...with Bob the Builder and a baby owl!

Halloween is here!
This is the first year that Elena "gets" Halloween...well, kind of gets it. Initially when asking her what she wanted to dress up as for Halloween, her response was always "I want to be Halloween".
She didn't quite understand the concept of it...yet.
But, now she totally gets it.
For whatever reason, she has stated that she wants to be a ghost. I have no idea why. I mean, a ghost? Pretty boring if you ask me!
I guess I should just be happy she didn't ask to be a princess!

I wasn't really sure what to dress the little man up as either. Elena informed me that he told her he wanted to be an owl (he doesn't talk, so this didn't really happen!) and she would be a ghost so she could scare him. Now if that isn't sibling love...I don't know what is!
But, it just so happens that I did have an owl hat for Emanuel, so the idea of him being an owl was a reality...especially since I happened to have gobs of felt on hand (that I purchased at a thrift store for like $2).
So, I quickly threw together an owl costume for Emanuel. It was super easy. Just me, some felt and a LOT of hot glue! I must add, I made it out of that project without a single hot glue burn! That in itself is noteworthy!
All the while, Elena kept asking me where her ghost costume was. I was purposely holding off on creating a ghost costume because I just knew she wouldn't keep a sheet over her head. Then, on Friday evening she all of a sudden tells me she wants to be a bat! I was liking this idea! It was a step up from the ghost and would still be relatively easy to make! However, after seeing Emanuel's finished owl costume, she said she wanted to be an owl...my husband warned me of this. Well, since Elena was so wishy washy on what she wanted to be, I made an executive decision for her. She would be Bob the Builder! She loves her Bob the Builder books and has several pieces of dress up construction clothes, so I added a few extras and ta-dah - Bob the Builder!

She thought the costume was great!
So, here are my little Bob the Builder (the girl version) and my little owl...hoohoo!

This is the best back view I have of the owl costume (and it's really the side).

...where I "thredUP" the kids clothes!

It's no secret that I am a bargain shopper, especially when it comes to my children's clothing!
I recently revisited an online store for purchasing kids clothing - at consignment prices.
thredUP is essentially an online, kids clothing consignment store that sells gently used and even brand new clothing with tags. By creating an account you can sort thru clothing and shoes online using various sorting methods (boy vs. girl, size, color, brand and even category).
I found the prices to be similiar to consigment store prices in my area, although many of the items were cheaper online, especially outerwear.
I even cross-checked prices on Ebay.
I decided to give it a try and placed an order last week. I ended up ordering 16 items (all clothing and 2 winter jackets) for a grand total of $62. Not bad, considering the price of a winter coat at my local kids consignment store was $30!
My box came several days later in the mail and everything was packaged inside these awesome cardboard gift-boxes (I will be reusing them, they are that nice!).
Everything was in great condition. I can't complain really....I was able to shop from the comfort of my home and get quality used kids clothing delivered to my door...I don't know any other way to do that without leaving home and going to a rummage sale or consignment sale!
Not only can you shop online at thredUP, but you can also send in gently used clothing and get cash for it! Once you create an account you can request a bag online to be mailed to you. I am currently filling up a bag with some of the kids outgrown clothing and will be shipping it to thredUP soon...hoping to buy some more kids items with the money I get back! I'll update later about how the process of sending in clothing went and how much $$$ I made!
One of my favorite things about the site is searching by brand. I can search for brands that I am not able to get locally and can even try out pricier brands for a fraction of the cost.
So check it out! If you join thru the link below, you should receive a $10 coupon to use when you place your first order...a gift from me to you! Happy Shopping!
Click here to shop at thredUP!

...when I refinished a spindle bed.

Some time ago I decided that I wanted to find a vintage spindle bed for Elena's bedroom and refinish it. I won't lie...Pinterest had a lot to do with this decision of mine. Pinterest sure makes a person feel like any thing can be done by yourself...no need to hire a professional or buy something brand new!

