Spinach shakes it up

I am on a smoothie for breakfast kick. I think that it  makes getting a lot of nutrients quick, easy and painless...plus a big ole smoothie fills you up.

When I was a working girl, I would head to the drive-thru Tropical Smoothie by our house almost every morning. I was in love with their Peanut Paradise with soy. Oh Yum. Come to Mama! Well, after i was diagnosed with gestational diabetes, that was a huge no-no because that bad boy housed 99g of carbs! Eek.

I have been just kind of making them up as I go. For a while, I was stuck on spinach, peanut butter, bananas, ice and milk. It was close to my beloved Peanut Paradise, I didn't have to get dressed to go get it and I am saving the $5 every morning.

This morning was a bit different. I did spinach, pineapple, banana, milk and some coconut flakes. It was pretty good, but my blender didn't grind the coconut down enough so there was a little bite afterward. Maybe that is a good thing... I get to chew? Who knows.

I am going to try a few more spinach versions since I have leftovers but then I want to try a few all berry mixes with milk and likely a banana too. It seems to be the best way to add some bulk, creamy and sweet.

Speaking of banana, my go to after dinner treat has been a T or 2 of chunky peanut butter with a banana and a glass of icy milk. Try it out. Apples are good too :)

Tish

Cruising down memory lane

Do you remember clear mascara? I loved clear mascara. I wore it all the time. Mainly because I wasn't allowed to wear makeup and this wasn't really considered makeup, thank goodness.

I also wore Lipsmackers strawberry flavored gloss. Loved the pink. The sparkle. I was pink and sparkly before Victoria's Secret.

I was mildly obsessed with perfumes. I loved Loves, Navy, Exclamation, Vanilla Fields, and Sun, Moon and Stars. So awful LOL.

I had a million of the little circles you tied your shirt up in. I had every color of scrunch sock and scrunchy hair tie.

I was so excited and thought that I was so cool when Herbal Essences came out. It smelled so good and I felt so chic.

I wasn't able to shave my legs till I was in the 7th grade. Why did my mom feel the need to torture me? I have dark hair. My leg hair was dark. It was humiliating. I was able to shave my underarms at 4th grade though. Go figure. Also note that I was such a good kid, I didn't just go ahead and shave my legs anyway. What would have happened? Sheesh.

I had a ton of earrings but only one pair of dangly ones that I wasn't supposed to wear but you know that those were the only ones that I wanted to have on. Drove my mom crazy.

Were you a tight roller? I was. Add scrunch socks and you were awesomely cool.
I never cut slits in my jeans though..you remember, at the bottom to allow for boots?

Speaking of boots, in either 6th or 7th grade, I went through a cowboy phase. I wore wranglers, and boots and cowboy shirts. Don't laugh, it was the cool thing at school.

Then high school came and I then had to have Dr. Marten's. I wore them with jeans and a button down with a sweater over. Prepster. That was the cool thing.

Memory lane is fun... I will have to do this again.

Some favorite Summer beauty must have's

Some of my favorite things right now:

Garnier Oil Free BB Cream for a quick face

 

Bare Minerals Nude Beach eyeshadow for a subtle dewy effect

This is probably the cheapest drug store lotion ever, but I love it when the hot months come. I feel like I am on a tropical island!

 

 

I also love using Burt's Bee's everything. I especially love this Mango Butter lip balm!

Living in AZ can be hard on your skin.. I like to keep my skin soft with this scrub. Smells delish.

Have a great hump day!

Tish



 

A quick soup

Wanted a quick light dinner tonight. Made salads and threw together an easy peasy spicy-ish soup.

1 can of Ranch style beans
1 can of original Rotel
1 can of diced tomatoes
2 cups of water
1/2 pkg of ranch seasoning
1/2 pkg of taco seasoning

Done.

Swimming, bounce houses and the Little Gym

This weekend was filled up with the pool time and birthday parties!

Steve let our Golden Retriever go swimming with him on Saturday afternoon. I was lounging and getting some sun!

He is so happy to have finally got this basketball net for the pool. He must have talked about 100 times last summer.

 

 

This is from our friend's daughters birthday Saturday night. This big jumper had a slide too that Maddox just loved! 

 

 

Today we went to "Little Gym" for another birthday festivity. It was so fun to see Maddox run around and jump. 

We took a long walk this morning and let the little guy play for a bit at one of the community parks. Now... it is definitely time for a little siesta.

