Everything red, white, and blue... My secret obsession

     

     Anyone who knows me knows I have an obsession with the 4th of July. Who can resist fireworks, BBQing, red, white, and blue decor, & freedom?! Every summer I look forward to the 4th of July. I love America and I love red, white, and blue. I always feel so blessed when celebrating this holiday. So many people have sacrificed so much for our country and we are free because of that. 

                                   

     My 4th of July favorites

-Big fireworks 

The show your city puts on should be pretty sweet.

-BBQing 

Grilled shrimp, steak, hamburgers.. sign me up!

-Parades

So many floats, some candy being thrown, maybe even water sprayed at you.

-Wearing red, white, and blue

Nothing makes me feel more patriotic than wearing those colors! I have had my kids 4th of July clothes picked out for months now. Target has the cutest stuff! I ALWAYS paint my nails red or blue

-Making patriotic looking food 

I almost always make a fruit trifle. It is made with angel food cake, whip cream (homemade baby!), strawberries, and blue berries. I've made rice krispy treats that are red, white, and blue. I also make a flag cake. Guys, I am obsessed! I want to do even more this year!

-Glow sticks

Yes, glow sticks. Red, white, and blue ones of course! I buy a ton if we are having friends over to watch our own little firework show so all the kids can have them. If we got to a big show, I usually just buy enough for my kids....maybe me too. I always begged to buy glow sticks as a kid. People would walk around selling glow sticks, cotton candy, and popcorn at our towns firework show. Everything a kid could ever want!

     As a kid I always loved fireworks and the 4th of July. This obsession grew with age. One year my parents took us kids to a beach boys concert in the city & it was amazing. Not only was the show amazing but they shot off fireworks after that were shaped like planets, smiley faces, and all sorts of stuff. I feel like this only fueled my love for America. Below I have a collage of my 4th of July obsession. It started from a young age when I had that ridiculously  hideous stylish tweedy shirt. I have now pushed my obsession on my children...don't even worry they look adorable! I wish some of these were more up to date.

1- flag cake

2- fruit trifle

3- side view of fruit trifle

4- red, white, & blue dress on my daughter

5- inside of flag cake, tie dye!

6- at the BIG firework show. My daughter is wearing a flag shirt I made her! My son is enjoying the show from inside my belly.

7- patriotic babies! I can't stand their cuteness

8- sporting tie dye & tweedy! 90's... ha!

9- my sweet baby girl. Pretty much EVERY summer I buy at least one patriotic bathing suit. 

   Some of you are probably thinking, wow this lady needs help. Maybe I do, but how can you go wrong with loving America and embracing all the red, white, and blue the world can offer? Please let me know your own obsessions!!

                                 GOD BLESS AMERICA!

8 things to bring camping with kids

   

    We really enjoy nature and being outdoors. Well, summer is here!! So we have been trying to go camping, fishing, shooting, & anything else we can & to enjoy the beautiful weather. Camping is one of our favorites. We have 2 kids, so camping can be tricky. Have no fear, I have 8 things to help your next camping trip be a success!

1- Bring glowsticks

My kids go crazy over these things. I am not going to lie, I really enjoy them myself.  My kids like them when it gets really dark, they are like a little night light in our tent. Not to mention, when they are running around outside I can always spot them by their glowing bracelets.

2- Blankets

I know you are thinking, blankets... yeah I know sleeping bags, something to keep the kids warm. I agree, but I let me kids bring their own blanket. It is a little piece of home and comforts them. 

3- Cards... UNO or face cards

We like to bring UNO or face cards along anytime we camp. Our kids love it. We play go fish, war, slap jack or just good old UNO. If you are camping for a few nights or even just one, kids may get bored. Or maybe you just want to keep them close by while you prepare dinner. Give them some cards and viola, easy entertainment.

4- BUBBLES

I cannot tell you how many times we've gone camping and what a big hit bubbles are. We went with a big group of friends and brought bubbles and the kids had so much fun playing with them. The nice thing about bubbles is it entertains a wide age range. So much fun!

