Getting Ready for a Fun Fourth of July!

I always dreamed of having a front porch to decorate for the holidays!  And I could not wait to add a few festive touches to our front porch for the first holiday that we've been in this house...the fourth of July!  It's not much yet, but it's a start, and it makes me smile every time I step outside and see it. 

A few bright flowers, some red, white and blue flags and of course my porch banners that hang over the railing...and it's time to celebrate!  I always pictured a front porch with those pleated banners hanging over the edge.  Now I look forward to the evenings, and sitting in my rockers while I drink lemonade and watch the kiddos play out front.  Doesn't that sound heavenly? 

What do you do to decorate for the fourth?  There are still a few days to get busy with a craft or visit a store for some festive decorations.  Share your ideas or a link to what you do to create that red, white, and blue touch!  I can't wait for a weekend filled with family, friends, fireworks, and food!

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Exciting News...Now Selling Sweetheart Celebration Kits!

I am so excited to announce that I am now selling "Sweetheart Celebration Kits" right here on this blog!  I absolutely love being creative, being crafty, and celebrating with friends and family.  So, it was time to put those skills and passions into something you all can purchase for your own parties and celebrations.  Hosting a baby shower or fun event can really add up in cost with all of the little details involving decorations, labels, ribbon, and cute touches.  It can also take lots of time!  So, why not check out my "Sweetheart Celebration Kits" to make planning such an event easier for you.  I am starting by focusing on baby showers but you can contact me with any celebration you have in mind.  Each kit (baby shower) includes:

*A customized “Welcome Baby” banner
*Party labels (for areas pertaining to food, gifts, favors, keepsake, and thank-you notes)
*Customized word game handouts
*Party favor labels and ribbon
*Cupcake toppers
*My “entertaining tool” filled with more fun ideas to make this the best shower ever!

You can find all of the wonderful details on the top of my blog in the navigation bar under "Sweetheart Celebration Kits."  Just email me at mysweetheartmoments@yahoo.com and tell me all of the details with the kind of celebration you are trying to plan and I will customize to fit your needs and desires!  I even have a Paypal button on my sidebar to make purchasing your own kit super easy.  Please check out my link for your celebrating needs and share the news with all of your friends!

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Give Yourself a Break!

So, I set some big goals for myself this summer when it comes to cooking.  I developed a monthly meal plan filled with lots of new recipes to try out.  Each day of the week I try to follow my schedule of Mexican Monday, Stir-Fry Tuesday, Italian Wednesday, and so on.  It has been wonderful to be so organized.  It has saved us money, saved me trips to the grocery store, and made us eat healthier dinners.  But there has been one issue I have had...and it has to do with my handsome husband!

During the summer, my wonderful fire-fighter/paramedic man works a lot of overtime.  I am fine with this because we fill our days with lots of fun times with friends and keep busy.  I know it is coming and I know what to expect with his crazy schedule...but it does make meal planning harder.  I have realized that it just isn't worth the time and effort always, to make a big dinner for myself and my little ones.  It's a hard time of the day, after naps with a bit of the "crankies."  They are more needy and they just don't care about having a big dinner!  Why make a huge meal and try out new recipes for my kiddos who don't really eat very much and don't really appreciate it.  They would rather have more quality time playing with me in the evening! 

So, that brings me to the change in my big goals...I am "giving myself a break!"  When my husband is at work, I am making dinners that are much easier, simpler, and cost-friendly.  And we are all so much happier this week.  I will be saving those new recipes for when my hubby is home!  As for what we had for dinner last night, it looked something like this...

And we loved it!  So yummy and easy!  We had mandarin orange chicken, brown rice, and edamame.  I challenge you to take a look at the expectations you place on yourself and once in a while, you might need to just give yourself a bit of a break!

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A Cute Library Books Bin!

I love visiting the local library with my kiddos.  It's fun, it's free, and it's educational!  I go to storytime at least once a week and during the summer I snag one of those summer calendars and write down all of the fun events they have planned.  Every time we visit the library for one of their fun events or storytimes, my kiddos want to check out books of course.  But I hate racking up late fees on books we misplaced or forgot to return on time.  So, this year because of our frequent visits...I became much more organized! 

