A Walk in the Park

This whole week, we have the pleasure of spending some time with my parents and my little brother.  They came down to visit us, and we're all thrilled.  Especially Clara.. she is definitely a 'Nana's Girl'.  So I may not be blogging much for a little bit, but I will leave you with these cute images from our play in the park today.  :)

I hope everyone has a wonderful week!  I look forward to fun times and memory making with my family! 

Independence Day

I hope everyone had a beautiful (and safe) time celebrating Independence Day. Our day was fun and tiring... definitely looking forward to a good nights sleep!


I had to make some sort of festive dessert.. so sugar cookies it was. I made Clara her cute lil' 4th of July pinwheel skirt. We also went out for shaved ice in the afternoon. It was Clara's first time seeing fireworks! So that was pretty exciting.. she was unsure of them at first. But after I kept saying how pretty they were she would say 'Ohh! So good. Pretty. I like it.' I think it's safe to say that she'll be looking forward to them next year! Also, I broke my pinky toe (yesterday actually.. it's even more bruised today). Sorry to anyone who doesn't like seeing feet.. but.. no shame here. It hurts and Clara keeps wanting to kiss it all better, but every time she touches it (or accidentally steps on it?!), I want to cry. My poor pinky toe looks like a little sausage. (pssst, if you don't follow me on instragram yet.. you should!)

I think I even sneaked in a 5 minute nap on the couch somewhere.. it was nice, just wish it was longer! How did you celebrate Independence Day?


(shoveling in a sugar cookie as we patiently wait for fireworks;)

Homemade Butter {recipe}

I think I've become slightly obsessed with making butter.  It's so simple to do, and tastes so fresh and delicious... and it's kind of fun, and gratifying.  I always tend to have heavy cream in my fridge, but sometimes I don't use all of it up before it goes bad.  Well now I know what to do with it - butter!  Don't ever let your cream go bad again!  If you find a good deal on heavy cream, it could even be cheaper than actually buying butter.  You could do this in a food processor or blender, but I prefer to use my KitchenAid mixer.

1.  Put whole cream into your mixer (blender or food processor).  Whip on high speed.  First it will become whipped cream (yum!).. but keep going and it will get thicker.  It will look kind of like whipped butter.  But don't stop!

2.  After a few minutes.. 5 or 10.. suddenly the milk solids will separate from the liquids.  I like to put a towel over my KitchenAid.. otherwise it would get very messy.  After a few seconds, when the solids come together, and separate from the liquid (buttermilk!).. stop your mixer.

3.  When it's done, it's super important to squeeze out any remaining buttermilk from the solids.  Squeeze the butter until cold, running water until the liquid runs clear.  If you don't get it all out, your butter will go rancid within just a few days.  Then pack it into an airtight container, or plastic wrap, and refrigerate or freeze.

Keep the buttermilk and bake something yummy with it, too!  :)  This would be something fun to do with kids, as an 'experiment' in the kitchen.  My 2 year old doesn't care much now, but one day she'll think it's fun, I'm sure.  :)

Start with however much heavy cream you want.

 First it turns to whipped cream!

 Then is separates and looks a little like whipped butter.

 Stop when the solids come together a little more.

 For me, 1 pint made almost 6 ounces of butter.  And after I strained it, I had about 1 cup of buttermilk (don't waste that either!  Use it for pancakes, waffles, or to bake something delicious)!

Enjoy your fresh butter!

Heat Break

When the heat index is 111.. there's not much I want to do, except lay in bed (thank God for air conditioning!) with my little one... snack on some cookies and applesauce... and watch fun videos on the laptop.

Clara didn't mind either.

Sometimes you just gotta take a break.. and I think this was a good excuse.  No errands, no laundry.. heck, I didn't even cook dinner.  Just relaxing... and that's okay!

Color My World

The more Clara grows, the more I can see both a girly-girl side and a tom-boy side. She is so much like her daddy (and not just in her looks.. although she is a complete replica of him).. she loves being outside. Doesn't matter what she's doing... helping me water flowers & herbs, going for walks, playing her little heart out at the playground, splashing in water, or making art in our driveway... she just loves the fresh air.

And I love that about her.

I love how she just gets right up in there and is completely concentrated on her colorful scribbles.



And she absolutely doesn't mind getting dirty.. that is.. until she realizes she's dirty. In this photo I believe she was saying 'wash hands, mama!'... no, she does not like dirt or anything on her hands that isn't suppose to be there.


But there's nothing I love more than sitting out in the sunshine with my baby girl... with our snacks and our juice... and her cute little chalk-covered hands.. drawing pretty pictures. :)

Take the Guesswork Out of Gift-Giving with Ziftit

Have you ever had to buy a gift for someone who has "everything".. or someone who is just plain hard to buy for? *raises hand* Me. Story of my life. Or maybe I just feel like men are hard to buy for. My dad, my husband, my father-in-law. I love giving gifts. But sometimes it gives me a little stress and anxiety. Anyone else?

Anyway, Ziftit had offered me a chance to try out their website to buy a gift for someone - I chose to use this opportunity for Father's Day to find a gift for my husband.

It's a simple concept. You can create wishlists for yourself and others, and others are able to view it. So when my husbands asks what I want for Christmas.. wah-la.. just visit my Ziftit List, babes. Or you can create events.. ie: Father's Day, birthdays, etc. And if you're like my husband, and have expensive hobbies (hunting, fishing, guns, woodworking, anything manly).. there's also an option for people to 'pitch in' money, so multiple people can contribute to a big gift. Kind of fun! And you can search the Ziftit website for gifts, or you can download their plugin and add to your Zift List from any website.

After debating over chop saws and fishing poles, I ended up going for a gun holster. Happy Father's Day to him! ;)



I also took the liberty of making a Zift List for myself... I mean, why not? A girl can dream.



Ziftit is also one of those companies that likes to contribute some good into this world. Who doesn't like that? This past Christmas, they provided 1,000 gifts to children and families displaced by Hurricane Sandy and they are now reaching out to residence of Moore, OK and all the families affected by the tornado.

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.