Craving a Mexican dinner

After my early morning workout, I am famished. As I’m drinking my post-workout protein shake and scanning Pinterest my craving for a delicious Mexican dinner is overwhelming.

Here are a few of the pins that I think would make an amazing & delicious Mexican dinner… cocktail included:

Clean Eating Cilantro Salsa  from The Gracious Pantry

 

Spicy Barbeque Pork Chop Tacos with Chunky Avocado Salsa from Rock Recipes

 

Lime Cilantro Rice from AllRecipes.com

 

Mango Jalapeno Margarita from How Sweet It Is

 

I think I’ll put this all together for our Cinco de Mayo dinner.

xo,

Nicole

Burst My Bubble {Valentine}

I love making Valentine’s cards for my kids’ preschool classes. And this year my goal was to avoid giving out candy. Preschoolers only need so many suckers, mini bags of m&ms, conversation hearts, etc.

Here is what I came up with for our 2013 Valentine cards. (please excuse the poor quality, cell phone photo. I really should just buy a new camera since ours has been missing since Aug 2012)

I found the mini tubes of bubbles and the pink polka dot paper tape at Target. I must admit, this was my first time using paper tape/ washi tape. LOVE it!!

To see our 2012 Valentine cards, click here.

Happy Valentine’s Day! xo

 

What Mommy Read: Little Bee

Little Bee by Chris Cleave

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

“Little Bee” was definitely out of my literary comfort zone, but I thought it was an excellent book. (read for Book Club)
I felt more connected to the parts told in Little Bee’s voice than those in Sarah’s. Little Bee just felt so much more “real” to me. And I am still amazed at how well Cleve (a white man) was able to tell the story from Little Bee’s point of view (a black female). Great writing. It was a very touching story. And so very heartbreaking.
My favorite quote: “We must see all scars as beauty. Okay? This will be our secret. Because take it from me, a scar does not form on the dying. A scar means, ‘I survived’.”

View all my reviews

What We’re Reading Wednesday: Hibernation Station

Hibernation Station is a charming (yet fictitious) picture book with delightful, rhyming text written by Michelle Meadows. Kurt Cyrus is the illustrator of the large, colorful, and fairly realistic illustrations.

Bears, hedgehogs, frogs, and other forest animals clad in cozy pajamas board a train made of hollowed logs for a long winter’s slumber.  Snoring roommates, cramped quarters, leaky train cars, and other issues prevent the animals from falling asleep.  However, the bears in the railroad caps are there to help. Will the animals ever fall asleep for their long ride through Winter?

I highly recommend adding this book to your collection! It has quickly become one of my children’s favorite bedtime books

Buy the book here: Barnes & Noble or Amazon.

Super Bowl Sunday

Today is the big game… Super Bowl XLVII. 49ers v Ravens. Coach Harbaugh v Coach Harbaugh. Do I care who wins the game? I don’t. I’m all about the commercials! Honestly, I have no idea what “first and 10” means and couldn’t spot a bad call by a referee if you paid me. Funny…my husband just read what I was typing and went into a long explanation of “first and 10” and “first down”. But all I heard was the teacher from Peanuts… wha-wah-wha-wah.

Anyway…back to my point….

I look forward to the Super Bowl every year. I love the commercials. I can’t wait to see what the clever folks in advertising came up with this year. Will they top my favorite from last year?

As for the Harbaugh brothers facing each other, pretty interesting. However, I doubt the actual sibling dynamic will be as interesting as the family drama on RHONJ 😉

And the half-time show probably won’t be as entertaining or controversial as Janet’s infamous wardrobe malfunction of 2004. (still love her – if she meant to flash the world or not) The worst thing Beyonce might do…lip sync. Even so, she’ll most likely put on a way better show than The Who, who were clearly performing way past their expiration date.

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Why are you watching the big game?

49ers? Ravens? Diehard football fan?

Commercials? Half-time show?

What We’re Reading Wednesday: STUCK

STUCK is written and illustrated by Oliver Jeffers. It’s a silly book about a little boy named Floyd that gets his kite stuck in a tree. As he attempts to knock the kite free, Floyd ends up getting all sorts of other things stuck as well. Everything from a ladder to a whale to a firetruck & firemen.

