Toddler Smoothie

I have mentioned this before, but my 2 1/2-year old loves smoothies. Every time she sees me making a smoothie she runs over and wants to help make our "smovvies." I have found a recipe that makes just the right amount and that she loves. It includes one of her favorite foods, yogurt tubes. 

Her favorites include; Chobani Greek Yogurt Champions, Trader Joe's Organic Squishers, and Horizon Organic Tuberz. 

Toddler Smoothie

1 Yogurt Tube (or 1/4 cup yogurt)

1/2 Cup Frozen or Fresh Fruit 

1/2 Banana

10 Baby Spinach Leaves

2 T. Vanilla Almond Milk (add more, if needed)

1 tsp. Flax Seeds or Chia Seeds 

Blend until smooth and creamy.

I found a frozen fruit mix that has mangos, strawberries, pineapple, and peaches - all of her favorites. If you use fresh fruit, just add a couple of ice cubes. 

Serve in their favorite cup and know that your little one is enjoying something healthy for them that they will love (adults love this recipe, too). 

Top Five: Favorite Toddler Pins

Happy New Year! One of my goals for 2013 is to create, make, and bake more of the pins I have collected on Pinterest. Some of things I plan on doing this year are from My Little One pin board. It's a board of pins just for my toddler.

Here are my top five favorite pins on My Little One pin board: 

DIY Sidewalk Paint

This easy-to-make paint made with food coloring, corn starch, and water makes a super fun and easy summer activity. You can find the recipe at All Things Simple.

A Handmade Hideaway

This little playhouse is so cute. Now I just have to convince my husband to build it. You can find the instructions on how to build it and a price list of all the materials on The Handmade Home. 

DIY Fishing Game

On Design Dazzle you can find free printable fish and instructions on how to create this fun game for little ones. I think my 2 1/2-year old will love this. 

Toddler Lunch

This is such a cute way to serve lunch since most toddlers, including mine, are so picky. You give them an ice cube tray full of fruits, veggies, crackers, and even cookies. It's a great way to give them variety while experimenting with new foods. You can find out what foods are pictured below at Pink Pistachio.

Kids Artwork Book

I couldn't find where the original post of this picture came from, but I love the idea. You scan your kids artwork and create keepsake books. You can add pictures of your kids creating the artwork or their school picture to track their grade/age. 

You can find and follow My Little One pin board, here. Or follow all of my Pinterest boards, here.

Happiness Is...

...taking my 23-month-old fishing for the first time.

My happiness comes from living in the moment, from living each day to the fullest, from keeping a positive attitude and not sweating the small stuff. If something bad happens, I believe it happened for a reason. To teach me, to help me grow, and to make me stronger. The outcome of my happiness comes from how I choose to deal with the situation. Life is way too short to dwell on the negative.

But some of life's greatest happiness comes from the little things, like; hearing my daughter say "I love you," eating fresh pineapple, going on a Sunday morning hike with my family, watching my garden grow, enjoying a handful of Hawaiian Kisses (my wonderful friend brought me from Hawaii), and hearing that a Trader Joe's is coming to Utah (I had to add this one because I am so excited), just to name a few.

Life is way too short - don't forget to stop and smell the roses, accept the things you cannot change, live without regrets, and live each second to the fullest.

Resolution 1: Eat Even More Healthy

"The food you eat can either be the safest and most powerful form of medicine or the slowest form of poison." - Ann Wigmore

You probably already know that I love fruits and veggies, whole grains, lean meats, and low-fat dairy. I try and buy all of these foods all-natural or organic and make most meals from scratch. I crave healthy food. But the reason I am not a size six is because I still have some pretty bad habits holding me back. My worst habit is my insatiable sweet tooth. I love cake, cupcakes, cookies, doughnuts, etc. 

One of my 2012 resolutions is to eat even more healthy less-processed and organic foods. Before I start working on my other resolutions I am going to focus the next month on getting my bad eating habits and emotional eating under control. I am really going to work on cutting back on portion sizes, cutting back on sweets and learning to have them in moderation, and continue to keep fried and processed foods out of our diet. I have also picked up a pretty bad habit at work - I have a Venti Raspberry White Chocolate Mocha (640 calories) that I will now replace with a Grande Non-fat Latte (130 calories). 

One of the main reasons I have to become the healthiest version of myself is for my little girl. Of course I want her to love healthy foods and have an active lifestyle, but I don't want her to ever have a bad body image because of me. I need to be the best role model I can be. I have seen so many young girls pick up on their Moms bad habits of never ending dieting or self-destructive criticism (calling themselves fat or worthless). They don't need to see/hear that from the person they look up to the most. Am I right? 

If we eat healthy as a family and stay active as a family I am hoping that will not be another thing for her to deal with in the future. I want to teach her that diets are only temporary and that a healthy lifestyle is forever.

