Mocktail Monday - Tea Punch

Monday, Monday. How did we get to Monday already? I'm working on day three of no sleep. We were at my mom's over the weekend and I got no sleep and then Logan decided to wake up and scream for an hour at two a.m. last night. So, I'm wiped out. I've decided that after today I'm taking a hiatus/vacation from blogging this week and I'll pick back up next Monday, June 29th. I wanted to make sure I finished out my Mocktail Monday series for the month of June. It is hard to believe next week is the last week of the month.

I'm so annoyed because somewhere I've got a great Tea Punch recipe and I couldn't put my hands on it to save my life. I know it is a Southern Living recipe. I decide to do a search and I found this one, so I thought I'd share this one today. It sounds yummy and is similar to the one I had. So, I hope this will be something you can enjoy this week.

Tea Punch
3 c Tea; strong
1 c Lemon juice
4 c Orange juice
2 c Raspberry syrup; or grenadin
1 c Pineapple, crushed
Sugar; to taste 2 qt Club soda; chilled
Combine all ingredients except club soda in a punch bowl with a large block of clear ice; allow to chill thoroughly. (If fresh fruit juices are used, they should be strained.) Add club soda just before serving.

I'd love to get some feedback to know if any of y'all have tried any of my Mocktail Monday mixtures. I'll check back in next Monday. I'm looking forward to some fun in the sun. I certainly need it.

Fabulous Favorite Friday

So it is Friday. Thank goodness! I had to play hookie from the blog yesterday because I've taken over as coordinator of my MOPS (Mother's of Preschoolers) group. I've got to be insane having two little ones and taking on this challenge, but I felt called to do it and wanted to see the group continue. So, I had my first meeting with my team and it went well. I'm so blessed to have an awesome group of ladies to work with and we are excited about the new year which will start in the fall. If you aren't familiar with MOPS, be sure to check out http://www.mops.org/ to find a group in your area. It is a wonderful resource for moms with young children. I can't say enough good things about it.

For today's Fabulous Favorite Friday pick, I wanted to show you our latest hot weather treat. I've become such a fan of adding Crystal Light to my water that I was pleasantly surprised to find that Crystal Light has frozen pops. This box came with Raspberry Lemonade and regular Lemonade flavored pops. Since I've become such a fan of the Raspberry Lemonade in my water, I was excited to see it as one of the flavors in this box. We opened this box up on Tuesday and I had the Raspberry Lemonade pop and it was very refreshing. Perfect for these hot, humid summer days. I was surprised that Sawyer even wanted to taste it and kept coming back and asking for more licks from it. He is definitely in that picky toddler stage, so for him to come back and ask for more is a great praise for these pops. When he was sick during the winter we got popsicles for him and he wouldn't even try them, so I think these Crystal Light pops are a hit with him. So, I would call them "toddler approved". LOL

Have a great weekend and be sure to check back Monday for another edition of Mocktail Monday.

Wow Wednesday

Wow, its Wednesday already. This week is flying by for us. Summer always seems to go faster because it is my favorite season.

Today I wanted to share with you some Wow Websites. These are different folks I've come across, many because of seeing their great Tweets come across Twitter. Which by the way, have you seen my Twitter button to the right? Follow me on Twitter by clicking on that button.

The first website I want to highlight today is "The Diary of A Poshpreneur". Her website is just an awesome place to poke around, full of great little tid bits. As someone who loves things that are chic, "The Diary of a Poshpreneur's" website is definitley chic. Love the color scheme of pinks and browns it is so girly and fun. She is one of Glamour magazine's Glambassadours. Not only does she have that going on, but she is also a business owner and has adorable kids clothes. Ladies, the tutus for little girls are just too too cute.

I'm so excited to have been chosen as one of the winners of her recent Maybelline contest. I'll be doing some shopping at Target for Maybelline products and will be taking pictures of my purchases and giving comments on what I buy. Look for that coming up, I believe next week. Should be so much fun. I will also be blogging on that as well.

My second website I'm highlighting today is "The Happy Housewife". She has some great articles for saving money in these tough economic times, especially if you are a commissary shopper. I've also seen information on home schooling on her website, so if that is something you are interested in then I think she'd be a great resource for you to check out. Her banner at the top of her blog is so cute with little pictures of her kids. Such a great personal touch.

