A Pinteresting Wednesday: Scripture Cover

The other day I gave a little sneak of this project. Yes on Instagram (follow along with me @larissa_anotherday)...my new obsession.

I busted out the sewing machine after a month and a half of not sewing a thing. Sewing was so overdue. My sewing machine was practically weeping in the corner of my sewing room. Poor baby.

Good thing I had the pieces for this Scripture Cover Tutorial from A Lemon Squeezy Home all cut out and ready to go...

I, uh, actually have had them cut out for over a month.

I pinned this tutorial on my pinboards right when she posted it.

My 9 year-old has had a set of scriptures but no way to carry them around, except with his somewhat reverent and grubby little hands.

He has been begging for his own case to carry his scriptures.

My motivation and the time available finally met up and I whipped out a Scripture Cover for Oldest's scriptures.

I grabbed some of my favorite boy fabric from my stash. I have had it on hand since Oldest's bowling themed birthday party from way back when.

The cover came together pretty easily. As easily as one can do a project in a Summer afternoon with a houseful of monkeys, that is.

Her instructions are easy to follow. What I love most is that her tutorial has a divider flap.

Easy for opening up and reading both his Bible and his Book of Mormon.

Then the set of scriptures can close up, thanks to the little velcro strap. The straps are perfect for little hands to carry them around.

I will definitely keep this tutorial on hand for future little sets of scriptures and their little owners.

Another Pinterest project done!

Follow along with Just Another Day in Paradise on Pinterest.

Disney's Planes "Reach Your Dreams and Have Courage" Sweepstakes

 

Our family has been anxiously awaiting the arrival of Disney's new film Planes in theaters. Since the very first preview, we have been counting down. We love both Cars and Cars 2, and have already marked August 9th on our calendars for this release.

We have watched every trailer available. We feel we already know and love so many of the characters, especially Dusty, the films main character, a crop-dusting plane who has big dreams to become more than he is. He decides to follow his big dreams, enter a rally and race against the world's greatest flying machines.

Dusty has a team of colorful and endearing characters, who each in their own individual way support and help Dusty try to reach his dreams.

Dusty's journey to his goal reminds me of the big dreams and hopes my own children have.

My own little "Dusty's" have or will have big, sometimes unattainable dreams.

 

How am I a part of their team? How do I support and help them reach their goal and have courage to do so?

Basically, what is my parenting style?

In the film, each member of Dusty's Team has a different way of encouraging him. They each bring different traits and styles. I found my own parenting style sprinkled in little traits of each character. However, I found I related the most to Dottie.

Dottie is a little too practical and is very much a realist. She worries over the grandness and the seemingly unreachable nature of Dusty's dreams. She doesn't so much worry about the dream itself, but the danger of the dream for Dusty. Ultimately, though, whatever he decides Dottie will fiercely support him and help get him to where he wants to be.

While I do not possess her tough-love mentality (here I am little more like Chug with my softie heart), even in the face of impractical, unreachable, and even dangerous dreams, I, like Dottie, will back my own little crop-dusters.

When it comes down to it, I would rather them have big unattainable dreams than no dreams at all. I daily will encourage them to Reach For Their Dreams and Have Courage. I find myself doing this by facing life with joy, some seriousness, a lot of laughter, and a bit of biting my tongue.

When their vocalized goals seem impractical, I make sure I don't put out their fire with a ready response such as, "That pencil stand made from folded printer paper is nice, but let's not sell it door-to-door in the neighborhood." Instead I try to let them follow through with their idea. Even if that means there might be danger in their feelings getting hurt or no one buying their very "fancy" paper holder. Who knows, they might just be the inventors of the next must-have ergonomic desk accessory.

I want them to be smart about their goals and encourage them to think them through. However, I work really hard to not dash the dream or the dreamer.
 
All it takes is courage, both for the dreamer and the Momma.