Pictures With Santa

When I heard about Fotofly Santa I just knew I had to take Ella to get her pictures taken. Fotofly dresses up Mom or Dad as Santa (complete with a big belly) so the kids feel more comfortable and then they take pictures of 'Santa' from the neck down. Genius! Since Ella knew she was standing next to Dad she was smiling and happy and we got some really cute pictures. 

Ella and Santa (aka Dad)

Ella reaching in for her present

Also, since we are on the Christmas topic I will show you a couple of our trees (even though pictures do not do them justice). Besides a traditional tree this year, I did a hunting and fishing tree for my husband complete with shotgun shell and duck call lights. It turned out so fun and he loves it. The decorations for his tree are from Cabela's and Sportsman's Warehouse.

Fishing

Duck Hunting

Also, I put a little tree in Ella's room and decorated it with pink, glitter, lights, and candy. She loves having her tree lit at night.

Ella's tree and decorations are from Target.

I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas! XOXO

Bento

Bento - A single-portion takeout or home cooked meal common in Japanese cuisine. A traditional Bento consists of rice, fish or meat, and vegetables in a boxed shaped container. 

I love ordering Bento-style meals at Japanese restaurants because it gives you such a great variety of food. At one of my favorite sushi restaurants I order the chicken teriyaki Bento which gives me jasmine rice, teriyaki chicken, wontons, and 1/2 sushi roll all separated in a square Bento box. 

On Pinterest (go figure) I found great ideas for kids Bento-style school lunches. I was a cold lunch girl and the envy of all my classmates. While they were eating their "beige meal" of chicken nuggets and cold crinkle cut fries (sorry if that was you), I was eating a fresh homemade sandwich, crackers, string cheese, fruit and veggies, and a cookie. Ella will be a cold lunch girl as well because I will at least know she is eating healthy.

Here are a couple Bento ideas I have found (what kid wouldn't want to eat these lunches?):

Turkey Wraps, Fruit, Baby Carrots, and a Cupcake 

Flower Shaped Sandwiches, Cheese Rolls, Grapes, Peas, and Oranges

Also, I found these on Pinterest which would be perfect in a Bento-style lunch. Sushi Sandwiches? Shut the front door! So cute.

Bread, Lunch Meat, Cheese, Shredded Carrots, Ranch Dressing, and a Pickle 

Peanut Butter and Jelly

Fun ideas, huh? I heart Pinterest. It is making me a little more creative everyday (well, I feel more creative anyway). If you want the how-to on any of the pictures above, just click on the description below the picture. 

My Favorite Time Of Year

You know it's fall the minute Starbucks announces that the Pumpkin Spice Latte is back. Today, while Ella and I were on our morning walk, I could feel it in the air. The crisp cool air that carries the fresh scent of fall. I loved leaving the hot summer weather behind when we went to Northern California on vacation. I welcomed the cool weather along the coast because it had been so hot at home. I was pleasantly surprised when we came back to cooler fall-like weather. It really makes me crave Butternut Squash Soup at The Blue Lemon - it is fabulous.

Our trip to Northern California was amazing. We spent a few days in San Francisco, which I absolutely loved.  Then we traveled up the coast to Eureka where we got to spend time at the beach and explore the Redwoods. Last, we headed to Napa Valley. Napa is a gorgeous place that is covered in breathtakingly beautiful vineyards. I will post more pictures, but here is a picture of Ella walking on the beach for the first time. It was freezing, but we had to take our shoes and socks off so we could feel the sand between our toes.

Beach at Somoa, CA

Cutest Teacher Ever

I want her to be Ella's 2nd grade teacher. She is so adorable!

Blowing Kisses

Lately Ella's favorite thing is to blow kisses. She loves to blow kisses to her stuffed animals and our pets.  Also, if she sees an animal while we are out and about she blows them kisses too. Whether she kisses or blows kisses she always makes a loud "Mwah" sound. She is so sweet and affectionate.

Baby's First Birthday

Our sweet little Ella turned one year old. She is walking and talking up a storm (baby chatter, that is). I still can't believe it's already been a year and that our baby is officially entering toddlerhood. We threw a little party to celebrate this exciting occasion. 

We had balloons.

Presents.

Cupcakes for the guests from The Sweet Tooth Fairy.

A mini cake for Ella by Cakes de Fleur from The Store. (The frosting melted a little on the way home. So sad.)

The melting incident wasn't the cakes worst moment. Ella destroyed it! She really knows how to entertain a crowd.

And she really loves chocolate. 

Her 2-year-old cousin, Sophie, taught her how to open presents. It was really sweet.

It was a perfect day for a BBQ and Birthday Party with some of our favorite people.