My Six Year Old Traveler... and How to Pack a Suitcase

Yesterday we drove my girl along the 15 mile trek that takes us to the airport, stopping for lunch at her place of choice, and then piled out onto the curb for hugs and kisses, bag checks, last-minute goodbyes and the chance to hold in a couple of tears so that I could be the strong one. She flew to Michigan with her Papa. For TEN days. And I already miss her terribly.
I remember my first trip without my parents, I can still recall those feelings of independence... the little bit of fear mixed with total excitement to be able to do something BIG. Flying without mama or daddy? That's totally BIG. And oh, my girl is growing. I love watching her, seeing her think and vocalize plans, think through decisions on her own and make choices. And as every parent comes to realize, there are times to step in and times to step back. And for the packing this week, it was a little bit of both.

My favorite tip on packing for little ones... make "Outfit" bags, especially when they're going to be traveling away from you. That way they can just pull out a bag for the day and everything, including underwear and accessories, are in the bag.



First, we picked out the clothes we wanted to pack, and Aliyah helped fill in all the details for each outfit, getting underwear, choosing the jewelry and hair accessories and gathering anything else she wanted to go with that outfit. Then we packed each one up into a gallon size ziplock bag, pushed out the air to save on packing space and threw them in the suitcase.



To finish off, we added some extra socks, her swimsuit, a couple sets of pajamas, shoes, a purse she can use with any outfit she wants and a sweater for that inevitable cooler Michigan weather... even though it's unseasonably warm this week.



She's got enough outfits to last her until I get to her in 10 days, and without having to figure out what to dress her in from a mess of a suitcase, her and Papa and Nana can all spend more time just having fun.

Now if I could be just as organized when packing my own bag. We'll see.

Happy Weekend!

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Our Week In Review:: 6.27.12 (And What To Do During A Tropical Storm)

Otherwise known as Hump Day Dump!

This week has been a waterfall from the sky as Tropical Storm Debby blew through our city... and decided to stay awhile. So instead of letting Debby be a downer, we decided to have some fun with her.

• What better place to be during a day of off-and-on rain than a waterpark? You're going to get wet anyway, right?
• Another good retreat is the movie theater! And if you know my family at all, you know I've been taking my kids to the theater since they were newborns... so naturally, they love it! (And I love that our local theaters offer free kid's movies during the week.)
• Since it's our first Hurricane Season while living in Florida, and our first big Tropical Storm, we decided to hit the beach just to see what big (and might I add dark and creepy) waves really look like.
• When your street is turned into a mini river... you just gotta play in it!

By the way, have you watched this video yet? Yes, I'm sure our neighbors think we're crazy (though, they already thought that when we were swimming in our pool for Christmas), but really, what fun is a street full of water if you're not having duck races?!

Disclaimer: My weatherman of a husband kept updated with Debby's trends the entire time, just in case we needed to evacuate. We played, but stayed cautious. We're not in a low-lying neighborhood, though we have friends whose neighborhoods were flooded and evacuated, and we've been helping them and praying for other families as well. So, as always, have fun! And use caution.

Welcome to our tradition here on Fresh Mommy Blog... on Wednesdays, when I try to be wordless, I'm just going to dump the previous week's photos from my phone. A little piece of where we've been and what we've been up to. And the resulting collage? Well, I think it speaks so much more than I could. Welcome to Hump Day Dump!

All of my photos were taken on an iPhone with the instagr.am app and were put together using Big Huge Labs mosaic maker... super simple and free. If you want to find me, I'm on instagram as TabithaBlue.

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Summer Bucket List

We've been busy filling up our Summer Bucket List with a little of this and a dash of that. Beautiful, colorful, summery things like "eat ice cream before dinner" or a new one that just came up... "play in the downpour of a tropical storm." And though we've got a few that require a bit of preparation, like "take a road trip with no destination in mind," there are a few that will help us to explore some of the wonderful and diverse culture that we have around us while we dive a little deeper into our city. We crossed one of those off of the list today, while on an excursion to Ikea for some room makeover materials, we stopped at the Tampa Bay Brewing Co in Ybor City for some of the good grub featured on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives. And it was good, with servings too large to finish and BBQ sauce that's out-of-this-world, it was a fun check off the ole' list.

