I always thought homemade ice cream was too much fuss, but it is so easy! I’m sure the more fancy you get the more there is to preparing the mixture, but generally speaking, it’s a piece of cake!
Also looking forward to trying the Coconut Sorbet.
The possibilities are endlesss….
Hope your Father’s Day Weekend is full of endless possibilities as well!
Looking forward to more backyard bikini watercoloring this summer!
*****
A few weekends ago my friend and neighbor, Hollie, did a lowcountry boil for her son’s 1st birthday. She’s a Southern gal from Georgia so she’s done a lot of these. I’d heard Paula Deen speak of a boil many times, but had never devoured one myself.
It was SO delish and so casual. You basically just pour it out and eat with your hands! So fun and summery.
Jay found a clam bake (which is similar to the boil) that can be done on the grill.
I’m the type of person that slips into a brief sadness after Christmas, a vacation (haven’t gone on one of those in awhile, though) or a series of exciting milestones (as we recently celebrated). It’s like a wedding…you plan and plan and then it’s all over within several hours. You know there is still so much to look forward to, but the initial quietness following the big event, for lack of a better word, is depressing.
I remember when this past holiday season ended and we welcomed in 2010, I felt like,”What are we going to have to look forward to until next Holiday Season?”
Well, duh! There is SO much to look forward to. Even if it’s not a birthday, or the Superbowl, or Valentine’s Day, or Easter, there are oodles of other events, both planned and spontaneous, that will pop up and fill our days with joy.
The year is almost halfway over.
It has been FAR more beautiful and exciting than I ever imagined. A reminder we can make each day or week special just by BEING.
With that said, I need to snap out of my post birthday/graduation/dance recital funk.
We’ve been having a quiet week at home and I am feeling a bit guilty that we aren’t out at the pool. Or at the park. Or at summer camp.
I’m not going to lie, I’ve felt A LOT of frustration this week. Kids not listening. 15 daily outfit changes (and they’re not mine, thanks!). Ants. Whining, arguing and climbing out of the cart while trying to pick up a few things at the grocery. Daring the Old Navy guy to tell me not to bring the Marshall’s cart in the store. No naps! My voice being at a much higher decibel than I’d like.
I’m missing the excitement and activities of last week. Visitors. Graduation. Dinner celebration. Making candy leis. A trip to the pool. Dance rehearsal. Beautiful recital. BBQ with friends. Etc.
I am all about packing a lot in and having a full calendar, but at the same time I enjoy days at home cleaning, organizing, doing laundry, listening to the little ones splash around in the water table out back, dancing around to our faves on iTunes and preparing dinner.
So, why am I having such a hard time this week?
I think it’s the pressure of Summer and the fact that we should be doing all sorts of fun things.
And we will.
This weekend is full of much to be happy about ~ Father’s Day, a matinee to see our friend Emilie perform in “Alice in Wonderland”, a Mommy “Bitch Bingo” Night, the maiden voyage with our new ice cream maker and just spending time as a family.
I can always get my groove back when I am reminded of all that we’ve had in the past, what we may (or may not) have presently and all that we have to look forward to in the future.
There will be busy weeks, boring weeks, fun days, not-so-fun days, but it all comes down to BALANCE.
{Google Images}
Must be the Libra in me.
Finding a healthy balance will always be what I strive for.
That is when I am in the groove.
However, Stella had the right idea…take a trip to Jamaica with a girlfriend.
Now THAT would definitely allow me to get my groove back.
Any takers?
*****
Flip Flop Fitness Update ~ 6.17.10
2 cups coffee with creamer: 4 points
3/4 cup Kashi cereal with 1/2 cup milk: 3.5 points
1 cup red seedless grapes: 1 point
Tuna salad on a sandwich thin: 5 points
Small Golden Spoon frozen yogurt (no topping): 4 points
1 cup ground turkey in lettuce wraps: 6 points
Total: 23.5 points
Workout:
Walked long route to clubhouse (1.5 miles)
32 minutes on elliptical @ 10 (3.o miles, 350 cals)
Another big milestone. I’ve been excited about it ever since I ordered her costume in February!
Her little class was assigned to the 9:00am show ~ yes, 9am on a Saturday! That translates to getting up real early which for me is fine because I do it every morning, but for a 5-year old who went to bed at 11pm the night before….it’s not fine.
She had an 8:30 check-in so I worked the timeline backwards in my head and decided she needed to be up around 6am. I know, I’m overly conservative with stuff like this. I don’t like to rush so I figured I needed plenty of time to curl her hair, apply her “make-up”, make sure all the ducks were in a row before I dropped her off with the backstage “babysitter” (who she later told me was Grandma Jean).
