Snapshots of Summer

This summer seemed to fly by!  We were lucky to be able to go up to the mountains  a few times, thanks to wonderful family & friends who graciously opened their homes to us.  And a fun family retreat that we already can't wait to do again!  In between those trips we spent lots of time on the lake with family & thanks to my awesome brother, my son got to surf for the first time!

  We had swimming, birthdays, family time, my Air Force brother visit, and overall a great summer!  I hope you all had some relaxation time, as well & are ready to get back to school!

Back To School Decor

It's the most wonderful time of the year! No, not Christmas....BACK TO SCHOOL!  It's been an amazing summer packed full of trips, lots of family time making memories, escaping to cooler mountain weather, and late nights.  But now we have to get back into early mornings and this year my little one is starting kindergarten!  I can hardly believe it.

I created a mantle to get me back in the mindset of learning and so we can hopefully ALL get excited about our new "big boy school" that I've been talking up all summer long.

 This table came together easily with things I already had in the house, and of course the giant ceramic apple from Target's dollar spot...which I may be planning on turning into a teacher's gift.

Favorite Things Birthday Party

I wanted to share a few details from the little birthday party that I threw for my son's 5th birthday.  I had 2 ideas for it...simple & swim party.  I came up with the idea to do a "favorite things" party, but mostly just adapted that to the favor bags.  

Since the party was small & would be mostly in the pool, I kept myself from doing anything else extravagant or not worth the effort for 5 year olds!  For our invitations, I wrote on some french fry containers from Hobby Lobby, to share the details of the party.

I threw in some favorite color blue paper & stuffed it full of french fries...another favorite!

So we swam, ate ice cream sandwiches, opened presents & swam some more!  Easy, the kids loved it & I was stress free!  The favor bag items were handpicked by the birthday boy himself.

The blue paper bags had a tag attached that read, "Blue paper packages tied up with string, these are a few of Clayton's favorite things".  I threw on some tickets & bakers twine for cute decor purposes!

Picking out the items was a fun event in itself, and made my son even more excited for his party.  A whoopee cushion, a coloring book pack (each one was different), slinky, Lego packs (from Target), M&M's, Z-bar, and of course blue bubbles.

This may have been the simplest party I've ever thrown and I did have to control myself a LOT, but I think it turned out awesome!

Fresh Quinoa Summer Salad

I've adjusted and adapted this recipe from one that my sister-in-law made a few years ago at a family gathering & I still love making it to keep in my fridge and eat over a few days.

I basically just eyeball this whole thing and adjust to my tastes, which is one of my favorite things about this salad.  Cook between 1/2-1  cup of raw quinoa, depending on how many you're making it for. Then prep: 

red bell pepper

edamame

golden raisins

red onion

cilantro

sunflower seeds

Dressing: 1/2 Tblsp. balsamic vinegar & 2 Tblsp. lime juice

 Like I said, I really just adjust to taste. Just a little red onion, and cilantro, a lot of edamame, golden raisins and sunflower seeds and a handful of red pepper.  slowly add the dressing while you mix, a little goes a long way.

 Some people don't like coconut, but I think adding UNsweetened shredded coconut gives it a little something extra to this deliciousness.

Refrigerate until serving, or eat right away! Enjoy, friends!

Birthday Giveaway!

IT'S MY BIRTHDAY!!!  And before you ask, I'm old enough to have a 5 year old son, that's how old I am. (I'm having a hard time dealing with getting older, okay?!) So on this wonderful day, I wanted to give you the chance to win some of MY favorite things!  I wish I could do so much more, but things like chocolate and greek yogurt just don't ship well.

These aren't sponsored or given to me and I'm not being paid to tell you about them.  I just super love these products and thought it'd be a fun way for you to celebrate with me! 

What exactly will one of you win? Well I'm glad you asked! Here we go...

John Frieda Beach Waves Spray, Ardell Eyebrow Pencil, EAS Whey Protein, MIO Energy, 

Nail Aid Gel Top Coat, Mr Blanc Dissolving Whitening Strips, Larabars, Mrs Meyer's Dish Soap, and my favorite TomBow lettering pen.  

Want to win? Enter below & celebrate with me!! (be sure to read the fine print, for terms & conditions)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Fourth of July Decor

I was being my normal self this week and waited until the last minute to take pictures of my Fourth of July decor,  so of course the storms rolled in and kept things nice and overcast.  Which helps keeps the temperature under triple digits, but it doesn't help take indoor photos.  

Lesson learned....but nonetheless, here are a few shots of the patriotic decor I put up this year!

Take A Trip: Woods Canyon Lake, AZ

A few weeks ago, we headed North to cooler weather and greener scenery.  We stayed in Forest Lakes and took a trip to Woods Canyon Lake.  There's quite a few other lakes/streams to stop on the way with plenty of campsites to stay at.

The drive up was beautiful to slowly watch the cactus disappear and the trees take over. It was about a 2 hour drive up from Gilbert, located between Payson & Heber.

There's plenty of opportunity for fishing and hiking around.  We tried our hand at catching crawdads at the edge of the lake we took a little walk to from where we parked.  

It wasn't too hot or hard for our 4 year old to walk on his own.

One of my other favorite parts was the vista points they had on the way into the lakes & campsites from the highway. There's a reason they have these view points, SO gorgeous.  It was a bright clear day and you can see the green trees for miles! It was so nice to get into the woods for a few days.  I love the air up there and the cooler nights, it was a great chance to make family memories!