A Must Have This Christmas

Have you completed all of your holiday shopping? I am a few stocking stuffers away from being D.O.N.E. done. I have been crocheting and sewing the girls some gifts and my nimble little fingers are surprisingly still attached and fully functioning. And because of that, I am taking this opportunity to direct your attention to my humble little Etsy shop. I may have just what you're looking for for that special someone that has everything.

Like babies. Babies don't need gift cards or beard trimming kits or fancy perfume. What they do need is accessories. Like this hat!

And what about that man in your life who is struggling with facial hair. Maybe his employer won't let him grow any or maybe his beard is thin and patchy. I have the perfect solution! The bearded hat is what he needs to feel like a real man's man.

Let's not forget the kids. Do they really need another gaming device or toy? Probably not. They do however, need to keep their heads and ears warm. This pretty little number ought to do the trick.

There are plenty of options in my shop for everyone on your shopping list. Check me out! Oh and you should probably order by midnight on Friday if you want to receive anything by Christmas. These nimble little fingers are only capable of so much.

Trickery

Eating healthy is sort of a big deal to me. I like the way my body feels after I fill it with natural foods versus processed stuff. So I make it a priority to eat right. My husband, on the other hand, thinks macaroni and cheese is a vegetable and Cheetos make a suitable side dish. He has come a long way since we have been betrothed though. I serve veggie heavy dishes and he eats most of what's on his plate, even if he does smother it in ketchup. He does care about eating healthy, it's just not as enjoyable for him as it is for me.

I decided that if he won't willingly eat a plateful of spinach, I will resort to trickery. So I have. Meet the green monster smoothie.

I found this concoction on Pinterest and thought it sounded yummy. I've tweaked the recipe a bit to my taste. Here's my version:

1 cup frozen mangos or peaches
1 cup frozen berries (I like raspberries)
1 banana
1 huge handful of fresh spinach
1/2 cup vanilla or plain yogurt
1 tbsp honey
splash of water

Dump it in a blender and blend until smooth.

Honestly, I had no intentions of sharing this with anyone in my family. I wanted to lose the last 10 lbs of pregnancy weight and I knew JD would turn his nose up if he knew there was spinach in it. But then Beatrice asked for a sip of my milkshake and JD was curious too. That's when trickery was born. Not complete trickery, just the temporary kind. I made JD try it before I told him what was in it and Beatrice hasn't asked. And they pretty much love it.

Beatrice thinks green monster smoothies are no laughing matter.

They are kind of the perfect meal/snack if you like your vegetables to taste like yumminess instead of like vegetables. For the record, I love the way vegetables taste. They keep you full and are a great way to get a ton of nutrients in at once. Plus, you can add or subtract ingredients to suit your taste, just don't omit the spinach or else it is no longer a green monster smoothie. Oh, and they keep you really, really regular. You're welcome in advance.

Try one today and trick your family into good health whether they want it or not!!

Weekend Adventure: The Grove

This weekend's adventure is coming to you from the snowy hilltops of Los Angeles. Every night until the end of the year, it snows at The Grove. We have been to The Grove before, but it hosts one of the best Christmas displays in the area and since I love all things Christmasy and wintry, off we went!

Last year we attempted to see some mega light displays, but it didn't work out due to the weekend rush. This year we decided to check out the snow and lights on a Sunday night in hopes that everyone else would be at home and off the freeways. It was the perfect time to go.

We fa la la la la-ed the whole way there. Once we arrived, our car was so full of Christmas spirit, one more jingle bell would've put us over the edge. We were ready to see some major Christmas amazeballsness. The Grove didn't disappoint. When we pulled up, we were excited to see this.

All 4 of us were looking around at the lights and people and feeling the rush from the holiday shoppers. I didn't think it could get any more Christmasy.

And then it snowed.

I'm not gonna lie, I cried a little bit when the snow machine starting churning out fake snow. I get irrationally emotional when snow falls, large crowds sing the national anthem, and when fireworks burst overhead. It's who I am. It snowed for a whole 5 minutes or so and it was awesome. Well worth the 19 mile drive and $3 to park. And since I'm a little homesick for a white Tennessee Christmas, those 5 minutes sort of took the edge off.

I did a little shopping and crossed off 2 more people from our list. Mostly though, we walked around oohing and ahhing over the amazing lights. The whole place glowed.

 

As we were leaving, JD said that if this place didn't get you in the Christmas spirit, nothing would. He was right. This may have been my most favorite adventure to date. Fa la la la la out there!

Christmas Dresses

The girls wore their Christmas dresses to church this past weekend. Getting a decent picture proved to be difficult.

"Fingers out of your mouth, Beatrice."

"Look at the camera, girls."

