Egg Poppers

Ok, I don't know about you but the mornings always seem to be such a rush on school days. I am fine when it is just me getting ready in the AM but as soon as everyone else in the house wakes up I feel very overwhelmed and feel like I run around like a crazy person. My weakness is staying organized, so with that being said I work extra hard at staying organized. I always have people compliment me on being so organized and "I can't believe how together you always seem". When this is said my husband and I just look at each other and laugh because he knows I struggle daily to stay organized. I know when we are organized everyone feels better and of course I feel better because I'm not stressing everyone out. But since the mornings are always rushed because I am either working out in the AM or getting everyone up and ready to focus for the day my breakfast is the one thing that gets missed. I am not referring to my coffee oh no! I am referring to wholesome and healthy breakfast that will help me stay in shape and give me the energy that I need to start the day. Sometimes I grab breakfast bars or something but then I came across this recipe for egg poppers and I wanted to make my own version. So this is what I did.

Egg Poppers:

6-8 whole eggs or 10 egg whites

Lots of veggies- onions chopped, zucchini squash chopped, mushrooms, and a bit of sharp cheddar cheese.

Mix it all together and put it in a muffin tin. Mine used about 8 big muffins.

Bake 350 degrees for 15-20min until the middle is firm.

So with these made I think I won't be forgetting my self in the AM. I can grab one or two of these with my coffee and off to work I can go. I am so excited to try these in the morning to see how my plan will work. Have a great weekend everyone and try to stay organized!

July 4th

I have already started to decorate my house for this important and special day. I have seen a few websites lately and in the mall that are all dec'd out and it has really gotten me in the festive mood. I am inviting some neighbors over on the 5th for a backyard BBQ so that should be fun and festive too! I can't wait I just love throwing parties! I promised myself just a few decorations and just focus more on the company, food and fun.

This is a little decoration I made for the grill. It is a red mason jar from Kirklands ($2.99) some pinwheels and an American flag from Target ($1.00/set) and the fireworks are actually put together from a paper straw, one in blue and one in red and then a cupcake pick (Target). 

This is the wreath from the front door I have for a couple of years now and happily put it up on Memorial day and for July 4th celebrations.

To along with my other mason jar I made this cute little decoration. I have two of them by the TV and they are just glass jars that usually hold a candle. I replaced the candle with the crunchy easter grass in white and then added the same pinwheels, flags and sparklers. I like how they are all similar around the house and it makes everything look very coordinated.

Other door same wreath.

I can't wait to get the dinning room table scape done and that is going to be cute. I have so many mason jar glasses in my house that I could just use them and just figure out a cute decoration for the handle or something. Another idea is what to do for the napkins and the napkin rings? Hummmmm my wheels are spinning now. Have fun decorating for the 4th!

Garden month 2

Ok, so I know I have been bad about updating you about the garden because it has been quite a bit of work. It was part of my bday present to have a raised garden bed built and then filled with a compost and manure mixture that I wanted. My plants were getting so big that I knew if I didn't get them in the soil soon that there might be no hope left for them because they were getting a little pitiful looking. But now I planned them all in this nutritious soil and they are just taking off now. I can't wait to see them produce some veggies now. I have also started to plant some eggplant seeds in little pots so hopefully they will take off soon and be ready for the summer.

Here are the pepper plants. I hope these grow some more before the summer heat really hits here because I am not sure they will really survive that heat. They are a mix of the yellow and red peppers. I picked this particular kind to plant because those pretty colorful peppers seem to be so expensive in the store that I thought why bother if I can grow it myself.

So the girls are so excited to start picking those tomatoes and I hope they ripen soon so the girls don't pick them too soon.

Here is one of my tomato plants. I actually bought this when it was small and it has probably doubled in size so far, but I am sad to admit this is not one of my seedling babies. I have 3 other ones in the garden that I have grown from seed and doing quite well they just don't have any tomatoes on them yet to show off.

This is one of my cucumber plants that is doing wonderful and has so many flowers blooming on it that will hopefully bloom into cucumbers soon.

This is actually two of the basil plants that I put in the garden so hopefully they will really grow into a huge plant because we have eating so much of the caprese salad that we need big

Beach time

New Smyrna Beach Trip- This was our first of many beach trips this summer! We just love the sand, sun, and relaxing in the water good time! The kids are just so easy now to pack up and head to the beach so I can tell I'm going to be heading there a lot this summer. I have a beach bag packed at all times and so I'm planning on going at least one day a week. Some things I pack for a day at the beach are beach towels for each person, a medium size cooler on wheels, an umbrella with the screw in sand holder, and a change of clothes for everyone- except me. I don't mind staying in semi wet clothes. In the cooler I throw in some sandwiches, fruit, lots of water, and chips. The little kids each have a bucket with their sand toys in it and everyone pitches in and helps walk to the beach and then we are set for the sunshine!

Hope everyone has a great summer and I will post pics soon of some day trips we are planning here in Fl.

Teacher gift

This school year has come to an end. It is always bitter sweet. They have all grown so much and learned a whole year worth of material and I feel like they just up too fast. Every year it does seem to get a little easier with the homework, the chores, and the day to day running around, but again that is bitter sweet too because I just love the craziness! (believe it or not)

Anyways, this the teacher gift that I made for my first graders teacher this year and it had a movie gift card in the card holder. It was so much fun making this for her and I love using the chalkboard.

Such an exciting time of year! It is always full of games, parties, gifts, some tears, new beginnings and welcoming that summertime fun! Can't wait for the summer to begin!

Rainbow cake

I made this yummy vanilla cake for my Dad's birthday. All of my siblings were getting together to surprise him for his 70th bday so I thought I would bake a cake but I wanted to add a little bit of prettiness to it so I added some food color to some of the batter. You can find how I assembled it here. It was so much fun to make and I put a yummy strawberry frosting on it with some big yummy fresh strawberries. It was so pretty and I forgot to take a picture of the finished product. Sorry. :( There is always next time.

So this is what it looks like after you place the plain batter on the colored batter. Then just bake like the directions. 

Here is a picture of my sweet dad on his 70th birthday. Happy Birthday Dad. He is with my mom and children and my nephew is the other blonde little boy in the picture. 

Blueberry Pickin'

We had the best time picking these blueberries. Believe it or not we were in the rain while we picked them. Thank goodness the rain did not last very long but Sebastian was soaked. It was so cute because I was in charge of holding the umbrella over my two princesses while they picked the berries so they would stay dry. But of course my son, the boy that he is, did not want a silly umbrella so off he went to adventure out and pick the very best berries. It was so much fun! I have never been fresh picking of any sort of fruit and so many people can not believe this. I guess I have been missing this from my life! ha ha. Well it was so refreshing to be picking fresh berries that were just right off the bush. I was so happy when the kids were so excited too. I have always said I am a country girl stuck in the city and this just proves it. I need a farm with lots of acres. Maybe a girl can dream right!

Look at all of these blueberries! There are 6lbs in this bucket. We have so many recipes to start looking up so we can use up all these blueberries. The first one on the list is a smoothie. Here is the recipe. 

Blueberry Smoothie:

1 C fresh blueberries

1 whole banana

1 cup Vanilla Almond milk

1 tsp vanilla

4 ice cubes

Then just blend it all together in a blender and it will make about 3 smoothies. Enjoy!