5- Water guns/water balloons

I say water guns. Just for the simple fact there is no clean up. You can get them at the dollar store or walmart for so cheap. We get the $1 ones from walmart that are long and skinny that suck up water. Then we've brought a bucket and fill it with water. That way they can suck up the water from it and you don't have to sit under the water spicket trying to fill up those tiny water guns with the tiniest hole! (seriously, who thought that was a good idea!?) They also make water balloons you can fill up like 50 or so at a time. Super fun & quick to fill. Then after make a game of who can pick up the most balloon trash! 

6-Kid food

We have all been there, you cook dinner just to have your kids say that's gross or I don't like that! So do yourself the favor and bring some kid friendly food. Whatever that may be... go-gurt, apples, cheese and crackers, hot dogs. You get the idea. You won't have to worry about hungry & cranky kids.

7- wet ones/ baby wipes

Kids are just straight up gross. Somehow they manage to get dirty in any situation. So be prepared and bring those baby wipes. We've used them for cheetos face to dirty worm gut hands. Baby wipes save lives.

8- toy/book

Hear me out. I realize that camping is to enjoy the outdoors and whatnot, but it doesn't hurt to have a few action figures or a book to read while hanging at the campsite. I usually will have my kids bring a few tiny toys and a book or 2 to read. My daughter is a book worm and will sit in her camp chair and read for a long time. It is very relaxing & she is still enjoying nature. My son will take his action figures and play in the dirt or wherever. It's fun & relaxing. 

  That's all the things I can think of for now. These things have made our camping trips much more enjoyable! Comment below on the things you've brought to make camping a better time.

                         Happy Camping!

Back to school!

   Can you believe it is August in just a week? I feel like my summer has just flown by! We've had so much fun and now it's winding down. I do love back to school time. I am not sure if it's just nostalgia or if I just like buying school supplies. I think it's both!
    I've checked out Walmart & Targets school supply thus far. I will say Walmart is by far a lot cheaper, but who can resist Target? Since I homeschool my back to school shopping list is probably slightly different.

My list looks like this:
-Composition books (my left handed child prefers them)
-Spiral notebooks
-Markers
-Lined 3 hole paper
-Erasable pens
-Pencils ( mechanical & normal dixon ones)
-Dry erase markers
-Pencil box
-Glue
-Crayons
-Construction paper
-Erasers
Things I need for schooling:
-Stapler & staples
-Hole puncher
-White board
-Tape
-Containers for organizing
-Manila folders
-Stickers ( ones that say Good job, Great....)

    I use this time of year to stock up on school supplies since they're so cheap. I actually have stuff left from last year. I love the feeling of a new fresh start to the school year. I am looking forward to teaching and learning new things with my children. 
Where do you find the best back to school deals? Leave it in the comments below.
                                       Happy back to school shopping!

Choose happiness

     Today it is rainy & cloudy. I got my kids dressed and ready for the day. I was going to take them to story time at the library. We headed out the door and got buckled. I went to start the car…. And nothing! My car battery was dead. My kids were upset, but nothing like a little movie, Madly Madagascar, to brighten their spirits. It got me thinking about how I brighten my spirits when I am disappointed. One way I recalled is Journaling!

        I’ve been looking on Pinterest for different journaling ideas. I’ve seen a lot about bullet journaling, I’ve never heard of it before. Another very popular trend was a gratitude journal. I’ve tried to be better at writing daily things I am grateful for. Today I am starting the 30 day gratitude challenge. I’ve seen a lot out there in the way of lists of questions about books, sounds, food, and more, that you are grateful for. I am going to keep it simple and just pick one thing I am grateful for that day. I feel like sometimes I try to do some elaborate thing and it gets to be overwhelming so then I just give up. I want to be realistic, so one thing I am grateful for each day for 30 days. It won’t take more than a minute.

      I find that when I focus on what I am grateful for I am more positive. I have less time to focus on the negative. We are in a world full of negativity and I don’t want to add to that. Today I am grateful for music. It is soothing to my soul. It can calm me down when I’m upset, it excites me, brings back good memories, teaches me, it does so many things.