"Penelope, stop eating your sister's knee."

"Sissy doesn't like to be poked, Beatrice."

"Smile!"

I think we got it. 

Weekend Adventure: Where We Live

I have mixed feelings about where we live. When JD first got here (2 weeks before the girls and I came), he warned me that it wasn't the nicest place in L.A. county. I thought he was being dramatic. I arrived and put on my rose colored glasses and tried to see only the good things: the really good farmers market on Fridays, the proximity to the city, and the coastal breezes that keep the temps steadily in the 60s and 70s all year long. But the more I am here, the more I feel like JD was right. I think it's the halfway house and large homeless population that does it for me. 


The nicest thing about where we live though is the beach. We are walking distance to a sandy shoreline and cliffy beach. We never walked down there until this weekend because the locals really downplayed area. Something about parasites in the sand and pollution in the water. We decided to check it out for ourselves. While there is a dirty part of the beach, if you walk a little further you enter a very picturesque smaller beach that is clean, secluded, and nice. Quite possibly the nicest thing about where we live.

Imagine our surprise when we passed the sand parasites and oily waters of the dirty beach to find this little gem tucked away beside this bluff. Hello, favorite new place.

We frolicked and played for over an hour.

And when I say we are walking distance from this beach, we literally turned off the Saturday morning cartoons, put our shoes on, and walked towards the beach. Pretty sure we were the only ones wheeling a double stroller in the sand.

All I wanted to do was climb on these rocks and walk along the crashing waves. Once I got up there, I was terrified and frozen with fear. Beatrice was pretty upset with her scaredy-cat mother. She loved climbing on these slippery rocks.

I am so glad we found this place. I foresee many picnics and walks at sunset here.

Thanks for telling those sand parasites what's up, clean beach. You make where we live a little nicer.

La La Land

Yesterday as I was adding a few Christmas activities to our December calender, it dawned on me that I live 2500 miles away from everyone I love the most. It finally hit me that I will never again drive across town to sit in my mom's comfy kitchen chair and talk/nap/read while my babies play. I can't just call my sister in law and meet for an afternoon of shopping and lunch at the Cheesecake Factory. I will never have the opportunity to take my mother in law up on last minute dinners at their place. It dawned on me that my life is forever different now that we live so far away.

One would imagine that I came to terms with all of these things oh say, 7 weeks ago when I moved here. And if not before the move, surely the 7 weeks and 2 days (who's counting?) that I have lived here has been plenty of time to deal with the fact that they are there and we are here. That's what a mature, prepared person would have done. But we're not talking about a mature, prepared person here. We're talking about me, a grownup baby person who likes to pretend that hard things aren't really happening in hopes that, well, they don't really happen.

That's how I ended up in la la land; pretending that this has been a big vacation and not making myself deal with the gut-wrenching emotions I have going on in my heart (and gut). The truth is, I am not ready to accept that I can't see my family and friends whenever I want anymore. I am not ready to accept that my kids can't see their grandparents and great grandparents anytime they ask. I am not ready to accept that we have a new life in California and don't live in Tennessee anymore. I'm not ready.

Life's not so bad here in La La Land. I go through the motions of everyday life by taking care of these babies, cooking, cleaning, and making new friends, but I haven't let myself think about or dwell on anything sad. I just don't go there. So I think I'll stay here for a while longer. I will continue to live life counting down the weeks and days until the next visit from our loved ones arrives. I just don't think I can bear coming to terms with the fact that things are forever different and sad in a way that pangs my heart.

Yes, I think I'll stay here a while longer until I'm ready to deal with it all.

Weekend Adventure: Aquarium of the Pacific

We headed to Long Beach this long weekend to check out the Aquarium of the Pacific. It wasn't as awesome as the Tennessee Aquarium we are used to, but it was really fun. The best part was the boardwalk and harbor village surrounding the aquarium. It's this really great outdoor shopping area and marina. We packed a picnic lunch and ate al fresco while we watched the boats pass by. We all had a fun time.

I'm still a little antsy about all day outings since we're only about a month into potty training, but she's doing great. No accidents in a few weeks. Hooray!

She touched a starfish. It felt squishy and gross. She also saw urchins. They were everywhere.

I don't like animals that can suction themselves to things. Or animals that are slimy. The sea is full of those kinds of animals. The aquarium is full of them too. I have the heeby jeebies just writing about them. I try really hard to not shape Beatrice's opinion of suctiony, slimy animals. If she wants to like them, fine. I will however, shape her opinion of snakes. We don't do snakes in this family.

She likes suctiony, slimy animals.

Sissy likes fishies. And snoozing on Daddy.

And frolicking under the sea with Daddy and fishies.

Fun day under the sea.