:: our little painter ::

Our neighbor across the street came over to bring us a 'welcome to the street' gift and had a little finger paint set and brushes for Isabelle- so sweet!  I had just been wanting to get Isabelle some paints, so the gift couldn't have been more perfect timing!  She brought them to us right before Iz was going down for her nap and we used them right after she woke up.. 'colors'!  I just put one of dad's old tees on her {used a chip clip in the back}, cardboard on the floor and we were ready to go!

We started out really clean, one paintbrush in each color..

That didn't last long.

And, she's standing in it...

 sitting in it..

 and all the colors are mixed.. oh well ;).

Izzy girl had a blast, painted two pictures and successfully had paint everywhere!  Can't wait to do it again :).

:: orange fruit smoothie :: caprese sandwich ::

1/2 orange

1/2 C strawberries

1/4 C mango

1/4 C pineapple

1/2 tsp flax seed meal {or flax seeds}

1/2 tsp ginger

8 oz filtered water

a little less than a scoop of vanilla protein powder
*blend :)

I probably don't even need to tell you how I did this, but I was looking for something different to eat for lunch and I had been wanting caprese pizza so this was my quick fix.  I just toasted a piece of wheat bread, chopped some organic cherry tomatoes in half and picked some basil from my garden {washed of course}.  I did end up putting it in the micro for a few seconds to get the cheese to melt a little.  I didn't have any balsamic vinegar, but it was still good... will probably add it next time though ;).

:: spinach, apple smoothie ::

1 small banana

1 small apple, sliced {I used a green apple and kept the skin on}

1/2 C strawberries

handful of spinach {probably about 1 C}

a little less than a scoop of Juice Plus+ vanilla protein powder

8 oz filtered water

I used all frozen fruits so there was no need for ice cubes, but if you use fresh, you may want to add some cubes- depends on how you like your smoothies ;).

These boots were made for walkin'!

We stopped by Payless on our way home from KC to see friends and get a bunch of clothes from my friend who has a little one that is almost exactly a year older than Iz... hand-me-downs are the best!  She gave us so many clothes and shoes, it was like Christmas going through it all!  I so appreciate her passing all of her adorable clothes down so Izzy girl can wear them- thank you Jami!!

Isabelle had so much fun trying on all the new shoes!

I think she loves the rain galoshes because they have handles and are easy for her to pull on.

My little munchkin...

She says, 'cheese!' almost every time I put the camera up now, so this is her 'cheese' face..

Boots to clean..

fold clothes...

Must put the boots on first thing in the morning, perfect with pjs!

Oh and toothbrushes/'teethies'!

love this girl's love for books.

Pool and basketball with dad!

Slam dunk!!

Rainboots?  Sure!

AND, let's walk to Gigi's in 100 degree temps in our cowboy boots!!  Crazy girl ;)

She has been cracking me up these days, just want to squeeze her all the time!!

:: happy daddy's day ::

We headed to KC Saturday morning in time for Iz to go down for her nap at Gram's {sue sue's.. I don't know if I've told you she has been calling my mom 'sue sue' because it's easier for her to say}.  We had a 2 year old birthday party to go to, so we needed Iz well rested!

Iz was in her comfies and ready for the car ride..
she thought she would wear dad's shoes.

I have been very thrifty/frugal these days so I made the birthday card, it was a Minnie Mouse theme, so I was like, I can do that!  So simple, but still cute, right?  I just traced a cup and a shot glass {classy, I know} on cardstock to make the Minnie, cut the bow and '2' out and put it all together!

They also recently had a baby girl so I just took this card that we had received when Iz was born, cut the front off, glued it to cardstock, added some pink glitter and voila!  Totally recycled {you know me!}... why not?

We got to have dinner at a place called 'Thomas' {on 39th across from Saigon 39 downtown} with some of our good friends.  It was delicious, everyone loved everything and they ambiance/atmosphere is great- highly recommend!!

