Play Kitchen, Play Food

My kids don't play with the super-cute red wooden all-in-one retro play kitchen that I got them (sigh)....

BUT...

they DO play with all the play food.

...which inevitably means that things break. When that happens, I usually try to fix stuff up by taping/gluing it, but sometimes, it's broken beyond repair, and I have to throw it away (I hate throwing stuff away!)

I was so excited to come across these printables from Education.com that allow me to make my own play food!

I printed them out, glued them to cereal boxes and then cut and folded and glued and taped them to make my very own play food. 

Isn't that FUN?

And I was able to replace my broken cookies box with a fresh new one.

Try it out with Samantha!

for your little Mr.

When I think of your little Mr., I imagine a bow-tie around his neck :)

So, I made one for him...

It was really easy and fun to make! I am going to make some for my boys, too!

Can you believe he'll be here in a month? I can't wait to meet him :)

Going Green

Look at all this broccoli....

mmmm...broccoli...

It's so healthy and full of vitamins, and I truly enjoy the taste of broccoli!

my kids do not. 

But this week, I got them to eat all that broccoli! How? 

I made green pasta for dinner...

I cooked the broccoli and added garlic, wilted spinach, & alfredo sauce  

Then I introduced my new best friend in the kitchen: 

the immersion blender!

Before

&

After

 I blended until it arrived at this beautiful green puree. You would never guess that there's a whole head of broccoli and 10 oz. of spinach in there.

I added chicken & whole wheat pasta

 ...to create this delicious, nutritious,  green pasta. 

This meal will definitely be on my menu again! 

Birds . Bees . Flowers . Trees .

That can only mean one thing...

Spring is here!

YAY!

the beautiful flowers in my trees...they make me happy :)

Now that the weather is warmer and the birds and bugs are back outside, so are my kids! They spend hours outside in the backyard. Their favorite thing:

swinging...the kids love to swing

When they're not swinging, they are trying to catch birds. Genesa came up with a fool-proof plan. She stands on a rock under a tree, holding a stick in her hand, and inserting it into the tangle of branches in the tree above. A bird will fly by and, seeing the stick, will land on it, thinking that it is just another branch in the tree. Genesa will then catch the bird by its legs and have her first pet! She thought of this elaborate plan all on her own, and she is very determined to catch a bird. She even dreams about it! So when I look outside, all I see are cute little feet tiptoed on a rock, with hands extended into trees. They haven't caught a bird yet, so in the meantime, they have made pets of roly polies: 

they have hundreds of them

Playing with bugs is not all fun & games, though:

Genesa got stung by a bee :(

I make sure to give myself and Corina some sunshine time, too

I bring Corina outside in her exersaucer 

And I sit back and savor it all... 

the skinny...

I went shopping...

FUN!

...and guess what I bought? My first pair of skinny jeans...

I feel so fashionable now.

I was inspired by the skinny jeans of the blogger behind this sweet blog ;)

What do you think?  

I LOVE them :)

And the winner is...

 me!

I won an online giveaway - I couldn't believe it! I've never won giveaways before. 

I entered back in December and just got it in the mail this past month.

the package!

the contents...

I won the Peter Thomas Roth Holiday Hot List: A special kit created for Dr. Oz audience members, featuring Lashes to Die For The Liner, Lashes to Die For The Mascara, Un-Wrinkle Volumizing Lip Treatment, Max Complexion Correction Pads, Instant FirmX Eye and Max Anti-Shine Mattifying Gel.

I found out about the giveaway from my "deals" website: freebies2deals

A word of caution, though: I realized getting the online "deals" started becoming an obsession for me. I found myself always checking them and trying to keep up with the latest finds and in the end realizing that I was only wasting my time. 

I haven't tried any of my new stuff out yet, and I don't really need any of it, so I'm actually not even sure what to do with it. It was fun to win, though :) 

Have you ever won any giveaways?

Don't try this at home...

What I am about to share with you, I don't recommend you try at home yourself...


I was brave, though...


...and I did it...

I cut my own hair!

I was getting tired of the 4-inch tail of hair that was longer than all my other layers (thanks to my not-so-great haircut) & that kept getting tangled into gnarly knots. 

So I cut it.

It turned out just fine...Aaron didn't even notice...that's a good sign :)

 What do you think?

A Taste of Sudanese Life

We had guests staying with us for 3 days this past week. We met them in college, and they have been living overseas in Africa for the past couple of years. One night, they gave us a glimpse of Sudanese life...

Men wear hats & women wear scarves, but nobody smiles in pictures

the Feast...

Starting with the chicken and going clockwise, the dishes served are:

 rotisserie chicken 

yogurt-cucumber dip
hibiscus iced tea (in the pitcher)
beef-onion-tomato stew
dessert: sweet noodles with raisins
scrambled egg cake
beef-onion-tomato stew

There are no utensils. Your bread is your spoon and your napkin. And only the right hand is used for eating. So, we all broke off pieces of bread and food and dipped in! It was fun.

Speaking of food, check out foodgawker.com for recipe ideas when you need a little extra inspiration.


Lastly, welcome to Sunnyvale! How was your first night in your new place? I pray that God blesses your new life there :)

Love,
Delia

Dear Sarah,

As a birthday gift and going-away present for you, I have dedicated a blog to you. How did I get such an awesome idea? Well, I got it from this awesome blog...

I hope you have a very fun and special birthday today, and to start things off right, I am going to be having my first Giveaway!!

The first birthday girl with the name of Sarah who leaves a comment on this post will receive...

...well, you'll just have to see!

Sarah, my best friend, I love you & I already love blogging to you. I am going to miss you like crazy, but I promise we won't miss out on each other's lives.