Ramblings
4th of July: Yogurt “Ice Cream” Pops
There is nothing more Patriotic then RED, WHITE, and BLUE! Even if you are talking about Ice Cream!
However, making Ice Cream is not really my forte’. Even though I am a self proclaimed lover of gadgets, the one thing I do not have is an Ice Cream Maker. *Have to put that one on my list!
A couple of Saturdays ago, I was watching my cooking shows and one had a recipe for Strawberry Yogurt Ice Cream Pops! I thought to myself, “That would be an AWESOME idea for July 4th!”
So with some tweaking here and there, I had it!
I just took some strawberries and mixed with some sugar and a splash of vanilla. *Not to worry! Recipe will follow! 😉
Allow to sit for 15-20 minutes.
Then, I took 1 1/2 cups blueberries.
Mixed with a 1/2 cup of regular Yogurt. (I generally eat Greek Yogurt, but for this, I used regular. The Greek is just to sour.)
Then, I tried it and realized it needed a little dash of sugar for the kids to like it. I would have been fine without it. But I did it anyway.
Then, I cleaned out the blender and repeated the same steps with the Strawberries. Since I already added sugar and vanilla to this, I just blended with another 1/2 cup of Yogurt.
Time to assemble the Pops!
I bought the molds for $1.50 each at Walmart.
I layered everything in a Red, White, and Blue pattern. Strawberry Mixture, a little regular Yogurt, then Blueberry Mixture.
Insert tops! By the way, I love these! They have a little sipper on the ends for anything that melts.
One lick ……….
And little babies everywhere are SUPER HAPPY! Who doesn’t love that?
RECIPE: 4th of July Yogurt “Ice Cream” Pops
– 1 Cup Fresh Strawberries, Sliced
– 1/4 Cup Sugar
– 1 1/2 Cups Fresh Blueberries
– Tbsp. Sugar
– 1 Tsp. Vanilla Extract
– 1 Cup Plain Yogurt, Divided plus Additional for Layering Pops
– 2 (4 count) Ice Cream Molds
Directions:
– Combine Strawberries, 1/4 Cup of Sugar, and 1 Teaspoon Vanilla. Set aside for 15-20 minutes.
– Meanwhile, combine Blueberries, 1 Tbsp. Sugar, and 1/2 cup Yogurt in a blender and blend until smooth. Set aside.
– Rinse out Blender and add Strawberries and remaining 1/2 cup Yogurt. Blend until smooth and set aside.
– Take Ice Cream molds and layer a small amount of Strawberry mixture, then a little Regular Yogurt, and then top off with Blueberry Mixture. If you still have room, start to repeat layers in a Red, White, Blue pattern.
– Top molds with tops and place in the freezer for atleast 4 hours or until firm.
ENJOY!
Superhero Themed Boy’s Room
(*Lighting was not on my side this day for picture taking, but oh well…..)
Little Boys! Ahh….. I just love it!
You know, when we were starting to have our Babies, with the first being a girl, then the next being a girl……..
We basically got into a mindset that we were just meant to have little girls, and we were fine with that. In fact, we got to the point where we thought it would just be odd if we DID end up having a boy.
Flash forward a few more years and SURPRISE! Esther! You have a baby boy! He is 4 yrs. old and a big ole pot of CRAZY!
His loves are first and foremost, his MOMMA! Then his blankie, and then SUPERHEROES!
I have to admit that I absolutely love this! His room is very Superheros meets Andy’s Room from Toy Story.
When deciding on a color scheme, I felt that it had to be no other than blue and red, with touches of green.
We had to have a section for his ball caps too! By the way, his collection is very much influenced by his Daddy……….. hence the Yankees caps! 😀
No Superhero room would be complete without a BOOM! sign. I couldn’t find a POW! one, so I have a sweet friend that is going to paint one for me instead.
The wall’s paint color is called November Skies, by Benjamin Moore.
