Last weekend was Julien’s Birthday party! Ever since I wrapped my brain around being pregnant and got super excited… I started to dream of all of the little birthday parties I would get to do again… There is something so magical about a child’s birthday! A Neverland party has always been a dream… and at last it happened! This year it wasn’t even delayed or a drive by… things are feeling back to normal slowly again and I just wanted to celebrate our little boy with friends smiling and being together! It felt amazing! I will never forget the way Julien smiled so big that his eyes looked like little moons… Tonight after showing him all of the pictures he said, “Mamma my eyes are crying on me!” I asked him why, “Why are your eyes crying?” He said, “They are watering because I am so happy because my birthday was the best birthday of my life!” ughhh I can’t even… The magic, the wonder… his smiles just are 100% why I stay up until midnight putting red feathers and gold coins on things!
My parents helped us so much as well! It takes a village! My dad freehand drew the silhouettes and my mom cut them out! All those Peter Pan hats… yep my mom! so much help and love went into this fun party and I’ll never forget it!!!!!

Shopping List…

Peter Pan costume
Captain Hook costume
wig lol
Wendy
Tinkerbel
TigerLilly

Cookies
Chocolate Coins
Gold Coins and Gems
Big Treasure Box from JoAnne’s Fabrics
Smaller Treasure Boxes
Moss and all the decor came from JoAnne’s and Target and around the house
Bags for Pixie Dust
Cupcake toppers
red feathers
Black and White TeePee Tent
Fairy Wings
ship net
Never Grow Up banner

With so much extra time on our hands we have been making some crazy yummy dinners lately! We are loving this slow living… and in a way I kinda feel like this is how we are supposed to live.

We made chicken burgers the other night and ohhhhhh my gosh were they ever amazing!

*follow below for how to make!*

For the sauce I love this cucumber lemon sauce! It’s similar to tzatziki sauce yum! I make mine using…
-plain full fat Greek yogurt
-a chunk of English cucumber shredded
-a few cloves of garlic minced or crushed
–great quality salt -this is my fave!
-fresh cracked pepper
-a lemon (squeeze all the juice and some of the zest if you like)
so for most recipes I don’t follow along very well but just eyeball and taste… if it needs more lemon I squeeze more if it needs more salt I add some… Just throw all of this in a bowl and mix away until combined and cool it right away so that it doesn’t get watery.

next prepare the ingredients for your burgers…

-grab some basil
-small onions/scallions
-lemon zest and juice
-maybe an egg to bind a bit
–salt and pepper
-about a pound or so of organic ground chicken

chop up on your board the basil and small onions/scallions and set aside…

zest up some lemon and set aside as well as the juice…

Just have fun with this! Use all things that smell amazing and taste great! There are no rules just use great quality fresh ingredients! Use nice and classic kitchen tools… they are the best. We have a lot of things that have been passed down to us from our parents and grandparents… I think it’s really neat to use something that our grandparents used on our parent’s meals… I love things that tell a story especially in the kitchen…

Now you will need about a pound or so of organic ground chicken… Mix all of your ingredients with your chicken… use your hands of course! We love these mixing bowls so much! We use them practically every day! If you have used too many things and your burgers are feeling crumbly add an egg. Don’t forget always add some salt and pepper too! Now you form into patties and throw on a grill or cast iron pan. Cook about 4 minutes or so per side until they feel done. Now you can add some cheese to the top if you like and absolutely add your cucumber sauce and put inside a wheat bun!

Enjoy cooking with your family these days! Slow down a bit! Let them pick the basil and mix the yogurt sauce! Our 14 year old was in charge of mixing the chicken even… she knows that when dealing with chicken everything has to say sterile! Kids can learn so many practical skills in the kitchen and around the home. Just think about the stories they will tell their own children one day as they teach them about cooking and preparing dinner. What kinds of things are all of you making for dinner…?

This was such a fun science project that I kept seeing on Pinterest! Don’t you love it when you finally do one of your pins! It was quite easy and the kids learned and had a blast and so did we… well until clean up time! yikes!
It teaches the kids and us about rain clouds and how rain happens…

Rain Cloud Experiment
-cylinder vase or something similar
-water
-shaving cream
-food coloring

Fill your vase with water and leave just a bit of room on top for your “cloud.” Squirt the shaving cream into your cloud on top. Feel free to get a little messy! Now have fun with your food coloring and drip the rain onto the “clouds!” After let your kids swirl the colors just for fun which makes really pretty designs! Oh and you may want to do this project outside in your not so favorite clothing! ha!

For so many years our girls have begged and begged for a puppy… we finally said yes… but lately I have noticed a little love that I didn’t even think of… Julien and our girls have a bit of an age gap… he’s 3 and next up is our 11 year old, Cecilia… The three of our kids are super close but it’s different with a little brother … not as much in common with a tween girl… I know that will come when they are grown but for now…

This little puppy of ours could possibly be Julien’s little best friend which just melts my heart! He loves her and hugs her to pieces and of course this sweet pup doesn’t mind and just licks him clean! Saige follows Julien around wherever he goes. She brings him sticks and eats up his crumbs… it’s just so fun with a little dog… I had no idea. So many fun memories being made.

Easter was so much fun this year! It’s so sweet to see holidays through a little toddler’s eyes again! All the wonder and love is just contagious and makes for a blast all over again! Everything to him is a party… so we just can’t help but feel the happiness too! This year having a puppy was something new too! Saige loved sneaking some jelly beans that brother would drop… ugh… she loved getting treats for wearing her bunny ears as well. It was just a nice day being together and relaxing… Happy Easter!

During this Stay Home stage of life… we are trying to make things happy. We take walks every day around the neighborhood, saying hello to all the neighbors (at a distance). I must say that, in itself, is enough to make us happy! Some neighbors are growing vegetables in fun garden boxes and it’s fun to see how big they are growing day by day! A lot of families are moving to their front yards… maybe to see people and interact… there are lawn chairs and music playing… bubble machines… Our favorite is all of the sidewalk chalk… So much that we are trying to keep up with our masterpieces! We write happy messages on our sidewalk and draw rainbows and hearts. It’s nice to see as people walk by… they pause a bit to read and smile… then we wave! I think it’s a beautiful thing in such uncertain times to try to do little things to make people smile… it makes us smile just as well!