visions of summer days...

Dance in our heads.

There is an ancient fishpond on O'ahu...

Where you may not find the multitude of fish of yesteryear...

But, you will find shade beneath the trees, and a rope...

And if you swing out and let go...

The Pacific Ocean will catch you... 

when you fall.

Kahana Fish Pond, O'ahu

live sweet,

n

sean says...

I've been eating my fruits and veggies guys.  

See...

Mama says...

Sean and I were selected to do a review for Copy-Kids: Eat your fruits and vegetables DVD and I have to tell ya as a mom of a little toddler, a sweetie for sure, but a toddler still, well, I was a bit skeptical about what effect the simple series of images which show children eating, and loving, the featured fruit or vegetable would have.  

Oh, that Sean of ours he can be very opinionated about very many a thing and while he isn't the world's worst eater he has learned to drive his veggies around his plate, as if moving in choochoo train formation were just the thing veggies were made for.  

Of course if we're gonna do a test on Sean eating veggies well we needed to go big, real BIG, like bell pepper big.  But we didn't have any big bell peppers handy although we did have a bag of mini peppers and so plop went the bag of peppers and plop went Sean right next to them and on went the DVD and well, you see...

Sean saw this...

And this...

And then he did this...

And this...

And this...

The premise is simple.  Kids love to copy.  And it's true you guys, of course you know it's so very true those kids they really do love to copy.  And so, the creators of Copy-Kids, have designed a way to use that natural tendency to get kids to develop healthy habits.

You know the simplicity and effectiveness of this well made DVD reminds me a whole heck of a lot of a series that was just being developed when Tyty, who is now nine, was little.  The title began with "Baby" and ended with "Einstein" and became so popular with parents of young children that the rights were purchased by Disney and developed in to a cartoon for their network.  

And don't ya know it the whole time I watched my Tyty be mesmerized by the simple images of Baby Einstein those many years ago and the entire time Sean gobbled his peppers and asked for more while watching Copy-Kids well, I kept thinking to myself-- "well, would ya look at that?  Now, why didn't I think of that?".

Really, I don't think they get any more expert"ish" than Sean eating mini peppers guys, ya know?  

But, here are some other prestigious awards Copy-Kids DVD has been awarded.

The USDA Approved Education and Training Materials Database for Preschool nutrition

You can enter here for a chance to win a copy of your very own.

live sweet,

n

Disclaimer: This is a review and more guys.  Copy-Kids provided me with a free sample of this product to review, and I was under no obligation to review it if I so chose.  Nor was I under any obligation to write a positive review or sponsor a product giveaway in return for the free product.

fallin' in to love...

With Summer.

The sweet thing about summer is that it really, truly can be anything you want it to be, ya know?  It's as though the heavens and earth have conspired to give us a blank canvas of long days bathed in the purest sunlight.  And have left us to lazily color the hours as we may.  

Here are a few summer prints I discovered on etsy.  

They have me overflowing with anticipation for a summer full of possibility.  

LafayettePlace

CarolynCochrane

ParrishHousePhotos

CarlChristensen

beachbumchix

oohprettyshiny

Let the coloring of summer days, begin.

live sweet,

n

on being a full time dreamer...

And a part time house cleaner.  

And by part time I mean, not so very often, really hardly ever at all.

Oh, my darling, darling dears it has been such a wonderfully long and joyously full weekend in this little life of ours.  We celebrated so many of life's very sweetest moments with family and friends and were so very glad to be in the company of the ones we love as we memorialized those who have gone on so that we might dwell in safety and freedom.  

I'm not sure that I can say which moments were the sweetest from those gathered by our little hearts over the past days.  There were so many very different ones this weekend, from loud dancing and celebrating Friday evening, oh you should have seen little Seanzy cut a rug, to quiet walks and shared laughs over cups and cups and cups of coffee.  Isn't life just the most beautiful when you are so busy living the moments as they occur that you can do nothing more than just be. 

Oh, please let me learn to just be more often.  

It was all so beautiful and wonderful and full, these days that passed.  And then of course we came home.  Our sweet too often neglected home, with it's piles of laundry and unfinished projects and have I already mentioned the piles of laundry.  It is the greatest reminder that I am a full time dreamer and a part time house cleaner.  And by part time I mean, not so very often, really hardly ever at all.  Oh, you guys, I really am horrible at it and if it were a paid position I would most certainly have been let go from it so very long ago. 

