Boy Speak

Being the mom of boys has given me tons of moments that make me laugh. As a kid I was a major doll lover, house player, dress up queen, I did have a brother but I guess his lingo didn't rub off on me. So I'm surprised quite often and the colorful descriptive language that boys use. Here are a few examples of what's going down at our house.

• "It's Sunday and we're kids, we're doomed!!"
• Using the word archenemy in a sentence in a way that isn't supposed to be funny or ironic.
• There is always a lot of  "versing" going on. For example, "we versed that team last week". Hilarious makes me laugh every time and I can't correct them because I love it too much.

Snakes, snails and puppy dog tails? I'll take comic book speak any day over that!

Make it :: Top Your Cake

Since we started the no dye/artificial flavor thing in our house checking out sites like Pinterest make me shudder. Many of the party sites and images are flooded with brightly colored candies, goodies and drinks. It makes for a pretty picture but all I can think of is literally, go CRAZY colors. I want my kids to have a fun party like everyone else but sometimes a little visual marketing is all that a simple vanilla cupcake needs. I've started pinning ideas that look festive so there's lots of eye candy but the treats have very little crazy. We'll stick with the old fashioned stuff like butter and sugar. 

All links to the tutorials listed below.

1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5

Olympics

Well done Procter & Gamble, I cry every time I see this commercial.

 Full disclosure, I also cry when talking about this commercial. It's official I've hit complete sapdom.

Do It :: Travel with kids

The best thing about traveling with school age kids is that those little crazies can handle a lot more than you give them credit for. I've been so pleasantly surprised that they handled the flight, crazy Roman traffic and another language without skipping a beat. 

It also doesn't hurt that Italy is full of pizza and pasta so my carb loving kids are in heaven. My fears about international travel with kids are officially over. It's taken many years for us to do a trip to Europe with the kids but I know that I will be saving up my pennies again soon for a trip somewhere good.

Roller Skate

This week the kids have been on Spring Break so a friend and I are taking the kids to roller skate. If you're around my age (ahem) late 30's you'll totally remember Skateland. Were they always called that?  I still remember my first official slumber/skating party that I attended, I was in 2nd grade. I still remember that they played Joan Jett's "I Love Rock n Roll" and I thought I was totally hot sh*t skating around with my friends feeling so free. 

{This is the actual sign from the scene of the 2nd grade hot stuff skate}

I haven't skated since that last elementary school skating party in 6th grade where I most likely was too chicken to do the skating limbo. Hopefully today my kids will like that first foray into the roller rink and not be too frightened by the old weird people that are probably still there skating from the time I was a kid. (Remember those peeps? As an adult I find them really, really strange.) Maybe to help everyone prepare for today's skate I'll download some Joan Jett and make sure I have a comb for my back pocket.

GAP + DVF

The cutest collab evah!! Diane, you're brills for hitting us with your adorable looks for kids. Get them while they're young, good thinking. 

While we all reminisce about our Garanimals our kids will be chatting with their friends about their baby DVF gear. For the record I would like the first look in my size please.

Little

Little often asks me, "Where's my brother?" and it always fills my heart with good stuff. When I hear him call Big my brother, I can hear it in his voice that he thinks of him as that protector, friend, confidante. Seriously there is nothing better for a mom.

It makes up for the other brotherly ribbing and bickering doesn't it? We'll save those discussions for another day shall we? 

PS - I know the poster has nothing to do with my littles but I think they would love it and I think it's pretty cool.  May the force be with you.

Sequins and animals

Last week I was wearing sequins and red lipstick and this week I'm headed to the kindergarten zoo field trip. Such is life. I do like the zoo however and I think the animals might appreciate a glam red lip.

Speaking of animals, cuteness abounds on Me Oh My with her animal storage tutorial.

He's 8

Today Big turns 8. He woke up with the world's biggest smile like the world was going to tell him a secret now that he's a year older. I just know that he'll find one. Everyone always told me how fast it all goes, sometimes I can't even believe it.

{1}

Make it :: Nativity Set

It's Christmas break so what to do while we're all home? Yesterday we decorated cookies and today this is what we're working on. Printable nativity sets designed by Marloes de Vries, a Dutch illustrator. Fits two of my most basic criteria, easy and free! There's two options just print and cut or color/print/cut. I opted for the coloring ones just to make the activity a little more hands on. Just print them out on card stock get to work.

They're each coloring all of the players in the nativity now, I just need to find another box so they can each make their own stable. 

{via How About Orange}

When Dad is away

When my husband doesn't make it home for dinner I often make things like pancakes or things he may turn his nose up at for dinner such as pumpkin soup, lentils or anything with squash.

Do you all do the same thing? What's a go-to, whoo hoo meal for you and the kids when Dad is working late?

{image via pinterest}

Brown Bag Microwave Popcorn

Did you all know that Little eats next to nothing? Unfortunately one of his yes foods is popcorn. I don't mind giving him popcorn as a snack but I do mind all of the additives in microwave popcorn, gross. Yes I know it's an easy fix just get an air popper...but I always hesitated because I really don't need one more thing to clutter up my kitchen. Happy day now because my friend Christina makes her kiddos popcorn like this.

 +

We tried it today, success!  Here's her recipe.