I’m sure by the time we are finished, we will have a huge wall full of Superheroes to watch over my sleeping baby boy at night.
Thankfully, the toys haven’t gotten out of control just yet. I found that cool metal cage at Homegoods and attached it to the wall for shoe storage.
I really heart that little boy! He truly is “OuR LiTTle SuPeRHeRo!”
Sources for items in the room:
Boat Picture over bed – Homegoods
BOOM! Sign – Homegoods
Our Little Superhero – Homegoods
Batman Lunchbox – Old Navy
Red Curtains – Target
Red and Blue Toy Boxes with Chalkboard Fronts – Homegoods
*If there is anything I missed in the room and you would like to know where it was bought, leave a comment and I’ll let you know! 🙂
Happy Decorating!
XOXO,
Esther
Family Behavior System
“SCHOOOOOOOOLS OUT…….. FOR…………… SUMMER!” Yes it is!
I kind of did a little freak out when Summer first started. Obviously, I love my little babies, but I’m not gonna lie! Towards the end of the school year, they all started to get these little attitudes where they just thought that they could say whatever they wanted, act however they wanted, and be as nasty to eachother as they wanted. It was starting to get really bad, so I did what any other mother would do…….. I turned to the BUS STOP!
You can find a lot of things out at the Bus Stop!
I had heard the word on the street was Behavior Coupons. Basically, the kids got rewarded for showing good behavior. That was alright, I thought. But I needed something a little more.
I had some pretty good ideas, but no real structure. If I went with the coupon idea, I would have to make them. That was fine! I would just go to the nearest craft store for my supplies, right? Well, let me tell you a little about my experience with craft stores. I love them! I really do! The only problem is I go in there and see all these different cool things, buy them, then end up spending $100, come home and have a huge haze over my eyes and try to remember what my original idea was for going to the store in the first place. I look around at what I bought and have a million different things that have nothing to do with eachother. Needless to say, it all ends up in a closet somewhere, never to be heard from again. That reminds me, I need to clean my closets out……
Anyhoo!
Well, NOT THIS TIME Y’ALL!!!!
I found it!
The HOLY GRAIL of Behavior Systems!
It’s called Family Do Dots!
It’s so great! It incorporates Behavior, Responsibilities, Rewards….. The best thing is, you can tailor it to your family’s specific situation. I think this is so important because no two families are alike.
Another thing that is great, is that they include the Whole Family ! Of course, you don’t have to do this, but we thought it was important so that we weren’t singling out just the kids. They make a point to also take things that the children need improvement on, like not hitting or not talking back, and they turn it into a positive thing. They say things like “Nice Hands” or “Nice Words” instead. I LOVE THAT!
It all originated when a sweet couple in Utah, decided to make their own system for their family. After a while, their friends and family were asking them to make them. They started to think that maybe they had something special and before they knew it, Family Do Dots was a business! I am so happy they decided to make them because it has been night and day for my family!
The kids start out on what they call Level One, every morning. They have certain things they have to complete before they can get on Level Two, which is where they have their privileges. These can be things like watching TV or playing with their electronic devices or anything they really like to do. *Sidebar: I have been a little lenient with this since it is Summer. I let them watch a little TV first thing in the morning, but then make them do their Responsibilities on Level One. Once the kids have completed these things, they can “flip their magnet”. This is so much fun for them, because it gives them a sense of accomplishment! I just love it!
Basically, once the kids get on Level Two, they can get Rewards. These come in the form of Tickets, which the company provides for you. They provide everything you need! At the end of every week, we open our “Family Store”, which has all kinds of goodies, toys (etc.). FYI: These do not have to be expensive. You can go to the dollar store if you want.
The kids take the tickets that they have earned over the course of the week and one by one, go to the Family Store and purchase things with their tickets that they have earned all by themselves just for doing what is expected of them and being good.
I could go on and on about all the great things with this system, but I’m even starting to bore myself here. LOL! Please go to their site and check them out! For less than the price of what I would have spent on my “Craft Store Idea”, I had a full system with access to continued online support and ideas for my family.
