Fall Bucket List 2016

As a mom of three I am always looking for ways to have fun, to spend time as a family and NOT spend a small fortune in doing so. 

With our girls growing up faster than I like I thought this fall season I would try something a little different to accomplish those three factors. 

As you all may know I am sorta in love with two things... Fall and Pinterest. 

While wasting time browsing on pinterest recently I have seen TONS of seasonal bucket lists and I got to thinking...

So this morning I decided fuck it and threw together our first ever Fall Bucket list!

I kept the list to about 20 activities and tried to make sure theta they were all something everyone would enjoy and if not everyone the majority of us with as little bitching and complaining as possible... which in this house with teens is a task...

So with out further ado here is our 2016 Fall Bucket List! 

I will be sure to document and keep you all posted about this :) I am kinda hoping it goes over well and we can do one for each season. 

Are you a bucket list kinda person? 

 

10 Ways We Are Beating the Summer Heat in Central Arkansas

With summer in full swing and the temperatures rising we have been finding ways to cool off this summer!

June and July are usually our "coolest" months here in Arkansas but with the heat index already reaching 105+ I sit here and wonder what August will bring.

Luckily we have found a few tricks and treats to beat the summer heat and ALWAYS looking for more...

Here is what we have so far this summer.

1: Swimming!

Because it takes a REAL genius to figure that one out :) 

Here in Central Arkansas you have a TON of great swimming places to choose from ranging from FREE to a few bucks a head and you can't beat that! 

 

One of our favorite places is the Saline River.

It is close to home for us and free! 

The kids and the hubby always enjoy it but to be honest I am not a huge fan of river water. Guess its the Cali girl in me but my Southern babies love it. 

A few downfalls is when it storms the river is easily flooded and damaged so unless you have a 4x4 and maybe a death wish this may not be for you.

 

 

We have also fell in LOVE with Lake Catherine State Park this year. 

Between the swimming "beach" and the trails we tend to find ourselves there on the weekends soaking in the sun and taking a dip in the lake to cool off. 

Warning... get there early or the beach will be crowded, but all the same a great day to be had :)

 

We personally don't have a swimming pool... yet... but we are very blessed to have some friends who do. 

They have invited us over a few times for the day to hang out, have a few drinks and par take in the enjoyment of their pool. Granted we have not been once where my hubby has not thought it would a splash to throw me in... 

Now if these places aren't for you that's ok here are a few ideas for you to run with!

Local splash pads!

We have one walking distance from us at Tyndall Park but I personally think that our youngest who is 9 is a bit big for this area though I have seen grown adults enjoying the pad. There are also several scattered between us and up into Little Rock :)

Public Swimming Pools

There is a great one not to far from us at Mills Park we went a few times last year but they went up on prices this year and since I am not working right now we are trying to conserve money. You can also check out other places and parks plus even hotels in the area will allow you to pay to swim for the day! 

2: Ice Cream

Because we all SCREAM for ice cream and lets face it who doesn't LOVE ice cream?!

We are HUGE Sonic ice cream fans and I since I am signed up for the text deals they have I get the scoop on all the promos they have! Which you can't beat! 

 

One of my personal favorites though is Gary's Sling Blade Diner. 

It is another home town favorite here in Benton. The diner was the diner in the movie "Sling Blade" staring Billy Bob Thorton and a HUGE local fav! 

Their ice cream is amazing and the prices are too!

3: Shaved Ice aka Sno Cones
Because no matter your age who doesn't LOVE a sno cone!
Here there is NO competition on where to go and that is over to Hobo Joes!  
There are well over 50+ flavors and the prices are hard to beat!
We have been SEVERAL times this summer and I might have a new obsession!

4: Iced Coffees
I love coffee... my girls love coffee... my husband does not... weirdo!
But that doesn't stop us girls from enjoying this amazing iced treat right here at home!
I happen to have 5 years as a certified barista under my belt of "talents" and it pays off here at home. The girls love that I can make "fancy" drinks and lets be honest so does this mamma :)

6: Make Overs 
What girl doesn't love a make over!
Me and my youngest has spent a few days relaxing at home  doing our toes, nails, make up and face masks. This is a great way to bond and always fun!

7: Cold Drinks
Ok so we ALL know Summer = Beer but I personally think Summer=Cold Refreshing drinks no matter the alcohol content.
Don't get me wrong I do LOVE a good beer, wine, liquor etc. but I have kids too ya know :)
SO anything from an iced tea to a Mikes hard lemonade you can't go wrong with lots of ice plus you need to stay hydrated right?  

7: Gatherings with Friends
There is nothing like spending time with some amazing friends!
We have been very blessed this summer and have got to hang out with some very good friends so far!
On the 4th we went and sepent the day with my god father and his work crew (which is my hubby's work crew also) and enjoyed every minute of it!
I love that my husbands job has brought so many wonderful people into our lives these last few years!

