Do you ever stand in an aisle of the grocery store overwhelmed by the choices?
20 different varieties of barbecue sauce to choose from. Chunky peanut butter. Creamy peanut butter. Peanut butter with honey. Reduced fat peanut butter. All natural peanut butter. Peanut butter and jelly in the same jar. And how many choices of jellies are there? Cereals? Breads? Salad dressings?
Choices. Choices. Choices. So many choices.
Millions of people would he happy with ONE choice of all these products.
Right now there are approximately 200,000 Sudanese people dying of starvation.
Their choices are bugs and leaves to sustain life.
Won’t you help my friend Jessica, her husband and their church raise money for meals for these children of God?
You can start by reading Jessica’s post on her blog here.
Or you can go here and help by choosing one, two or all of Julie’s darling printables… each $5 printable will supply EIGHTY THREE meals to the people of Sudan. Julie is donating 100% of the sales to Hope For Sudan.
I ordered three to spread around our home and constantly remind us of the following verse…
{one for Elliott’s room}
{one for Holden’s room}
{one for downstairs}
I {hope} you choose to forgo that Venti Frappucino or that Chipotle burrito and give those funds to provide dozens of meals to those in need. Return that extra pair of shorts or shoes that you went overboard on while shopping for school clothes.
In a life FULL of choices, often times it’s hard to remember that too many others do not even have a choice.
Did you know there’s an app for making really good friends?
Yes, it’s called Instagram!
Just by posting pictures and sharing fun little tidbits of your daily life on IG, you can {meet} some wonderful friends. And if you’re really lucky and live close enough, you can even eventually meet them in person. It’s crazy how you can feel like you’ve known someone for years just by making little comments on their photos or texting from time to time.
Several months ago I started following a friend of a friend because she has an eye for vintage, five beautiful daughters, and a weenie dog named Rodeo! Us wiener dog lovers need to stick together, right? She followed me back and we would comment on pictures of our hounds and make weenie jokes. After getting to know her, we discovered that we’re both Libras and I am 11 days older than she is ~ we won’t go into what year! {wink, wink}
Anywhoo, I went and stayed with Richelle in May while down in Mission Viejo for a fabulous Pioneer Woman Potluck hosted by my blogosphere friend turned real life friend, Julie. I met Julie last September at Blog Sugar. Joy’s Hope was one of the very first blogs I read and religiously followed. Julie makes it so easy to want to open up and share the happy things in life which is precisely why I wanted to start blogging myself. I am honored and thrilled to be able to have met her in real life. And because of Julie I was able to know Richelle, too! Social media really is so great.
This weekend Richelle and her two youngest {Kallihan & Kapri} came up to visit us for some pool time and concert in the park action. My kids were so excited to meet some new friends…we had some matching pajamas for the girls all ready and waiting on our guest bed with gift tags created by Elliott…
Friday afternoon’s weather was weird, so we went to see Brave.
We went for a night swim on Friday evening…
{captured by Richelle}
Saturday morning veg-fest…
New Cool Lime Refresher run before hitting the pool again Saturday morning….
{add 2 pumps coconut syrup to make it a tropical treat}
We packed up a picnic and headed to the concert in the park…Led Zepagain!
We sat around the table, sipped coffee and chatted on Sunday morning then had lunch at Souplantation before saying our sad good-byes…
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And of course, I love to entertain and cook for a crowd!
{new fave marinade/glaze for chicken ~ 2 tbsp. hoisin, 1/2 tsp. Chinese five-spice powder, 1 tsp. soy sauce and 1 tsp. vegetable oil. just coat chicken with it and grill or bake. from the July ’12 issue of Sunset, page 100}
I mixed up a little adult beverage to sip at the concert ~ vodka, Malibu, pineapple juice, blue curaçao and a splash of Sprite. {as seen in this post}
I’d not yet spotted these on Pinterest, but Richelle had, and quickly gathered the ingredients and got them in a 9X13 ASAP.