       Every day I listen to music. Ask my kids, they’ll tell you I jam out daily to music while washing dishes. It makes doing something I dislike more pleasant. I have a jam Bluetooth speaker and it was one of the best gifts I’ve ever received. It syncs with my cell phone and I listen to Pandora while cleaning. I listen to anything from country love songs to Ariana Grande. I love all music.

     Sorry I went off on a little tangent.  My main thought for the day is, find something that brings you joy and brightens your day. We can ALWAYS find something going wrong in our life, but we can CHOOSE to focus on the bright side and be positive.

                            What are some ways you find and focus on the positive in your life?

Beginner faux calligraphy

    Well I haven't posted in quite sometime. I've decided to start this blog up again and be better at updating. Lately I've been into faux calligraphy. It has been so fun to do! It is very relaxing as well. 
   First off, I went to hobby lobby and got myself a notebook to practice my doodlings in. It was like $7. It is the XL canson Mix Media notebook. The pages are fairly thick, so it doesn't bleed, unless I use sharpies. I also bought a Faber-Castell PITT artist pen. It is a soft brush pen.
  The brush pen is actually hard to use. I am not used to applying more and less pressure to create a certain look. It will definitely take some practice! As for now, I've been using a thin tip sharpie, crayola markers, and regular sharpies.
The first 3 pictures are me practicing with the soft brush pen.

Remember, I'm just a beginner!!

The next few were done with a thin tip sharpie and markers.

I totally wrote the wrong date for my anniversary! #marriagefail

I turned my lettering into a digital copy that I can print out! Thanks to the Adobe Capture app 

the sharpies bleed a little bit, so in the background you can see it bleeding through

  So as you can see I am by no means a professional. I have really enjoyed trying out new techniques. I do need to give credit to my friend oak.lettering.co (on Instagram) for letting me copy a lot of the stuff she has posted on Instagram! She also suggested I buy the Tombow Fudenosuke Brush Pens. I am going to be purchasing them this week. I will also be sure to take pictures in bettering lighting next time. 

   The really great thing about practicing has been finding such positive and uplifting messages people have used to write in calligraphy. On that note "Let your light shine" and have a great day!

Tutorial: HOW TO DO A 4 STRAND BRAID

Hey!

I just uploaded a new tutorial on how to do a 4 strand braid.


http://youtu.be/nRXo_X4KUDw

100%

        It's a fun style for little girls, teenagers, & adults! Here are a few pictures:

 

Ponytail 4 strand braid

 
 

side 4 strand braid



I hope everyone has a safe and fun New Years Eve! I hope you 2014 is the best year yet!
xoxo
Homemake Momma

CLEANING TIP: How to get rid of grease and soap build up

        Hey guys!

 Today I was doing some cleaning and wanted to share a tip for cleaning grease or soap scum. Here is it, vinegar and dawn dish soap.

Distilled white vinegar & Dawn dish soap

It is 1:1 ratio. So I mixed 1/2 cup of warm/hot vinegar & 1/2 cup of Dawn. I put it in an old Windex bottle that I cleaned out. You just spray it on and let it sit.

 

Here is a before picture (sorry the flash wouldn't work)

 

Before

 

I let the mixture sit for about an hour. The longer is sits the better! I've had worse soap scum and it works really well!

After

 

I swear by this stuff. I have  used it time and time again and it has been the only thing that really works on soap scum in the shower. Another thing I've found it works well on is grease. The hood/fan over my stove seems to build up a lot of grease. If you use dawn and vinegar and let it sit for an hour or even a few it'll scrub right off. One time I left it on my tub over night because the soap scum was pretty bad & to add to it we had hard water, it worked great! I know you are probably thinking, "can't I just use a cheaper dish soap?", No don't do it. Dawn is highly concentrated so it able to work much better. It is worth an extra few bucks, I promise!

Let me know if you try it and how it works for you, Please leave me tips of your own!

Thanks for stopping by :)

 

xoxo,

Homemaker Momma