Patriotic pancakes and a refreshing drink

Our Sunday morning breakfast was just a little more festive and patriotic, courtesy of some red food coloring and blueberry syrup. I divided the pancake batter in half and colored one half with red food coloring. The blue came in the form of blueberry syrup topped with a little whipped cream. Even as an adult, I love adding some coloring to my food to make holidays more special!

The pancakes were very yummy!

And here is a refreshing drink idea for those hot summer days. I mentioned this recipe on my family blog last summer, but wanted to share it with you again. It's called Brazilian Lemonade and is oh so easy to make.

Mix together 1 container of Simply Limeade with 1/2 a can of sweetened condensed milk in a glass pitcher. I use a whisk to make sure that the condensed milk gets incorporated.

Pour yourself a glass and garnish with a lime slice if you like.

The taste is sweet with a little tang from the lime.

It is delicious and quickly becoming one of my favorite summer drinks!

Have a Happy 4th of July!

A Patriotic Wreath

I had a foam wreath form left over from my Easter Peeps wreath that was just crying out to be used creatively. Now I must say that I am not as in love with this wreath as I was with my Peeps wreath, but it is growing on me. I found my inspiration HERE as a Halloween wreath. Here is how my red, white, and blue version turned out:

I ended up using satin ribbon, but if I were to do it over again, I would stick with the grosgrain ribbon like the original inspiration wreath. And I think the ribbon strips are a little long...I would probably trim a few inches off. But it does add a patriotic touch to the front door:

What do you think?
Does it work or is it a little too much?

Happy 4th of July!

Summer Fun Kit

Since Memorial Day is the unofficial start of summer, I thought I would put together some easy summer fun kits. I always think of things I should have brought with us when we take an impromptu trip to the park and I thought it would be nice to have it all together in one place. I assembled two kits - one for the car and one to be kept near the front door. I mainly used items I found at Dollar Tree or in the dollar spot at Target.

The Car Kit

I put a frisbee, some sand pails and shovels, a bubble wand, sand/dirt digging tools, a bucket of sidewalk chalk and some sunblock together in a red basket from Dollar Tree. Now that I have this stowed in the back of my car, I am ready for any summer outdoor adventure with Spencer.

The possibilities are endless!
You can completely customize this to your family's needs.

Here's a smaller version I put together to be used at home, stored near the front door. It always seems that Spencer asks me for the same things when he is playing outside: sidewalk chalk, bubbles, and something to water the flowers with. Now I don't have to go searching all over the house and the whole basket can be brought outside. I also added a container of sunblock too as a reminder to put some on when playing outside! This is great for when mom isn't home and dad is entertaining the kiddos oustide.

Finish it off with some ribbon and you are ready for some summer fun!

What items would you put in your summer fun basket?