Christmas day

After pajama-gift filled -russian salads eaten morning we got dressed and went to Christmas brunch to our friends house. They had beautiful Christmas tree surrounded by nicely packaged gifts. I did take about 100 photos of the tree but decided to post just a couple)) haha 

Christmas morning

Merry Christmas to all!

Our morning started with the rise of our little star named Ruslan. So after jumping on aunt Katy and screaming get up !in couple minutes we were all up and ready to open the stockings and gifts!

 Rus hand painted a mug for papa

 wine with a cow on the lable? Yes , please!

Muaah

2..,2.. and 2 nd Birthday

Photos from my , Chris' and Ruslan's Birthdays.

Запоздалые фото с др Криса, Руслана и моего.

One of my favourite cakes ! Napoleon!
Это он Наполеон! Мой неизменный любимец Наполеон с кремом из миндального молока и ягодной горкой.

Mila and Rus are waiting for party to start!

Мила и Руслан ждут когда можно будет не только смотреть а и есть торт.

Our little family.

Мы.

Not so comfort food #7 chocolate covered strawberries

Strawberries and summer are great but they are even better with some chocolate !
I took 2 cups of good chocolate and couple teaspoons of coconut oil put it in a pot on a double boiler over hot water and melted all this goodness. Then I dipped  previously washed and dried strawberries in the mix then in fresh grated coconut (brown sugar) and set them to dry on a sheet of waxed paper . tada! Yummy summer dessert is ready. Enjoy

Lowe you

Tonight when lying in bed Chris said "I love you Kat, I love you Ruslan". Next moment Rus turned his head to papa and said "Lowe you"
 I love you my boys my heart is singing))))

Melbourne weekend part 1 Masha's Birthday

 Last weekend we spend in Melbourne. All of us stayed at nana's even Scrappy!  We had to keep him there because of Graduation Party for LIl Deuel. Oh what a cute litlle blonde guy he was as a toddler! Blonde! he's nowhere near blonde now. Ruslan's hair is so short and light , probably also going to be dark when he's 18.
One of the highlight of our visit was Masha's Birthday! On Sunday morning we got up early(Rus slept till 8 so mama could feel vacation vibe)got ready and went to the beach where Masha and her family were staying. When we got there weather was nice, Mila peacefully was playing in the playpen and S was cooking meat on the beach where he already set up a tent. So let's the party begin! Men were cooking meat, girls talking and watching kids who were burying themselves in sand.(I think it took me 2-3 days to wash all the sand out Rus's hair!) It was so much fun to spend a day with friends. Talking, eating enjoying the beach what could be better?!

Not so comfort food #6 Spinach pancakes with beets and beet mousse

Spinach pancakes are delicious and easy o make. OUtmeal flour, almond milk, spinach, eggs and here we have he bright (bright green) start of the day! Rus is a fan of beets so I baked some, sliced them very thin, Chris made some mousse using wiped cream with  beet pure. It's super fluffy and melting  and then we made two plates one in the morning one at night guess which plate is mine?

Melbourne weekend

It was the fastest packing in the D family history! 1,5 hours and we hit the road!
Melbourne greeted us with hot weather, cool ocean, spicy food and warm family time. It was good time)

When we got there we had dinner with Nana and the fam. After that went to the beach and played in sand. Showered in it)

Easter fun

This year Easter felt like a real holiday with pashi(easter bread), colored eggs(tryed natural coloring ), sharing food and joy with friends and family.

  I baked Easter bread using my grandma's recipe

Morning time

Hello

Meet the slide master Ruslan!

Not so comfort food #5 Strawberry coconut milk popsicles

Hot weather is back so we are Treating ourselves with some frozen treats. I made these pretty pink Strawberry popsicles with coconut milk, whole raspberries and mashed banana. It's the easiest dessert ever, took me couple minutes to wash the fruit, blend it and pour it in the molds. Ta-da!

park time

One of the "to do things list" for the 2014 was to go to the park at least 2 times a week. I wrote it down thinking how the hell we going to do that? We go there one time on papa's day off if the weather good. If it's not then we skip the week... So things didn't look that promising.. But this list is also like a wish list, right? Think about it, write it down, visualize it and bam! You won't notice and it's already happening.!

Chris got a new job, I met a goodt friend, Rus got a little girlfriend to have fun with. And we go to the park at least 2 times a week now!
Wish lists work!!!
 Here is some pictures from our park adventures in last month.

Not so comfort food #4 Beet juice

Hello, it's Monday again. Oh oops, no it's Wednesday or Thursday.. when you are mama days get mixed up sometimes or all the time. I've been trying to incorporate more veggies in our meals  And today's new food is Juice. Home made real juice.
I'm so glad that I put juicer on the Christmas list and got it ! Thank you ,nana!)
I've been painfully suffering from juiceless life for 2 years. What ? Go to the store, you'll say. Oh, I know there is great selection of different juices: from concentrate, with added minerals, citric acid, all natural ,even organic but the thing is none of them (just some organic brands) taste like juice should taste to me! I've been spoiled for 22 years. When i was a kid we were Eating best seasonal fruit and veggies right from the garden, sitting on the mulberry tree chatting with my friends and munching on deep purple mulberries. We snacked with warm, sun kissed plums right from the neighbour tree, we got stung by bees because the juice from sweet honey pears was running down our fingers and attracted the little pollen seekers.we were to busy to care. we knew what garden has best plums, where we could get best cherries. Our dog ate apricots from under the tree while we were playing outside. In my teenager years we stuffed our faces with black currents and gooseberries to cover alcohol The sour cherry tree right outside my house was so full that after picking 3 buckets we just had to leave rest on it. We just simply run out of jars and room in the cellar. My grandma, babushka, made delicious juice from all kinds of fruit, jam, preserved fruit... My mouth gets watery as I'm writing this...

Today we have apple, orange, carrot and beet juice. Adding beet to my juice was little unusual at first but  it gave it nice rich red color and when we tried it we understood it was a great decision!
Yum!