Apparently the brownie stuffed Oreos that were flying around the inter webs last year were not enough……
Just line a 9X13 pan with parchment paper. Spread packaged chocolate chip cookie dough on the bottom, followed by a layer of Oreos {preferably double stuffed} and then top off with boxed brownie mix prepared as directed. Bake at 350* for about 35 minutes or until a knife comes out clean. Cool completely {even refrigerate a little} before cutting.
Needless to say they were delish, but something to make very infrequently. They would be fun using the red Oreos during the holidays, too!
*****
All in all it was a fabulous weekend despite an ant problem in our kitchen, Rascal nabbing Kapri’s Ring Pop within the first 3 minutes and me completely losing my cool at the pool with Holden.
Melissa has provided the cute printables on the popsicle sticks so head on over to The Larson Lingo and see how these terracotta cuties come together!
We have a large succulent that I’m going to snip a smaller shoot off of and plant it in yellow spray painted pots for Elliott & Holden’s teachers to look something like this…
Going with a yellow {you are our sunshine} theme…just pick up some fun yellow goodies, stick them in a festive gift bag or basket and spread sunshine as your favorite teachers head out to enjoy their summers.
I’ve saved a couple six pack containers and will decorate them like I did for Elliott’s dance teacher last year…
…stick everything in the openings and create a little caddy.
I love this Katie Daisy print and found the cards to round out the sunny theme…
I’m also making the office staffs my favorite sugar cookie bars, sprinkling with yellow sanding sugar, tucking them in cellophane bags and tying with ribbon.
*****
Just 7 more days left…
How about you, is school out for you or are you not quite in full blown summer mode yet?
If you’re on Instagram you can report your daily progress there with hashtag #40milesinjune and cheer on your fellow participants. If you’re not on IG and you want to commit to 40 miles, put a little chart on your fridge and tally your miles there. Or maybe grab a Mason jar and 40 marbles and drop one in every time you complete a mile! It’s 1.3 miles a day {or just a wee bit more since it’s already June 2nd!}.
1.3 miles is nothing…a little after dinner stroll. A pick-me-up walk on your lunch hour with co-workers. A walk to or from school with your kids instead of driving. An early morning jaunt before it gets too warm.
Run or walk…doesn’t matter. I’m even going to claim elliptical or treadmill miles! Shoooooot.
I just squeezed in 3 miles before we head to a graduation party this afternoon and I’m truly looking forward to getting out tomorrow and doing the same.
I love Marta’s slogan too ~ “Strong Is The New Skinny!”
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.
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.
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.
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.
It looked like {fun} so I told myself I’d do it this year…
I have absolutely NO upper body strength so I was nervous about a few of the obstacles…namely the 8 foot rope wall at the END of the course.
When you are completely exhausted and out of fuel.
But I forged ahead and told myself that I just wanted to finish.
And survive.
And not have to be taken out on a stretcher.
And have fun.
It was a gorgeous morning on the lake.
Jay was a rockstar. He did the 10K and made it look like a walk in the park.
My friend Vicki and I did the 5K and made it look like I don’t know what {at least I did!}
In our corral…completely oblivious to what was ahead!
I would say the first 1/2 to 3/4 of the 5K was UP hill. Brutal. We started out around 10:45 so it was getting warm already. Made it through the first two obstacles no prob, a net crawl and scaling a short wall. Then came the ascent up a LARGE mountain. Like LARGE. Like you could see the trail of people WAY up above and ask yourself “Is that where we’re going?” large, but there was no turning back…just one foot in front of the other. Might I add that we had to drop and do 20 push-ups halfway up the mountain. Once at the top, the next obstacle was a huge inflatable slide that you had to climb up. I was extremely graceful going down the slide until I shot off the end of it onto the ground! Nice. After a mini mud crawl, we began our descent to the finish.
{How many Marines does it take to get a girl over the climbing wall? Tough!}
{Lake wade}
This was the best part…
We survived!
Two dirty mamas!
Our proof ~ dog tag medal…
*****
There you have it ladies and gents.
Wasn’t purty, but I did it.
Would I do it again?
Yes, but I’d want to be in MUCH better shape and several pounds lighter.