Here is another look at the the whole board.
*Keep in mind that this is only what it looks like first thing in the morning. It becomes very colorful once the kids start flipping their magnets…… and Mom and Dad’s too! 😉
DISCLAIMER: I am not working with Family Do Dots. I bought my system just like everyone else. I just feel so strongly about this system because it has really helped my family. 🙂
A Day in Southport
A couple of weeks ago, we decided to run up to Southport for the day.
I was astonished to realize that I only lived 1 HOUR AWAY from the most beautiful place on EARTH! (*Can you tell I liked it?)
I’m not gonna lie. I might have gotten the Safe Haven movie as a present for Mother’s Day and I may just have a thing for Nicholas Sparks books.
That may or may not have been my motivation for going to Southport, but man am I glad that I went and man am I glad that it is so close!
Did I mention how beautiful it is there??? It has to be one of the most beautiful Southern Coastal Towns.
I just have to tell you this first. When I first moved to the Myrtle Beach area, I thought (in my romantic movie little head) that I was going to find this perfect little Coastal home with a slight Historical architectural feel to it. Then I moved to Myrtle Beach and quickly realized that dream WASN’T going to happen. Don’t get me wrong, I really love it here. However, I am a lover of homes.
I spend most of my time in my home.
I work out of my home.
I do pretty much everything in my home.
I could find that kind of home if I went more inland, but then it wouldn’t really be considered coastal and well, this isn’t a perfect world and we need to be closer to the beach for my hubby’s work.
So, back to Southport.
I WILL be retiring here one day. I’m just going to go ahead and put it out there. I am even going to start a penny jar now to start saving. Though, I have a strong feeling that penny jar will have to be more like a dollar saving jar.
We used to vacation on Ocracoke Island when I was growing up. In case you aren’t familiar with it, it is a small island off The Outer Banks. I love that place. Most of the island has newer homes, but there is still a small area where you see some homes like these.
Rooted in their history, just unwilling to give way to the newer, prettier ones. However, in my opinion, these are still the Belles of the Ball.
With their faces cloaked in a shade of Majestic Live Oaks draped with Spanish Moss, their beauty is like no other.
While most of them date back to the early 1900’s….. a few go back as far as the late 1800’s. I can’t help but wonder what a day in the life of a young girl would be back then who may have lived there?
There are so many little shops there, but I will have to be patient because when you decide to take your 3 babies with you when you go, the only thing they are interested in is the Toy Shop on the Corner and maybe the Candy Store in the back of the Christmas Shoppe. 🙂
That’s ok. I don’t mind it.
We were able to get plenty of walking in. The waterfront is right on the Cape Fear River, so we saw plenty of boats going by. I can’t wait to take our boat down there soon! You can pull right up to a lot of the restaurants on the water, so here is to hoping that we don’t take the dock out with us when we arrive! * We are “Rookie Boaters”, but learning fast. 😉
The kids are always competing with each other. I can’t imagine where they get that from???????
This one can be a little mischievous, so when I saw him holding his hands up, I had to make sure he wasn’t doing anything crazy…….
Thankfully, he was only trying to fly.
Did I mention the paparazzi around here is AWFUL??? 😉 Man! I heart that little boy!
I spoke with one of the locals at the Restaurant we ate at and she said that The Safe Haven movie filmed the Restaurant scenes here. However, it is really only a bar and not a full Restaurant like they portray it in the movie.
I figure when I become a millionaire or gazillionaire, I will just go and buy one of each of these houses. That’s doable, right?
I can even buy this one and put Z there when he misbehaves. Now that my friends, SOUNDS LIKE A PLAN! 😉
I find it only fitting since at one time this was the County Jail.
I’m just sayin…….
This weekend, if you really don’t have any plans, why not take a day and explore the area around you? You might just be pleasantly surprised by what you may find….
XOXO,
Esther
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