Brown Bag Microwave Popcorn

1/3 cup popcorn kernels

little bit of olive oil

salt

Add all of the ingredients in the bag. Fold the bag over twice and sit upright in the microwave. All microwaves are different but I would just cook on high between 2 and 2 minutes and 30 seconds.

{image via Feed Me I'm Cranky}

Blog Crush :: Dinner, A Love Story

I first found this blog when Mamacita kindly told me that I NEEDED the Time for Dinner Cookbook. It would change my life or something. I'm embarrassed to admit I haven't bought it yet but don't fret Mamacita it's been in my Amazon cart since you mentioned it. I need to buy something else with it to get the free shipping, I'm cheap like that. Anyways I've loved it ever since she tuned me in and these illustrations and descriptions in A Picky Eater Taxonomy crack me up every time I look at her Picky Eating label.  

Big is a combo of The Negotiator/The Pint Sized Paggro/The Starch King of Starchy McCarbLand

Little is easy he's The Refusenik.

What are yours?

{image via Time for Dinner by Jessica Zadnik}

Boy's Bunk

I'm slightly obsessed with this boy's bunk found over at Two Ellie.

That's all.

Got brats?

Dear smug childless people and old grouches,

When you shout it out to the universe via facebook, twitter or shoot daggers out of your eyes let me be clear when a kid has a meltdown it's just as mortifying to the parents as it is to you. It's not like parents head out the door hoping to incite their child into a frenzy by saying no to fruit snacks, them being inexplicably hot, tired or hungry or simply looking at them cross-eyed. Grouches please remember what it was like to have a child and smug kidless peeps remember karma's a bitch and this could be you someday so try a little compassion.

Love, Me

PS - If you want to be mortified do it at the adult that has the haircut like this one. Because they unlike the kids have a little more choice in matters.

The weekend

Hi there. How were your Super Bowl festivities? Are you a big football fan? By the time the Super Bowl rolls around I could give a fig about any football. I check out around the college bowl season because I'm so tired of it. But hey if you're a Packers fan, woot woot! We took Little to Disneyland for his birthday, well it's not quite his birthday but it's when we could fit it in. He got to meet his idol Lightning McQueen and added a few more Cars items to his collection. We are a Disney marketers dream, he LOVES Cars.

When you're 5 you get to go all alone at our house, we did it for Big too and it ends up being pretty special. You get to do whatever you want without an impatient brother standing by, not to mention at 5 you're usually tall enough to ride most of the rides. When we went a couple of years ago for Big's 5th birthday we realized that you can bring food into the park now. No worries about eating the world's grossest lunch you can swing by Trader Joe's and bring it in. Thank goodness. You know Little doesn't eat anything so it came in pretty handy. I did however eat my weight in churros and had to have the yummy pineapple soft serve over by Adventure Land. I've always thought that churros in Disneyland taste the best, I can't be the only one.

He's 7

Did I tell you last Monday that Big turned 7?  Yes, 7!?! When I started this blog he was barely 4, I can't believe it either. My sweet little Mama's boy has now officially marched into kiddom. He says, "Mo-om!" when he thinks I'm being annoying and a little too weird.  He tries things on his own without looking my way for approval. He's a boy that is kind, silly and has never met a stranger. 

I say, "Wow, I'm so lucky." to myself every single day; as I'm sure all moms do. We are lucky aren't we?

Santa Photobooth? Love it!

Rats! Why didn't I see this sooner? Big has his Christmas party at school today and I think that this would have been a huge hit. A bunch of littles clowning with Santa accessories would have been too cute...next year.

Cute and not to mention easy all you have to do is print and cut.

{Hostess with the Mostess via Kim Vallee}

Organic Junk

Last night my son asked for Pop-Tarts, he informed me that there are all sorts of flavors. He's tired of the flavor that I buy and he wants the Pop-Tart brand. I tried to go the non-confrontational brush off route with the standard mom line, "We'll see". To which he replied, "It's not fair you never buy anything with hydronated oil". Cute that he sorta really knew my no way ingredient.

{my boys would be in heaven if this showed up at our door, sorry guys not happening.}

So then I explained that while I do my very best not to buy food with partially hydrogenated oil I let him eat stuff with it in it from time to time. Then I also explained that I still do buy treat food, I just check the ingredients and it can't be just any old junk. He wasn't buying my explanation on the whys though. So tell me where do you draw the line? I don't kid myself about organic processed food being "better" because hey a toaster pastry is a toaster pastry...except for those icky few ingredients. Yes, No? My feeling is a treat is a treat but I try to at least buy the best ones that I can when we're feeling treaty.

Lunch dilemma

It's that time of year again, when Big is tired of everything I put in his lunches. Every week it's usually a rotation of the likes. Pita with hummus, PB & J, pasta with olive oil and herbs, every now and then a leftover and predictably it gets boring.

{Go Green Lunchbox}

Thankfully lately he's been really great about trying new things but the tricky part is getting it into his lunch. He's the kind of kid that if something is supposed to be hot and by the time lunch rolls around if it's not it doesn't get eaten. I've actually been desperate enough to practically beg him to try the hot lunch just to switch things up and it's always a big fat no. Not that I can blame him the lunches don't always look particularly appealing. So here's my question, what are feeding your kids? Come on, now is not the time to be shy.