honeycombs are my favorite

Hi friends! I just wanted to pop in and share a few pictures from 2 events I helped decorate.  The first was a bridal shower with a beach theme, and the second was a baptism.  I am currently obsessed with honeycomb, super easy & cheap decorations and they come in tons of colors!

Keep Your Home Clean & Kid-Friendly with Clorox

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #RealLifeClean #CollectiveBias

Keeping your home clean with a toddler is like chasing around a tornado. I feel like I clean up the same blocks 3 times a day!  But today I've got 3 easy tips to help you keep on top of the mess and avoid giant Saturdays full of cleaning.

I went to my favorite store (of course), Target, and grabbed some cleaning supplies by Clorox to make it even easier to keep up on the messes.

Here's what I grabbed using a coupon from the Target Cartwheel App, (June 7-July 4, receive 10% selected Clorox products): Clorox ScrubSingles Bathroom Pads (for bathroom cleaning), Clorox Pump 'N Clean Kitchen & Dish Cleaner (for kitchen cleaning), and Clorox Triple Action Dust Wipes (for rest-of-house cleaning)

 Tip #1: Clean as you go.  Leaving a mess for later means more time cleaning & scrubbing.  When we finish breakfast, I use the Clorox kitchen pump cleaner to quickly wipe up the mess on the table.

Pump, wipe, clean & you're done! On to the next activity!

Tip #2: Get kids in on the cleaning.  My son loves to help, but I'm not about to hand him a bottle full of cleaner...yikes! The Clorox Dust Wipes are an awesome way to not only clean, but teach your children the importance of it.  These wipes seriously grab and hang on to every single piece of dust or hair or crumb.  No dust spray or dirty rags to wash afterwards! 

They even work on the floor (think bathroom cleaning!), and make cleaning go by even faster with a helper by your side.

 Tip #3: Combine activities & cleaning at once. One of my favorite tricks to keeping the bathroom clean during the week is doing some quick "wipe downs" during bath time. I'm in the bathroom supervising, so why not make it productive?

Using the Clorox Bathroom Scrub Singles, it makes it easy to clean without once again, pulling out a spray bottle and dirty sponge or rag. Just wet, scrub and done! 

(Be sure you're still checking in on your little one, and if you're stashing cleaning supplies under your sink, be sure to take the proper safety precautions like baby locks.)

These new Clorox cleaning products make staying on top of messes super easy to maintain a clean home, and using my tips you'll wonder why you ever hated cleaning in the first place! Okay...maybe not totally but it'll definitely keep you from a whole day of cleaning when you're quickly cleaning as you go.

Home of the Brave Printable

I love the Fourth of July.  What's not to love, amazing food, friends & family and celebrating the amazing country we live in and those who fight for our freedoms. 

Here's a fun printable to commemorate just that! pair it with a fun bright frame and add it with your festive red, white & blue decor! 

...a month is an appropriate amount of time to decorate for a holiday, yes?

Bus Driver & Aide Gifts (with printable!)

My son started his first year of pre-school this year (super late, but that's a different story.) And almost everyone in his class takes his bus and for the first 2 days I did his pick-up/drop-offs he was SO sad he couldn't get on the bus! So he started taking the bus & his thrill and excitement did NOT dwindle, friends! He could not get on that bus fast enough.

I cried his first day of school, and so of course I was anxious about sending him on a bus all. by. himself. But thankfully he had 2 amazingly sweet & kind drivers and equally wonderful aides that kept me as ease.  So on the last day of school I gave them each a special treat!

This free printable is available below, and has 2 "driver" and 2 "aide"s on each paper.  Before I cut them out,  I had my son write his name on each and then took a little water color to splatter them. I cut them, attached with glitter tape and tied with baker's twine. 

They were so appreciative for them and it made me so happy to give them just something little to show my appreciation for making the process so easy on my momma-heart!

PSST! If you want to see the end-of-the-year treats I did for 2016, go HERE.

Arizona bloggers are pretty awesome.

Last week I got to go and paint tea towels at Anthropologie with Lexy of Proper blog. Doesn't that whole sentence just sound like perfection?! Don't worry....it totally was. It was so small & intimate, beautifully styled and Lexy is a dream & so friendly! 

(above photos: source // photographer)

I'm so glad Anthro did this for Mother's day and Lexy made it so awesome! I'm so lucky to live in a state full of awesomely talented bloggers.

Friday Favorites: Kids Books

We (okay, mostly me) picked out our top 4 favorite books right now. My son will be 4 in July and has always loved books & I've loved buying "big kid books".

But they are so expensive! Can I get an amen?! So I often do 2 different things: 1. Ask for them for him for Christmas/Birthday. 2. Find them at a thrift store. I'm always amazed at some of the books I've found there that are new or practically new!
So let's start with 2 Dr Seuss classics...

 "Oh, the Places You'll Go" has always been popular & well-quoted especially for graduations.  I love it's encouragement, but also it's message that sometime, things WON'T go our way and when they don't, we have to push through them and keep working hard.

The second is a Seuss book that's maybe a little lesser-known but equally as good. 

"Did I Ever Tell You How Lucky You Are?" focuses on other character's poor circumstances to remind us that our life is pretty grand and we should never take our situations for granted, because there are others who have it harder.

Not a "classic", (yet) but we're loving "Press Here" by Herve Tullet.

My sister-in-law introduced us to this book & while it doesn't have a "message" it's so interactive and entertaining! Plenty of giggles and excitement always ensue when we read this book together.

Last but not least, is a book I consider a classic because I read it growing up as a child and I was SO excited when my son got it a few years ago and I'm even more excited that he is obsessed with it.

"Chicka Chicka Boom Boom" by Bill Martin Jr & John Archambault is all about the alphabet & goes through the whole thing twice, presenting plenty of opportunity for kids to see the letters.

And our favorite part? On either side of the book is the whole alphabet and my son has loved matching his set of letters to the book! 

 Those are our TOP 4 current favorite books! There are plenty more we have in rotation, but at least on of these is always picked in our bedtime reading session.