Kellie + Jack

Mike + Anna

~Daddy's Day!!~
Cinnamon Rolls/Dinner Rolls

I wanted to make Jacob homemade cinnamon rolls for Father's Day so I got a wonderful recipe {below} from my friend/past manager at Payless {technically from her mom- thank you!! :)} because she made them for me my last week at work and they. are. awesome.  My mom was/is wonderful and made the dough for me while we were at the restaurant, so it was risen and ready to be rolled out when I woke up :).  For the dough {we halved the recipe because we only had 1 pkg of yeast and got 13 rolls}:

2 pkg yeast

2 c water (110-115 degrees)

½ c. sugar

2 t. salt

1 egg

¼ c. oil

6 ½ - 7 c. flour

1.        Mix yeast, sugar and salt in a large bowl

2.       Add hot water

3.       Mix egg & oil in small bowl then add to mixture

4.       Add flour 1 cup at a time.

5.       Knead until flour is combined

6.       Cover w/ damp cloth (or lid) in large bowl

At this point you can do one of two things:

1.        Place in large bowl in refrigerator (this dough will keep 5 days);  when you are ready, remove from fridge and shape into rolls (or cinnamon rolls) and let rise for 2 hours (until double in size), then bake at 350 for 12-15 minutes (for dinner rolls); 350 for 25 minutes for cinnamon rolls.  Until golden brown.  Remove from oven and brush tops of dinner rolls with butter/ for cinnamon rolls frost with your favorite frosting (I like maple flavored).

OR

2.       To use same day, let dough rise until double, approximately 1 hour, then cut into rolls and let rise again for 1 hour, then bake at 350-400 for 12-15 minutes (for dinner rolls); 350 for 25 minutes for cinnamon rolls, until  golden brown.  Remove from oven and brush tops of dinner rolls with butter/ for cinnamon rolls frost with your favorite frosting (I like maple flavored). *I just made your basic powdered sugar, milk {almond milk}, vanilla frosting and it was perfect!

*When making cinnamon rolls, roll the dough out to a rectangle, brush liberally with melted butter or oleo and then sprinkle on a cinnamon/sugar mixture.  Rollup dough (I roll it up from the short side then slice the roll (I use cinnamon dental floss as this keeps from “smooshing” the roll with a knife).  I usually get about 20 slices out of the roll.  Enough to fit in a jellyroll pan. *we didn't have cinnamon floss so we just used a bread knife {sawing motion} and it worked well.

(by short side, I mean I roll from that side; you have a short “log” rather than a long “log” of dough when you are done).  Roll it tightly, as much as possible, so that it doesn’t fall apart when you put them on the pan; just don’t roll too tight as to smash the dough (and the airiness you have from it raising; a delicate balance)… 

Look at all that cinnamon sugar!  I sprinkled just plain cinnamon on top of the cinnamon sugar mixture, just to get a little more of that delicious flavor.

Rolled up and ready to bake!

Look how yummy!!

Izzy girl was hanging out while I was finishing up the cinnamon rolls.

that face.. like, really mom? or model pose? ;)

Dad's up!  Playing with baby + Iz... 

love this.

The best thing about Isabelle and dad playing with her baby on the stairs, and Iz in her pj's- it reminded me of a day when my dad babysat me when I was little and I lined up all my dolls and stuffed animals on the stairs {they filled all of them!} and he video taped me while I went through every single one and told him who they were... oh and I was still in my pajamas when my mom got home at 5 ;).  Nice little memory on Father's Day.. missing my dad!  Hope all you dad's had wonderful days!

Isabelle and I made this card for dad- I think I saw something similar in a 'Parent's' mag and thought it was such a cute idea.. and so easy!  We just traced her hands, cut them out, cut a strip of paper, folded it like an accordion and glued the ends on... probably one of those cards I will hold on to forever!

The girl pretty much ate a whole one on her own, we were supposed to share and that just didn't work out... this is her, 'umm, yes I want more' face.

And, 'it's still gone/looking for it' face.

have another... we did share this one!

We did some damage very quickly!

We had a nice little day, got to run, eat lunch + walk around the plaza for a bit, go to Nordstrom, have Chipotle for dinner and Sheridan's for dessert!  All dad's choices.. man, I miss me some Sheridan's 'Mt. Rushmore'... yum!

I also wanted to make dad's favorite strawberry cake, it was probably a bit much with the cinnamon rolls and everything else we ate while in KC, but still had to do it :).

I am so proud of my little in that she loves apples and now wants to eat them straight from the core {I bite off the skin and then she goes to town}!

We had dinner with all the family Monday night on the plaza at Capital Grille and it was delicious!  Headed home after visiting Trader Joe's Tuesday morning :).  Such a nice little trip to KC.

Iz hijacked the baby from Sue Sue's... oops!