heart day

I made these cute little lollipop cards for Jordyn's class. I left out her name in case you want to download it for your own. 

You're welcome. 

They were really easy. Once I printed them out, I folded them in half and cut three slits.

Then pushed the lollipop through the slits. 

Make sure you use heavy weight card stock otherwise the paper will rip. 

Valentines Day isn't too crazy over here, but I do like to have little subtle hints of love around the house. 

I got two banners made this year since I wasn't feeling like Martha Stewart. 

The felt heart banner here

&

The felt Ball banner here

I brushed the dust off my wreath I made two years ago at craft night and decided to finally finish it. I added the flowers on the left and called it a day. 

This morning the kids woke up to tin cans filled with suckers, cotton candy, I love you straws, and little dancing and singing Valentines day stuffed animals. 

Tonight will be date night with my love. 

Can't wait. 

Wishing you all lots of love!

Christmas Eve Tradition

At Ramos House.

can't go wrong with their hot cocoa and homemade marshmallows. 

huckleberry coffee cake... delicious. Although the apple cinnamon beignets are my favorite. 

Love the atmosphere here. They always have the quaintest decor. Simple and elegant. 

 Perfect start to the Christmas weekend. Also got to see my new nephew. Can't wait for tonight.
Wishing you the Merriest Christmas of all. 

Sweet treat

This year I wanted to make rice crispy treats for my neighbors, since it's super easy and we have a ton of kids in the neighborhood. So when I came across a instagram post on adding cake batter, I had to try it. 

They are delicious. I can't believe I haven't tried these scrumptious treats before!

Cake Batter Rice Crispy Treats

• 
  

3 Tbsp. butter
1 (10 oz.) bag of mini-marshmallows
1/3 cup yellow cake mix
6 cups crispy rice cereal
1 (1.75 oz.) container of sprinkles

Method: Melt butter in a large saucepan over low heat and add marshmallows. Stir until they begin to melt, adding in cake mix one spoonful at a time so its combined. Stir in rice crispy cereal so it is completely covered with marshmallow mixture. Sprinkle in half of the sprinkles and mix. Press into a baking dish (any size will do) and top with remaining sprinkles. Let sit for about 30 minutes before cutting. 

Unfortunately I have to go to the store and get more because my kids have inhaled most of them. 

 Just watch out for the sticky fingers. 

Santa's Message

photo found on pinterest via Tracey Lau

So I discovered this very important Santa Clause message that every child should get a chance to see and hear. Click here to see one of the videos I sent to my child. Or click here to make your own. My kids are obsessed and have watched it possibly 30x's today. I cried the first time I saw my kids watch the videos. They are amazed.

Enjoy!!

DIY-Christmas Globes

Project: Do it yourself Mason Jar Snow Globes. 

 I saw these adorable globes at Anthro and decided I had to give it a try and make them myself. It was really easy so I thought I'd share. 

1.

What you will need

Spray Adhesive Glue

Glitter

Mini Tree's- I bought a 21 piece pack at Michaels

Glue Gun

a bag of fake snow

a bag of small pine cones 

I also made globes with Snowmen and added glitter jingle bells- both from Michael's. 

2.

Spray the tree's with adhesive glue and sprinkle with glitter.

Let dry.

 For the snowman I bought three different sized balls (Small,Medium,Large) separately, 

each came in packs of 4-6 balls. 

 Glue gun the body of the snowman together using one of each size,

spray with adhesive glue, 

and sprinkle with glitter.

Turn the mason jar upside down and unscrew the cap. 

Arrange the tree's or snowman how you like on the inside of the cap,

then glue gun all the items to the cap.

Once the glue is dry add the fake snow, 

then screw the top back on. 

Make sure you don't turn the mason jar right side up. 

It will make a mess. 

Keep it upside down the whole time. 

Happy Crafting!!

Cell Phone Lovin...

I've been obsessing over cell phone cases for a while now and I can't stop finding cute ones. Even some rad ones for my man. So now the choice has gotten a lot harder. 

Check out these amazing Iphone covers. 

from left to right, top to bottom

1. Tory Birch 2. Keep Calm 3. Kate Spade 4. Diane Von Furstenberg 

5. Multi Color Chevron 6. EXO-10 Wood 7. Customizable Hearts 

Check out Caitlin Wilson too for more from Plum Street Prints

Perfect gifts for the Holiday Season. 

Happy Halloween Weeekend

image

Loving this idea for a creative costume... 

This weekend we will be decorating the yard,
baking some more cupcakes,

carving pumpkins, 

dressing up, 

drinking salted caramel mocha's (like I did today) ,

and 

taking lots of pictures. 

Be safe and enjoy your weekend.

