Dirty Diet Dr. Pepper Recipe

 

Learned about this little recipe yesterday and had to try it.  

It did not disappoint.  

It was frothy, creamy, fizzy and filled with flavor. 

I'm already craving another one. 

Think about the possibilities:

Root-beer + cream = Root-beer float

Sprite + cherry + vanilla + cream = Cherry Italian Soda

Orange Fanta + cream = Creamcicle

Diet Coke + Lime + Cream = Yum

My friend told me she calls it a "French DDP".

I think I like that name better. 

What flavor would you make?

Jump

Happy July!
What we like to do around here to stay cool when it hits 122 degrees.

InstaFriday

 

Today is Insta-Friday!

Where I post pictures from the week that I captured from my phone.

Little everyday tidbits that come up that aren't planned.

Also, my sweet Aunt doesn't have instagram so this way she can stay up-to-date. ♥

I like to decorate my mantle for the different holidays. 

 It makes it seem less overwhelming to only have to decorate a small space.  

And my kids think I'm the greatest even though I'm cheating with very little effort.

 Last year I was in my favorite thrift store and I found the little drummer boy above.  

Is he not perfect?  I couldn't believe my luck!  

And he was all of $2.95

The magnet board is hanging over my couch.  It holds a lot of different things throughout the year.  

I just took all the graduation announcements off and put up the 4th of July freebie from pinterest.  

If you click HERE it will take you to endless 4th of July Printables.  

The space picture was painted with spray paint by Cassidy in art class.  It's pretty amazing.

After swimming all morning on Monday we took the kids to Iceburg

 for the biggest milkshakes you have ever seen!  

Word to the wise, only order the mini or you may be in trouble. 

 I love that our family lives close and that my kids can grow up near cousins. 

Our chickens are laying everyday.

We get lucky a lot with double yokers.

on Instagram you can click on #iseefaces

and it will show the most amazing photo's that people post of random everyday things with faces.

Try it.  You will be amazed.  

I did that with this photo because I saw a face.  

You can also click HERE on your computer to get a glimpse of some good ones.

Yesterday I was catching up on some computer work and it was Just Miss Abby at home.  

So she crafted and I worked and it was a win-win.

This is what she made.

Gumball necklaces.  

She used a small screwdriver to make the holes then used a large needle to feed the ribbon through.

She made several in different colors.  My favorite was the red, white & blue.

  

Go ahead join in.  

Go post your instapics over on Life Rearranged and make some new friends while your at it.

p.s. my instagram page is private but I would love to have you follow me.  

Don't be shy.  Follow me and I'll let you in. 

Summer Vacation #2

 Amberly jumping for joy to be in the ocean.

This summer we tried something new.  Maybe not new to other people but, very new to us.  Camping. We've only been on one overnighter as a family and it rained.  It wasn't bad, but it wasn't the best either.  This year we wanted to try camping at the beach.  We had heard for years how fun it was and I was desperate to get to the beach this summer so I signed us up.  Yes, me.  The non-camper signed us up.

And guess what?  We LOVED it with a capitol L!  Seriously one of the best vacations we've done.  in fact we were already planning our next camping adventure as we were driving home from this one.

 This girl (Miss Cassidy) would not get out of the water.  

She was in it from sun up to sun down.  I kid you not people.  

She was in heaven.

 I sat next to this handsome guy everyday.  We shared an umbrella and had matching beach chairs. 

 We brought a picnic to the beach everyday with snacks, drinks and lunch. 

 We didn't move from our post.  It was wonderful!

 Amberly didn't love boogie boarding as much as her sister but she spent her fair share of time in the water. 

 I didn't get in because it was too darn cold! 

 But I did get my feet wet, chased the waves, went for long walks, gathered smooth flat stones and shells, took a long nap, got really really tan and filled my heart with being at the beach.

 Amberly has the best Daddy.  He took her out in the water and didn't come in for hours. 

 Just him and her.

More beach pictures to come and a big thanks to our friends that made the trip so much fun!

Service with Smiles

Abby and her friend Britley did a little service for our neighbors.  At Activity Days (for our church) they gave them some ideas on how to show service to their neighbors.  The girls made cupcakes at Britley's house and took some over to her neighbors then came over to our house and made cookies.  I love how they ran all the way there and back excitement bursting from their little bodies. 

I got the free printable for the neighbor from HERE - Joy Ever After

Summer Trip #1

We hadn't planned on going anywhere this summer. 

 Pool time and summer movies was the only thing on our agenda.  

The closer it got to the 4th of July the more we wanted to get out of the hot desert air and go somewhere cool and with a parade.  We didn't see either but we did have a great time!

Cousin Mischa age 5

We went on long walks down country roads, had long talks with friends of old.  

Grandma came and played games for hours.  It was a heat wave, so glad we had power! 

We loved being away from real life.  The country is so peaceful and quiet.  

These pictures are all on Tom's brothers farm.  What a beautiful place to live♥

I love the history of the Midwest.  Everything in Arizona is new, new, new.   

I love that too.  

But there is something about seeing these old buildings and barns that have been around for 

100+ years that melt my heart.

The favorite thing from our trip was swimming in the pond out back.  

My kids loved it and I loved watching them.

Other things we did:

 

 We went through Oklahoma which Cassidy was thrilled about - since she was born there.

 My Dad's mothers maiden name was Hooker.  

I had to take a picture of this as we went through Kansas for two reasons: Why? And Why?

 We stopped in OZ in Liberal KS.  

They have Dorthy's house, a museum and if you blink as you are driving through the town you'll miss it. 

 (It's a very, very small town)

 

We met a biker guy named Jingles at a gas station and he gave Tom this bobcat hat.  