 So, when we walked through the double french doors that lead to hearth and home I sighed the very biggest guilt soaked sigh as I thought of my poor Charlie coming home to the clutter of a house that had been neglected for sake of life and projects and...

But, Charlie, sweet Charlie, it's not at all what he saw when he walked through the door.  He found waiting for us the space we had created together and that had just now allowed us to go out and live fully the moments of the days gone by.  Where I saw piles to be dealt with and tracks to be swept up and prints to be wiped away he saw a few minutes of cleaning that would free us up to live even more.  

And so he took us for a walk along the streets that crisscross our little town.  And we found, blooming amongst the tall weeds and vines, this fiery beauty:

And, what if nature herself had deferred the fulfilling of this dream?  

What if she had chosen to wait until there were no weeds that threaten to overtake or vines that entangle, what then would we have in our world?

Here's to nature a full time dreamer and part time house cleaner.  

And by part time I mean, not so very often, really hardly ever at all.

live sweet,

n

And, here's more of what nature's done gone and created instead of thoroughly cleaning her house.

Just in case, perhaps you were contemplating deferring a dream for sake of dirty dishes.

peace today...

to all who are remembered,

And to those who stand in remembrance.

live sweet,

n

sean says...

Pssst... hey guys,  

can I tell ya somethin' real important?

I'm not sure how you're gonna take this...

But, I'm a big boy now.  

See, I've been growing up a whole lot lately...

I went on my very own first big boy hike last week and walked most of it all by myself and that was not so very easy, you see 'cause I was with big people and those big people take GIANT steps.  But mommy said I did good and I really did guys!  


'Cause I walked all the way down hill after mommy pushed me up hill in my big boy stroller, but I think that was the easy part, the up hill, cause mommy she stopped and took a lot of breaks and I didn't take any breaks going down hill, no sir, not a one.  


And after I went for a good long swim in the cold fresh water pool, brrr-- that's what I said when I got into the water, and brrr-- that's what I said when I got right back out, well, after that Daddy, he wrapped me up in a towel and he carried me and my back pack with all of my yummy goodies, 'cause you need yummy goodies on a good long hike.  Daddy, he carried me back up that hill and tucked me right in to the car for the ride home.  


And, I was wrapped up like a little monkey the whole time and daddy and mommy kept asking me what a monkey says and I was like "duh, I just told you eee--ee--ee ooh-ohh" and they kept asking me over and over and they kept giggling, which was really weird guys, but those parents it's like they just aren't made for coolness, ya know? 

   

 So, I'm an awfully big boy now and mommy says I can have my very own little giveaway next week-- and that's so very hugely big boyish, right?


And, hey guys, also, I was wondering... 
what's a giveaway?

That's what Sean Says.

live sweet,

n

on false eyelashes...

 And other silliness...

Oh, you guys I have been working so very hard to get ready for my little cousin's graduation party.  In Hawaii when you graduate from high school well that is often such a very, very big deal involving rsvp's and center pieces and banquet halls and... 

Are you exhausted yet, 'cause I am oh so exhausted but it's almost over.  It's Saturday gosh darn, this very Saturday.  I was planning on getting my hair done and losing twenty pounds and working out everyday maybe twice or thrice a day right up until five thirty pm when the dinner and dancing and slide shows commence.  But it's Thursday afternoon already and Seanzy's just slipping off in to sweet dream nappy land and that little stinker, oh he has left drips of chocolate ice cream all over the floor and watermelon bits and sticky grains of rice, or pasta or something and I'm up to my eyeballs in glitter and water pearls-- do you know water pearls, they are just the coolest centerpiece fillers ever.

 So, what am I gonna do 'cause a manicure is out, unless paint stained fingernails and random bits of glitter count, and professional hair dressing is out too, I think I'm gonna go with the ombre look-- isn't that just the fanciest name for "seriously in need of touch up coloring"?  I'll be decorating and wrapping favors right up until the first guest signs in and losing twenty pounds well that was out a while ago and now my brand new goal is to try really, really hard to not just live on chocolate ice cream and donuts and whatever else they sell at the local seven eleven.  

And so what is a girl to do when begging "can I get a do over" is outta the question...  

Why rock a pair of false lashes of course!  

See, don't they look fabulous and don't they just totally distract from the lack of sleep and the I've been on a "stress induced eating" diet and the "what did I just step in... SEAN?!" look on my face. 

Yeah, that's totally the exact thought I had.  'nailed it, right?   

