Breakfast Smoothies & Popsicles

via bridgetown blog

I've started making breakfast smoothies for the kids again.  They've been gobbling them up and I feel good knowing that they're filled with all things good-- fruit, veggies & protein.  And the best part?  The leftovers become popsicles!

So easy and nutritious too-- especially with a handful of spinach thrown in.  The kids have no idea since the blueberries mask the telltale green.

I don't have a "set" recipe, but I do try to include 3 kinds of fruit (at least 2 should be frozen), 1 vegetable and 1 or 2 proteins. 

fruit ideas:
frozen banana
handful fresh/frozen blueberries
handful fresh/frozen strawberries
handful fresh/frozen peaches
handful frozen mango
handful apple chunks
kiwi

veggie ideas:
1 handful of spinach (use blueberries to mask green)
1 handful shredded carrots (good with mango)
1 handful chopped zucchini (if unskinned, use blueberries to mask green)

protein ideas:
1-2 scoop of vanilla protein powder with 5 oz water, juice or milk
yogurt
milk
flaxseed meal

if needed:
vanilla to taste
honey to taste

Today's creation:

these 70's tupperware popsicle molds bring back good childhood memories!

This particular batch has the following goodies:

1 cup yogurt
1.5 cups fresh spinach
1.5 cups frozen strawberries
1 cup frozen mango
1/2 cup frozen blueberries
1 frozen banana
1 cup milk
1 scoop of protein powder

And when the kids start bothering me for candy and cookies, what do you think they get?

they think they're getting away with murder!

Banana Moon

Children are amazing little individuals, and  to view life through their eyes is one of life's joys.  Tonight, as we were standing outside, Happy Vee looked up and exclaimed "Mama!  Banana moon!"  I looked up and saw this...

source

The crescent moon does resemble a banana!  I'll never forget his excitement... He's never mentioned the moon before and to make that connection is pretty sweet.  

Beautiful Children's Art - Sarah Jane Studios

Have you seen the beautiful artwork from Sarah Jane Studios?  Mad, mad love...


First I saw this print and was enamored...

 ~le ballon~

perfect for Happy Vee who loves balloons

Then I saw this one ...

~oh happy day~

this would be so cute in the playroom

and this one...

~whale dreams~

perfect for the kid's sea-themed bathroom

and then this one...

~Freedom~

i would be all over this if i had a girl

and then this darling family tree...

So it seemed like destiny when I browsing around again on Sarah Jane Studio shop on Etsy,  and saw that she has a buy 2, get 1 free deal going on through July 16th.

So I quickly snapped up Le Ballon, Whale Dreams and... after long consideration Oh Happy Day.  I was seriously considering Freedom, but then the stars would have to align along with a solar eclipse and meteor shower.  For the sake of the neighbors, I decided to play it safe.   ☺

Vintage Tags

When I was dreaming up Happy Vee's Funny Lil' Man Party, I wanted to incorporate a simple, vintage feel... while also being realistic--  As much as I love the idea of fresh lemonade being served in mason jars, I don't think that anything glass would bode well with the 2-4 year old crowd.  Lately I've been seeing  kids parties with color-coordinated drinks being served in glass jars and bottles... Maybe they're meant for the adults, but I'm thinking those colorful & breakable lovelies would surely fall into the hands of a child (they always seem to know what the good stuff is!)   I don't know about you, but just the thought of young children running around with glass gives me anxiety!

So instead of glass, I turned to paper and fabric.  A few months ago I saw these awesome manila tags on Creature Comforts blog. I saved the idea knowing that it would come in handy some day.

side note:   if you haven't already, you need to check out her blog ... she has some great project ideas as well as some beautiful printables that are free! 

Here's how my tags turned out~

I didn't need that many, so I printed out the manila tag template that is provided on the Creature Comforts site. Ready made manila tags  are also available at office supply stores or you could also cut out your own tags using a spare manila file folder and paper hole reinforcements (remember those from back in the day?)