We have a library bag that we take with us to the library each week to gather new books.  When we return home with our new stash (always the same number of books, so I don't forget how many we have checked out) the books go in our cute library bin!  It can be a basket, a tub, a bin, something extra laying around the house.  I added a sweet label to our library bin and store it in our family room.  Only library books go in this tub and each library must get put back in the bin when finished!

Next week when we visit storytime again, I grab the library bag and fill it up with our books from the bin to return and do all over again!  If you don't visit the library weekly, a great idea is to make your label on chalkboard paint so you can write the due date on there each week!  Then you won't forget when to visit the library again.  We love the library and we love our library books bin that is filled with new and exciting books each week!  Have fun reading in your home and please share any book ideas you have, that you love!

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A Little Snack Tip!

Time for another organizing tip...this one is simple and many of you probably already do this, but if not, here you go!  I try to do my grocery shopping at the beginning of the week on either Sunday or Monday and get all of food for the week.  I have two little ones who love to snack and I like to have easy and healthy choices for them when we are out and about.  During the summer, we spend so many days at parks and playdates.  So, my snack bin needs to be full of goodies that I can just grab and throw in my lunch sack as we run out the door!

My organizing tip for you, is to spend a little chunk of time after you unpack the groceries and put them away, to make little snack bags for your snack bin!  I lay out all of the snacks I bought:  snap pea crisps, dried apricots, wheat pretzel sticks, raisins, plantain chips, and more!  And I stuff our little snack baggies full of these yummy snacks.  Then I drop the baggies into our snack bin with all of the other granola bars, fruit leather strips, and individually wrapped snacks.  But buying a bag of snacks and splitting them up myself is so much cheaper and I can buy the healthy snacks I want for my kiddos!  What are some of your favorite snacks for the kids or a fun tip you have to share?  Thanks and have a fantastic day!

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Summer Chop Salad

I am so enjoying summer concerts on Friday nights!  I look forward to them each week by relaxing with friends, listening to music, watching the kiddos play, and eating a picnic dinner.  A couple of weeks ago, one of my wonderful friends brought a delicious looking salad for her family to enjoy.  And I knew when I saw that yummy chop salad that I needed to get the recipe from her and share it with all of you!  It's the perfect dinner to enjoy outside in the summer with friends!  So, here is the recipe for you, thanks to my good friend Ryann...

1 package of romaine hearts (usually comes in pack of three)

1/2 bag arugula
1 pint of grape tomatoes, halved
1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
1 can of cannelini beans, rinsed (use whatever bean you like)
1 small can of sliced black olives
1-2 ear(s) of roasted corn or whatever corn you have
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
2 avocado, diced
1/2-3/4 pound deli turkey meat, chopped
1/2 package of salami, chopped
3/4 package of cotija cheese (found with salsa and/or other chilled mexican products in store)

*Bring along about 1/8 cup Good Seasoning Dressing and 1/8 cup ranch dressing..or however much dressing you like, just use equal parts.  Add the dressing right before you are ready to eat and enjoy!  (serves about 6)  Yummo!
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Cool Summer Days Calendar!

Almost one year ago, I posted an idea I had come across on creating a summer calendar for your kiddos...filled with fun ideas for each day of the summer!  The calendar was so adorable with ice cream cone pockets and activities inside.  I saw this idea and couldn't wait to create my own.  And then life and a busy schedule seemed to get in the way and I never got to do this wonderful project!

Well, like I said, almost exactly one year later...it's time to do this darling project!  And it was a friend of mine that gave me the inspiration and motivation I needed.  She set up a girls craft night and had everything so well organized and ready for us when we arrived (thanks so much Becky)!  We each had a folder with our templates and ideas.  She had fabric, pens, irons, hemming tape, scissors, and more.  She even had some yummy desserts to snack on...fudge, one of my favorites!  If you've never had a craft night with the girls, I highly recommend it!  It is a fun way to relax, get to know some other women, be productive, and it saves some money by buying supplies in a larger amount and sharing them!  We all chipped in our money and got to work!  I had a fabulous time and couldn't wait to take my finished product home to use with my little buddy!

