Tilapia Ceviche on Crispy Wontons. We eat this almost every Friday night. It’s Ben’s most favorite thing to eat and I put in like 8 habaneros, so to say it’s spicy is an understatement. This particular batch had so much fire that I had sweat on my cheeks and nose (and I never sweat), but I still kept on eating because it’s just that good (and we love spicy that much!).

Week of 4/28 – 3/3
Monday: Homemade pizza
Tuesday: Seafood Pasta
Wednesday: Honey-Lime Sweet Potato, Black Bean and Corn Tacos
Thursday: I’m going to make enough Wednesday, to have some for Thursday
Friday: Sushi night

This week was totally different from our norm since I flew in late Monday night, then Ben worked late Tuesday, Wednesday was a quick dinner because we wanted to work in the garden, and then Thursday was kind of like our Friday, since Ben didn’t work Friday. We also didn’t have Dinner Club this week because our friends are off in Hawaii, so I only officially cooked once this week. I did make the girls a meal on Tuesday night, but it was one of those quick-whip-whatever-is-lying-around-in-the-fridge kind of thing. What’s your normal meal planning look like?

Today, my biggest girl turns 8, so we’re celebrating just the way she requested. We are making sure there is lots of fun on the agenda, and I can’t believe we’ve got two years until double digits… that makes me nervous!

This week’s learned, links, and thankfulness…

Love this DIY cloud lamp.

This vintage phone photo would make such a cool poster.

A perfect summer bag.

The bus roof has been raised! I love following Katie’s bus to home transformation!

Waiting 4 hours at the airport gave me time to answer emails. I’m soooo thankful for that! I had no problem with having a delayed flight.

Oh my gosh! SCANDAL! #totallyteamjake

Love seeing my busy bodies Soul and Brave making presents for their big sisters birthday.

Had fun meeting Summer, Holly, and Ashley on Monday. Such a great group of gals and I love the cool things they do on their blogs! You should check it out…

It’s almost May, that means it’s almost time for my book to come out! AHHH!!! Did you order it yet?! Don’t forget, if you pre-order, you can get a special pack. If you’re overseas and pre-ordered, email me, and I think we can figure something out to get you that pack. Order it here or at any of the other places listed on my sidebar.

Happy weekend friends!

After running errands one afternoon, the girls and I went to check out a new park that opened up near us. It’s a massive park, well not Central Park massive, but suburban massive. It’s just a whole lot of green, a lot of field, and would be fun to ride bikes on the designated bike paths. Note to self: time to teach True and Brave how to ride a two-wheeler (must buy one first). We brought bubbles with us and though half of it spilled in the car (on them), they still had fun blowing what was left over.

True had been asking me a for a long dress (she likes to copy me and I have a couple maxi dresses I wear all the time), so I’m glad they’re in style right now with the kiddos and Old Navy had this one to try out. Brave isn’t much into dresses these days, so I knew this romper would be perfect for her, with a Spider-Man hat of course. Soul loves skirts, as long as they’re short, and the baby, well, she’s fine with anything, just don’t try to take her bubbles away.

I’ve got a couple parenting books I’m currently going through, and one was reminding me that when I think of my kids as a “handful,” or the phrase, “You’ve got your hands full,” to think of it as a handful of blessings. I don’t know about you, but when I hear “handful” in reference to kids, I automatically think of the chaos. This week, I’ve been trying to rework my brain to think of “handful” as blessings. I know they are, but on those days when it’s all about survival and trying to get to bedtime, I forget. I don’t want to forget, and I want to constantly grow in wisdom and be more loving, and cherish these crazy moments. Hence, the reading of parenting books. We need more days like this when we go out to blow some bubbles and pick some flowers because it really does all of us so much good.

on me: dress, thrifted (altered here). shoes, thrifted. on true: maxi dress and sun hat, c/o old navy. shoes, salt-waters. on brave: railroad striped romper and superhero cap, c/o old navy. shoes gap kids. on soul: flutter top and denim skort, c/o old navy. boots, thrifted. on glow: floral romper and sandals, c/o old navy.

