4th of July Subway art

I have been to several peoples homes that had great subway art that they changed out for the seasons and holidays. I thought that they were such a cute idea and figured I could make some of my own to display at the house. My first attempt was quite sad but then I found this great tutorial over at I Am Momma Hear me Roar using Picnik.  It took a bit of playing to figure it out but this time around it worked much better!

The first one I did was a 5x7



The second one I can not take total credit for I found a free printable on the web and I apologize as i did not save the link to give proper credit. I could not get it to print to the size I wanted so I used the layout and made some changes to the fonts and words to get what you see below.

Fourth of July Craft

Recently I have started to change out some decor with seasons or holidays, and decided it was time to bring out the 4th of July stuff. I saw this cute idea over at eighteen25 for framed letters and decided to give it a try. They used wooden letters for theirs but I decided to use glitter card stock for mine.

I started with wooden 5x7 frames from Michael's and painted them white.

Then I found a font that I like on the computer and blew it up to a size that fit the frame then printed them and cut them out to use as a pattern. I traced the letters on the back side of the red glitter card stock (be sure to trace the letters backwards so it will be the correct direction when you cut the letters out),and cut them out.

I glued the letters to a printed background and then put them in the frames.

Tomato Salad

I love tomatoes especially fresh ones in the summer. Unfortunately my husband hates tomatoes so I don't eat them all that often. This also means that I definitely don't grow any since there is no way I would be able to eat them all myself . I have been craving a tomato salad lately so I decided to make a huge batch just for me to enjoy and it was delish!

1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar

1/4 tsp sugar

5 large tomatoes

1 medium sweet onion

5 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1 Tbsp Basil

1/4c reduced fat feta cheese crumbles

Salt to taste

Pepper to taste

Whisk the balsamic vinegar, olive oil, sugar, and basil together in a small bowl. Dice the tomatoes and the onions ( I cored a few of the tomatoes to remove some of the liquid and seeds) place in large bowl. Dice the onion and add to tomato. Add feta cheese them pour olive oil mixture over tomatoes, onion, and feta. Mix well, add salt and pepper to taste. You can prepare it ahead of time and allow the flavors to marinade or eat it right away. Tastes great either way.

Frappuccino at home

I have a weakness for Starbucks frappuccions. I don't get them all that often because I don't have time to stop buy and pick one up on the way to work and lets face it I really can't afford them. Someone posted a recipe from Money Saving Mom which  was great and better yet when I figured out the calories it was 110 calories per glass. I don't have a Magic Bullet like she used so I used a regular blender and it turned out great.

Ice

1/2 package of Jell-O Instant Pudding, any flavor

1/2 cup strong brewed coffee
2oz Milk ( I used 1%)

Place all ingredients in blender and blend till smooth (if it is too thick add more coffee or water to thin it out), pour into glass and top with whipped topping.

I made one with vanilla pudding and one with chocolate and they were both super yummy!

Enjoy!

Visitors

My dad flew into town last week and brought my grandmother with him. My grandma is 83 so she didn't want to have to fly alone, but she wanted to come and spend some time with the kids. I am glad that my kids are lucky enough to have seven of their great grandparents still alive. I know that they are young and most likely will not remember this past weekend when they are older but it really made my grandma happy to spend time with them.

Having house guests always stresses me out. I feel the need to clean like a maniac before they arrive because my house is supposed to be spotless when company comes, or at least this is what I tell myself. Truth be told my family could care less what the house looks like as long as they get to see the kids.

No visit from my grandmother would be complete without a trip to the toy store. Family always seem to want to bring the kids gifts or go shopping when they visit. We really don't need to add any toys to our home but when my grandma wants to do something there is no telling her no! I don't want my kids to expect that they get a gift everytime someone vists though.

Hailey got her first Cabbage Patch doll

Ryan got Scout

They both sleep with their new toys every night.

Bad blogger

I feel like I have been a bad blogger the last few weeks. We have had company staying with us, so my computer time has been sparce. I will get back on track after I get my house back in order.

First goal met!

I am a little late posting this but as of Monday I hit my first weight loss goal. I am officially down 30 pounds and it feels great. That 30 pounds is definitely not at all missed and will not be welcomed back into my life. 40 more pounds to go to get to my goal. I know that I originally said I wanted to loose 50 pounds so you must be thinking, wait 30 + 40= 70 not 50, but I decided that I looked the best at my goal weight of 170. Ok so the last time I weighed that was in high school and I thought I was huge but that is where I wasn't to be again someday.