That Friday Blog Hop {96}

Welcome to That Friday Blog Hop.

With your hosts: Rebecca @ xoxo Rebecca | Chrissy @ A Lil' Dash Of Diva |
Tiffany @ Life Of A Lost Muse
Hop around, have fun, and find lots of fun blogs to enjoy!

 

  

Click on the “Follow on Bloglovin” buttons above to follow each host

So here is what we ask from all of you lovely people.

1. Follow the three hosts
2. Follow the week's special co-host
3. Grab the button, share it everywhere to spread the word Tweet

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Our co-host this week is Nicole from Pharr Away. Stop by her blog and show her some love! You can find her blog by clicking on her button below. Don't forget to leave a comment there as well. Everyone loves a wonderful comment!

So link up all your social networks and have a wonderful Friday and weekend!

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DIY Kid's Jello Play-doh

The original recipe I found for this on Pinterest was a bit confusing. And I thought it was just me not reading things right. As I read through the comments, I was happy to find I was not alone. Many people were confused because the original pinner left out a few important steps. So I finally saw someone posted their version and it helped me out a lot. So now I am going to share it with you.

My daughter and I did this yesterday together. She had a lot of fun helping out and pouring the ingredients together. So here is our step-by-step process on how to make your own.

Step One

Measure out all the ingredients and pour them into a mixing bowl & mix together until well mixed. There should be no lumps and it should look shiny.

Step Two

Heat the stove burner to low heat and pour the mixture into a non-stick pot with high sides and place on the burner, stiring occasionally for about 15-20 mins.

Step Three

After mixing for about 15-20 mins, the mixture will start to clump up and ball. Make sure you are stiring constantly now as Jello tends to burn.

Step Four

Once the mixture looks done, place onto wax paper to cool. {I couldn't find our wax paper so I tried foil instead. It seemed to work ok}. Once the play-doh has cooled down, add flour to it and start kneading it. I noticed I needed a lot of flour for this step as mine was still sticky. So I just used a lot of flour until I could form a ball that was a "play-doh" consistency and not sticky. Then store the play-doh into a container so it won't dry out.

Step Five

Once your child is ready to play, take it out and let them go at it. My daughter loves this stuff and it stays very squishy and has a nice scent to it as well since it was cherry jello we used.

Note: You can do this with each flavor of jello you would like to. Or you could use unflavored gelatin and just add food coloring to the batch as well for an unscented dough. We bought three more boxes and so we will be making blue, green, and yellow as well. 

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Wordless Wednesday - Park

Swinging by herself at the park

Giggles in the stroller

First time in the swings

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Happy Mother's Day

Today is a day celebrated to so many women out there. And of course, that's because today is Mother's Day! So happy momma's day to all you wonderful mothers out there. Here's a card from me to you:

   

 And no Mother's Day would be complete without knowing what your child{ren} think of you. So I found out just what my daughter has to say about me:

 

I really love it when my mom plays with me {awww...that's so sweet}

My mom likes to wear dresses {yes I do!}

My mom always tells me don't play with glass {LOL I probably have before but I don't think I say this all the time}

The best thing she does is go on her computer {this kind of breaks my heart cause I do a lot with her. I was hoping she would say play games or color. I guess she sees me on the computer while she is playing but still, it's not the best thing I do}

It makes her happy when I behave {yes it does. We value discipline but everything she does makes me happy}

My mom loves to relax by laying down {yes, I love to be able to sleep when I can}

I like it when she makes cake {yes, we love to bake. Though I don't eat cake, we have fun mixing the ingredients and decorating stuff together}

The best thing she cooks is she doesn't like to cook {LOL this child knows me on this too well...it's amazing I even know where the kitchen is. I hate cooking. Baking is one thing, but cooking...nope can't and won't. That's the husband's job}

When my mom shops she likes to buy strawberries {yes, we are a big strawberry loving family}

My mom's favorite household chore is laundry {LOL uh no...but I guess I'm glad she didn't say cleaning the toilet}

My mom's favorite TV show is HouseSwap {hmmm...I don't even know what that is LOL....I'm kind of shocked since she hates when I say I have to watch either Kitchen Nightmares or Ghost Adventures  Those are my two fav shows right now}

If she could go on a trip, she would go to the beach {I could live on the sand next to the ocean waves and  be happy for the rest of my life. The beach is my favorite place to be}

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That Friday Blog Hop {95}

Welcome to That Friday Blog Hop.

