Well we are transitioning from one season to the next now, and I thought we should all just take a minute to check in! How about you pull up a chair and grab your coffee...So: how are you doing? Was summer all you hoped it would be? (winter for some of you! So crazy! :)) Are you feeling ready for the next season? If you've been around a while you know I'm a lover of autumn, (which doesn't exactly exist in Hawaii) so when your leaves start to fall, think of me. And feel free to
Health/Fitness
Family Favorite Egg and Potato Bake
Wanna know what makes me feel like a really good mom? When I make a healthy, hot breakfast for my family. It's kind of silly, because -- really: what about all of those dinners I make every single some nights of the week? Don't they count? Sure they do, but when I nail a healthy, hot breakfast, I just feel like the mom I always thought I would be -- back when I was young and naive and didn't know about things like: how hard mornings can be. I mean, there's a lot to do in the morning,
Tropical fruit Parfaits {lightened up}
We came back from our summer travels to find Dave had harvested a truckload of tropical fruit: coconuts, bananas, mangoes and papaya. (just to name a few.) Welcome to summertime in Hawaii. Please send help. I unpacked my bags, then got busy dehydrating bananas, slurping down fresh mango (hello Heaven,) and gulping copious amounts of coconut water. (Has it always been so humid around here?) Then I thought we might as well get some dessert out of the deal. Because after a week and a half with
When feeling bad about ourselves makes us parent badly.
One thing is certain: When we're feeling down on ourselves, it will affect our parenting. We simply cannot be our best self when we are preoccupied with negative, inward-turned thoughts.Guilt Shame Self-loathing Insecurity regretNo one enjoys living with these kinds of thoughts, and I daresay, no one enjoys living with a person who is constantly tormented by their negative thought life. Therefore, as parents we have extra motivation for dealing with them. Because all the love
Summer Safety Tips with Dr. Dave and Monica (a VLOG!)
So...it seems summer is upon us! I don't know how that is even possible since it was Christmas like yesterday, and I haven't even started spring cleaning yet (ah well, there's always next year)...but schools are getting out, vacations are revving up, and all of the happy feelings are evvvverywhere.With all of that in mind, I thought this might be a good time to bring Dave on to do a little video chat with me...Summer safety being the topic.Because it's all fun and games til little
Tropical Mango Salsa.
Isn't this such a great time of year? The sun has been popping out all over the place, (I mean, besides just in Hawaii) and everyone seems to be a little extra happy. Plus, Mother's Day is just around the corner, and despite the fact that my five-year old accused me of making up the holiday ("Mother's Day isn't a real holiday MOM!") indeed it is a real holiday and it's an important one, and I'm not gonna let any smarty-pants five year old take that away from me. (amen?) Well, spring and
Yoga, Meditation, and my (Christian) faith
If you've been around my blog for a while, you probably know that I am a Christian. You've also likely heard me talk about doing yoga.Christianity and yoga...Some of you hear those two things and you're like, Yea, big deal. What's the point?Others hear that and red flags start waving. How do you combine the two? Christians shouldn't do yoga! Isn't yoga an eastern religious thing? Well, over time a lot of people have asked me about this, and I've kind of put off responding. If
Vegetarian Split Pea Soup with Kale
I love soup. Maybe you get tired of me saying that, but it's true. I have some funny dreams for my life, and one of them is to write an entire recipe book full of soup recipes. Of course people would be like "Soup? Who eats SOUP in Hawaii?" and I'd just shrug my shoulders because I can't explain everything. Soup is just great. And split pea soup has always been a family favorite. My boys love it when Grandma makes it old-fashioned style-- ham-bone and all. I like to make it vegetarian