It’s SUMMER and that means Cooper is home with me in between camps so I’m putting him to work work work work around the house!
Here’s a little back story:
I’ve been wanting to get Cooper working in the kitchen with me for a looooooong time but he gets bored after a bit and then cuts out. I even tried super hard to tackle my OCD brain that wants him to GET HIS HANDS OUT OF THE FLOUR AND STOP SPREADING IT ALL OVER THE TABLE tendencies. Then one day we watched an episode of Chopped Junior on TV and SHAZAM. He’s interested in cooking!  All it took was watching older kids compete in a kitchen for my son to gain respect for my kitchen prowess.
But, wait! There’s more.
The other day Cooper came up to me and asked for a snack. I replied with a, “I believe you’re old enough to make yourself a snack,” and he did just that.  Fifteen minutes later, I walked into the kitchen to find Cooper cutting up a turkey sandwich he had made (grilled bread! with mustard!). I had to mask my excitement (!!!!!!!) or else he would know how important that moment was to me and then he’d never do it again. Power trips start young, you know?
Let’s talk about some of my Tips to getting Kids in the Kitchen:
FIRST FIRST FIRST.
Start with clean hands (this is a MUST) and clean hands along the way
Food safety is important. Kids hands are notoriously NOT CLEAN, so whenever we get started in the kitchen, we wash our hands first. Nails are checked. We’re good to go.  We also wash our hands when we’re handling meat or anything sticky! One day this will become muscle memory, but for now I constantly remind Cooper that we start with clean hands.
Ok. New season. New outfit choices. Thank the LAWWWWWD because I got really bored with my clothes and couldn’t wait to switch things up.
Let’s talk about my Spring Capsule Wardrobe. We had a love/hate relationship. I liked the ideas of some of the outfits but the weather was all over the place and part of me wasn’t ready to wear the skirts I selected. Â I ended up wearing the same thing (jeans + tee) Â a lot instead of working with the variety of pieces IÂ chose.
Honestly, I really didn’t have a hold of my calendar and the last few months of the school year were hectic so I was just like mehhhhhhh whatever fits and whatever is clean WASÂ my fashion statement. I’m ready to start a new season with a new outlook.
These are some of the looks I pulled for this Summer to inspire my summer wardrobe.
My Summer fashion goals? COMFORT 100%.  I want easy breezy outfits with soft/lightweight material. No pants…but an occasional boyfriend jean situation if I need to run to the store or am working on a project. Nothing that clings and NO BODY CON stuff.  I can’t believe I just typed the words body con. Now that I think of it,  summer might be one of my favorite seasons to dress for because I can easily go back to the Modern Hippie vibe I love so much because it’s allllll about long skirts/dresses with statement piece necklaces. Simple/carefree/modern/hippie with comfort and ease.
It’s #popsicleweek ! More like popsicle weekend…cuz I’m late!!  My submission? These Chocolate Peanut Butter Popsicles.  Not sure if they’re super photogenic but DANG they’re good.
Not only do they have pieces of peanut butter cups in them, but there’s also a swirl of creamy peanut butter, AND peanut butter cookies up in. Â Have you ever had frozen cookies?
They’re the best. I always stash a few in our freezer for safe keeping. Here’s a little side note-  I saw a parent hack the other day where someone had put all of their candy stash in a frozen vegetable bag in the freezer because their kids would NEVER think to look in there. Genius, right?!  I am going to have to put a few of these in a bag of frozen corn we have. Actually…can someone just figure out how to hide them from me so I don’t eat them all? Please/thank you.