Family
2012 Summer To-Do List
For the past two summers we have drafted up a to-do list to keep us busy during the short 8 weeks off before school starts again. It’s a treat to have new things to look forward to and check them off as we experience them.
Here is a peek at the 2010 list and the 2011 list.
This summer we plan to…
1. Visit the Skirball Center
{Noah’s Ark Exhibit}
2. Order pizza delivery for dinner at the pool
{this one is rolling over from last year’s list}
3. Coconut Pancakes in pajamas with friends
4. Dive-in Movie at the Aquatics Center
5. Art/craft project once-a-week
6. OC Beach Day
8. Cherry Picking in the Leona Valley
9. Summer Blessing Bags
10. Random Acts of Kindness at 7-11
{treating a few unsuspecting customers to some Slurpees}
11. Minor League Baseball Game
12. 1st Annual {Back To School Eve} Family Dinner
{as inspired by Erin over at Bringing Up Burns}
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We look forward to squeezing all these activities in along with our usual summer favorites ~ concerts in the park, lazy pool days, homemade ice cream, early morning park visits and trips to Golden Spoon. This year is bittersweet as Holden will be starting his elementary career as a big kindergartner. No more casual weekday play dates and lounging in pajamas on non-school days!
With that said, we will enjoy every last minute with these littles before the homework, spelling tests and sight words resume.
What are YOUR plans for Summer 2012?
Celebrating Seven
May 29, 2005
May 26, 2012
*****
The happiest of birthdays to you, Elliott Elizabeth Aspiras!
Our hip hoppin’, orange chicken lovin’, cartwheelin’, picture drawin’, chapter book readin’, mermaid swimmin’, knock knock joke tellin’, brown eyed girl is {seven} today.
We’re so lucky to have you in our lives and we hope that your birthdays are happier and happier with each passing year ~ that is always our wish for you!
We love you to the moon and back a million times,
Mama, Daddy, Holdy, Riggs & Rascal
XOXO
Gently
This afternoon I searched the garage for some old water balloons and the little do-hickey that goes over the outdoor faucet to make filling them easier. I was fortunate to find both and spent a good 30 minutes perfecting my balloon filling and tying skills and getting ready for summer.
The kids gently tossed the balloons back and forth ~ one thing is for sure….30 minutes filling = 5 minutes to break. NOT a good ratio, but they had fun and that’s all that matters. They then resorted to filling the bucket and tossing that onto each other.
Summer has definitely been teasing us this weekend.
Sleepovers.
Gentle warm breezes.
Grills being lit up.
Sorbet recipes being googled.
Corn being spotted in all the grocery stores.
Fun foods and cool beverages being pinned on The Big P.
Taking in these last few weeks before school is out and I officially have a kindergartner and a second grader…
*****
And today we are sitting still and gentle…thinking about and remembering ALL who have served, are currently serving and will serve our country.
Praying for those who are waiting for their loved ones to return and praising those who did not return.
This day is for YOU.
Happy Memorial Day!
For love of country they accepted death. ~ James A. Garfield
Splash ~ A Mermaid Party
Phew.
Another birthday party down in the books…this makes party number twelve between the two kiddos. I LOVE planning their little parties ~ this year for Elliott we decided to do a small sleepover to celebrate turning SEVEN.
She decided on a mermaid theme and I was immediately on board! Give this mama a theme and she’s immediately in action…scouting out little goodies, trinkets and treasures.
I found the invites at Marshall’s for $3.99! They came with 8 invites and 8 thank you notes…since we were keeping party small this year, these totally worked.
Elliott wanted to go to the pool with her friends which totally made sense. The weather here had been HOT for weeks, but the day of her party was supposed to be in the high 60s/low 70s! I thought about canceling the pool, but the mermaids suited up and spent about 2 hours swimming, jumping, splashing and diving.
{Matching nightgowns from Target for 50% off were part of their goody bag…they showered, shampooed and got in their jammies before we headed home}
{I also found some cute shell bracelets at our local drug store for 75% off months ago}
{The seahorse bowls and plates were from a random Kmart visit ~ 75% off before Christmas. These also went home with each guest}
{Above the table, on a big branch, I hung some Dollar Tree paper lanterns and a few jellyfish made and handed down from my friend, Mia}
{my mom made these seashell jars last summer and I filled them with Dum Dums}
The food was fun and easy…
{eating sushi after the pool}
{my four-legged [octodogs] didn’t quite look like the ones on Pinterest}
I invited the mamas over for drinks and appetizers, too. I threw together a quick 7-layer dip and picked up a sushi platter at Trader Joe’s. My neighbor, Sun, brought some Korean BBQ on a skewer ~ yum!