So, these are two fabulous ladies I've discovered on the big world wide web. Soon I will be sharing more websites that I think you'll find delightful. Have a great Wednesday!

Two Tip Tuesday

Howdy folks. Another Monday has come and gone and we are marching forward into the week. The heavens opened up and poured yesterday for half the day. We were glad when the sun came back out after such a rainy morning. It set me back for running errands. I hate when that happens. There just aren't enough hours in the day. I guess everyone feels like that these days.

For Two Tip Tuesday today, I wanted to share some important information I've heard recently. The first tip is kind of hard to type, but very important.

The first tip I have for you today is about the ickiest, most vile creature on earth, the snake. I shudder as I type this. I HATE snakes. Sorry, but I can't stand them. When I was growing up my grandmother put the fear of snakes in us because she lived in the country. Snakes and sharks are the two animals I fear the most. I'm not found of lizards and spiders, but I figure I'm bigger than them so I have a fighting chance. Anyway, I heard on the news at the end of last week that the emergency vet has already seen 30 dogs this year that have been bitten by copperheads. They said that if you come across a dead snake, don't pick it up with your hands. That apparently even hours after they've died the bite reflex is still intact and you can still get bitten. So, I'd hate for any of y'all to have that happen to you so I'd suggest running the other way if you see a snake dead or alive. Better yet get your SUV and run the thing over. Sorry, but I just don't do snakes.

The second tip I have for you today is a craft tip of sorts. I've shared with y'all that I've been buying the Simply Best Orange Juice and Simply Lemonade & Limeaide. Well, I like the containers that the juice comes in. I've decided to fill them with beans to let Sawyer make maracas out of them. I thought it might be a fun thing for us to do together. I'm sure once he starts shaking the heck out of them I'll regret that decision. But, until then we'll go ahead and make it a fun project.

So, my advice to you this Tuesday is don't handle snakes and look for creative ways to recycle things around the house.

Mocktail Monday

Happy Monday everyone. We had a great weekend and it went by quickly. I love summer and taking the kids swimming. They have a blast and it usually makes them nice and tired so they sleep well.

For today's edition of Mocktail Monday, I'm sharing a recipe I learned a few years ago when I hosted a Pampered Chef party. If you ever attend one of these parties, they always have a seasonal cookbook that is $1. I always buy one because they are full of simple recipes and for a dollar you get a lot of recipes in such a handy sized book. They also make great gifts. This recipe was in the Fall/Winter 2007 Season's Best Cookbook.

I think you'll find this recipe a tasty and refreshing beverage during these hot summer days. With the redish color and of this one, you may want to consider it for the upcoming 4th of July holiday. Can you believe that is just around the corner?

Cran-Raspberry Fizz
4 limes divided
1 (12 oz) can of frozen cranberry juice concentrate
3 cups cold water
1 pint raspberry sorbet softened
2 liters (8 cups) chilled ginger ale

Slice two of the limes. Pour cranberry juice& water into a pitcher. Juice remaining limes into pitcher. Scoop sorbet inot pitcher and combine. Add ginger ale and lime slices. Gently stir until well mixed. Serve over ice. Yields 16 servings

The recipe does note that you can add 2 cups flavored vodka such as raspberry, cranberry, currant, citrus or lime if desired.

Cheers to you this fine Monday!

Fabulous Favorite Friday

Happy Friday everyone! I'm a little slower getting my post up today because I've been battling a sinus headache on and off for the last few days. We've been getting rain on and off and I think the mold is doing a number on my head. Also, we are in the midst of potty training and I swear it was easier to train our Boston Terrier than my child. Is it legal to put a leash on your child and take them out to potty and offer treats? LOL

For my Fabulous Favorite Friday post today I'm recommending the Huggies brand swimmers for kids. I personally like this brand because I've had small kids that don't have a big waist or meaty legs to fill up a swimmer and that can be challenging to find a swimmer that fits well. My sister has also faced this challenge. My little niece, Harper is four months almost five months old and is very petite. Last time she was weighed she was 10 pounds. The swimmers say that the small are for 16-26 pounds, but my sister has been able to use that size on Harper and they fit ok around the leg area mostly the waist was just longer on her. So, it has been nice that even though our sweet Harper is a bitty baby, she has been able to get in the pool with her cousins. She loves to splash. We both have 3 little fishies when it comes to the bath and pool.