This post is sponsored by Old Navy. I’m always grateful for the time you take to visit here, so thank you for your continuous support for me and my sponsors!  

Totally late seeing how True turns 8 at the end of this week, but this was her 7th birthday and photographed by my brother-in-law, Christian. True wanted a mermaid & under the sea party, so this is what we came up with. We took her to the aquarium on her actual birthday, but part of her requests was to have a party, so we threw that on the weekend after her birthday. It was a very bright and warm spring day, we had her friends over, and had lots of fun partying with the birthday girl.

She wanted to do some crafts, so we made some masks…

We have this kid food fun recipe book and so she planned out the menu. We served squid dogs, which are just hotdogs that are boiled with spaghetti speared through it, and we had clam burgers, which is mini burger patty put into a half opened bread roll…

We made a mermaid cut out for all the party guests, so they could take an instagram picture of themselves home…

And the birthday girl requested musical chairs…

Of course, we opened presents, and she got showered with tons of My Little Pony things…

We ended the party with a dance party and Taylor Swift…

This year will be different, since as you know from this post, she’s requesting a My Little Pony party at a hotel. I thought that was going to be easier because then I wouldn’t have to worry about a lot of people, but since she’s requesting all the sisters have home-sewn pony costumes, I’ve got my work cut of for me. We really enjoy indulging them (as long as their requests are reasonable) for their birthdays. It is so worth it to see them so excited and happy!

We had a wonderful Resurrection Sunday. We gave the girls a community Easter present (some card games, fun glasses, and things for drawing), we didn’t get to do our own egg hunt, but they got to do one at our church gathering and at Grammy and Grumpy’s house, and of course we had a good time worshipping and being reminded why we celebrate Easter with our church family. We got to spent time with our church family, Ben’s family, and my family, so we were totally happy campers as we bustled from one place to the next.

I know I get lost often and my eyes aren’t always fixed on the prize of Christ, but all my shortcomings just remind me why I need Christ so much more. I’m never going to be a perfect mom, there’s honestly no such thing. I fall short all the time and I make so many mistakes, and I’m thankful for their constant love and forgiveness, but more importantly, I’m thankful for the forgiveness that was given to me because of the cross.

on all the ladies: dresses, vintage (mine and true’s are from ms. tips).

Cinnamon Sugar Cookies
*adapted from this recipe, yields about 24 large cookies

Ingredients:
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
4 tablespoons milk
2 tablespoons vanilla extract
2 cup all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
2 tablespoons cinnamon
2 pinches of salt

For coating:
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 cup granulated sugar

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
2. In a mixing bowl, combine the butter and sugar and mix until it is light and fluffy. Continue to add in the vanilla extract and milk into the butter mixture.
3. In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.
4. Using a spatula, gradually add the wet ingredients into the bowl of the dry ingredients and combine. If the dough is too wet, add some flour a tablespoon at a time (it usually takes about 4 tablespoons).
5. In a small bowl, mix together the remaining sugar and cinnamon for the coating.
6. Using a tablespoon to scoop, roll dough into balls, then roll each ball in the sugar and cinnamon mixture to coat, and place onto un-greased cookie sheets. Lightly flatten top of the cookie with a fork or a spoon (we chose a fork). If desired, sprinkle more cinnamon on top.
7. Bake in the oven for about 8 – 10 minutes, or until golden. Let stand on the cookie sheet for a couple minutes, then transfer to wire rack (or just eat it warm and soft with ice cream because fresh baked cookies are amazing that way!).

The girls wanted to bake, but we were out of eggs, so this is what we made and our tummies were quite happy with ourselves. It’s pretty much like the recipe linked above, but I always opt for more vanilla than a recipe calls for, and we threw in cinnamon because we really love cinnamon. They sprinkle it on their oatmeal and O’s breakfast every morning!