So July is birthday central in the Elliott household. THREE of our four family members have birthdays in July! (poor little Amber is the odd ball–how she ended up in February is still a mystery!) In addition to that my childhood bestie, niece, sister, are all also July babies–and my little nephew is due this July as well!
So, obviously that means that there are a whole lot of celebrations to plan and cakes to make! For Amber’s birthday I did cupcakes because for little ones they just seem a whole lot easier. When I saw this beyond adorable infographic on how to make Easy Ice Cream Cone Birthday Cake I knew that I just had to share it with you as it looks like it would be perfect for Tyler’s birthday and little 3 year old hands to grab!
The awesome people over at Betty Crocker not only came up with this adorable idea and infographic–they’re compensating me for sharing it with you. The crazy amount of July birthday, planning thoughts, and ideas for parties are my own!
I think that these would be so fun-I’m planning on another construction vehicle theme for Tyler because he’s still so obsessed with them, and it would be so cute to dip the cones in chocolate and then do the tops as either stop light colors or construction signs!
For more clever cake ideas including a Flip Flop cake, Butterfly cake, and more be sure to check out the Betty Crocker Website!
How would you decorate this super cute and easy Ice Cream Cone Birthday Cake?
You all know how much I love Collective Bias® ! Recently they gave me a heads up about the all new Tyson Foods Toppings (Bacon Pieces) I immediately knew they would be perfect in this easy and delicious family favorite and the fact I’m getting compensated for it is the icing on the cake! All smart hubbies, spilled bacon, and drooling are my own.
This week I wanted to bring you yet another great recipe from my hubby! Even better, this time it has a double score of being a hubby recipe that’s also one of my (in)famous cheat night meal solutions which means that this Pesto Tortellini is ready in under 20 minutes! The awesomeness continues as it requires just four–yes you read that right–four ingredients (errr packages) including the all new Tyson Bacon Pieces that I recently found while shopping at Walmart!
Knowing me I would have forgotten to bring these five things along as well but thankfully I had some lovely people send me my Ladies Scala Visor and the BabyGanics Sunscreen to test out on our pool date. All other forgotten items, big floppy hat selfies, and hooded children are my own.
As moms you’d think that clearly we should have it all together all the time, right?! If you’re like me that statement makes you laugh! Remember, I’m a Real Mom! So in case you’re not perfect like me here’s my list of Five Things You’re Forgetting to Bring to Your Pool Playdate!
We kicked off the Pool Season today! Which means that I REALLY need to get down to business!
If you subscribe to my blog via email (which—you totally should! I make it super easy for you–see right there on the top on the right?!) You probably noticed that I was a little MIA last week.
That was because hubby got a call letting him know that he got the summer internship we were all hoping for-great news Yey! The bad part? It means he’ll be living several hours away all summer (booo—thought we were done with that nonsense after he got out of the military) so since I was soon to be with no hubby I literally dropped all but my “absolutely HAVE to do” things for the rest of the week and we just hung out BBQing, going to movies (new Star Trek–yey!), and in general just having lots of fun! (oh and we snuck in a trip to LEGO Kids Fest too to give him some alone time to pack up).
What: Lego Kids Fest
Where: Houston, TX (but there will be upcoming stops in Phoenix, AZ: July 12 – 14 • Bay Area (CA): Aug. 30 – Sept. 1 • Portland, OR: October 11 – 13 • New England (CT): Dec. 6 – 8 )
Price: Adult (Ages 18-64) $21
Child (Ages 3-17) $19
Senior (Ages 65+) $19
Children Under 3 FREE (remember to surf around for discounts on blogger sites like the one I gave out in my first Lego Kids Fest post!)
Great for: Kids who love adventures and Lego Bricks; and parents who are very in touch with their inner child and love to play!
Bad for: People who have low tolerance for crowds, thousands of kids, and lots of loud noises
The ever clever Collective Bias® gave me a heads up that I could get great deals through Scott Shared Values and Vudu and they compensated me to check it out! All clever tips, snuggling with hubbies, and silly pictures in paper towel aisles are my own.
Summer should be all about enjoying time together as a family! When you’re on a tighter budget (like our college student with a family budget, for example) it can feel a bit discouraging as you look at how much everything costs. Simply going on a movie date with your hubby will run you around $30 or more if you get snacks and a drink and skip out on dinner—and let’s not go into how much all that would be if you choose to bring along the kids!!
Because of this I’m constantly on the lookout for how I can pair up smart shopping, good savings, and score deals towards fun things for our family whether it means a fun but inexpensive date for hubby and me, or a way for the whole family to have fun together for less!
My first big score this summer was coming up with a perfect way to have a fun dinner & a movie date on a dime!
Legalese Disclosure Nonsense: To make sure I’d be super cute and fresh for the summer the lovelies over at Influentster and Iman sent me goodies to add to my summer beauty routine. All tips, tricks, and cheesy pinterest selfies are my own!
It’s mid May and here in Texas that means that summer is pretty much here and no matter where you live it’s well on it’s way! Summer is the perfect time to scale back on your makeup–no one wants droves of sweat wearing off your foundation and eye shadow and making your mascara streak! Ick! I want to share my No Makeup Makeup for Summer that I do whenever it gets super hot, I have a splash park date, or even when I am just going to be around the house all day so I want to feel and look nice without all the fuss!
The first step to a no fuss summer look is to have great skin since you won’t be able to cover up the flaws as well with this easy, five minute look.
Sooo….do you want the good news first, or the bad news?
How about both mixed in together? Sounds good to me!
Over the past couple of years hubby and I have discovered the joy of cooking together! Now as a couple we love to get into the kitchen from time to time, blast some music, and cook up some delicious food for our little family. Our favorite to make is this super delicious take on Chilli that my hubby came up with based on a recipe a friend made for him while they were deployed to GITMO together. I dubbed it Bob’s Hot Bottom Chili because if you spice it up the more you eat, the spicier it gets! Luckily though hubby usually keeps the spice down for me and Amber–so adjust it according to taste! In fact, it’s a very “throw it all in the pot, stir, and adjust” recipe (how hubby cooks, he’s a throw and stir cook, I’m a follow the recipe and measure cook, haha). It’s a big hit with the kids too!
I’m a huge lover of flowers so when I found out that my new hometown Tyler, TX had an annual celebration all about flowers, The Azalea Trail, of course we had to check it out! It was March 15-April 7th this year. There are all sorts of cool events that go along with it from horse drawn carriages to high tea in the garden events. This year as Azalea Trail novices we missed out on all of that, but did enjoy a lovely time of first visiting the Goodman-LeGrand House and then spent a few hours walking one of the most picturesque parts of the two trails!
