friday favorites

it's friday - hooray!

our family had a bad sleeping week

but hopefully the kidsies will remember how nice it is to sleep through the night soon

and get back to it

at least with the weekend coming up, us tired parents can split up baby-duty so it's a little easier to manage

plus, we each usually get a sleep-in day, while the other takes the girlies downstairs

so in celebration of friday, i thought i'd share some recent favorites around here:

- we've been enjoying (and occasionally even dancing to) this playlist lately:

- melty goat brie and pepper jelly sandwiches

(don't knock it till ya try it - it's soooooo good!)

- the bunny we spotted in the backyard yesterday morning...a HUGE hit with the girls

- lots of extra time spent with my sister this week

(including one day when she watched the kiddos and straightened my hair while i got some work done...yes, i am blessed)

- discovering a new coffee shop in town with the most AMAZING drinks

- working through more pictures from my newborn session last weekend...so many favorites from this session!

- my wonderful husband, who went to the grocery store at 9:30 last night so that i could stay home and work out then reward myself with the watermelon he brought home for me

- my instagram friends, even the ones i've never met...it may be superficial, but it's really nice to flip through pretty pictures, read about others' ups and downs, be inspired, encourage and be encouraged

- introducing the girlies to french toast...easy enough to whip up on a weekday, "fancy" enough to get the girls excited for breakfast.  cut it into strips and it makes a great finger food!

easiest french toast

2 slices whole grain bread

1 egg

a couple dashes cinnamon

a squirt (1 tsp?) agave nectar

a smidge coconut oil (to grease pan)

- heat coconut oil in pan on medium / medium high heat

- beat egg and add cinnamon and agave nectar

(these can also be added as toppings at the end, once the french toast is done - i just decided to throw them in the batter so they'd cook on and make the meal a little less messy)

- dip both sides of your first bread slice into egg batter

- place bread on frying pan.  once first side cooks up, flip it and cook the other side.  this doesn't take long, but it depends on how much egg your bread soaked up.

- remove from pan and repeat with next slice

- cut french toast into strips and serve with fruit and yogurt for dipping (optional, but a big hit with the littles)

and that's a wrap - happy weekend, everybody! 

busy bee + a baby

hello friends!

sorry i haven't been around as much lately

like i mentioned in my last post, life has been busy

we enjoyed lots of family time over the long weekend

including a day of fishng (for the guys) / the beach (for the mamas and babies)

the sun never came out to play, but it didn't rain and we got to catch up with good friends, 

so i'd call it a success!

i also got to take pictures of a super sweet newborn yesterday

i met this little guy's parents about twelve years ago

when we all went to the same high school

and now, here we are all married and with kids!

it was so nice to meet their little bundle, 

have some "mom talk" 

and just catch up

anyway, here are a few of my favorites

(i figure the cuteness factor should earn me some forgiveness points

for the lack of posts around here!)

a post mother's day post

yesterday was mother's day

and i missed the "get online tell your mother how much you love her" boat

not because i have anything against doing that

or against my mother 

(i love you, mom...and i've totally done the online declaration of love before here and here!)

i just missed the boat this year, that's all

you know what else i missed doing?  

taking a picture with my kids

maybe i was too caught up in the day itself

maybe because it's hard to remember to step in front of the camera from time to time

maybe i was still recovering from this past week which had way too much going on

but what i do have is a recent picture with me and one of my girlies

from the weekend before mother's day weekend, actually

that i meant to share with you last week, 

but didn't get a chance to in the middle of all the "busy"

it was a super hot day (especially for May!)

but we didn't have enough time to head out to the beach

so we slipped the girls into their swimsuits

and introduced them to the sprinkler

try it with your own littles!

you're guaranteed to have a blast 

AND getting them down for a nap afterwards will be a breeze (double bonus!!)

growing...

hey folks!

we've been on a house / dog sitting adventure for the past week

which means less time on the computer 

and more time getting settled into the space we've been calling home

it's a lot quieter here

and i've been keeping busier

with the dogs and the dishes (no dishwasher here!)

and meal-prepping without my usual staples kicking around

with staring out at the ocean from the kitchen table / living room 

(i sometimes catch myself looking out, lost in thought and wonder how long i've been standing there)

and with trying to keep all the beautiful plants in this place alive, despite my black thumb

it seems that every windowsill has something growing or blooming on it

i just couldn't help but take a couple of pictures to share my view with you

you know what else has been growing around here?  

these two...growing into big girls in SO many ways

every day we see more of their personalities coming out
they've gotten way more interactive in this past week alone
and while mustering up the patience to keep up with them can be sometimes be a challenge
i've been reminded lately just how blessed we are to have them in our lives

thank you, Jesus

for ocean views

and pretty flowers

and growing girlies!