The mama mermaids sipped what I called Mermaid Tail Martinis ~ Vodka, Malibu, pineapple juice, blue curacao {shake that in a cocktail shaker and pour into a martini glass} add a splash of Sprite and float a mango mochi on top. I premixed a pitcher of the drink and then shook it with ice as needed. Do not add the Sprite before shaking because of the carbonation. Ratio: 2 cups vodka, 2 cups Malibu, 2 8.45 ounce cans {or the equivalent} pineapple juice, 1 ounce blue curacao. Makes 8-10 servings. The mochi can be found at Trader Joe’s and is like a little ball of ice cream.
The mochi sort of melts into the drink and makes it creamy. One mochi lasts for about two drinks…there are only six mochi to a pack so I needed to stretch them out and it worked perfectly for each guest to have one.
The cake was just a four layer cake with vanilla cream cheese buttercream. The girls also had Elliott’s favorite cotton candy push pops.
{candy sushi made with halved powdered donuts and rice krispie treats topped with a Swedish fish and then wrapped with a strip of fruit by the foot [I used Market Pantry brand from Target]}
{they drank blue lemonade out of little plastic coconuts from Dollar Tree}
The mamas left around 9:00 or so and then we were on our own to get the girls to bed! I cleaned up the kitchen while they watched their favorite Disney Channel shows and all four were asleep by 11:00pm ~ I was shocked.
7:00am wake up call courtesy of Holden!
I told Elliott she could choose any cereal she wanted and she decided on Fruit Loops…a special birthday treat. She also wanted monkey bread, but wanted to call it {mermaid bread}.
After breakfast, they lined up and I did glitter nails with polish from her friend, Emilie…
I also borrowed a mermaid cardboard cutout that my friend Mia also did for her twins’ recent mermaid luau party and we took some fun pics before the girls headed home…
*****
Not gonna lie…I was exhausted at 11:00am Sunday morning when the little mermaids swam back to their mamas!
But it was the perfect little homespun birthday celebration and I loved every minute of the planning.
Screaming/giggling/singing/dancing first graders are lots of fun.
Jay & I survived our first sleepover!
Tomorrow is the REAL birthday for my {almost} Memorial Day baby.
Where do the years go?
Pinky Up
Mother’s Day weekend was fabulous.
Special cards and handmade gifts from the two that made me a mama. Pedicures. Meals treated to by Gramma and prepared by Jay. Mango margaritas. Homemade Cake Batter ice cream. Beautiful Mother’s Day mass. Fancy tea at a local tea house. Pool time. Taking a nap under an open window letting through a cool breeze.
It was just what I needed.
Here are some Mama’s Day moments…
{vanilla rooibos}
{clotted cream}
{beautiful words}
{the scones were my fave ~ with clotted cream and blackberry preserves}
{petit fours and other miniature desserts}
{my mama, aka gramma}
{mama and her babies ~ elliott was upset they didn’t serve pancakes!}
*****
I LOVE high teas. I wish I could attend/have them weekly, but enjoying them only once in a while for special occasions maintains their charm, I think.
I have fond memories of each and every tea I have attended…to name a couple, The Empress Hotel in Victoria and The Hotel Del Coronado. Holden’s Baby Shower was held at the cutest little tea house in Gilroy, Jordan Rose Tea Haven, which is no longer in business unfortunately, but that is one special day that I will never forget.
This Mother’s Day Tea was no exception…once we diverted Elliott’s attention away from pancakes and found a butterscotch scone, all was well with the world.
Thanks babe, for the special treat.
Putting up my pinky and sipping with four of my favorite people made me feel like royalty!
P.S. Jay made beef kebab and saffron rice for din din…
It was delish, babe. Thanks, again & again!
XO
Cartwheels
Hi friends!
Again, so sorry I haven’t checked in for much of this week. Just taking care of business, I guess…sometimes the days can become monotonous, but then again the routine and structure is what I feel works best.
Always trying to find the {perfect} balance between homework, play dates, activities, chores, down time, etc.