8: Exploring your town!
 Yesterday I posted where we had spent the weekend exploring new places.
Though I have not posted EVERY time we have done this (maybe I should?) we do it often.
We are always checking out things and visiting our favorite spaces :)
Check out yesterdays post for more information.

9: The Good Ol Water Hose!

 

With today's world I have noticed that things move faster and faster and there is less time enjoying the simple things for example the water hose...

I woke up one Saturday morning around 8 to an empty house... I went outside to see if my husband had left to find him and our youngest out washing the cars (another great way to beat the heat!) But when I looked at my daughter she was more wet than the cars daddy was washing! LOL 

I love moments like this where I see my girls taking in the old school techniques that we did as kids too. You can even find her in the sprinkler once in a while too or building forts in the house :)

10: Movies/TV
Though I would not say we are HUGE TV watchers we have come to find two shows that we might or might not schedule our lives around if possible :)
Monday nights you can find us on the couch watching America Ninja Warrior... I am not sure to be honest why we are so addicted but we are and we love that is is something ALL of us will watch!

 Now on Tuesday and Wednesday nights we are ALL about some AGT!
This is the first season where we have watched it from the beginning episode and we are hooked! So hooked that someone in this house (wanna guess who?!) even downloaded the app for the live shows!
There are so many talented people on this season and I am on the edge of my seat this week as tonight is the last of Judges Cuts! EEEKKK

 

Wednesday nights me and the youngest stay up and watch The Night Shift 

(daddy usually bails on us and goes to bed...party poop-per)

we love this show! It kind of reminds me of ER which I LOVED back in the day and I am very sympathetic to overnight workers since I personally worked the grave yard shift before. 

I also love that it is something me and the girls can watch together :)  

 

Though we are NOT TV people we are however movie people!

Though we do not usually go to theaters we do how ever rent or buy movies like a maniac! Movies are our go too!

Here are a few that we have seen and both are worth it just so you know :) 

Trust me when I say we have seen more but I can't remember all of them PLUS I don't want to bore you :)

 How are you beating this summer's heat?

Life Lately

To say that life here has been a little chaotic would be an UNDERSTATEMENT of a lifetime.

We have had so much going on and so fast I have not had the time to take even a few minutes to stop by and say "Hi" to all my readers!

There is SOOOO much to catch you guys up on and I hope that I will get better on doing JUST THAT!

So here is a quick review on whats been happening and some more detailed posts for you all to look forward too!

Life for this mamma has been crazy! 

I will share with you all a detailed post with a behind the scenes look into a typical day as a mom, wife, blogger, photographer and an overnight worker...

As for the girls they have finished another school year and summer has officially started! 

I will catch you all u on some of the fun things the girls got to do in school, what next year is looking like for us and much more!

We have celebrated two of the girls' birthdays this spring making the oldest now 14 and the "baby" 9!

It is still hard to grasp this concept for me and I wish with time it got easier but i would totally be lying my ass off.

I will be sharing with you guys their parties because if you know me personally then you know this is ALWAYS a HUGE deal for me and we go all out each year for them! 

We have also had a few Operation Brace Face updates you wont want to miss and of course there is some Metal Mouth Madness ones in there too! If you haven;t been following either series check them out here and here.

I have also found some more GOT to have apps and I will be resuming my App-y Friday series this next week with apps that earn or save you some money. As a mom you wont want to miss this! 

I hope you all have an amazing week! 

See you soon!

Eat My Catfish

In yesterday's blog  I had mentioned that while we were out on our walk Sunday afternoon we stopped and finally tried a local restaurant called Eat My Catfish. If you are a Benton native then you know that this is a staple to the community and a must for your dinning pleasure... of course we are a bit slow and after 4 and a half here's here we jumped on the band wagon and checked it off on your "Benton Bucket List" and grabbed a bite to eat.

Ant is not the type to "throw" away money on new places and he is very "classic" when it comes to food selection... I call it picky of course... I on the other hand LOVE to try new places and foods so it takes a bit of convincing to get the hubby on board for food adventures and we finally got him to say yes!

 We all ordered something different:

Dakota and Aaliyah got their catfish and Alora snagged the crawfish...

Ant ordered the chicken fingers (see classic) and I tried their shrimp.

 Excuse the girls faces in the pictures... they were ALL about their food...

We were very pleased with their food and the portions that were served.

Plus we all sampled from each others plates and towards the end of the meal I think Aaliyah and Dakota ate more of Alora's crawfish then she did. 

Crawfish was the conversation piece for the rest of the day. 

Anthony and I were pleased with the price and we spent less than $40 for the whole deal and that was great considering we have a family of 5. 

If you are local you should check out their Facebook page.

