4th of July Party Favors

July the 4th is right around the corner! I am so proud to be an american and what a wonderful day to celebrate our freedom. I am so thankful to all of the men and women to serve our country every day! They give so much of themselves so we can be free and safe!

I am always looking for cute party favors and have found some really cute ideas for a 4th of July party. Thought I would share my finds with you!


How adorable is this?! I found these on an altered state of mind blog. They are super cute and super easy! Made from lifesavers candy. You just change the wrapper out for some cute paper... check them out!!


These Sparkler Pretzles I found on Taste of Home Yummy!!


Cute Party Poppers from Little Birdie Secrets Easy and Cute!

Hope that you have a fun~filled and safe July 4th Holiday!

Adorable Cookies!!

I am always looking for a cute new creative gift idea.... especially with a 4 year old that gets invited to birthday parties several times a month! I came across this company called Kookie Stationary! They make ADORABLE cookies that you can personalize with your own message. They come with a food safe pen. Totally cute!! They even have some that you can use as tags for gifts. I think that was such a creative idea! Here are a few photos of their cookies!





Don't you just LOVE these??!! I would love to learn how to make them myself! Thought I would share my finding! If any of you have tried them, be sure to let me know! Have a great weekend!!

Delicious Summer Dessert!

OK.....along with loving all the fun stuff to do over the summer, a great tasty dessert tops the list! How about a Strawberry Margarita Cake?! A good friend of mine had made one for a party and it tasted great! I came across this recipe from All-Recipes.com and can't wait to try it out! Thought I would share the recipe!



Strawberry Margarita Cake

* 1 (18.25 ounce) package white cake mix
* 3 egg whites
* 1/2 cup water
* 1/3 cup vegetable oil
* 3/4 cup strawberry margarita mix
* 1 (16 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed
* 2 tablespoons grated lime zest

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9x13 inch pan.
2. In a large bowl, stir together cake mix, egg whites, oil, water and margarita mix. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake in the preheated oven for 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Allow to cool.
3. Frost cooled cake with whipped topping and sprinkle lime zest over top. Refrigerate until serving.

I am starting a recipe blog and will adding this to it! Of course.... this surely isn't on my P90x Food list, but hey.... everyone needs a little treat to be able to keep it going! =)

Hope everyone is having an awesome summer!

Summer has Begun!

Well, I truly thought I was going to be able to blog about my daily experience with P90x, but between exercising for an hour each day and keeping up with my 4 y.o. there has been little time to even think about blogging! I am starting week 3 of P90X and loving it! It is a very intense workout, but I am already loosing inches and feeling so much better. Zach started swim lessons today. I was really stressed this morning because he has been saying the last couple of weeks that he did not want to take this year. Last year he didn't get to finish because he got sick. So, it was kind of like starting all over this year. He had a few moments, but overall did really well! The summer is definitely off to a busy start! I love it though, and am trying to enjoy this sweet time with Zach. I know it won't be long and he will be all grown up! Life is so good and we are so blessed! Hope your summer is going well too! If any of you are doing the P90x program, I would LOVE to hear from you! Also, be sure to check out laurennicolegifts.blogspot.com. She has some AWESOME giveaways!!

Here is a pic of my little man in his swim gear!

P90X......... Trying to Bring It!!!

Ok, so I haven't blogged lately.... but I have a good excuse! HA! My husband and I have been getting all prepared to start the P90x workout program! This is the beginning of our 2nd week..... let me say... this program is NOT for the faint of heart!! LOL! I am really enjoying it, and really sore too! The program uses muscle confusion, so it works your entire body and right when one set of muscles are sore and fatigued, the next workout you are targeting other muscle groups. Today is Shoulders, Back and Ab Ripper.... whew! I am going to take some pics later today and post. You are suppose to take a pic the 1st day you start, then day 30,60 and 90. We are going to Hawaii in 90 days, so I am really focused at this point! I will also post some recipes later today that we have used from the plan that are really good! Let me know if any of you out there are also on the program! Would love to have some online friends to support each other!

Bringing It!!

I love my Life as a Mommy and a Wife!

With Mother's Day right around the corner, I am reminded at how blessed I am to be a mother. It is truly one of God's most precious gifts! I also remember though those Mother's Days before Zach and my heart truly goes out to all women who are longing to be a mom. I know this will be a bitter sweet day for them. My prayer is that they will feel God's love for them and know that he has a plan and his time is not our time. That was the hardest for me.... like everything else in my life I wanted it RIGHT THEN! But during that wait that is the time that I learned the most about myself and my faith. It was truly one of the most challenging times but the most awesome as well. We are truly blessed with a precious child and I thank God every day for him. He has brought so much joy us! Life is a journey and just try to see what it is that God wants you to learn while you wait! I'm praying for all of you!

Thinking About a New Dining Room Table...

I think it is time to start looking for a new dining room table! I've been looking through magazines and some in the stores, but haven't decided on any one design at this point. I love the Mission look, but I don't want anything too trendy. What do you think of this one from World Market? I like the Mahogany! Don't really like the bench... would just use the chairs in place of the bench.

I also came across this one from Pottery Barn, but I'm not sure about the short back on the chairs.

I also love the cottage look. I came across this one from Ashley Furniture. What do you think?

And this is another one from Ashley.

There are so many beautiful styles out there, I am just trying to narrow down my favorites! It has been so much fun looking touring everyone's kitchens on the tour that Kelly set up, it has me motivated to start redecorating!

Thanks for stopping by!