The dreamer just needs the courage to reach, to try, to fail, to succeed, to dream. As parents, I feel we can help our dreamer by tapping into who we are and using our strengths to support them. Just like Dusty had a team full of supporters with different styles encouraging him, our dreamers can be encouraged by different styles, too.

The Momma and Dad just need the courage to let our dreamers FLY while trying not to worry too much about the heights or possible crashes.

Again, dreaming a big dream is better than no dream.

Let them fly.

Now for the Reach Your Dreams and Have Courage Sweepstakes!

To enter for a chance to win a $100 Fandango.com gift card all you need to do is leave a comment by answering the question--

How do you challenge your children to follow their dreams?

 

Easy as that.

 

If you are counting down the days to PLANES like we are, head over to their Main Site for all the movie goodness.

 

Other ways to follow along with PLANES-

Facebook: www.facebook.com/DisneyPlanes

 

Twitter: Twitter.com/PlanesElChu 

 

Rules:
No duplicate comments.
You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:
a) Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post
b) Tweet (public message) about this promotion; including exactly the 
following unique term in your tweet message: ""#SweepstakesEntry""; and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post"
c) Blog about this promotion, including a disclosure that you are receiving a sweepstakes entry in exchange for writing the blog post, and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post
d) For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry.
This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older. Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail. You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.
The Official Rules are available here.
This sweepstakes runs from 7/15 - 8/12.
Be sure to visit the Disney Planes page on BlogHer.com where you can read other bloggers’ reviews and find more chances to win!

Slow Cooker Saturday: Lasagna

Welcome to Slow Cooker Saturday

I hadn't had traditional lasagna in years. Years and years.

Consequently, neither had my family. Poor, poor family!

I figured I should rectify that post haste...hehehe, sometimes I wish I were living smack dab in the middle of a Jane Austen book.

Back to the lasagna...

The yummy, delightful lasagna...

There are a lot recipes out there. As is my normal style, I morphed a few recipes and I feel I created a pretty darn tasty version that is sure to make any hungry family really happy.

I love the spinach in this recipe. The more veggies nestled within the better. Not only does this lasagna have ground beef, but also has Italian sausage. Then the cheese. Cheese makes so many things better.

On top of being yummy, this recipe is easy to prepare and then just cooks all day in the slow cooker. See, super easy and bonus your house smells divine all day long.

The whole family ate it all up. I am so happy I introduced my teeny tiny eaters to lasagna. Oh it was so yummy. I kind of want a big ol' serving right now.

I might be making this again sooner than later.

Enjoy!

Slow Cooker Lasagna

1 lb ground hamburger
1 lb Italian sausage
3 (14 oz) cans crushed tomatoes
2 teaspoons minced garlic
2 Tablespoons dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 (15 oz) containers part skim ricotta cheese
2 cups grated mozzarella cheese, plus 1 cup for the top
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
12-15 lasagna noodles
6 cups baby spinach, roughly cut up

Cook the ground hamburger and the Italian sausage in a skillet. Drain off extra fat. Set aside.

In a bowl, combine the tomatoes, garlic, oregano, salt, pepper flakes, pepper.

In another bowl, combine the ricotta cheese, mozzarella (not the 1 cup for the top), and Parmesan cheeses.

Spray bowl of the crock pot. In the bottom of the crock pot, spread a little bit of sauce. Top the sauce with three noodles. You might need to break some of the noodles to get them to fit. Pour 1 cup of sauce over the noodles. Then top with a third of the meat. Next layer on 2 cups of the spinach. After the spinach layer on a third of the cheese mixture.

Repeat two more times.

End by topping the lasagna with three noodles and the 1 cup of mozzarella.

Cover and cook on low. Cook for for 4-5 hours, until the noodles are done.

Thanks for reading!

Chocolate Pudding with Raspberry Sauce

If you follow me on Instagram (larissa_anotherday), you should have seen a little sneak peak of this delightful dessert already. I know I normally share recipes on Thursdays, but let's face it my Summer is devoid of my normal schedule. So today we have a recipe on Friday.