The next item I wanted to show you for my Fabulous Favorite Friday post is something I have to admit I don't own, but I really, really want to get one of these. This is called the All in One Wristlet by Vera Bradley. I saw a friend of mine with one of these and it is caught my eye imediately. Basically Vera Bradley took their wristlet wallet and their tech case and combined the two. A lady in a store told me they did this redesign. It is the best of both worlds in my opinion. The thing that sold me on this was that you have the cell phone pocket on the outside and then it is a great wallet on the inside that has slots for your credit cards. You can throw it in a bigger purse or just grab it and go. Wouldn't this be great for when you just want to have something small to take to the pool and not have to lug a big purse?

The pattern in the picture above is called pink cupcake. I love the color and that is such a cute name. They have lots of different patterns and colors so there should be a little something for everyone.

Vera Bradley, I'd be happy to test one of these out if you'd like to send one to me. LOL

Hope you folks are having a great Friday in your neck of the woods.

The Fashion Show

I've been watching Bravo's show The Fashion Show that comes on Thursday nights. I can't always catch it at the time it comes on, so I have set our dvr to record it to make sure I don't miss it. If you have been a fan of Project Runway then you might be interested in this show. Isaac Mizrahi and Kelly Rowland (I think she was part of that group Destiny's Child) are the host and hostess of the show. I love hearing their banter and they make a good team for commenting on the contestants designs.

I have loved watching the episodes and seeing the different challenges the contestants are given. One week they had to design a whole outfit based on inspiration they got from a pair of shoes. As a shoe lover, that one was especially awesome to watch the designers get to go through incredible shoes to find just the right pair. They said they had five minutes to go through about 200 pairs of shoes. Can you even imagine? Sounds like shoe heaven.

I have such respect for the talent these folks have. Not only do they have to make patterns and be able to sew, but they also have to have talent to sketch their designs. The level of detail and creativity they each possess is inspiring. I can't wait to see future episodes and which designer wins. They each have unique perspectives.

So, if you are looking for an interesting show to follow this summer I would recommend checking out this one. Start watching now so you can perfect your catwalk strut. I'm sure your family would love to see that at the 4th of July BBQ. LOL

Happy Anniversary to me!

Eight years ago today, I was praying that it wouldn't rain. Because it was eight years ago today that my dad and I rode in a horse drawn carriage to my wedding so I could marry prince charming. I felt like Cinderella in her coach and I was blessed to have a fairy tale wedding. My sweet husband worked so hard on it with me. It will always be a day we remember.

It is funny how when you take your wedding vows you never know how "for better or worse" or "in sickness and in health" will be truly tested over the years. Little did we know that five years into our marriage we would be expecting our first child, only to have me ill in the hospital prior to delivering him and that he would arrive three months premature. After that we didn't know if we would be able to even have another child, only to be blessed with our second wonderful little boy who we were blessed to make it full term. Those things certainly fall into the "better or worse" and "in sickness and health" categories.

Prior to our little angels being born, we took a dream vacation to Hawaii. We both think back fondly on that trip, as well as our trips to the beach, Charleston, and Savannah. We've had good times and hard times, but through it all we've done it together. I know today as I did eight years ago, there is no one else I'd rather be with. I'm blessed to be with my best friend.

So, today we will be out having an adventure with the kids in tow. Sometimes your dreams don't always turn out the way you thought they would. Just sometimes they end up better than you imagined.

Happy Anniversary dh. I love you bunches!

Mocktail Monday

Welcome back everyone! Where did the weekend go? How did we get to Monday so quickly? When the sun is shining and you've got fun things planned, time just flies.

As promised, today I have my second recipe for Mocktail Mondays in June. If you missed last week's post, every Monday in June I will post a tasty drink recipe that you can enjoy over these hot summer months.

