Love and Tea

Minecraft's Frozen Themed Birthday Cake

As I'm sure many kids are, Kiddo2 is intensely fond of both Frozen and Minecraft. They make up the better part of her daily thoughts and conversations.

For her birthday she asked for some Minecraft books. I'm always thrilled when my kids ask for books as presents so we decided to get her the Complete Handbook Collection. It is very nicely boxed, looks super elegant and "grown up". She loves it!

In light of this gift, I decided to make her a Minecraft/Frozen themed birthday cake. She has always loved mixing themes (such as her Tinkerbell/rocket ship of a few years ago) and I decided to give it a shot.

Hands Off, Mom: Things I've Learned as a Homeschooling Mom

Sometimes find myself being too "hands on" with my kids. I believe it's a habit left-over from when they were very young.

Pea and Mint Soup

Kiddo2 very kindly lent me a hand today making something we have never tried before: Pea and Mint soup. Apparently this can be eaten warm or cold. Today we opted for warm.

Positive Parenting: If Not Punishment then What?

Another fantastic article from Positive Parenting Connection. I like it when posts give real-life examples to help put the concepts into a practical application. Positive parenting is by no means easy! It's so much easier to just yell, or slap out the punishment, but my hope is that by doing my best to implement a more positive approach, my children will grow into that type of adult.

To read the full article click here.

Poem of the Day

I wrote this during a difficult time in my life. It was a helpful reminder to me to find the beauty in every aspect of my life; the joy in sorrow.

Sorrow, come and be my joy
Join me here for midday tea
'Neath the shade of willow-weep
Share my broken company.

Leave me not for gladder souls
Share with me thy sweet refrain
Cold would be the carefree heart
That from sorrow would abstain

In thy sage and boundless soul
Precious jew'ls lay hidden deep
Diamonds rare and rubies that
Make those born in mirth seem cheap.

Would the faint inner churning
Lend to me a written prayer
Cause a dried and barren well
With thy waters more to bear

When my soul has given forth
All the sweetness sorrow brings
Then let joyousness return
Join the singing my soul sings.

Boys, boys, boys

Oh my! Is this what I have to look forward to? 
<insert nervous giggle> 

Read the full article:

10 Things Moms Of Boys MUST Know - Frugal Fanatic

Photo of the Day

As mentioned earlier, one of the hobbies I've dabbled in is photography. While I am by no means a professional, I do love to take pictures and have been lucky enough to travel around a bit and collect a few decent shots.

Following is a perfect example of  being in the right place at the right time:

Beauty Tips: Silky Smooth Skin

It's always been my dream to wake up in the morning to a perfect complexion. Unfortunately, fate would have it that acne was a constant source of trouble for all of my teen years and even into my 20s. I wish I had known then what I now know about skin care. It would have saved me some (embarrassingly) misguided facial "treatments".

Things did start to smooth out (literally) just prior to my pregnancies, but I still suffered from occasional break-outs, redness and enlarged pores, as can be seen by the picture below.

Every Mom Needs a Hobby...or 3: Polymer Clay Jewelry

This hobby developed a little differently than others I've gotten in to. I had heard of and seen some polymer clay creations and to put it frankly, I wasn't impressed. It seemed to revolve mostly around miniature food, which is cute enough, but didn't really do it for me.

Of course, I hadn't seen much, had never searched the web (which I now spend a shameless amount of time doing and am always thoroughly impressed), and had based my opinion solely on the few examples I'd seen previously.

One day hubby decided that it would be good for me to get into some creative hobby type thing. I think he realized that I needed a break from being a mom all the time and that a creative outlet would give me the space I needed to just breathe.

After some gentle persuasion which included going and buying the clay and a few basic tools himself, he sat at the table with me for a clay-playing session, It wasn't long before I became hooked.

Positive Parenting

I read a quote from a Facebook page that I follow called Positive Parenting Connection. It went like this:

Crying is the most effective (and usually the only) way for a child to communicate sadness. So telling a child it’s not OK to cry is like saying it’s not OK to be sad. Children should know that all of their feelings are OK and normal. We may not always agree with their tears or understand them, but a child feels the way he feels and should be allowed to express it. - Kelly Bartlett.

Health and Fitness

I cannot praise these guys enough!

They have hundreds of different workout routines for every level of fitness and training preference. I use them every day and it's such a pleasure to not get bored by doing the same routine week after week. 

The exercises are all very well explained ensuring proper form and allowing you to get the most out of each workout. 

So here they are:

www.fitnessblender.com

Check em out!

Quote for the Day

I came across this quote today. Always good to remember:
A torn jacket is soon mended, but hard words bruise the heart of a child. (Henry Longfellow)

Recipe of the Week

I don't consider myself a great cook. 

Being married to a food loving French-Italian who is an amazing cook, it would be putting it mildly to say I have a lot to live up to. Nevertheless, I want to challenge myself to create meals that are both delicious and simple enough for any busy mom to put together. My goal is to find at least one recipe a week that I've tried and tested, and has the "kid approved" stamp to share with you.

Absolute Randomness

by Brooke Gillette

For anything and everything that catches my eye, here there are no labels, no categories, no rules.

The Creative Corner

From crafts to DIYs, useful tips for home-making, to projects and creations. Anything creative will go here. 

I love to try out new things. I've dabbled in cake decorating, jewelry-making with polymer clay, beading, wire wrapping, acrylic painting, crocheting, photography, drawing, paper quilling, hand lettering, and more. 

Here is where I hope to share all of this with you and get your feedback, tips and ideas. 

The Mother Side of Me

This page will be dedicated to my kids.

Being a parent is by far the most important part of my life.

I hope we can share parenting tips, ideas, projects to do with the kids, thoughts on parenting, and all things kid-related.

I look forward to your feedback as we learn from each other and walk this path together. Our kids are, after all, the future!