I made this Chocolate Pudding with Raspberry Sauce for Hubby on Father's Day. Originally I had planned to make a Pot de Creme. This chocolate pudding happened instead. The pudding is rich, and creamy. It is slightly thicker than a traditional pudding, but not as thick as a Pot de Creme.

The base is made from my very favoritist (totally a word) chocolate chips--Guittard Real Milk Chocolate Chips. The recipe I used for the pudding was actually on the bag itself.

I love these chips so much, I might be known to buy an extra bag just for the occasional kids-are-driving-me-crazy treat. A smallish...er...mediumish...okay largish handful of these large milk chocolate chips and I am in heaven. Heaven I tell you!

While they are great by themselves, they are heavenly in my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe, and they are sinful in these little individual servings of chocolate pudding. Yes, I am fully aware I used both heavenly and sinful to describe these chocolate morsels.

I really wanted to incorporate raspberries into the dessert some how. My husband loves chocolate mixed with fruit, especially raspberries or cherries.

Instead of just sprinkling fresh raspberries on top, I decided I also wanted to make a raspberry sauce.

The combination was glorious!

A little patience is involved since the pudding has to set up in the refrigerator. That time could be used to run through your neighborhood...then you won't feel so bad when you eat one...or two...

The other glorious thing, is that this is a cool dessert. So you can beat the heat, and it is a great alternative to ice cream if you are bored of ice cream...of course if that is even possible.

Chocolate Pudding with Raspberry Sauce

Printable Recipe

Pudding:
2 cups milk chocolate chips (I love Guittard)
3/4 cups whole milk
1/4 cup butter

Place the chocolate chips in a blender.

Heat the milk and the butter in a small saucepan over medium low heat. Stir frequently, until the mixture just begins to boil.

Immediately pour the hot liquid into the blender with the chocolate chips. Cover and blend on high until the chocolate mixture is smooth.

Pour the chocolate mixture into small dessert dishes and chill for 3-5 hours or until set.

Prepare the Raspberry Sauce once you know the pudding is set.

Raspberry Sauce:
1 pint fresh raspberries
1/4 cup white sugar
2 Tablespoons orange juice
2 Tablespoons cornstarch
1 cup cold water

Whisk the corn starch into the cold water until smooth.

In a small saucepan, combine the raspberries, sugar, orange juice and cornstarch mixture. Bring them mixture to a bowl over medium high heat.

Reduce to a simmer, and while stirring allow the sauce to simmer for 5 minutes or until desired consistency. The sauce will thicken a little as it cools.

Puree the sauce with an immersion blender and then feed it through a sieve in order to remove the seeds.

Set aside sauce until the individual pudding bowls are done.

Serve the Chocolate Pudding with a few fresh raspberries and topped with a generous helping of raspberry sauce.

Face Painting Kit: Funner in the Summer

Reposting this from Thirty Handmade Days Funner in the Summer

I am not sure what is more fun to a kid than painting.

Oh, wait...

That would be face painting.

My boys love to have their faces painted. As I recently found out, most kids love to have their faces painted.

So I thought, what better way to have fun than to come up with a portable Face Painting Kit. 

My Face Painting Kit consists of--

small hand mirror

dixie cups

water

paint brushes

paint tray

face paints or face paint make-up

baggie of wipes

To make the kit portable, or even to give it as a fun gift, everything can be put into a fun conatiner.

Package it all up. Then you can take some Summer fun where ever you go.

Then the face painting can begin.

Have you seen happier faces?

So much fun in one afternoon.

They proudly displayed their faces the rest of the day. Captain America may have been spotted at a local soccer game. It has also been rumored that a sweet puppy may have cried the hour leading up to washing time because she didn't want to say good bye to her puppy face.

Here are some fun Summer activities I have shared:

Baking Soda Painting

Kool-Aid Glue Painting

Homemade Slime

Follow along with Just Another Day in Paradise

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