An update on the boys & what we've been up to!

update on the boys...

Click on over here to see an update on M&O. {I'm thinking my blogging here at this "public" site is going to slow down, even more so than it already has, so if you don't have access to the private site and are interested in keeping up with the boys, e-mail me}

blueberry pizza

Inspired by a photo on Pinterest* + the toddler love of blueberries in the house, blueberry pizza made it's way to our lunch table, and it was a success.

The pizza dough** was homemade, in advance, and I think that was key to how yummy the pizza turned out. If your dough is frozen, be sure to thaw it the night before, or the morning of. I spread ricotta cheese (which, was actually an after thought, I had the ricotta cheese on hand from a different recipe, and figured this would be a good way to use it up) over the rolled out pizza dough, topped that with fresh basil leaves (Y.U.M.), sprinkled a generous amount of frozen blueberries over that and topped with Trader Joe's quattro formaggio. I baked the pizza for approximately 10-12 minutes at 450 degrees. The best part? These guys loved it:

*I chose not to link to the post on Pinterest because it lead to kind of a goofy website that I wouldn't frequent, and I couldn't even find the post about the blueberry pizza or a recipe.


**Pizza dough recipe (from a friend):

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
• 1 cup warm water (105-115 degrees)
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 ½ cups flour

Directions

• Dissolve the yeast in the water. Add the rest of the ingredients in and mix.
• Dump onto a floured surface.
• Knead into a smooth dough (five minutes or so).
• Roll out and press down onto a greased pizza pan.
• Add toppings.
• Bake at 450 degrees F. for around 12-15 minutes until the crust looks crispy and lightly browned.

You can make up a double or triple batch of the pizza crust dough and freeze the extras if you don’t need it.

walk by faith and not by sight

{I am in an Easter-y mood, so that is probably what mostly inspired me to write this down today}

The Holy Spirit has been placing this message in front of me a lot recently "walk by faith and not by sight". In songs at church, in a daily devotion e-mail, and this morning while reading for Bible study. And 2 Corinthians 5:7 says it pretty clearly "We live by faith, not by sight."

To be honest, when I was singing those lyrics in church the other day, I couldn't help but think "I don't really get that?" I mean, I kinda do, but I wasn't sure what walking by faith and not by sight meant. But, in my reading this morning it was laid out very clearly.

Walking by sight means that we let our feelings lead us. That we look around and what we can see and we evaluate saying "this is good, it must be from God." But, living by faith means we evaluate saying, "this is from God, it must be good." In the joyful times, but even in times of uncertainty, pain, or waiting, it is still good, because it is for His glory.

Part of the study asked me to put my definition of faith in to writing: Believing, and living, that God's plan is more perfect than my own.

We put our faith in a God who has already given us a Savior. We can see that His plan is good.

march birchbox

Just a fun post. Nothing deep here, today, friends. But, can we just talk about how my March Birchbox was perfect? Here are a few+ words on the products that I received {and I am just reviewing these for fun, because I enjoyed them and wanted to share, not for compensation or kick-back from Birchbox...}:

my favorite: lulu organics lavender + clary sage hair powder

I have a really hard time not washing my hair because it is super-fine and on the thinner side, so it gets oily pretty quick. I have tried the baby powder trick (& while it works, I have issues with some of the ingredients in baby powder) and recently tried the Dove dry shampoo (not a fan).

Lulu Organics Lavender + Clary Sage Hair powder made my hair look like I had actually washed it & smells amazing. Score.

most excited to try: supergoop! sunscreen swipes

I had seen these Supergoop! Sunscreen Swipes featured on the birchbox facebook page prior to receiving my samples in the mail, and really wanted to try them out with the boys. I don't like lotion sunscreen because it's so oily and gross and makes me feel like I need a shower. And, while the spray sunscreen is handy, beware of eyes. I got some in M's eyes last year and the poor guy's eyes wouldn't stop watering. These seem like an easy, on the go, solution. {and I, of course, price compared between amazon and birchbox, and for the wipes, birchbox is cheaper, plus shipping free in march}





best discovery: one love organics skin savior waterless beauty balm

One Love Organics Skin Savior Waterless Beauty Balm is a product that I would never have guessed existed prior to receiving this sample. It is such and awesome all-in-one product.

