Exploring Helen, Georgia with Kids

By sunshineandholly on September 4, 2017

I’ve been visiting Helen, Georgia, a replica Bavarian Alps town in North Georgia, for longer than I can remember. My parent’s have a timeshare at a beautiful resort right on the river, and we’ve spent so many weeks relaxing and exploring the small town.

Exploring Helen, Georgia with Kids | Sunshine and Holly

Now that I have my own kiddos, it’s been so fun going back and doing all the things I grew up doing. Some of them are just as wonderful and fun as I remember, and some seem a little strange now that I’m older. (Like watching the birth of a baby doll out of a cabbage…)

But if you live in the South East, you may want to put Helen, Georgia on your travel bucket list. The town is cozy and quaint, and you can find some great eats and some amazing outdoor views and adventures!

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The Promise of September

By sunshineandholly on August 23, 2017

August is always a difficult month for me.

Most of the public schools have started back, but our church-run preschool doesn’t start until after Labor Day. Usually by August, I’m burnt out, exhausted, and in desperate need of some kid-free time. Mama needs a break!

August days are long and hot (or rainy seems to be the case for this year). The kids are bored, I’m bored. By August, we’ve done all the fun summer activities so many times that they don’t seem fun anymore. We’re over it and ready for school to start. I seem to loose my cool more often than not. And then there’s the cycle of yelling and guilt that seems to control me on my bad days.

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Homemade Pasta Using the KitchenAid Mixer

By sunshineandholly on August 14, 2017

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I mentioned in the recipe for my caramelized onion bolognese that we served the sauce over homemade pasta. If you’ve never made homemade pasta – you should at least try it once. It’s not that hard – I promise! Our kids love helping us make pasta, almost as much as they love eating it!

Although on this day, Maddie was the only one interested in cooking. Graham decided he would rather play on the iPad. Silly boy.

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family | food | recipe

Caramelized Onion Bolognese

By sunshineandholly on August 9, 2017

Caramelized Onion Bolognese | sunshineandholly.com

To me, comfort food is a big bowl of pasta. It speaks to me all about love, home, family, laughter, warmth, and togetherness. The twirl of a fork, the sprinkle of parmesan, the slurp of a noodle – it doesn’t get much better than that!

Caramelized Onion Bolognese | sunshineandholly.com

One of my favorite sauces is a hearty, warm, meaty bowl of bolognese. My recipe is slightly sweet from the caramelized onions, but still savory and filling. The herbs give the recipe depth, and I love how the chunky diced vegetables give the sauce great texture.

Caramelized Onion Bolognese | sunshineandholly.com

My caramelized onion bolognese is perfect over a larger pasta, like linguine, pappardelle, or tagliatelle. But it’s great with spaghetti noodles too, and that’s what we usually have in our pantry. You could also pile it on top of polenta. I’ve also been known to eat it plain out of a bowl, like chili. It’s that good!

Caramelized Onion Bolognese | sunshineandholly.com

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5 Things to do When Your Kids are Driving You Nuts

By sunshineandholly on July 28, 2017

Wednesday was just one of those days. You mamas know what I’m talking about. Days when the time seem to slow down to a snail’s pace. You think for sure you’ve been playing with your kids for at least 4 hours, but when you look at the clock, it’s been 12 minutes. Days when your kids won’t play nicely together and seem to be rotating though screaming, fighting, hitting, and arguing…over and over and over!

I looked at our clock, and it was still 3 hours until my lifesaver, my hero, my relief, Dada, would be home. It was way too hot to go outside, we couldn’t go to the pool, and we’d already had way more than the recommended screen time for the day.

What’s a mom to do? (Besides pour a nice tall glass of wine.)

Here’s my go-to list of 5 things to do when you’re kids are driving you nuts.