Olive & Cocoa- Halloween

I could put all of this in my house for Halloween. I'm loving all the fun, cute, not too scary decorations. I'm a whimp when it comes to that sort of stuff. 

    1. SAMARA GOLD SKULL CANDLE 2. CAST IRON CROWS 3. RAVEN WOODLAND DOORMAT 4. COCOA'S CARAMEL APPLES

4th Block Party

Our 4th was loaded with lots of fun in the sun. We started off with a Parade with all the kids in the neighborhood. They all decorated their bikes and road around our cul-de-sac. Afterwards I slaved away in the kitchen and made Aunt Nicci's pasta salad (delicious) and the berry tart I talked about in an earlier post. Thanks for the recipe Kris!

Then we headed over to our neighbors house for a bbq, which was so fun. Then I rushed home got the kids washed up and in their jammies and head out for the fireworks. My honey put on a little show for all the neighbors and handed loads of sparklers to the kids. They were in heaven.

After all the craziness we jumped into the truck and headed up the street to watch 3 fire work shows off in the distance. It was a perfect 4th. Hope you had fun too.

Now go enjoy this beautiful weather and get outside!

Happy 4th of July weekend

THE ITALIAN SKY

I hope your heading somewhere nice and cool, like the beach or pool.

MY BABY GIRLS' TOES

We painted our nails for the occasion

CINQUE TERRA, MONTEROSO BEACH ON OUR ITALIAN VACATION

got our bathing suits on, 

JORDY AND PRESLEY'S FESTIVE FINGERS

and all decked out in our patriotic colors.

Tonight we will all be looking to the skies for some lovely firework shows.

GIGI BAKING WARM BERRY & BANANA SHORTCAKE

and our bellies will be nice and full from all the food we ate.

I'm either making this delicious WARM BERRY AND BANANA SHORTCAKE or this BERRY TART.
Love Holidays and
love love love summer time.

Happy Mothers Day

I'm so grateful for the women in my life who have taught me what it means to be a mother. Their lessons and love have helped me to become who I am today. I am so humbled by my children, so lucky to have their love, and so graciously indebted for being given the chance, 3 times over, to be a Mommy.
Hug your Mom today. Tell her you love her.

Easter Sunday

 We had two egg hunts. One at Aunt Stacy's and the other at the St. Regis. It was a perfect day.

Usually we are in Palm Springs during Easter but since we didn't go this year we decided to try something new. A neighbor invited us to the St. Regis Hotel, (which is where my honey and I spent our 1st married night together) and said it was totally worth it. So we went. We enjoyed FREE; face painting, an egg hunt, balloon making, and a picture with the Easter bunny printed out in a frame. If we are ever in town again for Easter morning, we will be there. They also have a great brunch, which we didn't try since we were headed to see family. 

Our extended family hosted the evening with an Easter Egg hunt at our Uncle's house, which was so lovely. A perfect little house, with just the right space, surrounded by big tree's to wing from, which backed up to a vineyard! It was a magical hunt, that wasn't just picturesque, but enchanted for all the kids. He also had a box garden which reminded me of how much I would like to have one once we finish our yard. It was just beautiful.

After the hunt we went and enjoyed time with family and ate our hearts out. One the menu:

Asparagus with walnuts and feta cheese,
Green beans sautéed with soy sauce, garlic, sesame seed oil, and sugar. (one of our favorite week night sides)
Grandma Judy's Orange Rolls (simply to die for)
Honey Baked Ham
Raspberry butter
Cheesy mashed potatoes
with a nice refreshing glass of fresh made Lemonade

What a day. I have to say my diet lasted all day. It was great. I had 2 1/2 rolls which was more then I should have had but with the raspberry butter it was too good to say NO. I didn't have a single bite of chocolate all day, which was astonishing, but none the less not that hard.

Day 24- down 13 pounds. Feeling great. Still working out. Hoping to lose another 10-12 pounds in the next couple months. Hopefully at least 5 more before the diet is over. My shakes consist of 1 1/2 scoops of Isagenics IsaLean Vanilla Shake, ice, and 8 ounces of water. Sometimes I add vanilla extract and a half of a banana. Helps when your really hungry or need some change from the normal vanilla shake.

Easter Basket

Easter came quickly, was lots of fun, and left fast. I'm glad the candy is gone, because my kids ate nothing but it yesterday, however I miss all of our family around. This year I got the kids new Easter baskets, very simple from Michael's. I was inspired by another blog to make my own name tags for the kids and I like the way they turned out. I also stuffed all of our egss with stickers, necklaces, rings, whistles, and all sort of goodies from the dollar isle in Target and Walmart and they were a hit. I will definately keep doing it because the kids get more sugar then they need all year in one sitting.