Tish

Nashville on ABC

Do y'all watch NASHVILLE? Oh. Em. Gee. You need to load up and get with the program. I look forward to it every Wednesday night. It has the perfect amount of sass, sex, drama, manipulation, love, lust and music to just suck you in. Deep.
The two big stars are Rayna Jaymes (played by Connie Britton) and Juliette Barnes (played by Hayden Panettiere). Rayna is the legend in country music and Juliette is the up and rising new star trying to surpass the name of Rayna Jaymes. They end up having to work and tour together (WITH Rayna's ex and band mate Deacon--all of which her husband, Teddy, is furious over) and it is just a glorious, wonderful to watch TV drama mess.

Rayna has two daughters that she wants to keep out of the limelight but this may be impossible after seeing this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TzwP_jHOVUs


What do you watch? Are you passionate about them?

Other favorites include:
Switched at Birth-- love this show!
Army Wives-- though it is getting a little bit weird with all the new characters, it seems to be working
The Client List- HOT HOT HOT. I may have to gush about this show in another post.
Drop Dead Diva-- it is coming back isn't it?
Grey's Anatomy-- I am still a fan. Can't help myself. And oh how I want Avery and April together.
Duck Dynasty--Never thought that I would get sucked in, but it's another one, I'm in deep.
I enjoy X-Factor and American Idol, & the auditions on The Voice and then I lost interest.
Shamefully, I also like Catfish on MTV... I know.


Tish

Just a short note

It is way to hot already in Phoenix.. yesterday topped off at 106 AND our A/C unit broke! Eek!
Of course it was the bigger of the two units and of course it was the one that controlled all of the bedrooms. It was a pretty fun night in our house! Ha.
Luckily, they were able to fix it first thing today. Thank goodness for a freezer and ice packs. :)

This little fella of mine has decided that 5:30am is his new wake up time. I am not very happy about that. He wakes up and is a little song bird with so much energy. (where does it all come from!?)
He then ordered a movie on demand. Are you serious! You guys, the Cox cable people laughed at me. You know what he ordered? Frankenweenie. A stinkin cartoon! How random!
We now have it password protected....

I tried a pinterest meatball recipe. It had such positive reviews.. We didn't like it at all. Mine are much better and I should have just stuck with those. The dogs had a nice meatball dinner.

Anyway, I am off. So sleepy. We are hoping this little one goes to sleep early and that we can hit the sack by 8 ;-)

A mama can dream right?

Happy Mother's Day...no one can prepare you.

Happy Mother's Day.

Happy Mother's Day to all of you who are mamas, who want to be mama's and who have been mama's. Happy Mother's Day to you if you adopted your baby, are a nanny to a baby, or are a puppy or pet mama.... You all deserve a big hug, a latte, a glass of vino and a cookie.

Mothering is a hard gig, and nothing and no one can ever prepare you for things that you will face. No one. You can read up on the latest techniques, listen to stories about what worked for so and so, but no one can do a better job than you can with your babies.

Nothing seemed to go right today. My husband tried. My son was not having it. We tried brunch out... we got it boxed up and slammed the champagne and vodka like teenagers as we ran out. We tried to spend the afternoon soaking up rays in the pool. Little boy wasn't having that. He wanted to run up and down the stairs. Slipped and fell after repeatedly asked to stop and redirected to other things. My husband cooked a wonderful dinner at home. Half way through, little guy was done and wanted down. At least we were home, he was able to get down and we were able to finish dinner.
It's moments like those that no one can prepare you for.

My little boy came into the closet with me as I was putting away laundry. He was so sweet and trying to help me. It's moments like those that no one can prepare you for.

We sat at the table while Daddy cooked and he insisted on feeding me pretzels.
It's moments like those that no one can prepare you for.

He is giggling and talking as I am on the computer and begging to play.. so I will go. I will play, and I will be so thankful that he made me a mama. He gave me the best gift and job I could ever hope to have. I am a mama. His mama. And that, my friends, is good.

 

Just for a look at where we have come.. here is Mother's Day 2012:

 

 



Enjoy your time...
Tish

Friends and Friday Fun

Maddox and I had such a fun time today with friends. My sweet friend Sarah invited us over to play and have brunch. She suggested pancakes and bacon, and one does not refuse anything with the b word. Am I right? Our good friends Angie and Brody were there too so it was a great time.

We were all mostly outside the whole day, how she can have such a relatively cool patio is beyond me, but she does. AND Sarah's house is the best for kids. I mean she has every toy and idea you can think of so the kids are never bored when we visit.

