

1 tbs. baking soda

1-2 drops Lavender Essential Oil, only if you want a Lavender smell.

Hot Tap Water

[1] Pour all your ingredients into the bottle.

[2] Fill with hot tap water.

[3] Shake & spray! 

Kid Quip of the Day:

On Sunday at church during communion.

Lily: Did they just say drink his blood?!?!

Me: Yeah, but it's Jesus' blood.

Lily: Oh ok, I'll do it for him. 

Easy Peasy! 5 in 5. 5 Fun Projects under 5 supplies!

I love projects.  Projects to do with my kids.  Projects to eat.  Projects to help me save money, to organize, to clean, etc.  I'm a project kind of girl.

Here are 5 really easy simple ones I have done in the past few days.

More to come. :) 

Try them out for yourself! 

1.  Easy bubble refills!

[1] Empty Container [2] Water [3] Original blue Dawn

The simplest of all the projects is making bubble refills.  I am constantly buying little containers of bubbles for the kids, they love them, they're fun and easy to do outside.  How can I say no?  

But moving back to Hawaii I'm realizing just how pricey this stuff can be so after buying the latest bubble installment of 2 bubble wands and they used them up in about 30 minutes I decided no more!

Besides the waste factor it's just so easy to do with something I already keep on hand, for stripping diapers, plant spray, etc.

Basically just mix the Dawn & water together, each container is a different size so the ratio will always be a little different but it's super easy to tweak.  Try and blow a bubble, didn't work?  Add more Dawn.

Now go have fun!

2. Banana Pops!

[1] Bananas, cut in half. [2] Popsicle Sticks [3] Melted Chocolate [4] Toppings

With all these easy projects they really are pretty self explanatory.  Something I like, sometimes I'm not in the mood to read directions and if I think I can figure it out on my own I'll usually try.

With these banana pops you just cut the bananas in half, insert a stick [be careful depending on how ripe your bananas are] dip in melted chocolate, chips warmed in the microwave work fine here & then sprinkle with whatever toppings you like!  I did chopped almonds for me and sprinkles for the kids.

Then you can either refrigerate them or freeze them depending on your mood.

I did fridge cause it's easier for the kids to eat.  Enjoy!

3.  Home made multi-purpose cleaner.

[1] Empty spray bottle [2] Citrus peel from one fruit [3] White distilled vinegar [4] Water

I have been looking for ways to save money all over, reduce waste in our home & environment and find some non-toxic ways to clean around all the babies.  Vinegar and citrus go great together!

After you eat a fruit, any kind will work and it will give the cleaner a slight smell, lime. orange. grapefruit. lemon.  Cut the peel into pieces that can be put into an empty bottle, make sure you don't have any of the fruit left on the peel, scrape it really well.

Add some white vinegar, a funnel is handy here if you have one.  I do enough to submerge the fruit about halfway and kind of use the end of the sprayer to poke the rest down.

Let that sit as long as you want, an hour or 24 if you feel like it.

Then fill the rest of the bottle with cold water and shake!

I actually don't know if this stuff "goes bad" I clean A LOT and my bottles are always empty before anything funky happens.  I haven't figured out a method to get the peels out of the bottle yet tho either......

4. Grape popsicles!

[1] Popsicle Molds [2] Halved red seedless grapes [3] White grape juice

Being ever thrifty this project is even a free one for us!  We get white grape juice & fruit vouchers on WIC.  Oh yes, thank you Women, Infant & Children.

Fill the popsicle molds with as many halved grapes as you want.  I like mine full because the frozen grapes are my favorite part, the kids only like a few.  Top off with the white grape juice & freeze!

A pretty healthy snack and nice when I'm sweltering to death 5 months pregnant in a 3rd story apartment with no air conditioning.  Boo.

5. Coffee Pot Fish Bowl

[1] Marbles, rocks, etc. [2] Water [3] Old Coffee Pot [4] Fish [5] Fish Food

This one really is as easy as it looks!  I cold brew all my coffee and someone had given us this coffee pot so I just put it away knowing eventually it would be good for something!  A few months later, someone gave us a pregnant guppy, now named Rainbow Dash, thank you Lily & that's the story! 

You can cut the cord off the coffee pot if that kind of thing makes you nervous, I just put tucked ours into the space for it on the back of the maker.  I took the filter out of the top too so I can store the fish food up there and there's no muss, no fuss!

Just keep swimming! 

 Then the LORD your God will make you most prosperous in all the work of your hands and in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your land. The LORD will again delight in you and make you prosperous, just as he delighted in your ancestors,
Deuteronomy 30:8-10