From the Birchbox website: "For a customized foundation, mix Beauty Balm with your favorite mineral powder. You can also mix a small amount of the Beauty Balm with broken eye shadows and discarded blushes for a creamy new twist on an old product!"

It is made with coconut and soy oils, mango seed butter, and has no fillers, so a little goes a long way. So far I have used this as a makeup remover, and then this morning as a moisturizer. I love being able to recognize the names of the ingredients. I love that it is all-in-one, and I love that it smells so yummy. Not quite sure about the price tag, though... But my "sample size" was so large that it will give me time to decide if I want to save my dollars for the product!


yummiest: tea forte skin smart teas

You can read all about the benefits of Tea Forte skin-smart Teas, here. Usually I am not a big fan of tea, but with samples of three flavors to pick from, I took the cherry marzipan to church with me yesterday, and it was super yummy. This morning I drank the honey yuzu {which was super tasty paired with chocolate citrus biscotti that my sister made for me for my birthday}. I'll be adding this tea to the grocery list.

Last but not least, there was some really fun aqua nail polish and a really mellow perfume included in my birchbox. Loving both of those too.

{photo credits: Birchbox}

basically perfect

a little summary of my birthday, which was basically perfect

cupcakes brought over by a sweet friend (cake is my weakness. no, actually it's the frosting)

a lavender (my favorite scent) plant from Jon

amazing weather (seems its usually snowy, cold or gloomy on my birthday)

little man that diligently decorated an incredibly delicious made-from-scratch-cake (made by my sis)

[notice that Cyclone jersey?]

Bible study on the deck while the little ones napped

dinner with my family

cheering the Cyclones on to victory

project: simplify | week 2

{just a teensy bit late with this post. it has been 80+ degrees here this week, pretty good excuse, i'd say}

Over at Simple Mom, this week's project: simplify was essentially decluttering, cleaning &/or organizing in the kitchen/pantry. We had a busy week enjoying this gorgeous, unseasonal, weather, but I was able to tackle a couple of small spots in the kitchen. Please excuse the quality of the photos, all were taken with my phone.

the junk drawer

the before shot. ick.

the after shot. organization is bliss.

The junk drawer was a pretty easy one. In that empty space to the right, I used to keep my set of sharp knives. But now, curious little hands can reach up that high (we had not child proofed the top drawers when we moved in, because O wasn't tall enough to reach in). The knives have now been moved to a child-proof location.

To get organized, I simply used some containers that were already floating around the house. Mostly plastic food containers (that seem to multiply rapidly and then not be used again, and take up space in cabinets). I also had a couple of other storage baskets hanging around that needed a new home.

Nothing fancy, just a place for everything and everything in it's place. 

And. This only took five minutes, so I quickly tackled another drawer. The "baking drawer".

the baking drawer

the before shot. ick.

the after shot. ahhhh.

 The "before" drawer was just kind of a "dig for what you need" drawer. The "after" drawer is so much prettier. I'm not an avid baker, I would actually rather cook than bake, so I can fit my supplies in to a fairly small space. In fact, I half considered throwing out the food coloring/frosting items, but inevitably, I will need them prior to their expiration... Again, I just used plastic food containers for organization here.

Last year, during project: simplify, one of the hot spots was the pantry and refrigerator. Since then, I would say my pantry has stayed fairly organized (despite moving). Here is a little glimpse:

Because of the pantry location in the house, there is really no good angle to capture a decent photo of this pantry. But here are some of my tips/methods of madness:

>>items that I don't need to use often are in the back top. In front of that are kitchen utensils. I don't like to have anything like that on my kitchen counter top.

>>I use a lot of baskets to contain items. One basket contains packages that you would open, but not use all at once. Chips, hamburger buns, etc.

>>I remove almost all items that come individually wrapped and in boxes to the drawers you see in the photo.

>>my pantry has only one or two of each type of canned good. Anything purchased in excess makes its way to the basement until needed.

>>while this is not picture perfect organization, I store "like items" together. For example, the green basket (barely picture) is all of my pastas, couscous, quinoa, etc...

>>on the floor of the pantry is a small set of drawers. I keep some "extra" grocery items in the top drawer (almond butter, blueberry preserves, pita chips, etc). In another drawer, garbage bags and light bulbs, and in the one below that (not pictured) are collapsible coolers/lunch bags. To the right is a stack of "busy activities" for the boys that can either be picked up on the way out to the car, or used to keep curious little hands busy while making supper.