The Power of the Sun!

I never imagined what the sun could do until I tried this! I'll never go back! I heard this idea from my dad awhile ago but just tried it for the first time the other day! The sun will bleach out stains in your clothing safely!!! As you can see we had a ton of baby clothes that were all stained. So I just layed them on our trampoline wet ( after they'd been through the wash), and let them air dry! It even took out some odd stains! And the best part, it's free! So give it a shot with your next stubborn stain!

Something Extra - Thank You

This is a simple yet cute idea to use as a thank you or even thinking of you gift. I just typed up the saying, printed it and glued it to some cute paper!

Reminds Me of You - Love Songs

It's actually quite hard for me to think of date night ideas seeing how me and my husband don't see each other to much lately :( but...I LOVED this idea I found online (sorry I can't find the source) of making a CD of music that reminds you of him!! This is so perfect for us seeing how he has a long commute and is gone with the military quite a bit.

The first song on there is of coarse our wedding song but I need some good ideas of other songs...I have

I'm Already There by Lonestar
Still Feels Good by Rascal Flatts
American Solder by Toby Keith
You're My Better Half by Keith Urban
I Knew I Loved You Before I Met You by Savage Garden
Making Memories of Us by Keith Urban
Somebody Like You by Keith Urban
Bless The Broken Road by Rascal Flatts
I Melt by Rascal Flatts

As you can tell I love coutry especially when it comes to love songs and my husband doesn't mind much either (unless he really does and is just a good sport about it, he's never told me). If you have any ideas, send them my way!! Thanks

Homemade Birthday Cards

These were about the easiest cards I've made!! I found this cute download from The Crafting Chicks  and then just cut them out and glued them onto cute paper, added a few do dads and wa la ( I got the blue jewels from Hobby Lobby)!! The print out is not only perfect for cards but you could easily use them just as a tag or even a cute cupcake topper!!

Here's the link directly to the download!

Water Painting!

This was a fun thing to do on a hot day! Just take a glass of water and a paint brush and start painting!! I seriously loved this idea cause it means a mess free clean up for me and my daughter really enjoyed playing in the water, they are so creative it just inspires me!

Chocolate Waffles!! YUMMY (with a strawberry sauce)

These are so yummy they should be banded!! I made these for my husband for Father's Day and he was in heaven for sure!

They were really simple to put together and even the sauce wasn't to bad...for the waffles you'll need

2/3 c flour
1/3 c cornstarch
1/4 c cocoa powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp cinnamon
6 Tbsp granulated sugar
1 c milk
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 c chocolate chips (for topping)

In a bowl combine flour, cornstarch, cocoa power, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. In a separate bowl whisk together sugar, milk, oil, egg and vanilla. Slowly add the two bowls together making sure not to over mix. Batter will be pretty thin so don't panic...be sure to spray your waffle iron before, pour into iron and cook to iron directions. This made about 4 hole waffles for us.

The recipe calls for the chocolate chips to be added to the batter mix but we found it to work better if just topped with chocolate chips after pulling out of the iron.



For the strawberry sauce...

1 Pint strawberries (I just pulled out frozen strawberries out of the freezer the night before, they worked great)
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract

Combine all ingredients in a medium sauce pan and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Cool just enough for you to be able to blend. I used my hand blender in the pan but you could transfer it to a blender. Blend until you get the consistence you like. I made it with a little bit of chunks which was perfect for us!!


(Thanks mom for the recipe for Our Best Bites)

Raspberry Slushy

It is so hot outside today that this is the perfect treat to come inside for!! These are Raspberry Lemonade Slushy and they are so so good! All it is...Lemonade, Raspberries and Ice (I used Simply Lemonade...it's really lemon juice not from concentrate!) and package of sweet and low (an artificially sweetener instead of sugar!) Blend together and yum yum yum!!!

(recipe found at make it and love it!)

Make your own Basil Pesto sauce

I LOVE pesto sauce on my sandwiches but it's so expensive at the store...so I wanted to see what it was like to make my own. All you need is

2 cups fresh basil leaves (packed into measuring cup)
3-4 cloves fresh garlic, peeled and sliced
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil (choose a a flavorful olive oil for pesto)
1/2 cup pine nuts
3/4 cup coarsely grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice

Now let me warn you the pine nuts are quite expensive but my mom said it's what makes the pesto taste good (cause I was trying to find a substitute). So I went for it anyways. You could try adding less and see if you notice a difference, just a thought. Also basil can be expensive as well but you could easily grow your own, I took some from my mom which helped in cost.

All you do is put the basil leaves and sliced garlic into food processor until basil and garlic is finely chopped, adding oil through the feed tube as you process. (You may need to take off the lid and scrape the sides with a rubber scraper if you have a hard time getting the basil all chopped.) (I don't have a food processor but I used my magic bullet, the best thing ever!!)

