Family trip, the first of 2015

We haven't made many family trips since Kay was born due to sheltering her from her week stint in the nicu and trying very hard to keep her safe and waiting for the all clear medical wise. I mean you can't blame me! 

We decided that what better way to make sure the kids have a good spring/summer then to get the season pass to an indoor/outdoor water park. That way they can't get bored and we will have something to always do on his days off when we are on a strict budget!

It really pays for itself the membership because it's worth 2 entrances and in the summer it's not only indoor its outdoor and there's just so much to do that you cannot enjoy it all in just one visit. 

Im glad we were able to enjoy this experience with kay and the other 3. I spent the first hour and a half with Kay in the kiddie pool section and she attempted to swim several times and I had to remind her it wasn't deep enough but she still wanted to swim, my little mermaid! 

Then me and hubby switched and he took over baby duty while I went with Lily, ethan and branden to the family slide. It was a long walk up but it was awesome hearing them laugh and enjoy it so much. 

I was expecting either branden or kay to kinda feel weird or have a moment due to how loud it was. There was a dJ and tons going on but they handled it fairly well. I guess the excitement of this new adventure and even tho I was fairly disheartened about how a lot of the parents had zero control over their children. 

The lifeguards were more vigilant then the parents and to me that was very sad because even though I let kay walk and explore I made sure she was safe and in no danger and the others are so well behaved and always stick together. 

 Hoping the next time we go the experience is not like this one. And that kay continues to enjoy as much of what I can offer her to experience even at the age of 1. Enjoy some of these photos! 

Putting on her life vest for the lazy river that she made us do twice!

Enjoying the swing in the baby section :) 

Xoxo, Vanessa 

New Etsy Shop

I'm proud to announce that I have officially opened my Etsy shop. I will take custom banner orders for any and all occasions.  I also do canvas art work with your home state and you can add wording or a date if you please. Please feel free to email me if you have any questions via my etsy shop.

I'm hoping this will help with my growing family financially.

Visit the shop & have a blessed day.

www/etsy.com/shop/reyesboutique

Lily's Winter wonderland Birthday Party

Frozen is what all the little girls are currently obsessed about because mine is certainly hooked on this movie. So I decided to give her a wonderful and Frozen type birthday. I got basically everything via clearance since it was after christmas (oh so lucky). I refused to go and buy her the generic stuff at the regular party store because I love to be different. I went on PINTEREST and was shocked to see already a few pinners had already pinned a Frozen type birthdays so I simply incorporated my favorite parts. The photos are below with a little detail so enjoy!

 she wanted the head of the snow man to be chocolate cake with chocolate chips

i used whipped butter cream for the frosting

used a fruit roll up for the scarf

candy mints for buttons and gum balls for eyes and nose and chocolate chips for the smile

the pretty birthday girl

we used white chocolate in the chocolate fountain to make it look like snow 

the entrance to the dinning room.

they all had a blast!

Chocolate chip fudge brownie Cookie Recipe

Need a chocolate fix? This cookie is for you chocolate lovers like me! Hope you enjoy the recipe xo

2 sticks of butter soft

1 1/4 cup of sugar 

1/2 cup of cocoa powder

2 1/4 cup flour

1/4 tsp salt (I use sea salt)

1 tsp of baking powder 

2 large eggs

Mix all dry ingredients then the soft butter. The add one egg mix then add another egg. I added a cup of chocolate chips and mixed again. 

Ball up into lil balls and press down 

Bake at 350 for 10/15 mins 

They will be soft and gooey and oh so delicious! Enjoy 

Chocolate chip fudge brownie Cookie Recipe

Need a chocolate fix? This cookie is for you chocolate lovers like me! Hope you enjoy the recipe xo

2 sticks of butter soft

1 1/4 cup of sugar 

1/2 cup of cocoa powder

2 1/4 cup flour

1/4 tsp salt (I use sea salt)

1 tsp of baking powder 

2 large eggs

Mix all dry ingredients then the soft butter. The add one egg mix then add another egg. I added a cup of chocolate chips and mixed again. 

Ball up into lil balls and press down 

Bake at 350 for 10/15 mins 

They will be soft and gooey and oh so delicious! Enjoy 

Chocolate chocolate chip cake -recipe

Every girl has her little chocolate fits, I know I sure did last night. So I decided to make a chocolate chocolate chip cake and it was oh so delicious. Here's the recipe I found and enjoy xo!

Chocolate cake mix: 

1 cup flour 

1 cup sugar 

1/4 cup cocoa powder 

1 tsp of baking powder

1/4 tsp of baking soda

1/4 tsp salt 

3/4 cup of milk 

1/4 cup of butter softened

1/2 tsp of vanilla

1 egg

Mix all dry ingredients first and then the rest. 

Bake at 350 for 45 mins

Enjoy 

Creamy potato soup- savory Sunday

It's that time again, it's savory Sunday! Which means a brand new recipe by yours truly. I tend to search all the time for recipes and then end up doing my own take on it cuz yes I'm so adventurous (giggles). This Sunday I'm featuring the creamy potato soup cause boy it's cold outside! It's like winter creeped up and said hello with zero warning. Here it is below and enjoy! Xo

Ingredients: 

3 cups chicken broth

1 cup finely chopped onions

4 tablespoons of flour

4 tbsp of butter

Salt and pepper to taste 

2 cups milk

4 medium size potatoes cut small

Shredded cheddar cheese

Process: 

Let the broth and potatoes cook with the onions salt and pepper. 