With your hosts: Rebecca @ xoxo Rebecca | Chrissy @ A Lil' Dash Of Diva |
Tiffany @ Life Of A Lost Muse
Hop around, have fun, and find lots of fun blogs to enjoy!

 

  

Click on the “Follow on Bloglovin” buttons above to follow each host

So here is what we ask from all of you lovely people.

1. Follow the three hosts
2. Follow the week's special co-host
3. Grab the button, share it everywhere to spread the word Tweet

<a href="http://www.xoxorebecca.com/search/label/That%20Friday%20Blog%20Hop" target="_blank"><img alt="xoxo Rebecca" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v324/satinxoxo/blog%20buttons/ThatFridayBlogHop21.png"/></a>

Our co-host this week is Kalyn from Love. Laughter. Happily Ever After. Stop by her blog and show her some love! You can find her blog by clicking on her button below. Don't forget to leave a comment there as well. Everyone loves a wonderful comment!

So link up all your social networks and have a wonderful Friday and weekend!

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Mary, Mary How Does Your Garden Grow?

We finally did it! After years of talking about it, we finally started a garden. It wasn't because we just never started...living in an apartment, well, it kind of makes it difficult to grow things. But now at my parents house, we have a huge yard that we can use for growing our own veggies and fruits.

We looked for a while and finally found some great non-GMO seeds to use and plant. We decided to buy a big variety of every seed we could find that we would enjoy. 

We planted them in the greenhouse with one of my brother's crops and let the waiting period begin!

We only planted what would fit in the greenhouse. Some crops needed over a few feet of space and so we are saving those for when we redo my dad's garden. We plan on having a pretty big chunk of the yard for our crops and so I'm really excited to see if these are going to grow right.

Our mini greenhouse

The pathway inside

The veggies we planted {marked easily by popsicle sticks}

We pulled out the weeds after I shot the photos

My brother's spearmint leaves and my mom's orange tree is starting to sprout

So we are really excited and can't wait to see these start to grow into real food. We bought about 20 different seeds. It is a great feeling to be able to grow your own food and keep away from the GMO crops. I'm sure I will be updating when they start looking like real food. Fingers crossed they start growing! My mom and brother have a head start on us!!!

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Aloha! It's Been A While

Greetings!!! Did you miss me? I know it's been a while. The reason is we have moved!!!! Yes, it took a long 25 hours to drive halfway across the country with three adults, two children, one kitty, and huge moving truck and two cars. But we did it! It was a long trip. We had to stop so frequently because of lots of potty breaks, poopy diapers, kitty walking around, and food and gas breaks. But we managed.

I didn't want to stay away so long but it's been rough getting things in order. Our first day here we really missed Florida. We went from 90 degree weather to snow flurries. That was really crazy. The cold just killed us. I am going to have to get used to living up in the mid-west again and no more sunny beaches and sand time.

It's actually a bit warmer today. So that's nice. More like Florida weather without all the crazy humidity. We are currently living back in my parents house for the time being and have been searching today for our own place. We found one we like and I hope we can get it. It's been a bit stressful with all of us under one roof. My parents are pretty stressed out/high strung people and so there has been some tension. We are more laid back and so lots of nagging and stuff has been going on. But we have been trying to make it work. It hasn't even been a week yet and I'm already very irritated. I really wish we could just move into our own place right now. The place we found isn't available til August and I don't know how much longer anyone can hold their sanity. Something will work out though.