He loves the calendar.  It hangs on the back of our door and he runs to it in the morning to pull out the mini popsicle stick and see what special day we will be having.  I had to hang it a bit higher, or my baby girl would be taking out every popsicle stick multiple times during the day!!  But I lift him up and we read the stick together.  After four weeks of fun, I just change the activities in the icecream cone pockets.  It will fill our whole summer with fun.  And I think I want to make one for fall, winter, and spring too! 

I came up with activities based on ideas I wanted to do with my kiddos, easy and cheap summer fun, silly celebrations that already exist on that day (again thanks to Becky's list she gave me), and goals I want to accomplish.  For example, one day is called "Big Boy Bike Day" because I want my little guy to get a big boy bike and start practicing this summer!  Today was "Popsicle Day" and we made homemade popsicles together after lunch and enjoyed eating them after dinner!  Yummy!  You don't need a calendar to create a summer filled with special activities.  Just write down some ideas and start planning!  Your kiddos will love it!

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Garage Sale Find!

I love summer for many reasons...but one of my favorite reasons is because of garage sales!  The perfect Saturday morning to me is to get up, get dressed, get out of the houe, stop by the local bakery for some yummy breakfast and hit some big garage sales!  There's just something about being out in the sunshine, driving around, spending time with the kiddos, and finding treasures for our home with garage sale prices!  I love that!  So, here is my latest find that I had to share and I didn't have to do anything to these lamps.  They just fit in perfectly where I had envisioned them.  They were in perfect condition, the right color, super cute, and only cost me $5 for the set!  Woo hoo!

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Father's Day Gifts!

I love giving gifts but somehow this Father's Day crept up on me!  I came across all of these darling Father's Day ideas and was trying to narrow down what I wanted to do with the kiddos.  But I just realized that with the age of my kiddos, we are a bit young for making some of the cool gifts I came upon with daddy tokens, coupons, books, and more!  I've done the photos and photo books a bunch before.  So, I was looking for something cute but that doesn't take too much time, because let's face it...dads are men!  The adorable and meaningful stuff is much better suited for the mommies!!  I decided to do a little gift from each of my sweeties. 

My little buddy (who is three) is going to take daddy out for some fun tomorrow afternoon.  He is treating his daddy to a movie and some popcorn at the theatre.  They will be seeing "Toy Story 3" and he is quite excited to surprise my husband with this gift and take him out on a "daddy and son" date!  I am sure they will have a blast.  I threw in a new outfit to this gift, for an afternoon on the town!  And my husband rarely shops for new clothes, so this seemed like a good fit!

The gift from my baby girl seems kind of silly...coming from a baby!  But she has no idea and it's more of a gift from me.  But I made a cute label that read "You show me patience with my wine-ing and tears, You cuddle and comfort with with all of my silly fears.  Thank you for the many hugs and kisses, You're a daddy beyond all of my wishes!"  Inside the gift bag are a few new bottles of wine for some nice dinners and entertaining with friends.  I had to connect the wine to our baby girl somehow!! Hope you all have a wonderful weekend and have fun celebrating Dad's special day!

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How I Love a Chalkboard!

By now, you may notice that I just love things that are personalized or you can write on them.  I have lots of these little kinds of things around the house.  But one of my new favorite projects was  making my own chalkboard for our dining room.  And I love it!

It was so easy to do.  I wish I had taken a before picture for you, but I was impatient and once I start working on a project...I just get it done!  So, after moving into our home, I realized we had a few pictures and paintings that just didn't fit in.  There was no where to hang them that looked right.  So, I grabbed one of these large pictures and frames and decided to do some "repurposing" with it!  I layed it out on my driveway of course and got to work.  I covered the glass with newspaper and taped the edges and then I sprayed the frame with a creamy white color.  After it dried, I grabbed a can of chalkboard paint and rolled that over the glass.  Yes, you heard me...I rolled the paint right over the glass.  The picture disappeared and soon it looked like a chalkboard! 