What are you doing this summer? I hope you're making a list before these first days of summer turn into our last... summer is here, and we're ready to celebrate!

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Something New

Something New, originally uploaded by Tabitha Blue / Fresh Mommy.

"Look at it now," he said enthusiastically as his phone screen showed shades of crimson and chartreuse circling around each other. I've had more updates than I ever thought I'd want to have on Tropical Storm Debbie, our first crazy introduction to hurricane season.

It's cute though. My weatherman, I call him, and if I need an update, I know where to find it.

"Never be afraid to try something new because life gets boring when you stay within the limits of what you already knew." ~Anonymous

Yesterday we ventured out to the beach to catch a glimpse of the unusually large waves and surfers taking advantage of them, while there was a long break in the rain. And today? Though we'd planned on visiting the sandy coastline again to see day two of Debbie and increased waves, we've instead "battened down the hatches" for a relaxing afternoon of puzzles, naps and swirling something warm in my mug to the background buzz of the weather channel. Besides the couple of breaks to splash in the river that we used to call our street, and have rubber ducky boat races in the flood,  it feels like the snow days I missed this past winter... With candles lit and the cozy banter of my kids filling our home.

Okay, my weatherman is calling. Tornadoes in the neighborhood... Time for another new adventure. Will come back to cozy again later.

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Our Week in Review:: 6.20.12

Otherwise known as Hump Day Dump!

Besides trying to relax and rest as much as possible, we've still had a big week!

• Date Night!
• One of our always peaceful, always inspiring trips to the beach.
• Dinner with friends.
• More beach.
• Jumping off of the fountain in a friend's pool.
• Our BIG Father's Day announcement... We're PREGNANT!
• A fun little treat... that just happened when my kids asked to go to Starbucks.
• Underwater fun! Still loving, still using my LifeProof case.

How has your week been? We'd love to know!

Welcome to our tradition here on Fresh Mommy Blog... on Wednesdays, when I try to be wordless, I'm just going to dump the previous week's photos from my phone. A little piece of where we've been and what we've been up to. And the resulting collage? Well, I think it speaks so much more than I could. Welcome to Hump Day Dump, we'd love to have you join, whether it's one photo or many, phone pics or camera pics, wordless or not!

All of my photos were taken on an iPhone with the instagr.am app and were put together using Big Huge Labs mosaic maker... super simple and free. If you want to find me, I'm on instagram as TabithaBlue. For more fabulous Wordless Wednesday memes, check out Project Alicia, Better in Bulk and Wordless Wednesday

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KitchenWise:: Homemade Hair Mask for Healthy Summer Hair

Here at Fresh Mommy, we're always trying to find new ways to use what we've got in the kitchen to make ourselves healthier... and with the hot sun and inviting chlorinated pools beckoning this summer, we knew we needed something in our arsenal to keep damaged hair at bay. Here's us attacking dry, needy hair on my beautiful assistant, and daughter, Aliyah.



As always, thanks for tuning in to this episode of KitchenWise! If you're not familiar, browse through some of our previous episodes here... and don't forget to watch for the blooper real at the end.

We'll see you around here for Hump Day tomorrow!

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A Sweet and Lovely Father's Day to Remember:: Sunday Citar

There's a reason I've been a bit behind here lately. A little slower to post and quicker to sleep, a little bit behind but slowly getting caught up.

You see, I have an extra reason to say Happy Father's Day today... for one that can't quite say it yet, who can't quite keep up with the pack and bestow hugs and kissed on their amazing daddy. So, baby, I'll do it for ya.


And we're so excited.

The pure happiness and joy of this fact kissed the couple of moments that I had this past week that brought on fear, fear from before and hesitation, goodbye.

When I was little, I was always a saver. I had chocolately morsels, Sweet Tarts and Jolly Ranchers year-round because I would store them in a hidden bag and ration them to myself when I wanted to savor something sweet. And it felt good. It was nice to know that I had more to enjoy waiting for me whenever I wanted... and sometimes knowing that would be enough to make me wait, to hold off, because that feeling of looking forward to something, of knowing there was something delicious around the bend was too good to let go of.