My parents decorated my brother's old bedroom and bathroom into a room for my daughter. They put some of my old paintings and my old 'Nsync dolls and things in there on the walls. But it's all now Monster High {which is her favorite}. I think my mom did a good job. Here is the bedroom:

We are still moving things around and unpacking so some stuff is out of order, but you see how it's supposed to be. And here is the bathroom:

So I am trying hard to get back into blogging. Time seems to run short and so does my patience lately. We will see though. Hopefully I can make it without going crazy. I have some things we have been working on I'm excited to share with you all. Until next time.... aloha!

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That Friday Blog Hop {94}

Welcome to That Friday Blog Hop.

With your hosts: Rebecca @ xoxo Rebecca | Chrissy @ A Lil' Dash Of Diva |
Tiffany @ Life Of A Lost Muse
Hop around, have fun, and find lots of fun blogs to enjoy!

 

  

Click on the “Follow on Bloglovin” buttons above to follow each host

So here is what we ask from all of you lovely people.

1. Follow the three hosts
2. Follow the week's special co-host
3. Grab the button, share it everywhere to spread the word Tweet

<a href="http://to-calm-insanity.blogspot.com" target="_blank"><img alt="Let Them Eat Cake" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v324/satinxoxo/blog%20buttons/ThatFridayBlogHop21.png"/></a>

Our co-host this week is Lauren from Simply Free Stop by her blog and show her some love! You can find her blog by clicking on her button below. Don't forget to leave a comment there as well. We all love comment love!

So link up all your social networks and have a wonderful Friday and weekend!

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Guest Post {Homemade Wheat Thins Recipe}

Hi, I'm Jo! I blog at Jo, My Gosh! I am so excited to be guest posting on Rebecca's blog today! I'm a 20-something fiance of a sailor who is serving a year-long deployment to Afghanistan. I write about care packages, crafts, recipes, wedding planning, and everything in between. I'd love for you to come along for the ride! Today I've got a tried-and-true recipe for you!

Every once and a while, Pinterest makes me want to be super, duper healthy. Usually, I like to ignore how many chemicals and preservatives are in my food, but dang it, Pinterest-- you always show a perfectly-timed pin of a horrifying statistic or thought about how my food is slowly killing me. Not that I eat that many Wheat Thins to begin with, but John had just asked me to send him some boxes of them. Currently, he's a captive taste-tester (I think he'd eat homemade glass if I sent it to him), I thought it'd be a perfect time to try out a recipe for homemade Wheat Thins.

While the texture of the crackers is not exactly like Wheat Thins, the taste is pretty close. Try them for yourself and see what you think!

This is not my recipe; however, with so many Pinterest recipes, they need a little tweaking (which you can read below).  If you'd like to see the original recipe, visit Green Life Pages.

You'll Need:

• 1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour (I ended up using about 2 cups total. The dough was originally too sticky to roll and cut.)
• 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon paprika
• 4 tablespoons  butter
• 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp water (or a tiny bit more if dough is too dry)
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 F.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients.
3. Cut  butter into the flour mixture.  Mix together the water and vanilla and then pour into the flour mixture. Stir.
4. If dough is sticky, add 1/4 of a cup of flour and mix. Continue adding a 1/4 cup of flour until the dough is able to be rolled out with a floured rolling pin. 
5. Roll the dough as thin as possible (The thinner, the crisper the cracker.) Cut with either a pizza wheel or cookie cutters.  Sprinkle with salt and place onto cookie sheets.
6. Bake for 8-10 minutes. (If you want a hard, crispy cracker, don't be afraid to let the crackers brown a little longer than you would cookies.)

And there you go! I stored these puppies in an air-tight container and sent them to John with Trader Joe's bruschetta mix and salsa, but you can definitely munch on them without any spreads or condiments!

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