Healthy(ish) Coconut Oat Fudge Bars

there's something you need to know about me

i usually try to make good food choices

but sometimes, i just go with what i love,

and throw health to the wind

(hey, I'm only human!)

perfect example: starbucks' oat fudge bar

oh em gee - these things are amazing!

but they're also amazingly full of calories and sugar and who knows what else

they definitely fall into the guilty pleasure category
(which means I might have one once, maybe twice a year)

so it's no surprise that one day i thought to myself, 

"hmmm...i wonder if i could make a healthier version?"

and thus began the search

now, before i go any further, 

i'll dash your hopes right from the get go

and tell you that these turned out nothing like the real deal

which left me kind of disheartened, 

but once i shifted my perspective 

and just looked at them as a healthy oat-y chocolate-y bar,

they were suddenly pretty good,

even good enough to share with all of you!

(it helps that the girlies loved them, 

and i'm always on the hunt for / eager to share good toddler snacks!) 

Healthy Coconut Oat Fudge Bars

(adapted from this recipe)

batter:

1 medium banana

2 tbsp coconut oil, melted to liquid form

1 egg

2 tablespoons agave nectar / syrup

1/4 teaspoon salt 

2 cups rolled porridge oat mix

(porridge oats = rolled oats that have been rolled to the point of being crumbly, the package I bought (Rogers brand) came with oat bran, wheat bran and flax seed - hence the "mix" part.  If you can't find the mix, just use 1.5 cups rolled or porridge oats then add 1/2 a cup of oat or wheat bran)

1/2 cup white whole wheat flour

1/4 cup ground flax seeds

chocolate center:

1/2 cup light coconut milk

1/3 cup good quality dark chocolate, chopped up 

1 tablespoon cornstarch 

topping (optional):

a handful of extra oat mix

a handful of shredded, unsweetened coconut

***

- preheat oven to 350*

- combine oat mix, flour and flax seeds in a bowl and set aside

- mash your banana up in another, larger bowl

- add the coconut oil, egg, agave and salt to the mashed banana and mix until well combined

- add dry ingredients to wet ingredients, about 1/4 cup at a time   then set batter aside

- in a small saucepan, heat the coconut milk on medium/high

- once the milk has warmed through, stir the chocolate in and turn the heat down to medium or medium low

- continue stirring until the all the chocolate has melted into the warm milk

- in a small bowl or cup, mix cornstarch with a little bit of water then add it to the saucepan

- remove the saucepan from heat and stir until it has thickened up a bit, then set aside

- grease a 9x13 pan, then press about 1/2 the batter into the bottom of it 

- spread about 2/3 of the chocolate "sauce" on top of the batter

- add the remaining batter (be careful not to burn yourself if your sauce is still hot - mine wasn't, since i kept having to walk away and deal with the kiddos)

- top with the rest of the chocolate then sprinkle on optional topping (oat mixture and coconut)

- bake for 10-15 minutes

- once cooled, cut into squares and serve

15 on the 15th

these two littles are 15 months old today!

it's hard to believe how much can change over that amount of time

how they grow

how they learn

how they develop their own little personalities

how our lives have been changed

and how we don't even remember what it was like without them

we celebrated with bubbles,

(which you will notice, they both love)

if you ever find yourself wondering "what is a cheap, easy and fun activity for my 15 month old?"

the answer is bubbles

if pictures could play sound

you would hear squeals of delight and uncontrollable laughter

as you scroll through the next few!

so i'm a little behind...

i was supposed to post this on monday, 

but that didn't happen (obviously)

so let's just pretend it's monday (or at least that it's not already wednesday), deal?  

i wanted to share a bit of our weekend with you all

i was expecting it to be pretty low-key,

since the girlies and i are fighting another cold

but the sun came out and we couldn't help but head outside and enjoy it despite our sniffles

and we didn't need to go any further than the back yard for the adventures to begin!

little bare feet running around in the grass, 

little hands picking flowers for the very first time,

little tastebuds tasting said flowers (insert first time mama freak out moment here),

...we had a blast!

the girlies practiced their walking skills 

and their walking daddy skills

all the while exploring to their little hearts' delight

they had a great time and so did we 

i can't believe it never occurred to me to let them run around the back yard before!