And part of me wanted to wait it out a bit. To make sure that it was only good and sweet around the bend, but I'm not about living in fear and the few glorious months that I have of bonding and growing with this new, precious life inside me... well, it's just too good, too sweet and too short not to share.

So, I'm enjoying my last piece of candy, and I'm going to linger on every mouth watering moment and soak up every delicious morsel of this pregnancy that I can.

I'm excited to be exhausted beyond what I've felt before, and ecstatic that at the verge of 8 weeks I can already see a bump... a bump that I didn't see until at least 4 months with the first. It feels good to imagine the kicks and hiccups that will wake me up at night and I dream about the bassinet next to my bed that will hold a tiny bundle of love whose cries will stir me in the middle of the night and I'll feel the breath of a newborn again.

Time stands still in
Your smile
You weren't there
And now you're here

I dreamed of you
But I never know how...sweet and lovely
Plumb lyrics from "My Sweet, My Lovely"

Enjoying all these sweet and lovely baby things indeed.

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I would love to have you join the Sunday Citar inspiration and have all of us come to your blog to read what quotes inspire you! Simply write your own post on your blog, link within your post to my blog, and sign up with the linky below, leaving your name and the link directly to your Sunday Citar post. Just click here if any of that sounds confusing. There you'll be able to get the complete rundown, as well as learn how to link back to my blog if you don't already know how. Take a moment a visit at least three of the participants around you... you'll be glad you did!

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Mini Cherry Pies

I realize that posts have been slow coming and my photos seem to be backlogged while I try and play a bit of catch-up. So while I organize photos and write posts... and simultaneously try and stimulate my thoughts since my mind has been a little bit of a skipping stone as of late, I'm going to share this delicious recipe we fell into recently.

On one of our runs to the local market, Aliyah and I happened upon fresh cherries and subsequently couldn't stop ourselves from noshing on them. Continuously.

At some point the words "cherry" and "pie" happened into the same sentence and my sweet little five-year-old couldn't get the idea out of her head, or my out of my ears, until the scent of fresh baked cherry pie wafted through our kitchen. Since I wasn't sure we had enough cherries left for a full pie, we decided to make mini pies and I figured I'd just fill them until I had no more fillin' left. Turns out, I had some extra, and ohmygoodness... have you ever eaten fresh cherry pie filling by the spoonful? Don't do it.

It's evil. In a good, unicorn and lollipops kind of way.



The flour and dough is always my kid's favorite part. The pitting of the cherries? Not so much, but it wasn't bad. I don't have a pitter, so I cut the cherries in half and Aliyah and I pulled out the pits by hand.



Individual Cherry Pie Recipe:

Yield: 6 mini pies

Dough for single crust pie
3 cups pitted cherries
1/4 C water
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1/2 C sugar
A squeeze of lemon
1 teaspoon cold butter, cut into small pieces

Preheat the oven to 425. Greece a six cup muffin tin.

For the filling: In a saucepan, combine the pitted cherries and 1/4 cup water over medium-low heat for 10 minutes. In a small bowl, combine the sugar and cornstarch. Using a whisk, swirl the ingredients together, making sure that there aren't any lumps in the cornstarch. Add the sugar-cornstarch mixture and lemon juice to the cherries. Cook the cherry mixture until it comes to a rolling boil. Cook 1 minute more, until thickened. Allow the cherry filling to cool slightly while you prepare the crust.

Roll the dough out onto a well floured surface and cut into disks and gently place into the muffin tin cups. Make sure to pat down the bottom.

Spoon filling into each crust-lined cup and top with a small bit of butter.

With the remaining dough, roll into a ball and re-roll onto your floured surface, then slice thin strips to make your lattice top. Begin creating your lattice over the cherry filled cups and press down into the bottom dough.

Bake until edges are golden brown and the filling is bubbly, about 12-14 minutes. Allow to cool before removing from the muffin tin.

Yum!

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There are some great things in the works... and loads more coming your way, starting with an exciting Father's Day post this Sunday. Stay tuned!