Last night I went and signed up both kiddos for AYSO. This will be our first year and I am very excited about it. Holden was placed on a wait list because for his age group there aren’t enough coaches. I was a little bummed because he is the one that I most wanted to get signed up! Elliott does dance and has CCD so adding soccer is a little bit of a stretch, but we are more than willing to make it work. I was told that if I volunteered as a coach, Holden would automatically have a place on a team. I sort of laughed because I have not played a game of soccer in my life…maybe in PE back in the day, but soccer was not one of the sports I participated in as a kid. I think it is a fantastic sport and I am so thrilled that both Elliott and Holden are equally excited about it. After Elliott’s evaluation last night, the guy mentioned that all I would have to do to become a coach is read a book or something and become certified and run a 1 hour a week practice, blah, blah, blah. I was thinking my services would be more along the line of hair bow making or fancy post-game snack assembling, but I drove off with a little voice in the telling me, “Maybe you SHOULD be a coach”.
Am I crazy?
I will keep it on the back burner, but in the meantime I will pray that a more qualified soul will come forth and volunteer to coach another BU6 team.
*****
Speaking of cartwheels, this week has also be sprinkled with a little bit of summer agenda drawing up ~ scheduling weekly camps for Holden and coordinating gymnastic day camps for Elliott. For me, I try to have them be at an activity AT THE SAME TIME so that I can maintain my summer sanity and have a little alone time. Sometimes I feel guilty about this, but then I overhear a mama {raising her voice} at her kids in Target and I realize that {I am not the only one}…always a welcome feeling when it comes to parenting.
I also completed our 2012 Summer To-Do List that I will be sharing here real soon. We have done this the past two years and have really enjoyed it. You can read about that here and here.
*****
Anywhoo….just cartwheeling through our weeks making sure we don’t forget anything! Somedays I feel like there is so much to remember and I worry that something will slip by…anyone else feel like that?
This weekend I look forward to a 3-generation pedicure, a formal Mother’s Day tea that Jay so sweetly arranged and taking a wee break to sit back and enjoy the beauty of motherhood.
What about you? What are you up to?
XO
Anchors Aweigh
Santa Monica on a Saturday morning.
Some of my favorites…
This little nautical inspired photo shoot certainly got us thinking about beach days to come…
Almost time to pull up the anchor and sail into summer!
Smooth Sailing
Hi friends!
Happy Humpday.
Hope your week has been smooth so far. Mine has been drama-free thus far and I have been able to get up to the gym the last couple nights which was always good for me and seems to make life smoother.
Last week I {invented} a little breakfast smoothie with one of my new finds via Instagram. A friend posted some {Cookie Butter} from Trader Joe’s during Lent and I immediately fetched a jar to enjoy on/after Easter! It is fabulous alone on a spoon, on bagels, Ezekiel toast and graham crackers, but I thought I’d incorporate it into a smoothie in place of peanut butter and see what happened!
{Cookies & Cream} and Banana Smoothie
You will need: 2 cups crushed ice, 1/2 cup almond coconut milk, 1/2 cup plain low fat yogurt, 1 banana, 1 tbsp ground flax {flax meal} and 1 tbsp. TJ’s cookie butter
Place all into a blender and blend ’til smooth!
Pour into a glass, add a straw and enjoy!
*****
And speaking of {sailing}, we plan to take a quick little trip to the beach this weekend.
Last time we went to the beach {in January!} Jay captured some cute pics of the kids just frolicking in the sand…this time I wanted to plan a little better with their wardrobes and hair and have a little Nautical inspired photo shoot at the shore.
I had originally picked up the anchor tee for a gift for a little girl….when the guy rang it up, it came up as boy’s. I thought it’d be cute on Holden so I set out to find something complementary for Elliott and stumbled upon this little striped number with the big bow on the shoulder. Both of them will wear rolled up jeans and bare feet ~ I think it’ll be perfect for some fun photos to get us excited for summer.
*****
Make the most of the rest of your week…Saturday and Sunday will be here before you know it!
XO
UNO
Happy Thursday!
{UNO} more day ’til the weekend…thank goodness.
If you are at a loss of what to make for dinner tonight, tomorrow night or over the weekend, may I suggest this?
: Farfalle with asparagus, caramelized onions, mushrooms and goat cheese :
From Pinterest, but I added asparagus, used smaller mushrooms and used farfalle as my pasta cut of choice.
Was super yum and our dinner last Saturday night before the infamous mud run!
Jay requested pasta and I was happy to click through my Pinterest boards and find something to help us get our carb on.
If you love all things goat cheese, you must make this.
Enjoy!