If I was a food critic I would give them a 5 out of 5 and we will be back for sure. If you are a local you need to check it out if you haven't already!

Our Weekend Recap

For once it looks like that rodent was right and spring will be early this year. We have had some beautiful days here lately and the fact that we have only had one snow day this winter I am a happy camper.

 This weekend's weather was perfect and thanks to mother nature's kindness we were able to get some time outside and spend some quality family time, since soon I will be venturing back to the overnight working world.

 Saturday after the hubby got home from work we got out and about to so our usual Saturday errands and made a stop at our local Hasting's.

We are a sucker for good movies not only as an at home date night but also as quality time with our girls.

Hasting's always has great deals on used movies and they even to this day offer the old school "video" rental that we are known to take advantage of on a regular basis. 

This weekend was no exception as we rented Black Mass and The 33 plus we snagged The Iron Giant and the 2013  version of Godzilla to add to our collection and only spent a whole $4 on both!

I don't know why but for some odd reason we always tend to watch the movies we buy first versus the rentals and there was no exception to the unwritten "law", because the rest of the evening was kicking back at home and watching Godzilla and then The Iron Giant...

On Sunday the hubby and I got up and deep cleaned the house. This has came to be a routine around here and it is nice that we spend one day as a family to get together and clean. Though I maintain the house during the week it is usually just that maintaining but the deep cleaning always gets put on the back burner with things that happen though out the day. 

After we got the house cleaned we rounded up our girls and took about a 3 mile walk around town. Of course us girls suckered Ant to treat us to lunch on our adventure and we finally tried a local favorite called "Eat My Catfish". I will share more about our experience there this week. 

After we filled our bellies we drug ourselves home and spent the afternoon watching the kids play in the yard and starting working on our over flowing  burn pile... 

As the afternoon became cooler we came in doors had dinner and  the hubby and I sat down to enjoy one of the rentals and opted that Black Mass had to be the first must watch! 

If you are a Johnny Depp fan this is one not to miss. His skills awe me in every movie he has been in and this one did not disappoint. 

This is going to be a busy week for us but I plan on not forgetting you guys :) 

See you soon! 

Turning a HOUSE into OUR HOME ; The Yard: Phase One

One thing I REALLY love about our place is that we can do what we want to make it fit our style, needs and most importantly make it our own... 

We have SEVERAL projects started here and there but a lot of the things that we are doing now is "blank canvasing" areas that we will re do when we have more time and money. 

The weekend before that is a perfect example...

When we moved in the yard has some MAJOR greenery and though it is beautiful they were all untainted, overgrown and honestly I didn't really like them... 

I have always had the theory when it comes to yards that less is more.

BUT here is the kicker...

I am not in charge of the yard and how it looks lol

When the hubby and I met we agreed the inside was mine to decorate, have final say etc and outside, garages, building etc were for him to have the same...

Front of the house before.... 

I did convince him some how to pull ALL of that greenery up and it came to look something like this...

Not only does the house not only look bigger but it had already helped with the yard looking cleaner in it's self! 

We have not came up with an official plan for this area but I think a beautiful porch or deck would be amazing... hmmmm...

What I REALLY love though about projects like these though is that everyone gets involved! 

And when I mean everyone I do mean everyone! 

Even our little wolf pack came by and helped! 

You will meet them tomorrow :)

There has been a lot of cleaning up in the yard and there is still SO MUCH MORE to do! 

Stay tuned :)

And the Theme Is...

If you stay and hang out with us here on the blog for any length of time you will come to find out several things about me.

#1: Birthdays in this house is a HUGE deal!

#2: I plan for these things WAY in advance...

Perfect example... I have the theme picked out for 2 of my daughter's sweet 16's ALREADY!

#3:  I tend to go OVER THE TOP for them and I REALLY don't care...

Growing up I was taught that each year you are given on this earth is a gift. A gift from God and should be celebrated. As a mom I couldn't thank my grandmother enough for giving me this knowledge to show and share with my children just how important their lives are not only to God but to me. This is one of the things that I hope they will pick up on and continue on one day with their own children. 

ANYWAYS...

As you may have guessed I have already been brain storming what the 2016 birthday parties will bring us and I can tell you that we are SET with themes for my three girls and I am EXCITED! 

Plus since my sister and her kids are here we get  more to plan and that makes me even HAPPIER and we are one shy of having them worked out. Once we do I will share them also. 

So without further ado...

Here are our birthday party themes this year!

HORROR MOVIES:

 My oldest turns 14 in March and to be honest I am SCARED TO DEATH! 

I think it is really the number that gets me but the knowledge of knowing the things that I did at 14 worries me too but that is another story we WON'T be going into :) but either way I am fearful. A TON has changed in a year and she is no longer Mommy's "baby" but a young woman and recently that fact hits harder and HARDER each passing day...