Yes,  Tom can make friends anywhere!

 

We played socks with Grandma and the cousins.  

She does "socks" so no little hands get hit with 'spoons".

We also, watched fireworks, lit fireworks, BBQ'd, went to dinner with friends, stayed up way too late, melted in the humility, went swimming in ponds and pools, antique shopped, grocery shopped, went to an Amish auction, ate ice cream, organized, and overall had a lot of fun.

Summer Is Over

Summer is officially over.  Our pool is too cold to swim in.  I guess the middle of October is a reasonable time for the pool to cool off but man will my girls (and their Mama)

miss all the swimming fun that goes on around here.

Abby and Emma jumping in the pool.  

You can tell by Abby's face that her toes have touched the freezing water.

Once you are in I guess it's swimmable.  I mean it was 98 degrees outside...I should be swimmable!

 Cass didn't last very long in the pool and I personally don't blame her. 

I'm cold in the pool in July let alone October.

Family is the Best

Last night we had a family party over here for my brother Matt.  It was his birthday and we went all out with strawberry shortcake and Just Dance on the Wii.  Yep, my brothers humored me and all four of us danced our hearts out.  Well, I danced my heart out..they went along with it.  They love me a lot because if you could have seen their faces you could tell that there is no.way.in.heck they would dance for just anyone♥  My cousin Amy came over too and her husband showed everyone up in the dance department.  I told them I see a Wii under their Christmas tree this year!

As the party got rolling it got hotter and hotter in here.  I thought I was having hot flashes and I locked the kids outside because the back door kept getting left open.  We kept turning the A/C down but it didn't help.  What a night for the A/C to go out.  Luckily we were able to sleep with the windows open and it wasn't too bad.  The guy is here now fixing us up.

I gave all my brothers this picture from our last family party.  I put the kids in age order and it's so fun to see the different heights.  My brother Kurt's kids are the shorties  (he will kill me if he knew I said that) who are also standing on their tip-toes.

Mine are the two girls in polka dots.  Love Abby's no teeth.  

I'm sure going to be sad when her teeth come in.

I love how these cousins are all so close in age, live close to each other and see one another often.  I grew up with no family around and it was always a dream of mine to have family everywhere for my kids.  And we do!  Both sides and plenty of cousins to romp around with.  My dream has come true and I'm so very grateful for that.

 (credit-pinterest)

Summer Fun Ideas and More

I'm behind on my blogging.
Summer has taken up A LOT of my time!
We have been having fun though. We got our summer fun schedule all planned out and the girls are VERY excited about it! So am I to tell you the truth. I didn't plan anything for summer because I know it would fill up fast. I am sad I didn't do dive team but.........truthfully I didn't want to do it everyday! If it was 2-3 days a week I think I would have been more apt to sign the girls up. They are great divers!

We have already signed up for the Summer Reading Program through our local library. We did this last year and the girls had so much fun getting their prizes each week. (who knew little trinkets could be so motivating?) We also went and saw UP on Friday then went swimming. (and spent 4 hours planning the summer!)

Here's what we have going on in no particular order.
(we did organize it but due to the privacy of my girls I am going to be vague)

Summer Fun Schedule
(for those of you that have been asking for ideas!)

1. Roller Skating - we do this every year and it's a HIT! Boys and girls if you can believe it!
2. Bowling - fun for all ages! I just love to see the Little's try and bowl and the biggies get all competitive!
3. The Zoo - it will be HOT but that's o.k. This was Abby's pick!
4. Amazing Jakes - this is an amazing place and we tend to stay for lunch and dinner because the kids are soooo entertained! (plus it's a tad spendy so we want to make sure we get our money's worth!)
5. Two different local museums. I will be checking out the free passes at my local library! If you haven't heard - you can reserve passes to your local museums for FREE! I'll post details later.
6. We are going to a water park at night and inviting the Dad's! I think this will be our funnest activity of the summer! After we expend all our energy we are going to Denny's for a midnight breakfast! Doesn't that sound like so much fun!!!!!!!! (plus it's cheaper to go at night)
7. Swimming lots and lots of swimming! Here, there and everywhere. It's the only way to stay cool when it's over 110 all summer long!
8. We are trying to plan a quick Utah trip. Don't know if it will happen but would sure be fun if it did!

We had a very long list of fun activities we could have done but only had 9 Fridays on the calendar. So Sad!!! We might have to add a few more things on different days to fill the endless time we seem to have on some of the more boring days!

I have also set up a Cousin Day on Wednesdays with my family and Mondays with Tom's family. This way the cousins can get together and play and spend time together. It's so nice to have family so close. I consider this a HUGE blessing! I grew up with no family around so I love that my kids have a TON of cousins to play with.

Hopefully with all this fun my girls will be motivated to get their daily jobs and reading done. So far so good. I also have netflix for our movies and hopefully will get a new trampoline this week! We have been so lost without it (it died) and it's only been a week!!! My kids live on that thing!!!! However - the girls bought Hula-Hoops with their own money last week and that sure has kept them busy!!!! I didn't know you could do so many tricks with a hula-hoop! Did you know that Abby can walk across the house while keeping the hula-hoop going? And Cassidy can spin in a complete circle over and over while her hula-hoop keeps going too? Amazing!!! I'll have to take a little video clip and post it (I know how now to do it).

I'm off now to get some cleaning and laundry done. I'll post more of our adventures we have been having soon!

Here are the links to the free passes from the library. This is NOT just for AZ - it's going on all through the USA so check it out where you live!

Free Passes around town

Cultural Pass Info

What are some fun things you are doing this summer?