I really like the look of Jenny Lind style spindle beds and thought one would look good in Elena's bedroom, which I was trying to decorate with a vintage feel. Jenny Lind twin beds can be found brand new, but most aren't solid wood and they of course have a hefty price tag. So I began my search on Craigslist. I searched for about a month before I found one that wasn't too far away, wasn't too expensive and was in good condition. It was a challenging search, as most people don't use the term "Jenny Lind" to describe the bed, and not all used the term "spindle bed" either. In fact, the bed I bought ended up being listed only as a "twin bed"!
The great thing about the bed, is that it is solid wood and was made in the USA. It still has the original label on it from when it was purchased at the store (on the inside of one of the side rails).
My plan with the spindle bed was to prime it and paint it a fresh new color! I took one of Elena's pillow shams to the hardware store and matched a paint color to the yellow in the sham.
The process of refinishing was pretty easy - we first wiped the bed clean, then used a spray primer and let it dry. After drying, we then spray painted the bed yellow. We did this over several days to make sure everything was dry before turning pieces over so that we could paint the undersides (we laid each piece on large piece of cardboard in our yard).
I think the bed looks great in Elena's room and I am happy with how it turned out!
The bed as we bought it:

After being painted yellow!

All set up in Elena's room!

Now that I am done with the bed...I want to try my hand at refinishing something else! We do need a new dining room table and chairs....hmmmmm?!?!?!?

...with the summer update.

Whew! It's been a long, HOT summer. The entire month of July was an inferno. Since the heat and humidity was mostly unbearable it meant having to occupy the kids indoors, which was challenging at best!
Since it's almost fall (yay, finally!), here's a rundown of what's been going on the last few months!

July ~ The Fourth of July was so dang hot, that most towns in the area had to cancel fireworks because of the risk for fires. It was so hot, that we didn't even take the kids to a fireworks show. We did celebrate with some sparklers however and popsicles in the backyard!
We spent the weekend after the 4th of July up at my parents Homestead (and yes, it's their Homestead as I have never lived there). The kids loved playing in the outdoors and getting dirty. My dad purchased a new fishing boat, so we took it out on the water to do a little fishing. Elena got to use her fishing pole for the first time and she caught her first fish! She was actually the first person to catch a fish on the new boat!

The kids rode on the ATV's with Daddy and Grandpa, which they both love. Here they are sitting on the ATV's after riding around the yard.

I've been working on taking better images with my camera (and editing them!), so I experimented with silhouettes. Here's my favorite one from the weekend.

In late July my sister and I took the kids to Bookworm Gardens for a "fairy festival". The kids built fairy houses in the woods, made fairy wands and walked around the gardens. Elena posed with her fairy house just long enough to get a picture...then she promptly knocked it down!

Emanuel laid an egg with Horton!

August ~ We celebrated Elena's 3rd birthday the first week of August. We didn't do a big party this year, just had some family over to celebrate! I had asked Elena what kind of cake she wanted for her birthday and she always responded with "a truck cake". The girl loves construction trucks (she knows them all by name!), so I did a little searching on Pinterest and combined a few ideas together to come up with this:

The cake was actually a flourless cake. Its main ingredient was....wait for it....black beans! I didn't tell anyone there were black beans in it until it was all gone! Nobody would have guessed! It was so good....I think it will be my go-to chocolate cake recipe! Of course it had to have a peanut butter icing since Elena loves peanut butter!
I had worked on putting together Elena's birthday gift for months before her actual birthday. She loves to dress up, so I collected various dress up pieces and put them in a basket for her. Most items came from rummage sales or the Goodwill. The only piece I actually bought at a store was a Dora dress. Here is Elena modeling many of her dress up clothes...all at once!

As I mentioned before, I have been praciticing quite a bit with my camera to take better photos of the kids. Once the weather cooled off a little bit (and really, it was just a little bit!) I started taking the kids to the park to play soccer and to have picnics on a blanket. Of course, I used that opportunity to snap some photos of the kids! There was a lot of "you walk that way, mommy will follow you". "Hold your brother's hand". Click, click, click!

So that brings us to September.
We, again, went to my parents Homestead for Labor Day. Some good friends of ours joined us, as well as my sister in law and niece and my brother in law and nephews.
The kids loved it! We played outside a lot, picked veggies in the garden, ate a LOT and just enjoyed the company!
Some photos from the long holiday weekend.
Elena playing hide and seek amongst the laundry.

