Birthday Spaghetti- Colored Noodles

     This is the most awesome thing EVER and I can almost guarantee that if this was done when I was a child, I would have probably ate more pasta. Children eat food based on how it looks, at least mine do and even though its to late now, because my son is 9 and has already developed his own eating likes and dislikes. However, My daughter loves pasta and it was her birthday and of course I found it on Pinterest!

      Most of the stuff I see on Pinterest that is brilliant, I always say why didn't I think of that, and a lot of it is like "well, DUH". I could spend hours and hours on Pinterest and it always has the best of ideas for parties, holidays, crafts, DIY, really anything your looking for its on Pinterest. If you are not already signed up, definitely check it out.

 

  For my daughters birthday, we had a sleepover spa party. We did make up and painted nails. It was a lot of fun. For Dinner for the girls, I made one of my daughters favorite, Spaghetti. When I saw dyed noodles in all different colors, I could not resist. To my surprise it was very very easy to make. I made three colors of noodles. I went ahead and made the noodles early because they do have to be boiled separately for different colors, and this can take some time.

What you need:

- Spaghetti Noodles - or whatever kind of noodles you prefer
- Food Coloring
     This is the coolest, and simplest thing I've done... All you need to do is once water is boiling, add food coloring, as many drops as you would like, the more you add to the water the deeper the color will be. Once you add the food coloring, go ahead and add noodles and allow to cook as directed. :) and your done! See Simple, Easy, & Awesome.

    



This is also a fun and easy meal you can cook with your children or allow your older ones to cook. This can also be fun for parties you may have or sports parties. ( I can't wait for football season and to make Blue & Orange Spaghetti. GO GATORS) 

End of the Year, ALREADY? - End of the Year Teacher Gift!

     I cannot believe how quickly this school year has flown by. My son is now headed into Middle School and my Daughters Kindergarten year has just been completely changing for her and now, I have a 4th grader and a 1st grader. Wow how time flies. 
     This year I must say was one of the best. We loved my son and daughters teacher and we got a new bus driver this year and she was absolutely amazing with the kids. Last year we had it rough, with a bus driver. My son and niece were in trouble every day for something, and not only that but it was 90% because the elementary, middle, and high schoolers were all on the same bus (we live in a very small town) and this particular bus driver was older and did not control her bus. I was terrified to put my daughter on the bus too. Thankfully, we got a bus driver that does demand respect and that the kids listen and we had no big problems and no write ups!!! The teachers my children had were amazing!!! They worked well with the kids, understood their difficulties, and did everything to help my children succeed. I couldn't have asked for a better school, teachers, or bus driver.
     We are not suppose to give the teachers gifts, and gifts over a certain price, but I felt like they deserved something special just to let them know that we care and want them to have an amazing Summer as well. For only $7.00 a piece you can make or give these awesome Summer gifts for your child's teachers and/or bus driver.

     What we Used:
-Bucket & Shovel ( come together at most stores)
-Towel - you can use a beach towel but also Dollar General and Family Dollar have large towels as well for only $2, compared to $6 or $8 for the beach towel
-Magazine - We chose Family Circle for $2.97
-Candy - We had Almond Joys at the house which we added about 6 a piece.

     These turned out very cute I thought! You could even add more to the bucket if you wanted such as a tumbler, sunscreen, lotion, body spray, nail polish, etc. The ideas go on and on. Hope all your children had an amazing school year and have grown and excelled throughout the year! Have a great Safe Summer Y'all!

Camping Birthday Party

      What boy does not love camping?? and what boy would not like to camp with some of his closest friends and for his birthday? I can believe I now have a 9 year old. Where has the time gone? For his birthday party this year his sister and himself decided they wanted a water slide party. Both of their birthdays are in May, the 10t and the 25th. Last year we did one huge birthday and rented a large water slide for the kids and celebrated in between their birthdays. This year my husband and I were going to do one big birthday but like at the beach or bowling.  I went to Pittsburgh also in the middle of their birthdays so doing one party was out of the question. My husband and I then began thinking of something that we could do that would be wonderful and BIG for them but not costly. We decided to camp.

Camping can be pricey if you allow it to be. It doesn't matter if you are camping in your backyard, camping at a campground, on the beach, or out in the woods. Sleeping in a tent outside or inside is considered camping. I say inside because some little boys may want a camping party and I would say for ages 4 and under camping inside is probably your best way to go because the younger they are the less they really get into the "outdoors" part of camping and just think its cool they get to sleep in a tent.. or if you do a day party with no sleep over all the kids could hang out or eat their cake in the tents. 

     We had cake and presents with all our family and friends at 5:00p.m. We decided not to do food for everyone because we wanted to cook with the kids on the fire. After presents and cake everyone left and the boys that were staying gathered their things and played while my husband and I got everything loaded. We camped down on our property on Perdido Bay. We set up 2 tents and a screened Porch area for us all to hang out and sleep. We allowed 3 boys to stay with my son for a total of 4. When you have sleepovers I always think its best to have only your closest friends sleep over it makes it easier because you know the children staying and their parents.

     We cooked hot dogs for dinner and had chips, snacks, candy, beef jerky... all the junk the boys could want, even soda... and That is NOT something that my children are allowed to drink. However, I figured for the party it would be fun and he would think it was "cool" he had soda. We bought the store brand for the kids soda and all of my sons favorite snacks. Also keep in mind the dollar store for snacks and candy's. They have a huge variety. The boys ate, ate, ate, and ate some more to the point my husband and I had to stop them from eating. I just knew they were going to have tummy aches and they had a birthday party to go to the next day, which were a set of brothers birthday that were at our party (So it was a weekend full of birthday parties).