We have checked out STUCK from the public library a few times because the kids love it. And I enjoy reading it to them over and over again. It’s such a fun read.  (the illustrations are great too!) However, other parents have stated that Floyd should have simply climbed the ladder to retrieve his kite. Well, how logical. That does make perfect sense. However, my children wouldn’t be rolling with laughter if that was the story. Instead, they love turning the pages to see what wacky, absurd object Floyd will throw into the tree next.

I highly recommend this book if you enjoy hearing your children giggle.

To purchase, go to Amazon or Barnes & Noble.

What We’re Reading Wednesday: LMNO Peas

** I apparently do not know the ins & outs of blogging. I wrote this week’s “What we’re reading Wednesday” late Monday evening. And, I thought I set it up to post/ publish on the morning of Wed, Jan 9. No such luck. I just realized (on Friday afternoon) that it never posted. Anyway, here it is. Better late than never. **

Harper and I discovered the book “LMNO Peas” at the public library’s toddler story time. If you know my almost 3-year-old daughter, you know she’s very active. However, she sat perfectly still and never took her eyes off the book or the librarian that was reading aloud. Apparently, she loved it. So we checked out the book and took it home to share with Lincoln. He loved it too. It’s now on our “books to own” wishlist.

“LMNO Peas” by Keith Baker is an alphabet book, but not the typical ‘A is for apple, Z is for Zebra’ type book. Instead of listing objects that begin with each letter, “LMNO Peas” features vibrant and whimsical illustrations of little green peas (with faces, arms, and legs) acting out various occupations and hobbies that begin with each letter. The lines describing the peas rhyme and just seem to roll off my tongue.

My personal favorite page: K. It says “some of us are kings” along with an illustration of a royal king in a castle and an Elvis “king” pea. So clever! Lincoln’s favorite page: U. The “underwater diver” peas splash in the water inside the ‘U’ shape. Harper loves the circus clown on the letter C page. We may have our favorites, but we really love all of those adorable little peas.

To purchase “LMNO Peas” …. go to Barnes & Noble  or Amazon.

What We’re Reading Wednesday – Little Owl’s Night

My children and I LOVE books. We enjoy discovering new characters and stories. So, I’m going to start a weekly post featuring one of our favorite reads from the week.

Last night, we read an amazing bedtime book that Harper received for Christmas. “Little Owl’s Night” by Divya Srinivasan is a wonderful story about nighttime. Unlike so many other Children’s books about the night, the focus is not on going to sleep. Rather, Little Owl shares the wonders of the nocturnal world.

“Little Owl’s Night” is beautifully illustrated. All of the woodland animals are delightful in their after-dark settings. My children loved the illustrations so much that we downloaded desktop wallpaper from http://www.pupae.com/littleowlsnight/funstuff.html

We hope you enjoy “Little Owl’s Night” as much as we do!

Order from: Barnes & Noble or Amazon.

My one word 2013

I always make a list of resolutions for the New Year.  And I stick to them…. for about 2-3 weeks. Exercising & eating healthy, organizing & decluttering, creating a family budget… but by the end of January I’m eating a Whopper Jr & fries while shopping online and avoiding the stack of junk mail, catalogs, magazines, and bills that are piled on the kitchen counter.

This year is different. I am not making resolutions for 2013. Instead, I am choosing a one word theme that encompasses what I want to achieve and how I want to live during the next 12 months.  My one word is:

¹flour·ish

verb \ˈflər-ish, ˈflə-rish\

Definition of FLOURISH

1. to be in a vigorous state; thrive.
2. to be in its or in one’s prime; be at the height of fame, excellence, influence, etc.
3. to be successful; prosper.
4. to grow luxuriantly, or thrive in growth, as a plant.

 

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What is your one word for 2013?

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{Scrumptious} Strawberry-Peach Sangria

I love living in our neighborhood. Most of our neighbors are also our friends and we get together often during the warm months. The perfect way to end a spring, summer, or fall day….neighbors, fire pit, and drinks. On Memorial Day weekend I made {Scrumptious} Strawberry – Peach Sangria to share around our fire. It was delicious. (however, fresh peaches would’ve been better)

Ingredients:

One bottle Riesling

1/2 pound strawberries

2 peaches (I used 1/2 a jar of sliced peaches in 100% juice because I already had them in the pantry)

1 kiwi fruit

3 cans of Sierra Mist

Preparation:

Slice the strawberries, peaches, and kiwi fruit. Pour bottle of wine into pitcher and add fruit. Chill in refrigerator for 4-6 hours. Add cans of Sierra Mist, gently stir, and serve.

ENJOY!