Emanuel picked the last apple off the tree.

The kids picking green beans for dinner!

Of course...we went fishing too!

That about wraps up summer!
I have a few more posts to write up with a photo project and a home project I worked on this summer too!

...with the essence of Puerto Rican cooking.

I still remember the first time my husband cooked Puerto Rican food for me (we were in college and he cooked it in his fraternity's kitchen). I told him it was the best food I had ever tasted...and not because I was trying to get him to like me, but because it really was.

It was rice and beans! (romantic - huh?)

Ricky is a great cook. More often than not, when we invite guests over to dinner he does the cooking....because I ask him too. I am too afraid to serve something that will leave our guests disappointed! You see, Puerto Rican food is SO incredibly flavorful, that once you taste it, you'd think my cooking was bland and boring. Even I think that.

Since his specialty is obviously Puerto Rican food, we generally plan a menu around that, which leaves our guests impressed and begging for more! The most common request our friends ask us (him) to make is rice and beans and empanadillas.


A common misconception about Puerto Rican food is that it is spicy, which happens to be so far from the truth. Puerto Rican food uses a lot of spices and is very flavorful, but NOT spicy. Over the years I have watched over my husbands shoulder (which he hates!) as he cooks so that I could possibly learn a thing or two.

What I have discovered is what I refer to as "the essence of Puerto Rican cooking".

What's that, you wonder?

Sofrito.

It's hard to describe sofrito. Basically it is a mix of oil, herbs and vegetables that is used to flavor anything from soups and stews, to beans and ground meat.
It is NOT a marinade, rub or salsa (even though it kind of looks like it).
It has an intense, concentrated flavor almost - so a little goes a long way.

You can buy sofrito in the hispanic aisle of a grocery store, or you can make it.

We just whipped up a batch of sofrito today and I am going to share the recipe with you. Like most recipes - there are many variations that can be made, this is just how my husbands family makes it, but I have seen other recipes online as well. I should also mention, my husband does not measure anything - he "meaures" by eyeballing it and by tasting it!


Sofrito

Ingredients:

2 bell peppers (any combination or red or green - we used 1 red/1 green. Ricky's dad never uses red, only green. The color of bell peppers you use is reflected in the final color of your finished sofrito. As you probably guessed, ours is red, his dad's version is green!)

2 roma tomatoes (seed them if you want - we didn't)

2 heads of garlic (or more if you want)

1 medium onion

1 bunch of cilantro (in Puerto Rico they use culantro - which is similiar to cilantro but has a stronger flavor)

a bunch of sweet peppers (I bought a bag of them - which contained approx. 8)

oil (looks like about half a cup in the photo)
salt (I am unsure of the amount...a small heap {you can see it on the wax paper in the photo!})

That's it for ingredients.
Peel and core anything that needs it (peppers, onion, garlic).
Roughly chop up the veggies. Add everything into a food processor (we did ours in 2 batches because of the amount it made) and process until smooth. Taste it if you want. You could add more salt or garlic if you want.
Take a whiff - I always love its aroma!

That's it!

Put it in a jar and refrigerate. We also freeze ours in ice cube trays and then place them in a zip-loc for later use.

So the other questions that comes up often, is "how much do I use when cooking"?
It really depends. Remember sofrito is intense...a lot of flavor in a small cube (if you freeze like I do).
I made a pot of chili this past spring and used 2 cubes of sofrito. It was the best tasting chili I have ever made!
In our rice and beans I would say Ricky uses the equivalent of one ice cube - like I mentioned before he does NOT measure anything

Frozen heart shaped "cubes"

What the green version looks like (left over from some that Ricky's dad made)

...with homemade strawberry ice-cream.

Ahhh, yes. It's been a HOT summer here (which is kind of unusual to have so many consecutive hot days) and that means one thing: homemade ice cream...nearly every week!

So far, I have made chocolate espresso ice cream, coconut ice cream and strawberry ice cream. Next, I want to try mint chocolate chip - which, will end up being all for me (yay!), as my husband has issues with mint and chocolate flavoring together (that is not normal)!