The boys fished, played flat light tag, sat by the fire and talked, swam, played board games in the tent, told ghost stories ( My husband and I got to scare them a couple of times), and all whined down playing their DSs and relaxing. It was a wonderful night for the boys. They all stayed up till about 2:30a.m. ( I know that's a little extreme) but they were having a great time and enjoying a little bit of freedom. It was such a fun night and party. I think this was one of my husband and I favorite. Some of the boys said it was a Epic party and the other said no i think legendary. I'm glad my son had a wonderful birthday and everyone enjoyed camping.

     We did a breakfast of Pop tarts. You could cook if you wanted to go all out but it really is easier to hand the boys pop tarts. I bought two varieties. Served Juice with it and the boys fished and swam that morning while waiting on their 10:00 a.m. pick up.

If you don't already have camping gear, and don't want to spend the money to buy gear because its not something you will use, look around for rental camping gear, or even see if you can borrow a friend of family members. Also can look for cabin rentals that may be available at local parks near you.

Got Flip Flops? - Mothers Day 2013

Yes, I know its weeks later... BUT May is a busy busy month for us.. Especially this May which not only included two kid birthdays but also a trip to Pittsburgh, End of Baseball, & End of School. So I'm just proud that I'm getting this post wrote.


     My family knows me all to well. Its getting hot out and were buying bathing suits and new shorts and tank tops and of course you have to have Flip Flops... Well I definitely have flip flops and all these were bought for me for Mothers Day... so this does not include probably the 50 pair that I already have.

      So are you ready for Summer with your Flip Flops?? Check around, Flips Flops are on sale everywhere!! Watch your local department stores for big sales also! I was able to get two pairs of Sperry Flip Flops ( Usually 50.00$ a piece) for $50.00. A pair of Jessica Simpson white Sandals, that's usually priced for 79.99$ for only 29.99$ I could not be happier because I got some amazing deals on shoes.
     Mothers Day did not only consist of shoes. I received a beautiful "Relax" basket from my
grandmother full of goodies. My mother bought me some new plants for our home. & my husband not only bought me Flip Flops :) but he bought me a cup I have been wanting! :) Now if your a Duck Dynasty fan and love that they drink out of Mason jars but are worried about the glass if you have kids, these cups are plastic mason jar cups with straws. I prefer plastic for all our glasses here in our home.  Check your local Wal-mart for the cups!


     I hope you all had a wonderful Mothers Day. I can honestly say that being a mother is my greatest blessing and job. As a mother we are the back bone of our families and keep it all going. Without us, families would fall apart. We all understand how hard it is to be a mother because were not only "mommy" but were EVERYTHING to our families... From Maid to Mother lol...  Its always worth it though and the work will always be hard but again always worth it when you just see those little ones smiles! <3

Take me out to the ball game! -Pensacola Blue Wahoos

     Baseball Games are so much more fun to go to then watch!! I am a Team Mom for my sons little league team and I do cry any time I had to miss a game for any reason, especially if it was work. However, I hate watching baseball on TV... As with most sports you only like them once you understand them and/or go to a game. I love football, but my son plays baseball. I don't care for baseball to watch, but love to play and my son did too. This year our Fundraiser for the team was to sell Pensacola Blue Wahoo tickets for their game against the Jacksonville Suns.

     The Pensacola Blue Wahoo's are a minor league team that's home field is in Pensacola, FL. As a fundraiser the Blue Wahoos have little league teams sell their tickets and do a raffle at the park the night of your game. I thought this was the best fundraiser that I've ever heard off and the boys actually got to see the benefits of all their hard work selling the tickets. Plus, you didn't have to deal with candy bars or other merchandise, car washes and tracking kids, or any other annoying fundraiser that we as ball park parents have had to do or heard of. If you have a minor league or even major league team in your area check into their fundraiser options to see what is offered.
    

     All of our boys and girls were dressed in uniform and so excited about the game! Once everyone arrived, we were paraded out onto the field and given a hand by all the fans in the stands and shown on the Jumbo tron.. Us parents did not care for this, but the kid of course loved it. One of our boys

were chosen to throw out the first pitch, which of course made his night! We thought it was so special and of course made the night for the boy. The kids were also allowed to do the practicing pitching game and bounce house at no charge. They really enjoyed this extra activity. Once the games started we all took our seats and watched them play. It  was a good game. During the break the kids did a roach chase ( Yes, I did just say Roach Chase- I was scared too when I heard about it) The Roach chase is where a man gets dressed in a Roach Bug costume and runs from one end of the field to the other and all the kid are allowed to come down and chase after him, and literally run some energy off! I've heard they also have a eye ball costume which is interesting as well!

     We all enjoyed ourselves and everyone at the Wahoo Stadium was great. We have plans to go to several games this season! The stadium is perfectly sat right on the bay with an amazing view. Even if you are not a baseball fan, go with some friends, enjoy some food, drinks, the view, and enjoy the night. It will be a lot of fun and I'm sure you will want to go back. Watching Sports on television and actually experiencing them in person is a totally different experience and you may even find you have a knew interest.

 

Enjoy your hot dogs and cracker jacks!