I used fabric scraps leftover from this year's Easter Basket project and with a quick swipe with the pinking shears and a little modge podge, the tags were almost complete.

The coup de grace was this typewriter font that I found for free.  I printed it out on white cardstock, cut it out and glued it onto the tag with modge podge.  I think the font looks pretty authentic!

I finished off the project by tying on the tags with bakers twine.  Seriously love bakers twine... this is what happens when you're easily swayed by all the lovelies that blogland has to offer!☺

linked to:

between naps on the porch

someday crafts

somewhat simple

the CSI project

the blackberry vine

Rainbows

How was your weekend?  Our weekends are usually predictable and never long enough, but for some reason, this weekend was jam-packed with all things good. 

lunch at a french cafe with good friends

the macarons were begging to come home with me (yum!)

an unexpected rain shower that graced us with a double-rainbow

(rain in july?  in southern california? what's going on?)

date night (woo hoo!) and dinner with  friends on the lake

a relaxing and beautiful afternoon at the getty villa

(more photos to come!)

I think I'm reenergized enough to tackle Monday!

Pardon Our Dust

Just when we'd forgotten about the headache that comes along with contractors and home improvement, The Mister got a call from one of the guys that did some of the woodwork in our house.

::BEFORE::

Eight months ago he quoted us a price to frame-out the 2 small niches in our rotunda.  We thought the price was too high and promptly forgot about it.  Well, he called The Mister 2 weeks ago with a much lower price (50% lower actually) and said it would be a 2-3 day job with minimal mess... 

Well, it turned out to be an 8 day job with lots of paint dust... covering every room in the house-- furniture, window treatment, artwork, beds and all the floors & carpet. It's such a small area to paint, maybe the paint sprayer was overkill??  Or perhaps a makeshift tent so paint residue doesn't end up covering our belongings and lungs??

The topper was that he used the wrong color paint (gray white instead of pure white), then touched up some of our floorboards with that paint.  Now our floorboard look dirty!  I guess we're going to have to add "painting floorboards" to our lengthy to-do list!

Could be worse, but I've spent the last couple of days dusting and vacuuming, and I'm still finding white residue...

Thank goodness for good help!

I'll be back later with photos of the finished product!

Alaskan Cruise - Juneau, you know?

Part II of our Pacific Northwest Adventure-  We were the first cruise ship to arrive in Juneau since September 2009, so this was "opening day" for Juneau's tourist season.  Many of the restaurants and shops that were shuttered over the long winter were scrambling to reopen in time.  Being the capital city, I was surprised how small and quaint Juneau is-- although they do have excellent cell service due to all the government facilities located nearby.  I love small towns... I hope it never turns "metro".

juneau, alaska - view from our balcony at 7:00 AM

Instead of buying a "shore excursion" through the ship (the prices are ridiculously inflated), we easily found a bunch of tour companies on the pier when we disembarked.  Since we have young kids, we didn't go for more adventurous tours like helicopter rides or dog sledding.  We instead chose the more kid friendly tour of Juneau and Mendenhall Glacier.

view of our ship from across the bay

(where did Smarty Pants learn to pose like that?)

   

   

Happy Vee wanted to run around and was not happy to be packed-up in the beco baby carrier.

safety first, little man!

 

 my first thought when i saw the glacier-- wow, the ice really is blue!

(i know,i'm scientific like that.)

such a beautiful and calming sight.

  

it saddens me to learn that the glacier has receded greatly in the last decade or so.

global warming is the real deal and can no longer be ignored.

~♥♥♥~

After our Glacier tour, we decided to ride the gondola to the top of Mount Roberts.  The Mt. Roberts Tramway is located conveniently on the pier.  Again, no need to pre-order tickets through the cruiseline-- it's ridiculous how they "scare" people into making reservations, then jack the price up 3 times over.

 

view from the base

up...

up...

and away! 

beautiful vantage point

birdseye view of juneau (bottom right) 

 

aw, brotherly love!

au revoir juneau...

Next Stop: Ketchikan