After it was completely dry, I hung it in our dining room and added a cute message of course.  Now we are ready to entertain and I can change my little quote or saying whenever I feel like it.  It can become a menu for what we are eating that night, a welcome message, or just something sweet!  What have you used chalkboard paint on?  I would love to hear about your projects and ideas!

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My Memory Keepsake: Blog Turned into a Book!

So, for Friday I just had to pass along one of my new favorite things!  It arrived yesterday and I have been squeeling with delight ever since!  I have a family blog that I dedicate a little chunk of time to every week with updating photos and entries.  I love for our family and friends who are far away to know what is happening in the lives of our kiddos.  I enjoy writing down all of the sweet details.  And I hope it will be a wonderful memory keepsake for them someday as they browse through all of the photos and posts.  But that got me to thinking...do they need something more?  I don't have time to create a scrapbook every year AND spend time doing our family blog.  It just won't happen.  Also, it would feel like I was doing everything twice...picking out the same photos for both and documenting each event in a baby book and on our blog.  That's when I came across my new favorite thing.  And you can make one of your very own on this amazing site called Blurb.

Blurb took all of my blog posts from 2009 (I want a memory book from each year) and the corresponding photos and arranged them into a book format!  Can you hear me squeeling with delight???  I had about 180 posts from the year with tons of photos.  It put each post on its own page and I was able to choose the layout for each individual page, change the font and sizing, add a cute background, and play around with colors.  I also chose to make it in hardcover form.  I spent several hours making it "perfect" and then I hit the "order" button!  About a week later, my book arrived in the mail...and I am in love.  All the time and effort I put into my blog went right into this book.  I didn't need to recreate anything.  If you have a family blog that you would like to turn into a book form, I encourage you to check out this site.  You won't be sorry!  My poor kiddos are going to need a whole bookshelf dedicated to their keepsake books that they will someday take with them and show their own children.  How sweet to think that each little memory is now saved and cherished in these books!

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Organizing My Decorating, Crafty, & Entertainig Goodies!

I get asked a lot where I put all of my stuff!  And by stuff, I mean everything I decorate with seasonally.  All of my crafty items I use to create with.  All of my dishes for entertaining and supplies for parties.  Now that's a lot of stuff to organize!  So, there are three tools I use and recommend for anyone who is trying to get all of their "stuff" under control.  These three tools are:  shelving, bins, and labels.  I think that's my answer for any organizational need!  In our garage, the previous owner created a space for working at home and a sort of office to escape to.  Lucky me...it became my space!  My hubby was so sweet and when we first did a walk through of this home, he stepped out into the garage and said "Look, it's a room for your decorating and crafts!"  And he was right, it is the perfect room for these things.  I love having a space for ME!  Here's a look...

We purchased these great metal shelves to organize with.  I love baskets and boxes and so I had lots of them to use for organing and making a system for all of my goodies.  One of my favorite parts of this room are the bins I have for special celebrations and holidays like baby showers, birthdays, Easter, etc.  Each time I plan an event or host a party...I have these great "go to" boxes.  And my friends love to borrow them to.  It's so easy to stop by and ask for one of these bins to help them with a celebration.  That way all the labels, banners, signs, and more don't get lost but are enjoyed again and again! 

I love to "shop" in this room when I want to change things up or rearrange an area of our home.  It's also the place  I store all of my holiday decorations.  They are easy to see and find.  There is plenty of room to store them.  I love it!  I even have my sewing machine, cricut, and labeler out and ready to use wheneve I am in a "crafty" mood. 

Sometimes it's fun to organize and repurpose something when organizing.  I love the shower caddy and it's so helpful with paints, glues, and scissors.  The lazy susan is also fun with little containers of items I need...such as glue gun sticks.  You can never have too many of these!  I love how this space has a door I can close, to keep out dust and dirt.  But it also has a window to make it feel a bit more open and bright.  Let's face it, the room is not the best decorated room in our home but it is organized, useful, and it's MINE!  Do you have a space all for you in your home? 
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