Today's recipe is the cherry limeaide. I LOVE cherry limeaides. For those of you who may have never had one, it is a little bit of sweet heaven in a glass. It combines fizzy and tart and sweet all in one. The fast food chain Sonic sells them, but I've had cherry limeaides long before they even came to our area. It is a really simple recipe. To make a single serving you will need a can of Sprite, a bottle of grenadine syrup, maraschino cherries, and limeaide. You can purchase limeaide in cans in the frozen food section near the frozen oj, or you can buy limeaide already made. Last week Wal Mart had Simply Limeaide on sale. This is the company that sells Simply Best Orange Juice. Their limeaide tastes good and is a suggestion if you don't feel like making the frozen.

All you do is get a glass, I'd suggest bigger than 12 ounces and pour in the can of Sprite. Next, you'll want to add in some of the limeaide. If you see the post I made last week, when I use that glass I end up having approximately a 1/4 of a cup left to add limeaide in order to fill up the cup. Next, you can add about a teaspoon of grenadine syrup in the glass. Add maraschino cherries and stir. Ta da, you have yourself a cherry limeaide! I'm not a big ice person, but you can add ice in the glass as well. I never measure out the ingredients, I just eyeball it and once you've made this a few times you'll be able to make it that way as well.

So grab yourself a glass and make yourself a nice tall glass of cherry limeaide. You won't regret it. Bottom's up!

Fabulous Favorite Friday

TGIF! Happy Friday everyone! This week has flown by. I can't believe Friday is here. We've had severe storms come through our area in the evenings, so I am ready for that to be over.

I'm so excited that I've got fun pictures to share for today's post. I've been trying to come up with projects for Sawyer to do to change things up a bit. I decided that he was old enough to try his hand at painting, so I went on a quest to get all of the supplies we needed to make it happen.

My Fabulous Favorite Friday post features all of the supplies that we used to make the masterpiece you see featured in these pictures.

Vincent van Gogh's Sunflowers has nothing on this yellow creation.

My favorite thing that I found was the smock that my budding artist is wearing. It is made by Crayola and says "Crayola Beginnings"on the front. I love that it is light weight and that it has the elastic around the wrists. It also has two velcro spots in the back to fasten it on. I purchased mine at Wal Mart and would highly recommend it. It was just perfect to help keep Sawyer from getting paint on his clothes. I am such a fan of Crayola products. I've seen so many unique items that they have come out with. I

can't wait for us to try our hand at some of their items. I think it is great for a child to have things that can help foster their creativity and use their imagination.

The paper that we used to paint on I found in the

Target dollar spot. They had just reset that area in our store a week ago. When I saw the paper I snatched it up quickly. The paper comes on a roll which is nice so you can just cut off the amount you need. They sold bigger rolls of paper at Wal Mart, but I believe it was $7 when I checked. So this was better for our budget. Plus, this size artwork fits on our fridge much better.

The paint that we used is by RichArt and it is washable paint that is non toxic. I loved that it was non toxic because you never know when your kid is going to go rogue on you and stick a paint brush in their mouth. Fortunately that didn't happen. I purchased the paint at Michael's crafts. I originally only bought one bottle of yellow. I wanted to make sure Sawyer was going to like painting before investing too much. By the way, the name of the color is Bee-Bopping Yellow. And it features a banana with sunglasses on the bottle. Who comes up with these names? LOL

Yesterday I went back to Michael's and purchased more colors. They have a variety pack that comes with 6 different colors and runs around $5 and some change. I used a 40% off coupon to purchased it. The multipack bottles are much smaller which I actually like better. Unless you are a doing a big project, the little bottles are better because you can store them easier. A little bit of this paint goes along way. The bottles do say ages 4 and up, but obviously if you are closely supervising a younger child then you can use this paint. I don't know many people who are just going to hand any child a paint brush and say "Run off and play." You might find your house with purple polka dots. Or your dog. Or your car. Or your other kids. Seriously.

I wanted to show you the last picture I took so you could see how I set up the paint station. I decided to try and save myself some work by putting down the plastic trash bags. I was able to use the ties to tie on the one bag to the art easel. Surprisingly, Sawyer is a pretty neat painter and did not get any paint on really anything except the paper. There was one stray brush mark that got on the easel, but it easily wiped off.

So, that is a little look into one of the summer crafts we've been doing this summer. Once Sawyer builds up his portfolio, I'm sure the Louvre will be calling. But for now we are displaying his artwork on our fridge.