I used the Dreamy Creamy Strawberry Ice Cream recipe from Annie's Eats . It is super simple and quick to make. I swear, when I tell people that I make my own ice cream they oooohh and aaaaahh....if only they realized how easy it is ;)

I used fresh strawberry's that my mom got from a road side stand too!

Here is the deliciousness:

...when I made Greek yogurt.

I have been making homemade yogurt now for almost 2 years. The funny thing is...I hate yogurt. Blech! But, my kids love it and I love making it for them. I get to make the exact flavors they like without all the added sugar the store bought kind has.
Their favorite flavor is simple - cinnamon vanilla! They eat yogurt every.single.day. I think they'd eat it with every meal if I let them (how are they my kids?!?)
Now don't get me wrong, I occasionally buy yogurt from the store - mainly when we travel.
I once bought Greek yogurt for Elena and she called it ice cream! I just went with it and let her call it that!
The thing I like about Greek yogurt, is how thick it is. With my homemade yogurt, it thins out, especially when I add in the "flavoring" (vanilla, pureed fruit, etc). Because Greek yogurt is so thick, I don't notice that it gets any thinner when I add fruit or vanilla to it.
The bummer part of Greek yogurt though, is how expensive it is. One of those single serving size cups (6 ounces usually) costs more than $1 and sometimes closer to $2!!! The other negative, is that the majority of Greek yogurt sold in the stores here is nonfat. Meaning zero fat.
It's no secret that my kids are barely on the growth curve (they are on their own growth curve and are very healthy!), so for now I continue to give them milk products that are at a minimum made with 2% milk. When I make their yogurt, I make it with whole milk (that also helps it be thicker). I have never even come across whole milk Greek yogurt in a store.

Lately, when I have been making their yogurt, I try to pour off the whey that accumulates in the glass jars (whey is the clearish liquid). Since I was already doing that, I decided to check online to see how to make the yogurt Greek style.
It is so completely easy - that I feel like an idiot for not doing it sooner!
If you aren't familiar with how I make yogurt, check out my previous blog post here.
The only thing you do differently to make it Greek, is this:

Once your yogurt is done culturing, place it in the fridge for approximately 3 hours.
After 3 hours, remove from fridge.
Line a mesh strainer with 4 layers of cheesecloth and set the strainer over a medium to large mixing bowl.
Spoon your yogurt into the cheesecloth lined strainer.
Set the entire bowl/strainer/yogurt contraption back in the fridge for about another hour.
After an hour, remove from fridge.
The whey will be in the bottom of the mixing bowl and your nice thick Greek yogurt is sitting in the cheesecloth!
That's it, your Greek yogurt is complete (after flavoring of course).

I used 4 cups of organic whole milk to make my Greek Yogurt. A gallon of organic whole milk cost me just under $6 at the grocery store (and I only used a QUARTER of that gallon). My yogurt starter came from a previous batch of yogurt that I had made. A 32 ounce container of Greek Chobani yogurt at the grocery store costs about $5-$6, depending on sale price vs. regular price.

Greek yogurt!

...with Thrifty Thursday.

I haven't been going to the Goodwill as often as I was...mainly because 1. it was a holiday this past week and I was busy and worked and 2) it's rummage sale season. I have been scoping out rummage sales in my area and stop by while out doing other errands.

The one thing I have been short on for Emanuel for summer is short sleeved shirts. I haven't been finding any good ones in his size at the Goodwill. So, I broke down and decided that I would just buy some online from Gymboree. There was a sale going on anyways, plus I had a coupon for 20% off. So I picked out 7 shirts online and the price breakdown came out to about $5-6 per shirt (which, isn't all that bad for brand new clothing that, in my opinion, is good quality - we love Gymboree!). Before purchasing though, I decided to look at a few more rummage sales. I checked Craigslist and there was one that advertised "tons of boys clothing". So I packed the kids up and took them on a ride. Boy, was I glad I did. The clothing at the rummage was in great shape and was exactly the style and brands I typically buy for the kids. The price was $2 each, which is more than I normally pay at rummages (I generally like to spend no more than $1 per piece of kids clothing)...BUT, I figured it was either spend $2 each, or come home and pay $5+ each at Gymboree. I ended up getting 7 shirts for Emanuel for $14.
Here's what we got: 2 Ralph Lauren polo shirts, 2 Gymboree sleeveless tank shirts, 2 Janie and Jack shirts and a Marquette jersey!