These three little guys have the best time together and I am so glad that I have gotten to know their moms. Angie is the organizer of the meetup group I belong to, and Sarah is also a member of it. Meetup sure did help me in Phoenix :)

Hope you guys have a great Friday.

Pioneer Woman and Six Sisters' Recipes to try

 

Today was not that day.... I have been a pinning monster.

 

Today I made pizza dough thanks to a simple recipe from none other than The Pioneer Woman, Ree. I followed what she said, I conquered the fear and it was delicious.

My husband planned out what other toppings I could do "for the next time".

We both love that thin, crunchy, smokey flavor of some of the fancier pizza joints.. and I recreated it at home. BOO YA!

 

This week I have also met and conquered the Ginger Steak Salad ALSO from PW. I have never worked with ginger before... it scared me a bit too. I mean, it looks so shriveled and old and just...gross. I like the powdered junk. BUT now... I am a ginger master. I did it.. I ate it.. it was good.

I tried out Six Sisters' Light Taco Casserole and it was pretty good. My son did not eat 3 helpings like theirs did, but my husband liked it and it was decent warmed up today for lunch.

Stalker tendencies

Brain  d u m p

You guys! I have "the worst" headache tonight. I realized I did not drink my standard of at least one cup of coffee today. Maddox and I were rushed this morning because he has been sleeping in, which in turn lets me sleep in (HOLLA!) so we were running around like chickens with our heads cut off to get to story time at the library.

Why doesn't little bear wear any clothes but all the grown up bears do? Why do Dora's parents let her a) dress like a hooch with her belly out and b) wander so far from home alone? Where the %^&* are Max and Ruby's parents? And grandma comes to visit-- so she isn't living there either.

I broke my no soda rule and sipped a small coke this evening after dinner when I realized what this headache was from. My body is rejecting it. It didn't even taste good! Sad news.

I am kind of stalking the cast of Duck Dynasty. I never thought that I would love that show but I do.

Also I am kind of stalking The Militant Baker after seeing a pin on pinterest about what no one tells a fat girl. She is much braver than I am. She struts around in her own skin and is proud. I am comfortable in what I am comfortable in but don't go outside my zone very often. This chick stands in the middle of the street in her nightie. Her whole point is that everyone has struggles and is beautiful and to basically just be who you are and ^&*% every one else and their opinions of it. Is good for all girls to read I think-- we all have our own self issues, and need reassurance that it is ok... WE ARE OK.

Also had a good read in The Fifty Two Shades of Shay--blogging edition. I am so guilty of this. I often worry and get frusterated that I dont have 100's or 1000's of readers like so many of the cool chicks I read on the daily. BUT at the end of the day, I like this. I like talking and keeping record of what my days were like, what my thoughts were like and how I felt, so I truck on. It was nice to read that I am not the only one and that I just have to keep being me.

This is likely what I will dream about.. Night ya'll.

Tish

Photo Dump-Life in pictures..with captions ;)

Everyone needs an iPhone photo dump every once in a while right? Right?

This little boy loves fruit. There is a fruit drawer in the bottom of the fridge and he pounds on the door and begs me to get fruit out. Is it sad that I have to sometimes hide fruit because he will take one bite of 3 things then wander away? I was shopping with a friend and Maddox went goo goo ga ga over bananas. Just "ape crazy". 30 seconds later, her son did the same thing--only over McDonald's. Was pretty funny. Here he is outside-- in his diaper-- REDNECK y'all--with an apple and a pear.

Maddox wants to be outside 24 hours a day. I mean really. He wakes up and the first thing he does is run to the door. He will randomly run to the door and ask to go out all throughout the day and especially at night. He takes a ball and puts it under his arm like he is 7 years old and just says "oh please".

 

 

My pinterest pillow project (alliteration anyone?!) has been completed. I ended up changing out 3 of the 4 fabrics I already had. Only kept the green pillow. This is our green and orange room.. or 60s/70s room... or Mexican inspired room. I kid. Sort of. There are two Peter Lik photos in this room. One is a bamboo forest and the other is gorgeous orange leaves in October. I had a red pillow and two beige pillows but felt it needed a little oomph. I brought the red in there because there is so much red throughout the house, but it really didn't fit. I was shocked that my hubby liked the loud print. He selected it out of a few choices. He said it reminded him of our honeymoon in Mexico (pause for awwww's). 