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Our Week in Review:: 6.13.12

...Otherwise known as Hump Day Dump!

! Here are some of the things we've been enjoying in the midst of our productiveness:

• Finding places to explore during a rainy few days.
• And heading out on our bikes as soon as the coast was clear.
• Snacks. Who doesn't enjoy a good snack? 
• A movie! On one of our escapes.
• Ruling the dance floor.
• Pierced ears! On a whim, and for a very excited little girl.
• Enjoying friends.
• A squirting elephant on a hot day.
• Five Guys... when mama just really wanted a burger.
• Underwater self portraits of a little girl.

How was your past week? Do share. 
Welcome to our tradition here on Fresh Mommy Blog... on Wednesdays, when I try to be wordless, I'm just going to dump the previous week's photos from my phone. A little piece of where we've been and what we've been up to. And the resulting collage? Well, I think it speaks so much more than I could. Welcome to Hump Day Dump, we'd love to have you join, whether it's one photo or many, phone pics or camera pics, wordless or not!

All of my photos were taken on an iPhone with the instagr.am app and were put together using Big Huge Labs mosaic maker... super simple and free. If you want to find me, I'm on instagram as TabithaBlue. For more fabulous Wordless Wednesday memes, check out Project Alicia, Better in Bulk and Wordless Wednesday

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Sundar Citar:: Your Best

“A problem is a chance for you to do your best.” - Duke Ellington
 

And do our best we did, with a week full of rainy skies and dark grey clouds we sent out a text all-call for meeting at the movie theater. I think with a row full of kids, pint sized popcorns and buttery fingers, it was a success on all fronts. 

By the way, looking for a good rainy day, kid friendly flick? Madagascar 3 was a hit. 

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I would love to have you join the Sunday Citar inspiration and have all of us come to your blog to read what quotes inspire you! Simply write your own post on your blog, link within your post to my blog, and sign up with the linky below, leaving your name and the link directly to your Sunday Citar post. Just click here if any of that sounds confusing. There you'll be able to get the complete rundown, as well as learn how to link back to my blog if you don't already know how. Take a moment a visit at least three of the participants around you... you'll be glad you did!

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Faves:: dad's day edition

Father's Day is just about a week and a half away, and if you're anything like me, you tend to have grand plans... procrastinate... and then realize that you have just a week and a half to get yourself together for all of the awesome men in your life, like your dad and the father of your children.

Some of the best gifts aren't the ones that you buy, but rather they're the ones that mean something special, that bring back a memory... or a way to share a new one. A handcrafted card or a thoughtfully prepared meal at his favorite outdoor spot. A scrapbook of his favorite photos with the kids or even just planning a day out, hitting all his favorite places and making your own memories while at it.

Though if you've got a tech or gadget loving guy on your hands, I've rounded up some of the coolest gear and gadgets from around the web so you can make somebody smile... in time for Dad's Special Day. And everything here is under $100!

1) Coffe Cup Power Inverter... it's just cool. And practical.

2) The perfect addition to any man's cave, a Roku box. With no monthly fees, the dad in your life can feel free stream all the entertainment he want's from Netflix, Hulu, Pandora... and a ton more.

3) Toe shoes! I haven't personally tried these yet, but if there's a dad in your life that likes running, walking or riding in the great outdoors, I've heard these are a touch of heaven to their feet.

4) The waterproof, dustproof and shockproof LifeProof cover that we keep our iPhones covered with since we just about always by water.

5) For a dad that still loves a real razor in the shower, try this ShaveWell Fog Free mirror... it's super easy to install, then just hold it under the stream of hot shower water for a few seconds, and voila, a fog free shave.

AND I have a FREE Fog Free mirror for one of you... or for your dad. Just enter the giveaway below and I'll ship out the mirror via First Class Mail to the winner next week!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

So good luck, and I hope you enjoyed this bit of giftspiration.

2 comments

Our Week in Review:: 6.6.12

...Otherwise known as Hump Day Dump!