Add pine nuts, Parmesan cheese, and lemon juice to the chopped basil mixture and process 1-2 minutes more, until the pesto is mostly pureed and well mixed.

Let me know what you think if you make your own...we really love it and think it taste great!! It might just be worth it to me to make it by scratch! You can store it in your fridge for a few weeks or freeze it. I plan to put mine in an ice tray to freeze and then store in a zip lock!

(thanksKalyns Kitchen for the wonderful recipe w/ a little touch of me in it!)

Vinegar and the Microwave

I believe vinegar is my new best friend! It cleans everything, wither that's mixing it with dish soap or using it just with water it has so many uses. I know many of you have seen where you can put it in the microwave with water and heat it up for 5 minutes and it will soften all the stuck on stuff so you can just wipe it up...well I gave it a shot! Now my microwave wasn't really that dirty but it was all STUCK on pretty good so I thought what the heck, it won't do any harm in trying!! Here's the results!!

Make sure you clean your screen so you can see all the spots cause they're there...it was very easy to just wipe off though! I did have to use my nails to scratch a few off but it didn't take much!! So go a head and give it a shot all you need to do is...

1-2 cups water
1-2 Tbsp vinegar

put in a microwave safe bowl and heat for 5 minutes...wait...they wipe off!

REMEMBER!!! The water will boil in the microwave and has been known to bubble up and splash people after being taken out of the microwave so be safe...it will be hot!!!

After I was done with the inside, I dipped my rag into the vinegar and water and wiped down the outside! Worked well there too!! Make sure not to get your fingers in the water though, it will still be home (learn from my experience!!)

"Simply" the best - thank you/thinking of you gift

I made these cute thank you/thinking of you gifts for a few friends and I thought I'd share the wonderful link where I found it!! These were seriously the easiest thank you gifts I've made before and I'm sure I'll be doing them again!! One was to my parents mail lady who is the most wonderful person ever and she said it was the cutest thing she'd ever gotten!! All you need is to print out the cute tag here, punch a hole and tie it on!!

4th of July is almost here!

I seriously love the 4th of July but I found I didn't have a lot of decor for it. So that needed to change!! Check this out!

I am in love with the way it came out!! It was a lot of work but cost was very little. I paid 97 cents for the foam wreath found at the hardware store in the plumbing section (it's a straight foam tub that you cut to the size of wreath you want and duck tape the two ends together)! Amazing compared to the $8.00 it was going to cost at the craft store. I ended up using red fleece because that's what I had on hand and it worked great! I bought straight pins at the dollar store (honk's), there was 800 in one package! The blue ribbon is from Hobby Lobby in the wedding section...I loved the color and they were on sale for 50% off!!! (YA for sales!!) For the star cut outs I found one online just using google and printed to the size I wanted my stars to be, trace and cut, just that easy!

Here's where the idea came from. She used felt instead of fleece and she was also able to find a foam wreath at the dollar store which I looked at couldn't find.

linked to:

 

Life!!

Wow I can't believe it's been this long since I have been on here! I'm so sorry, life just got really busy for us and I wasn't able to jump on and update you on the fun we have been having!! My husband is military as most of you know and we were able to spend some time together before he needs to leave for training, so my time was spent there. I have some great updates for you all so I hope you're ready for some exciting this to come!!

Library Story Time!

If you're not aware of story time at the public libraries it's definitely something to check out this summer!! We've been able to attend a few and it's really a fun time!! Click on the picture above if you're in the Davis county area to find out what time they hold them in your area. If you're not in the same area, just search for your library online and see what they offer. You can always ask was well when you go in!!

Blue Star Museums - Free for Military

Blue Star Museums are museums that offer free entrance for military and their family. They are many nation wide, we are looking forward to visiting the Tree House Museum here in Utah! They are free from Memorial Day (May 28) to Labor Day (Sept 3) perfect for the summer!!

Cinemark's Summer Movie Clubhouse!!

Here's a fun thing to do with the kids this summer!! I was excited cause I don't have to pay full price and wonder if my daughters going to make it the whole way through. Click here to find one in your area! They have movies like Happy Feet 2, Rio, Winnie The Pooh, Kung Fu Panda and some others!!

A Military Wife

I just had to share this cause I know a few of my followers are military wives as well as myself!!

Pot Roast

This roast is a family favorite and definitely a mommy favorite cause of how easy it is!! This is my go to recipe for those times I need a good meal with no time.

1 roast
1 pkg onion soup mix (dry pack)
1 cup water
carrots
potatoes

Brown the roast on each side in a skillet (this is optional, it's all for the color. I don't usually brown my meat). Place in crock pot and pour onion soup mix packet over top. Add the carrots ( I do baby carrots but you could use regular carrots and chop them). Clean and cut potatoes to bit size and add to crock pot. Cook on high for 4 hours or low for 6-8 hours.

There's your perfect meal!! Enjoy