Maddox loves to be a helper. He just dies to swiffer when I bring it out... yet another thing that I have to sometimes hide from my kid. I gave it to him without the actual duster on it and little baby Einstein ran over to the cupboard and asked for it. Genius I tell you!

 

 

I tweeted this photo to Chobani. It is pretty great. We love our yogurt! Mommy does not like the Chobani BITE in the chocolate/coffee flavor though. YUCK. I let them know that too. You would think those combos would be ahhhmazing, but it tasted chalky. *shudder*

 

 

Friday night was a treat night. We went to DQ for some yummy ice cream. My husband wanted a banana split but they were out of bananas (really DQ?) so he got a chocolate shake.. which became the little boys as soon as we got home.



Yesterday afternoon we drove to Estrella Mountain Lake and walked around. We looked at the ducks and little one kept repeating Quack Quack. It was a gorgeous day and a gorgeous way to spend an afternoon together.

 

Today we are going to take it easy, maybe get in the pool and just chill. We have some leftover peaches from the farm that we froze and a bottle of rum getting very cold in the freezer. Not very Cinco de Mayo of us is it? Well, we are going to a Mexican restaurant for an early dinner so ha :)

 

BTW: Saw this recipe for a lime margarita on pinterest and want to try!

 

1 cup crushed ice

1/2 can frozen lime concentrate

4 large scoops of lime sherbet

2-4 shots of tequila

Blend!

Looks delish right?

 

Be safe!

Tish

 

Kitchen remodel and pinterest inspiration

Most of the kitchen is complete. We have no water and I cant use the kitchen till tomorrow some time but the granite is in!

We loved the outcome. The colors were well suited for our home. I mean, seeing it outside the house or seeing a sample or a slab at a yard does not really tell you how it will look all put together, Can I get an amen? There are a few bits of sparkle sprinkled around, so that pleases me. :)

Here is a shot with our new dining table too. It is made from reconstructed wood out of India so it is supposed to look a little beat up ;) It is a 6 seater and we hope to love it for many many years.

Me and little boy had to leave half way through the installation because we were high as kites from all of the glue fumes. Wow. They should really warn you about that. Since it was 100 degrees out in the middle of the afternoon, I opted for a s little shopping trip to Joanne's. Why not?

I have recreated 4 of these pillows I found on pinterest. I love them and they have made a big impact on my front room couch! I love that I can change out the fabric when I want to or change it for different seasons. I have decided that I need to add a little something else. I have a green pillow, a red polka dot and two beige. I think that I want to have all different patterns... which led me to this for one of the options:

I didn't get it yet-- I got the goldish one you can barely see in the background, but I am really loving this fun print. What do you guys think? (Our home is all warm colors with accents of reds, greens, oranges ect)  I am super excited about making some more of these pillows. I already had the pillows and used a 50% off coupon so the fabric was only $5. That is reason alone for a makeover :)
My tip for these pillows, is to use a few safety pins to secure before tying your knot.

Off to pinterest I go. I am a junkie.

Tish

Oh Please: Giveaways I entered and Grown Up's

My little guy slept in till 8:15 this morning. I wish that was good news, but it just meant that he doesn't feel well. Teething. He is pretty calm about it all but his poor nose is a runny sniffly mess, he is tried, he runs low fevers and he is just generally a little more moody.

I wont lie though, it was kind of nice to be up before him and to sleep in.

After waking up, he ran to the backyard slider and said "mommy, mama, oh please".  How could I resist that? We went outside and blew bubbles and played blocks and he ran. I played candy crush. I started playing it yesterday. Big mistake. I like it. I don't have to wait for friends to spell words. I can just play solo. Hey! I have never played a game like that before. I was never sucked in, but I kept seeing all my grown up friends play, and I was a sheep. Bahhh.

Speaking of grown up friends.. do you have those few friends who always seem more grown up than you? Like you always feel like a kid around? Not in a bad way really, but they just seem like grown up's... what ever that means. I have some and it feels weird. Not good or bad. Just weird. Just me?

Wanted to throw out a few giveaways that I have recently entered: spread the love right?
I read Christin's blog over at The Southern Wife and she is giving away a pretty two tone Skagen watch. Then I popped over to The Blue Eyed Bride's page and she has the mother load of a Mother's Day giveaway happening. Woo whee. Too many things to even mention. I always stop by to see what Kelly and her sweet girls are doing at Kelly's Korner and she is having a Sherwin Williams giveaway too but I didn't enter that one because we aren't in the market right now. Go. Win. Good luck :)

Tish