huzzah!
This littlest love is so sweet. This weekend is all about celebrating mamas and as crazy as I feel sometimes, I’m so thankful to be a mama. I’m also thankful to be blessed with my wonderful mom and mother-in-law who I have learned lots from. They are both full of so much love and wisdom and I’m thankful for the influence they have had in my life!
This week’s learned, links, and thankfulness…
Glow has officially moved out of her infant car seat into a convertible one. After using the same car seat for all 4 girls, that thing is getting kicked to the curb. It’s kind of a sad moment.
True has moved up into a booster seat, hence why Glow gets the new car seat.
I think the girls have learned that I mean business when I say something.
Brave is ready to graduate to the next level of swim class. YAY!
6.5ers these nude sandals are sweet for only $18 and 7.5ers these sandals are cute and only $13!
I love all the well curated kid items from Salvage Life! My girls would love it all!
Thankful for my girls who still excited about Mother’s Day even though my crazy mom moments should probably exempt me from the holiday.
Thankful for being able to talk about God, Christ, and forgiveness with them and how excited they got to hear my pray.
I’m thankful for the weekend. We get to catch up on projects, go on another adventure (trying to do more with the kids), gather with church family, and then celebrate the mothers in our lives. I’m kind of excited about my breakfast in bed tomorrow morning! Hope you mamas out there have the happiest day on Sunday!!! xoxo
family meals: week 39
Pan Seared Tuna with Kale and Chorizo. The recipe calls for hake, but we didn’t have that so we used tuna, and it also called for chorizo, but we used soy-rizo instead. Another change we did is instead of mashed potatoes, we did mashed cauliflower. It all tasted good together, but I don’t think it’s a recipe that I will make again. We just weren’t wild about it. We got the fish from my mom and dad who went to the port to get some fresh seafood over the weekend, so I wanted to use up the fish she gave us and things we already had. Our garden has lots of kale, so I googled kale and fish and this recipe came up.
Week 5/13 – 5/17
Monday: Kale Noodle Bowl with Avocado Miso Dressing
Tuesday: Chicken Enchiladas
Wednesday: Leftovers
Thursday: Sandwiches (swim nights are usually easy meals)
Friday: Sushi night
Sometimes I don’t always follow our weekly meal plan because things will come up (or I forget to give Ben the grocery list), but they still provide a little bit of guidance on what to make. I’m looking for more vegetarian dishes to cook, so if you have any good recipes to recommend, I would love to hear it!
and the crazy woman came out again
Yesterday was one of those days. The crazy woman in me came out again. The day went mostly well, we were done with homeschooling by lunch time, then the girls spent the afternoon playing and I was cleaning. We were all excited because we were going to hang out with church family that night and have a bonfire (with s’mores of course!). Well then by 4:30 our plans (well, the ones I had in my mind) started unravelling. I had planned to leave at 4:45 pm, so I told them to get dress at 4:30 (yeah, we were still in our pajamas at that point), well, 15 minutes later they still weren’t dressed, and another 15 minutes passed and they still weren’t done (and just playing), so now I’m kinda frustrated at this point and was yelling like a mad woman that we weren’t going anymore. Ugh! I was so frustrated with myself! Brave was crying because she really wanted to see her friends and I was feeling bad because maybe I was too drastic about it. But I had already told them we weren’t going and as much as I wanted to just take them because they were so excited, I knew I had to stick with what I said.
Eventually, the girls calmed down and we went about our evening like normal (we didn’t go), but man I was feeling crummy for reacting so badly. Ben was working late so it had been an especially long day for me, but even still, it was no excuse and I was so mad at myself for being such a crazy mama. It definitely put me in no mood to blog because what was I was going to do? Come to this place and be all sunshines and rainbows. Yeah right! I was definitely not feeling any sunshines and rainbows. At the end of the day, I just wanted to crawl under a shell and hide forever. I was exhausted.
Thankfully, a new day came this morning and I had a talk with my girls about how I behaved badly and I was able to ask for their forgiveness. We all talked about good and bad choices, Christ and forgiveness, then we prayed together. I’m thankful for their forgiving spirits and their continuous showering of affection towards their sometimes crazy mama. And if you feel like a crazy mama from time to time, I’m here to tell you, you’re not alone! As difficult as these crazy and overwhelming moments are, it’s all part of the parenting package and as my mom tried to remind me today, “Soak this time in, it goes fast.” So through all the frustrating and happy chaos, I’ll keep trying to do just that.
tilapia ceviche on crispy wontons
Tilapia Ceviche on Crispy Wontons
adapted from this recipe
Ingredients:
1. 2 avocados
2. 1 medium tomato
3. 1 lime
4. Habañeros finely chopped (we used 6 because we like it that spicy, but unless you like it pipin’ hot, maybe just use 1)
5. 1 small red onion finely chopped
6. 1 package of wonton wrappers
7. 1 tbsp sesame oil
8. 1 pound of sashimi grade tilapia
9. 2 tbsp rice vinegar
10. 1/2 tbsp fish sauce (can do without it if you don’t have any)
11. 1 bunch of chopped cilantro
12. Salt to taste
Chop up the avocados, tomato, habañeros, onion, tilapia, and cilantro and toss together (note the finely chopped items in the ingredients list). Continue to add in the rice vinegar and fish sauce, and mix well. Sprinkle with salt (about 1/2 tsp – 1 tsp should do it) and squeeze the lime juice on top. Mix, cover, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
Set the oven to 350 degrees F and lightly brush each side of the wonton with sesame oil, and then lay each piece separately onto a baking sheet. Watch the wontons carefully as they can burn pretty fast, but generally it takes about 4-8 minutes (depending on your oven) to get them crispy. Once they turn a nice golden brown, take them out of the oven and allow them to cool. Top your wontons with the tilapia ceviche and enjoy!
her seventh breakfast in bed
Here she is, my biggest girl, the head honcho of the sisters (though #3 often tries to take the job away), and she is finally getting her 7th birthday breakfast in bed. We’ve been doing this tradition since she was one, but it started in my family when my parents were doing this for us since I was a kid. Our biggest gal is quite the creative gal. She’s always reading, drawing, and crafting. Every day she wants a new project to do. It’s always, “Mommy, can we make something today?” True has been planning this birthday of hers since August and she had lots of very specific requests, so we started off the day with her first one… the dolphin shaped pancakes (made by Ben!).
When I asked her what she wanted for her birthday, besides her request for a party (and all the specifics to go in it), she said, “Anything swimming, ocean, or mermaid.” Then she followed that up with, “You can just make me something mommy!” So make is what I did.
I ended up making her a mermaid doll and had Ben drill a hole in a little seashell the girls collected, and sewed that onto her head. She came out looking pretty sweet and quirky. I just knew True would love her. Then, we were going to get her another bathing suit, but then I came across these turquoise glittery sandals (for $10!) at the store, which seemed mermaid-ish, so I got that for her as well (we ended up not giving her a bathing suit).
With everything I had made, I was kind of thinking she needed a special birthday dress because having a special birthday dress is a must, right?! This was totally a last minute idea. I remembered I had this Heather Ross fabric from her “Mermaids” line that I have been holding onto for at least 3 years, so I took that out and went off into dress making. I kind of mimicked this dress I made for myself long ago, and thankfully it all came out fantastic on my first try. Good thing, because I wouldn’t have had anymore fabric had I messed up. We gave her all her gifts during breakfast and she was quite happy and thankful for all of it. We also gave her her first real Bible now that she is such an avid reader. It’s sweet because she’s been reading bits of it at night with Ben.
NEWER