So I've had these alien life forms fluttering around above my eyes for the past few hours and I've been thinking about young women and life and here's a completely frivolous thought or two 

on false eyelashes and other silliness...

Be you. Always be you.  It's where your real value lies.  But, if you must do something false, let it be your eyelashes, or hair extensions or, if you, really must, a set of super long acrylic nails. 

Go for real when it comes to friends and love and all matters of the heart.  Oh, and whipped cream too-- isn't real whipped cream just the very yummiest? 

Forgive yourself.  Frequently.  Sometimes those new lashes, well, they just may not stick the first time, or the second or the third and it may take a few attempts before you figure out just how to make it work.  Forgive yourself.  And allow yourself to start again.  Repeatedly. And again, and then again, and...

Oh and don't believe everything you read, if you please.  

We all have bumps and dimples and scars and signs of having lived  well and thoroughly and of being built for lots of wonderfully messy living-- yay, to amazing, durable us!  

And sometimes, in those glossy retouched photos well, they take all of those away and we all look seventeen for, like, ever-- could I just maybe point to the very first photo in this post as proof, 'cause well, I haven't looked that way since high school and there I am glowing in a few different shades of yellow and pink and try as we may we can't walk around being yellow and pink or seventeen forever in the real world.  

And, when I think of all the amazing things that have happened since moving past seventeen well, I'm grateful for the bumps and dimples and the living in full color, even those darker shades of gray.

Oh, and I'm grateful for glitter, and water pearls and a completely useless post that's offered the sweetest distraction from glitter and water pearls and mostly, truly, I'm grateful for you.

live sweet, 

n

For the 

Class of 2012

And for all who are making their way past seventeen. 

Something real, to hold on to, if you please:

Britt Nicole, Walk on Water

those mountains in the distance...

Happy Wordless Wednesday,

live sweet,

n

as promised...

Three Recipes Using Coconut Oil:

Banana Cake

2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

1 2/3 cups mashed ripe bananas 

2/3 cup coconut oil

2/3 cup buttermilk
1 2/3 cup sugar

1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda

3/4 teaspoon salt

3 eggs

Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease and lightly flour the bottom and sides of a 13x9 inch pan.

In a large bowl, beat cake ingredients on low for 30 seconds, scraping bowl constantly.  Beat on medium for 3 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally.  Pour into pan.

Bake 45-50 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Homemade Flour Tortillas

2 cups all-purpose flour 

1/2 cup coconut oil, heated in microwave one minute on high

1/2 cup water, heated in microwave on high

Mix ingredients in a large bowl.  Knead into a large ball.  Let sit, covered, 10 minutes to an hour.  

Shape dough into small 3 inch balls.  Roll balls out one at a time on a heavily floured surface.  

Brown each side in heated pan on medium heat.  

Remove from heat and place on a covered dish.  (The steam from the dish will help to soften the tortillas)

Thai Coconut Curry

2 tablespoons coconut oil

1 tablespoon curry powder

1 cup coconut milk

(If desired 2 sliced boneless/ skinless chicken thighs)

Heat oil on high in large wok or deep pan.  Add curry stir fry 1-2 minutes.  (If desired add chicken and brown) Add coconut milk. 

Bring to a boil, remove from heat immediately. (If adding chicken: Instead of removing from heat, let simmer on medium low until chicken is cooked thoroughly).  Serve on top of steamed rice.  Garnish as desired.

Oh and then there's this little bit of yumminess from Elizabeth over at State of Shenanigans:

Paleo Granola Recipe 

Oh, I really do hope this gets ya excited about our coconut oil giveaway.  
If you want you can enter our giveaway here, and if you want another entry you can subscribe to the Tropical Traditions Newsletter here and leave a comment letting me know to enter you again.

I sure do hope you win.

live sweet,

n

ten beachy uses for coconut oil, and...

 A Song, a review, a giveaway and a whole lot of fun too!

I was thinking in the name of summer and coconuts and... well, I was thinking we should set this little post to music.  Shall we?


How about this lively syncopated tune right here.
If you wanted to dance along well, I'd be dancing right along with ya.
....

Oh, you guys it's almost summer time, can you believe it?  

Oh, no sir I am not ready for bikini season-- frankly that ship sailed off in to the sunset long ago with the arrival of baby number one.

 But, that doesn't mean I can't still love a season in the sun.  