This morning on my way to a playdate I passed a neighborhood that was having a rummage sale. So I drove thru real quick to see if there was anything that looked worth stopping by for. I spotted a house that had a ton of kids clothing. I didn't end up getting any clothing (they were charging way too much....like $5 per item!) but I did score 4 pairs of shoes for Elena for a total of $11.
Here they are: 1 pair of pedipeds (for next year), 1 pair of See Kai Run shoes (2 sizes up), 1 pair of Robeez (they fit now, with a little room to grow) adn 1 pair of Nina shoes (next size up).

At another rummage sale, I found a pair of lined Old Navy pants for Emanuel, another corduroy jacket for him, and a few shirs for Elena. Oh, and a short sleeve shirt with a burro on it for Emanuel.....because what kid doesn't need a shirt with a burro on it?
Everything was $1 each.

...with Thrifty Thursday.

Tis the season for rummage sales!

I stopped by a rummage on my way to the grocery store last weekend and saw this vintage highchair for baby dolls. Elena has been really big into "cooking" for her babies and feeding them (and us), so I thought this would be a fun surprise for her.
I am happy to report that she loves it just as much as I do!

Stopped in to the Goodwill again this past week and stocked up on some more kids clothes. Found a couple more pairs of Gymboree and Cherokee shorts for this summer for Emanuel, as well as a cute red track suit jacket and a long sleeve shirt that says "Mommy's Little Monster".

Of course there were more jeans (in the next few sizes up), more shorts and 2 polo shirts for Emanuel.

For Elena I picked up a cute red Old Navy sweater dress for fall/winter, some Puma capris, a Gymboree panda pajama top and some simple fleece pants.

This weekend (Memorial weekend) the Goodwill is giving 15% off to customers with miitary ID's...too bad I still didn't have one!

...with Bookworm Gardens.

Last week I took the kids on a day trip to see my sister, an hour away, since she had a random day off and wanted us to come up and visit. It was a great day (sunny and warm) so we headed to quite possibly, the cutest place on earth.
A place called Bookworm Gardens.
Bookworm Gardens is a park themed around children's books, most of which the average person is familiar with (Charlotte's Web, The 3 Little Pigs, etc). You walk through the park and there are "exhibits" that pertain to a story book in some way. For instance, in a wooded area, there are three giant bears (made from some sort of twigs) and in front of the three bears were three chairs of different sizes.
Name that book.
Goldilocks and the Three Bears!
Here is Emanuel sitting in Papa Bear's chair!

There are also books throughout the gardens (they are laminated so they don't get ruined) that you can sit down and read with your kids. Here was Elena returning the book my sister read to her and Emanuel:

While Elena wasn't familiar with many of the books, Little House on the Prairie, for instance, she did have a great time sweeping the prairie house floor.
The gardens also made for an awesome backdrop for taking pics.
So I was that mom. The one who continually took photos of her kids.
My sister was hanging out with the kids, so I took advantage of the free moments to take photos without at least one of my kids crawling/hanging all over me!
Elena, sitting pretty:

My sister with the kids:

Old school desk inside the barn where they do story time:

Charlotte and her web:

Elena watering an apple tree. They even had an old fashioned water pump that worked! With my help, Elena pumped water into the watering can and then watered the various trees.

My sister reading Curious George to the kids. George was making pizza (which we ate for lunch after leaving the gardens!)

This was the magic school bus. Elena did NOT want to get on it. Even when we got on it and showed her that it was fun (I sat in the driver's seat and got to operate the door!) Elena stood outside the bus and yelled "I don't want to get on the bus"!

We didn't even make it around to all of the various parts of the garden, so I hope to visit again soon. I can't believe more cities don't have a place like this. I think it is a genius idea!
Did I mention it was free?!?