Once potatoes are cooked add the flour  and butter and milk.

I took a whisk to help de-clump the flour. 

I added some shredded sharp cheese to it too to make it extra cheesy. 

Serve and enjoy 

Holiday wreath making at my church

Paster Tim prayers before crafting.

My church held a wonderful craft even to make a holiday wreath. I was super excited to be around other crafters and even learn! I was able to learn 2 different flower felt techniques that I can later use on my girls bows yay! I been had in mind to make one but this one I will def put in my window and wait till you see the end results of my winter holiday display (photos later down the line). I really enjoyed myself and even the kids made their own lil Christmas crafts enjoy the photos. Xo

All assembled. :)

God bless and stay tuned for more holiday blogs cuz it's that time of year! 

Featured app of the week. iPad only.

Many parents feel frustrated with math. I came across this app for the iPad and wanted to help out you fellow mommies. Let me know how you like it and how your kids react to the learning app. I like to have my kids play learning apps in their spare time. Learning should be fun but also done on a regular basis. Enjoy and please leave feedback. 

It's free!! So get it now! Xo

Educational learning sites

Below I have found these educational sites to help children instead of them spending time on games that doesn't focus on learning. I am all about letting them spend time on the computer as long as its strickly educational. Enjoy these sites and let your kids learn, play and have fun all at once. xo


www.multiplication.com
www.fun4thebrain.com
www.abcya.com

Savory Saturday- donut muffins and lasagna rolls recipes

Even despite the gloomy weather I opted off a hearty meal that wasn't in the crockpot. Shockingly I wanted to give the crockpot a break today. So I had some left over ground meat that I had made empanadas  with so I decided why not lasagna rolls? Good choice I might add because it was very quick and easy. 

I out the sauce with three spoonfuls of ricotta and blended it into the meat and warmed it all. My kids are picky with cheese so if they don't see it they don't know it's there. 

Then I had boiled the lasagna pasta and waited until cool so I can roll. I used just a spoon spread on the pasta and some cheddar cheese and rolled which was easy but don't put too much cuz then it will make a mess and leak out. 

Line the bottom of the casserole dish with the sauce and place rolls on top. Put sauce and cheese on top and bake in oven for 15/20 mins at 375

Now we get to what I made for dessert which is the donut muffins. Oh yum these were a big hit! 

Dough:

1/2 cup sugar 

1/4 butter melted

1/4 nutmeg

1/2 cup milk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract 

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 cup flour

Mix the sugar, melted butter and nutmeg. 

Then add the rest and mix well. 

Place in a muffin tin which I lined with baking cups.

Oven at 375 for 15 mins. 

Then on top melt butter and sprinkle cinnamon sugar on top. 

Enjoy xo

Diy shirt scarf kids version

My daughter and son both outgrew a few tees so my lil crafty self saw on Pinterest the adult version and thought why not for her too? So here's my three samples that I created for her and she simply loves em. Remember to pull and stretch and to add a bit of accent to it to make it pop.

That's my favorite one these are the other two I experimented with 

Recipe: Apple Butter Spread

It's fall which means its apple and pumpkin season. I'm super excited to try new things especially with my favorite new little device the crockpot. I am marveled at the things I continue to come across of on what I can make in this fab device. If you don't have one yet I surely recommend you do especially if your a busy mom like me.

I came across a recipe for apple butter and I just had to try it! The two little ones take lunch to school and peanut is not allowed so I had to find a spread for them other than just the regular ham and cheese on the daily. So fishing around PINTEREST I came across it and I just thought wow that would taste amazing!

This is the recipe below and I will love to know who tried it:

One bag of apples (I used red ones)
3 cups of sugar (I didn't use the sugar because the apples were really sweet)
1 cup of brown sugar
2 teaspoons of cinnamon
1/4 tsp of cloves
1/4 cup of water

Peel and core the apples
Cut them in quarters
Combine all into the crockpot
Let it cook for 10 hours on LOW
(your home will smell like fall)

I used a hand mash device because I don't have an electric one so it still worked wonders

Mash the rest of the apples that didn't break down

Place in canning jars or mason jars

Viola! You have your very own apple butter spread.

Mines made 2 cans and a half.

I need to make more already so hopefully by next week.

Enjoy and happy fall.

Our back to school

Back to school finally came around in our neck of the woods. Can I just add that I was super excited to get the two smaller ones out the house? Not because of their behavior but because last year I homeschooled all three last year and it was tougher than I had ever anticipated. They missed the social part of it and so they decided to go back to public while my oldest stood in the homeschool (hence I don't mind). Here's our photos of our first day. I had wanted to print signs but with low ink and low funds I opted in using the marker board this time. Sometimes this mommy has to make the best of what she has on hand and not freak out. Hope everyone enjoyed their first day of school and all the stay at home moms take advantage like I am. Xo

Sidewalk chalk homemade recipe

Sidewalk chalk can be expensive especially if you have multiple kids. I decided I wanted and needed to cut expenses so I refuse to buy anymore when I can make my own. All it took was 1/2 cup corn starch and 1/2 cup of water and mixed it well. Then I just added two drops of food coloring. I have a stick mold for ice that I never use so this will be my mold for my chalk from now on. It literally took less than five minutes to mix etc. I still don't know how long it will take to harden cuz I just made it. Let me know if you decided to create your own sidewalk chalk as well. Happy Fourth of July everyone.