So, about two weeks ago I received a box from Tropical Traditions Virgin Coconut Oil and ever since then I have been trying it out here there and everywhere-- did you know there were so many uses for coconut oil?  
Oh, summer is right around the very next corner and geesh wouldn't it be lovely if coconut oil could help us get ready for the beach and sun and surf.  
Well, I gathered and tested and put together a list of...

Ten Beachy Uses for Coconut Oil:

One.  Mix coconut oil with sugar to make a yummy bikini ready body scrub.

Two.  Smooth a small amount on lips to moisturize; just a little bonus: with a natural SPF of about four (I found that here)you get some sun protection as well.

Three.  Rub a few drops on to tired and dry feet before and after the beach. 

Four.  Dab a small amount under eyes to moisturize and help with wrinkles.

Five.  Place a small amount in your palms and work in to hair for a leave-in conditioner that will add shine and tame frizz.

Six.  Use as a massage oil after the beach.  Or any ol' time-- it's summer guys, do as you like!

Seven.  Smooth all over body to enhance a summer tan.

Eight.  To deep condition before shampooing rub coconut oil in to hair and let sit for a few minutes before shampooing as usual.

Nine.  Use a small amount to remove eye makeup and moisturize.

Ten. Mix with baking soda for a facial scrub. 

And when those guys over at Tropical Traditions said go ahead and give some away too, well of course I had to do that just for you.

 So here's a little review based on my own adventures using coconut oil on body and hair.  
....

Seriously guys I wanted to really try Tropical Traditions Virgin Coconut Oil out in a whole bunch of different ways before I shared it with you all, you know, just in case it wasn't good enough for you, and so far over the past two weeks, I haven't found a use that it hasn't worked wonderfully for.  

The sad, sad truth is I've been out of makeup remover for a few months now and while that isn't the worst sin ever committed, ever, well I've noticed that as I age I have to be more gentle with my skin, especially around my eyes, and so washing with soap and rubbing with washcloths to get stubborn eye makeup off is probably not the best approach. 

So that of course was the first test I gave the oil.  
Coconut oil as eye make up remover-- totally love it.

  

And as an added whoo hoo, it super moisturized the skin under my eyes filling in wrinkles and smoothing out fine lines too.  Really truly, it did that too.  Although, I suspect the results aren't permanent, I'm thinking they'll diminish as soon as I stop  regularly applying the oil, which I really have no plans of doing so I may never, ever find out the answer for you-- sorry guys. 

About a day before I wash my hair it's usually pretty dull from hair product and life and such so of course that seemed the perfect time to try out coconut oil as shine booster. 

I worked a bit in to my hair and watched it shine, shine, shine-- it is oil so a little does go a long way, but with that in mind it adds a nice little boost to dull hair.  

And then I thought my feet and hands, which in Hawaii are always exposed to sun and salt and beachiness, well, I thought they were looking awfully dry and so I rubbed in a bit of oil focusing on dry spots around my cuticles and finger nails and ankles and worked my way up to dry patches on my knees and elbows and I'm still glistening from the morning application.  

Again, it's oil so a teensy tinsy bit goes a very long way. 

There is a slight coconutty smell to the oil-- it is coconut oil guys.  But, you know, really it's not as smelly as tanning oil and it all says summer to me so I don't mind it one bit.

I've tried out a few recipes with coconut oil if you wanna meet in the kitchen tomorrow we can cook up something yum, yum, yummy.

Oh, and of course about that giveaway...

Leave a comment here and you will be entered to receive a quart of Tropical Traditions Virgin Coconut Oil just in time for summer.


I sure do hope you win.


live sweet,
n


Update: For an extra entry subscribe to Tropical Traditions newsletter here.

Disclaimer: This is a review and more guys.  Tropical Traditions provided me with a free sample of this product to review, and I was under no obligation to review it if I so chose.  Nor was I under any obligation to write a positive review or sponsor a product giveaway in return for the free product.

sean says...

Oh, that Mommy of mine she is a bossy pants...

cue the music Jack

She likes to say things at me like


"Go this way"

 "No, that way"

"Oh, please hurry on up"  

"Be careful, slow down"

It's o.k. mommy, I'll figure it out. 

 I'll get better at it, 'promise. 


Just as soon as I'm done building my whole world right here,

 out of this little bit of sand.

You can play too mommy...




when you learn to play nice.


That's what Sean says.


live sweet,
n


Mommy says:
 That sounds nice Seanzy, count me in. Please.


To see a world in a grain of sand
William Blake