Dakota chose her party theme this year since I said no horror movies til she was 14 and she thought it would be great to make it a BIG deal and use her birthday party to do so.

Since I am SCARED to death of her growing up it fit well for us both. 

I am not a horror movie fan these days and refuse to watch them anymore but it is HER day and I am REALLY EXCITED to do this one...

GHOSTBUSTERS:

My youngest Aaliyah will be 9 in April and I am really unsure why she decided on this one but since I was a ghostbuster fan as a kid myself you can say I am kinda proud...

She has never picked a simple party for mommy so I love the challenge she gives me every year for her big day!

The hubby's bday is also the day before her so when she picks a unisex party like this it is easier for mommy to feel a little less guilty that daddy got the shitty deal of a birthday party that is well peacock themed like last years... 

I am grateful he is a good sport about these themes because LORD knows it takes a strong man to embrace pink, fairies, Minnie Mouse and peacocks as a birthday themes...

BONFIRE:

Alora ends our birthdays for the year in September and this year she graduates from the tween status and graduates to being a TEEN...

YES THAT IS 2 TEENAGE GIRLS IN MY HOUSE!!!!

Since her birthday is in the fall she opted for a bonfire themed party... 

and since we ALL LOVE bonfires you know I am game!

Ideas are running 90 to nothing in my brain and I am keep having to think about I still have A MILLION other things to worry about first.... 

Speaking of birthdays this weekend we get to celebrate my youngest nieces birthday with her Frozen aka Elsa Party! 

Stay tuned for more updates!

Which party are you most excited to hear more about?

 

Ringing in 2016!

Well 2015 ended and 2016 began with a bang! 

Our New Years Eve "party" turned into a straight out PARTY that I am sure our kids will not forget for a few years to come...

 Only problem is  now I am unsure how to top this one...

hmmmm...

 There's no better way to end a year and start a new one than with family and our babies... we held a straight out party! We partied hard... had 3 pass out early, one throw up, 3 party crashers that hung out for a while, a fight, drama, drinks spilled, danced in the new year and laughed the night away... 

Earlier in the week I sat down and threw together activities for the kids and placed them in paper bags with times on them. 

Each kid got to draw one activity and they varied from dressing up to doing a craft. 

This years craft was making memory jars!

Each kid got to make a jar to keep their favorite memories of 2016 in and they loved this idea!

We also did make overs, wrote down our favorite memories of 2015 and of course shared our resolutions for 2016...

This is one of my favorite activities for several reasons...

1. Some are REALLY funny "resolutions" 

2. It is SO cute to listen to the kids from the different ages come up with their ideas... 

They are as follows:

Dakota 13:

Try New Foods, Wear more dresses, Dye her hair and try a new hair style 

Ashton 12: 

No pictures taken for the year, to dye his hair, and be a vegetarian for 6 months... at first he said vegan but his tone changed quickly when we said no cheese :)  

Summer 9:

Go mud riding, play soccer, and own a horse

Riley 12:

Not to be "fat"... not sure WHY this is an issue at this age! UGH!

Write more music

Get good grades

Alora 12: 

Play softball at her best ability

Raelyn 11:

Work on anger

Work on softball skills

Aaliyah 8:

Hang out with Ashton more

Eat meat only... smh...

Kara 7:

Pet a goat...

Lanie 9:

Get better grades

Crystal 33:

Get her GED

Start culinary art school

Get a place and ride

Anthony 31:

Well the hubby is STILL anti-resolution.... 

maybe ONE year this will change... 

Sandra 31: 

If you missed mine on Friday you can find them here

Our Party Crowd!

The youngest party animal :)

Of course the day and night was filled with food galore that my sister and I threw together for the kids to snack on through out the party.

 and once we hit the dance party stage of the evening it was on! 

I threw together a play list on Spotify and used Alora's bluetooth light up speaker to set the mood. We gave the kids the living room area, turned off the lights and let them dance the night away while the adults hung out in the kitchen chatting and enjoying some wine. 

At midnight the kids enjoyed their "wine" aka sparking cider and their midnight "kisses"

Of course we got a few "awww that's gross" remarks when I did get an actual midnight kiss from the hubby... got to love kids...

After they toasted and "kissed" away I sent them out the door with noise makers and for a running lap around the house...

They took A lap into like 20 but whatever :) 

Three of the kids didn't make it to the count down and we found them either like this...

Or in a random bed in the house. 

We had one get sick and throw up...

We had 3 kids show up we didn't know...

and I had red solo cups and paper plates scattered through out the house...

We ended the kids party with a sleep over and a movie and us adults stayed up drinking, having music wars and chatting... The party stopped when my sister's 2 year old told her it was time for bed at 5 am...

Dang party pooper!