Needless to say, she was less than thrilled by her 6:15am wake-up call (I let her sleep in!).
After we successfully, yet not painlessly, got all the rollers in, we applied a little Mac StudioFix:
…some eyeshadow and mascara:
With each cosmetic would come more pouting and whining.
Once everything but the lipstick was applied, I told her “Now whatever you do, don’t touch your face” and turned my back for 20 seconds to grab the hairspray.
Well, what do crazy tired, grumpy kids do?
RUB THEIR EYES.
RIGHT AFTER PSYCHO PAGEANT MAMA JUST APPLIED THE MASCARA!!
Seriously, I went into scary pageant mama mode for a brief sec and I am not at all proud…
I jumped up and down (apparently that was my first involuntary reaction) and yelled, “What are you doing? You just totally messed up your mascara!”
I know. I know. Terrible Mom award right there.
Well, that made her tear up and make things worse.
So, I took a deep breath, grabbed some Q-tips and went over and told her that I loved her and that we will just pile on the blush and lipstick last minute and everything will be OK.
Honestly, I felt so stupid by the way I reacted. Jay witnessed the whole thing. I SOOO could not be a pageant mom.
I just wanted everything to be PERFECT.
And it was…
{She’s 5th from the left}
Overwhelmed by the barrage of flowers:
After the show, our friends hosted a bbq for the dancers.
The tutus were traded for two-pieces for a dip in the jacuzzi:
…but not for long:
They even reapplied their make-up after the swim!
Here is a close-up of the trophy BEFORE it broke into 2 pieces ~ $15 down the drain.
…and here is one tuckered out, vampy make-up wearin’, lollipop eatin’, rainboot wearin’ ballerina.
The title of this post was going to be “We Have Ourselves A Kindergartner!” and as I was typing the word “kindergartner” I thought, “That’s a weird word…I wonder where it came from and what it means.”
Thanks, Wikipedia for clearing that up. You can learn more about kindergarten than you ever needed to know here if you are totally bored and have NOTHING to do one day!
Nevertheless, we do have a kindergartner in the house.
She chose one of her fave restaurants for her special dinner:
…and opened a few gifts which included this:
{Somehow I think this lunch box is going to win out over the cute polka dot one I got her!}
The cherry on top wasn’t the one that sat upon the hot fudge sundae, but the JOY & HAPPINESS we all felt as we watched Elliott march out onto that parking lot in front of the crowd with grace and determination (after telling me, “I promise I won’t make silly faces like I did last time”), perform her songs, wear her cap and display her diploma, present us with her yearbook and wish all her little friends a “Happy Graduation” while handing them their leis.
Yes, she is ready for Children’s Garden and we can’t wait to see what’s waiting there for her to explore.
We love you, Miss Elliott. You make us SO very proud!
This morning was the much talked about 5-year old, pre-K visit to Dr. Yen, the pediatrician.
I was very up front with Elliott and we talked about the fact that she was going to get a boat load of shots for Kindergarten and there was no if’s, and’s or but’s about it.
It’s not an option.
You’ve got to do it.
We chatted about it for a couple months and she was ready. Telling everyone that she was going to get her shots “the day after tomorrow” and sport a cool band-aid.
After being measured (42″) and weighed (37#) she had her hearing tested and blood pressure taken:
Fortunately they serve up a cocktail of the varicella and MMR vaccine so she only got one “ouchie” today.
Next month it’s the polio & DTP and tuberculin skin test.
Lots of things to check off the list before the big “K”.
This visit didn’t slow her down one bit…she played and swam all afternoon, went to dance and is now 2 doors down with Emilie playing on the swing set and eating spaghetti!
It’s one of those at-home, housekeeping kind of mornings.
The place was trashed after the 3-day weekend.
One of those mornings where you feel accomplished just throwing a load of sheets and towels in the washer, pouring in the Gain, filling the Downey ball and turning on the machine.
Vacuuming along the baseboards with the newly found edging tool that was missing for weeks.
Finding homes for all the new Birthday goodies from generous family & friends.
Writing thank you notes for above mentioned goodies.
Weeding through the kids’ clothes ~ handing some down and donating others to Goodwill.
Stuff like that…
Although instead of whistling, we may have been singing and dancing along to this:
Hope your Wednesday is full of whistles, trying to carry a tune and dancing like nobody’s watching!
