Italian Ice

I have the PERFECT summer treat for you! We were first introduced to these little cups of heaven on the 4th of July and EVERY day since then my girls have been BEGGING to make them! I'm pretty sure they ate 8 cups each that night (and I may have had 2 3 4 5 myself!). I have consumed 3 while writing this post! Seriously, they are so yummy!!!

Ingredients

3 cups of fresh fruit (we used raspberries, blackberries and blueberries)

1 cup of orange juice

1/2 cup of sugar

Directions

1. Wash, peel and chop the fruit as needed to blend easily.

2. Put all the fruit in the blender. Add the orange juice and sugar.

3. Cover and blend until smooth

4. Pour the fruit mixture into a large pan and freeze for 4 hours. Also put a medium bowl in the freezer for later.

5. Break the frozen fruit mixture into chunks with a wooden spoon. Then put the chunks in the chilled bowl and beat with an electric mixture until smooth.

6. Spoon the fruit mixture into paper cups (We used small Dixie bathroom cups. They make the perfect kid-sized frozen treat.) and freeze again until firm. (As you can see we are pretty messy cooks.)

7. Watch the smiles appear!

Chipotle Corn Salad

Are your ready for your new go-to summertime side dish? This corn salad is so de-lish and easy. You'll be bringing it to all your BBQs, pool parties, picnics and pot lucks! There is no cooking involved which leaves you more time for sipping fruity summer cocktails instead of sweatin' in the kitchen!

It comes courtesy of Running With Tweezers and has been a regular favorite in our house the past two summers.

Ingredients
Serves 10-12 as a side dish

• 12 ears of fresh corn, shucked (a perfect job for the little ones in your life) and cut off the cob
• 1 pint of cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
• 2 green onions, chopped
• 1 jalapeno, deseeded and finely diced
• 3 tablespoons sour cream
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon chipotle chili powder
• 1 teaspoon SMOKED paprika
• salt and pepper to taste

Place cut corn into a large mixing bowl with halved tomatoes, green onions and diced jalapeno. In a small bowl, combine sour cream and vinegar. Add chipotle and smoked paprika and whisk together thoroughly. Taste and adjust seasonings. Add salt and pepper. Drizzle dressing over the veggie mixture and combine. Taste one more time and adjust if needed. You can serve immediately or cover and store in the refrigerator. I like to make mine the day before and let the flavors really develop.

A perfectly refreshing dish for a hot summer day!

"Love" Vase Tutorial

Well HELL-O gorgeous!

I am totally and completely smitten with my new "love" vase!

The inspiration came from Pure and Noble and I can't wait to make more!


They are completely & totally addictive!






Supplies

• Empty vase, wine bottle or jar
• Spray paint - I used an off-white paint with a satin finish
• hot glue or puffy paint 

Using a sharpie, draw your design or word. Don't worry if you mess up, you will cover your mistakes with the spray paint. As you can tell, it took me several attempts to get "love" just right.

Pure and Noble used a hot-glue gun to make their designs. I tried it and was EXTREMELY unsuccessful. The letters were all uneven and I was not happy with how it turned out. I decided to try puffy fabric paint. It was much easier to control the amount and if I messed up (which I did several times) all I had to do was wipe off the paint and start over.

I found this bottle at Meijer for $3.

The color doesn't matter (and you don't need the glitter kind), you just want to make sure that it dries puffy and not flat.

I was much happier with the results compared to the hot glue.

After a few coats of spray paint I was more than pleased with the results. It is much better to do several light coats rather than 1 or 2 heavy ones. The lighter coats will help you avoid any drips or "blobs" on the bottle.

I filled the vase with a few branches from our yard and it looks amazing on our entryway table.

...Do you like the Clothespin Photo Frame? Check out the tutorial {HERE}

I can't wait to try different words and designs! I have a feeling one or two will end up in the Etsy shop (If I ever find the time to get it up and running!)

Tangled No More!

This is all I have left of Lo's long locks...

For about a month she has been asking me to let her cut her hair. I've been avoiding the topic as much as possible. Not because I'm against short hair, I'm against my baby growing up.

Yesterday I gave in...mainly because I was afraid she'd take matters into her own hands...


Here she is before the magic of the scissors. Please note the tangledness...this was AFTER brushing her hair and one of the main reasons that Lo wanted to get rid of her Rapunzel hair. I will NOT be missing our daily battles over snarled hair!

And then it was time for the first cut...

She was so proud of her bravery!

After the ponytail cut she exclaimed, "Well, that was easy!" She was surprised that there was still a little more cutting to do.

Again...I don't like how grown-up she is!

And now for the big reveal...

Have I mentioned how I don't like that my baby is growing up!!!

Our tradition after haircuts is to go to the yummiest Mexican restaurant in Broadripple...La Piedad (If you are in Indy and have not eaten there-SHAME ON YOU!).

The best Mommy-Daughter Day EVER!

Make Over Your Monday

Welcome to Monday! For those of you new to us, every Monday I present a challenge or task. The goal is to start our week off on the right foot and do a little good along the way.

Our challenge two weeks ago (we took last week off because of the 4th of July) was to do something for someone with out them knowing. How did it go? I'm sure there are lots of happy people out there thankful for the random acts of kindness they received.

The challenge this week is less specific, to let things go.

It's time for a little mental house keeping. Don't focus on the things that bring your down, fight the urge to always be right...don't let the negative things take up any more space in your life! You'll feel better when you do!

**We'll check back in two weeks. I'm planning a super fun THEME week for next week! So excited!!!

The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

There has been a lot going on in our garden...

All 4 Jalapeno plants are doing amazing! In no time I'll be having salsa and canning spicy jelly!

I got a little lazy and forgot to pinch back my basil plants. The leaves are VERY bitter and taste like licorice-YUCK! The good news is that they are relatively inexpensive and I can just pull up the ones I have and plant new ones. I'll be having fresh pesto again in no time!

Something potentially very awful is happening to all 10 of my tomato plants! They all have a ton of tomatoes growing so I'm hoping that what ever is going on will not effect the fruit. I will be so sad if I lose all ten plants.





If there is a tomato doctor in the house who can offer any advice or guidance I would greatly appreciate it!

A Rare Occurance

It's like finding a $20 bill in your pocket or all your children napping at the same time....A DAY ALONE IN THE HOUSE!!!

My WONDERFUL hubby has a jam-packed day 'o fun planned for him and the girls and I'm taking full advantage!

My to-do list?

• laundry
• sewing
• spray painting
• crafting
• grocery list making
• organizing
• laundry
• picture framing
• weed pulling

I know it seems like a lot, but when you don't have to break up fights, feed hungry children, assist with dress-up clothes, find lost Polly Pocket accessories, encourage sharing and help "bored" children find something to do you can actually get things done!

Hope you all have a wonderful and productive weekend!