Be sure to check back on Monday for my next installment of Mocktail Monday. I'll have another tasty drink recipe. Have a fabulous weekend!

Two Tip Tuesday

Happy Tuesday everyone. I hope you are having a great day. Summer is in full swing here. Summer is my favorite time of the year, so I'm enjoying the warmer temperatures.

For today's Two Tip Tuesday, I thought I'd throw out some ideas that can help with your summer activities.

Tip#1
I love using gallon Ziplocs to put in my bag when we go to the pool. Since I wear my bathing suit to the pool, I've started putting my undergarments in the Ziplocs so I'll have them when I'm through swimming. My dh rifles through the bags and I'm always afraid something is going to fly out, so putting it in the Ziplocs helps prevent embarrasement. It also keeps them dry. LOL We usually change out of our wet bathing suits before coming home, so the gallon bags are great for holding wet suits.

Ziplocs are also great for summer travel. I use them to pack shampoos and lotions so that if they get disturbed in my suitcase, I don't have to worry about goopy things getting on my clothes.

I also like using Ziplocs when mailing items. My brother in law is currently in Iraq and when I've sent him packages in the mail, I've used the gallon Ziplocs to protect some of the items in case the package gets wet in transit.

Tip #2

My second tip is a product recommendation. I have recently discovered that Suave has a shampoo for kids that we've been using. It is the Suave Kid's 2-1 Swim & Sport shampoo. It takes the cholorine out of their hair after swimming. I love the scent. Having the conditioner and the shampoo combined is very handy. A few years back, a hair dresser told me that you should use conditioner each time you shampoo since shampoo strips your hair. So each time I shampoo my hair and the kids hair, I make sure we use the conditioner. With a wiggly little one, having the shampoo and conditioner in one product is a must. So, I give the Suave shampoo two thumbs up.

Well, that is all from my neck of the woods. Have a great day!

Mocktail Monday

Happy Monday everyone. We've had a busy, but fun filled weekend. We took Sawyer to our local strawberry farm on Saturday and picked strawberries. He had a blast and it was such fun seeing him interact with the farm animals and help us pick strawberries. I had to very careful chuck some of them out when he wasn't looking. We haven't learned the fine art of picking strawberries yet. LOL

It is hard to believe it is June 1st, but June is finally here and summer is starting to get in full swing. Summer is my favorite time of the year. I thought it would be fun for the month of June to have posts every Monday that I'm calling Mocktail Mondays. Each Monday I'm going to feature a fun drink recipe that doesn't require any alcohol. Since I'm still nursing my little one, some fun drink recipes without alcohol will hit the spot this summer. And I'm sure that if you require alcohol you'll be able to figure out something to add to these. There are many days with these two little ones driving me crazy that I feel I require alcohol, so it is probably a good thing I'm still nursing.

The recipe I'm featuring today uses Simply Best Orange Juice I mentioned a few weeks ago in one of my Fabulous Favorite Friday posts. I used their Orange/Pineapple blend juice to make this. As you can see, I have a pretty large glass. What I did was pour a can on 7Up in the glass. Then I just filled up the rest of the glass with the Orange/Pineapple juice. I would guess that it was no more than 1/2 a cup. After that I added about a teaspoon (I'm guessing, I just eyeball it) of grenadine syrup. That is what gives it that pretty red color at the bottom. Add your straw and you are in business. It would also be good to add maraschino cherries to this drink, but I didn't have any. How do you like my fancy umbrella tucked in my straw? I'm may not be sitting on the beach in Maui having Mai Tais, but I can still enjoy something fun at home. So, I suggest you get yourself some cute straws and little umbrellas for your drinks. In the past I've seen unique things like that at Pier One. I see a Pier One trip in my future soon.


Don't you just love my fun glass? I got a set of those a few years back at Stein Mart. I just love using them in the summer. If you are looking for something cute like that I'd of course check Stein Mart, but if you don't have that in your area then I'd check Kohl's. They have cute glasses for the summer too. And of course who could forget checking out the Target.


So, I'll raise my glass in Cheers to you this first Mocktail Monday of the month. Hope you are having a great day. Be sure to stop by tomorrow for Two Tip Tuesday.