Cheers to having a productive week on the heels of a holiday! Here are some of the things we've been enjoying in the midst of our productiveness:

• Indoor play areas with friends on rainy days.
• We found a splash park! Close to home, free... and loads of fun.
• The first cherries of the season.
• ... and deciding to make mini cherry pies with them. (Recipe coming soon.)
• Quick and refreshing afternoon swims.
• Juice! We've been juicing every day, tons of fruits and vegetables. 
• Our office.
• Visiting a nearby farm for fresh eggs, and getting to bottle feed baby goats and hold baby chicks.
• Bike rides.
• Swimming, again.

How was your past week? We'd love to hear!

Welcome to our tradition here on Fresh Mommy Blog... on Wednesdays, when I try to be wordless, I'm just going to dump the previous week's photos from my phone. A little piece of where we've been and what we've been up to. And the resulting collage? Well, I think it speaks so much more than I could. Welcome to Hump Day Dump, we'd love to have you join, whether it's one photo or many, phone pics or camera pics, wordless or not!

All of my photos were taken on an iPhone with the instagr.am app and were put together using Big Huge Labs mosaic maker... super simple and free. If you want to find me, I'm on instagram as TabithaBlue. For more fabulous Wordless Wednesday memes, check out Project Alicia, Better in Bulk and Wordless Wednesday

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Faves:: the cleaning calendar

"I could use something, like a schedule or a list, so that I know what to do to help," he said while tying the straps of the kitchen garbage that was on the verge of overflowing. The dishwasher was humming it's tune in the background, like some kind of movie soundtrack where the anticipation builds and builds before the male lead says something undeniably romantic. And my heart? Well, let's just say I fell in love all over again, and headed to the arms of my computer screen that night to whip up a schedule, before I fell into his.

This list was promptly displayed on our refrigerator that evening, along with another copy on Chris' desk. A week in, and it's been a huge help. Not that we will do everything perfectly or on time, not that every daily task will be finished that day, or every month. But it's a guideline, and it something, something to look at and reference. And most days? We've done it all... and it's easier than it looks, especially with our little helpers involved that are all so eager to take a wipe and clean up their table and chairs or put toys away. Well, maybe not so eager with the toys part, but it gets done nonetheless.



Click here to download the Cleaning Calendar for your family to use, just post it somewhere conspicuous, let them know it's there and hopefully it will make your job a whole lot easier.

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Sunday Citar:: Life

“Life begets life. Energy creates energy. It is by spending oneself that one becomes rich.” 
— Sarah Bernhardt

I've been thinking about this lately. About life and it's richness, about the moments that feel like crisis and really it's an opportunity. About living, really living, and feeling. About the energy we expend and use, and how much more we seem to have when we do.

We've been trying to infuse an extra bit of life into each day. Fun with friends at their pool, a trip to the market to pick our own fruits or to a nearby farm to bottle feed the baby goats or hold a chick in our palms.

Infuse life into your day. Spend your energy on something great. Smile at a stranger, leave a little extra tip, play a favorite song in the car and sing it as loud as you can.

Insert random trail here: We've been on the hunt for our 2012 Summer Song, a song that we'll play loud every time we're in the car, and dance. A song that we'll listen to on a long walk or splashing in the pool... until the end of summer when we're so tired of it that we can't listen to it one more time. Right now, I think we've got it down to Chasing the Sun by The Wanted. 

I'm off, to add some fun, life and adventure to our day. I hope you are too!

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I would love to have you join the Sunday Citar inspiration and have all of us come to your blog to read what quotes inspire you! Simply write your own post on your blog, link within your post to my blog, and sign up with the linky below, leaving your name and the link directly to your Sunday Citar post. Just click here if any of that sounds confusing. There you'll be able to get the complete rundown, as well as learn how to link back to my blog if you don't already know how. Take a moment a visit at least three of the participants around you... you'll be glad you did!

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And the winner (chosen by random.org) of the LifeProof iPhone case giveaway is:

Melanie @ Whimsical Creations who said "What an awesome time!! Every time I read your posts, it makes me want to move to FL. I would love one of those. :)"

Congratulation Melanie! Please email your information and your color choice for the LifeProof case to fresh mommy@me.com

 

7 comments