Favorite Summer Outdoor Essentials

This post is sponsored by BabbleBoxx.com

Summer is officially in full swing and can I just say how great it feels to have a somewhat “normal” summer this year.  Oh the things we take for granted when we aren’t able to do them.  Connor is officially out of elementary school and Heidi is about to turn two years old.  I say this constantly, but the time sure does fly by in a heartbeat.  We are looking forward to a healthy, happy, and joyful summer this year!

There are certain things in life that just help you get through- you know like coffee?  Well, I’d love to share with you some products I’ve tried recently that are made to help you get through summer with a breeze and ease!

The first product we are loving are the New Skin® Liquid Bandages.  These are a new type of bandage in a liquid form to help protect scrapes, blisters, and cuts.  Adhesive bandages are hard to stick on certain areas, especially those tiny nooks and crannies between fingers and toes.  My kiddos get cuts and scrapes all the time, so we are excited about this easy new alternative.  New Skin Liquid Bandages keep water, dirt, and 99.9% of germs out so your cuts can heal.

The new Skin Sensitive & New Skin Botanicals is the 1st and only hypoallergic liquid bandage.  Great for people who are sensitive to adhesives.   The one thing that kids are super afraid of when it comes to adhesive bandages is the dreaded pulling it off!  With these bandages you don’t have to worry because they are pain free and easy to apply and remove.   

I can see us using this product all summer and it’s definitely easy to carry around.  With no mess or trash to deal with count this Mom in!

The second product that’s getting me through summer is something I’ve used for YEARS!  Pamprin for period relief.  Pamprin is more than just a pain reliever- it’s a period reliever.  Pamprin was MADE for periods and is formulated to relieve the discomfort of cramps, headaches and backaches PLUS added ingredients to ease fatigue and bloating.  I have the WORST period symptoms, so this is definitely a must to get me through summer time.

We just got our pool repaired from the crazy winter storm in February.  We are usually in it every day by now and are excited to start spending these hot summer days in our pool.  As a child my Mom used to take my sister and I to the local community pool and we spent all day in the chlorinated water.  I remember our hair turning a greenish blue color and freaking out a bit!  We just discover Ultra Swim Shampoo– a shampoo that is made specifically for swimmers.  It is a favorite of both competitive and recreational swimmers for many years due to it being the absolute best chlorine removal shampoo on the market. It’s also a favorite for Mamas who don’t want kids with green or blue hair!  Lol!  Chlorine build up occurs quickly, creating dry, brittle and unmanageable hair. This shampoo bonds to the chlorine, and then rinses it away leaving hair tangle free, chlorine free and not susceptible to breakage. As a Mom to kids who are in the pool all summer, this is also a MUST.  Ultra Swim Shampoo is moisturizing and is safe to use after every swim too! 

I do love a refreshing beverage in the summer time!  4C is a Brooklyn based premier manufacturer of Powdered Beverages including Iced Tea, Drink Mixes & Energy Stix.  Energy Rush Stix from 4C are delicious- I had one today and yesterday! These stix are easy to carry on the go to the pool, to work, or wherever you are headed this summer.  Just add to a water bottle and you are good to go!  4C Energy Rush Stix are about half the cost of RedBull with the same ingredients.  It also has no sugar is low in calories.  More energy for less money is always a win/win for our family!  4C comes in several flavors like Berry, Orange, and Citrus.

Thank you for allowing me to share some of our summertime favorites and I hope you check them out and enjoy these too!

xo- Becky

Connor’s 11th Birthday

My baby boy turned 11 on March 4th.  He’s not such a baby anymore…remember THIS.  It seems like yesterday.  I say it every day, but time sure does have a way of flying by!  I know I haven’t been the best blogger.  I guess I figure people are more “Insta” these days, but I still like to write out my own memories and stories.

Maybe it’s because of covid and the craziness of the world, but I haven’t really felt like blogging. I’m so GLAD things are finally turning a corner and getting back to normal.

Anyway- this post isn’t about me…but I just wanted to explain my lapse in blogging.

CONNOR IS ELEVEN!  God hold and keep him close to you all of his days.  Connor has a heart of gold I pray never tarnishes.  He always has the best intentions…even if they aren’t the best ideas! Ha ha!  He is a precarious, handsome, Fornite, YouTube loving boy.  He starts middle school next year and I know he’ll do great.  Here are some pictures from his 11th birthday party.  We had to keep it pretty small because of restrictions, but we were excited to see some friends we hadn’t seen in awhile.  He’s been BEGGING to go to a trampoline place, so that’s what we did 🙂

And a birthday breakfast for my tweenager 🙂

Mother’s Day 2021 with Little Bites + A Fun Giveaway Too!

Happy Mother’s Day to all the Moms and Motherly examples in the world.  I hope you all have a wonderful, blessed day.  I woke up this morning and the kids surprised me with a sweet card and pedicure gift card.  I’ll definitely be looking forward to that 🙂  These two give my life so much joy and love – along with crazy days and sleepless nights– it’s all worth it!

I’m excited to partner with Entenmann’s Little Bites® today to share our love of their new limited edition Vanilla muffins.  My kids eat these ALL.THE.TIME.  Little Bites are the perfect grab and go snack for Moms all around.  The tweenager can eat a whole box if I don’t stop him lol!  Heidi loves them too and if she finds me or anyone else digging into them she starts to beg….they are that good!

We love all flavors of Little Bites, but are super excited to see that Entenmann’s Little Bites® Vanilla muffins are back!  This classic flavor is not only delicious, but contains no high fructose corn syrup, no artificial flavors, and 0g trans-fat, making them a snack kids will love and a choice parents can feel good about.

CONTEST DETAILS:  From May 1 through May 31, fans can visit www.littlebitesmothersmay.com to enter to win daily prizes including:

  • Coupons for a free box of Little Bites Vanilla muffins
  • A year’s supply of Little Bites
  • DoorDash gift card
  • SpaFinder gift card
  • Hotels.com gift card
  • Fans can enter the Mother’s May Giveaway daily for that day’s corresponding prize by filling out the simple entry form that asks for their name, email and phone number
  • Winners will be selected daily
  • Limit one daily prize per person
  • One Grand Prize winner will be selected via random drawing at the end of the sweepstakes to win $1,000

I’ve entered!!!  I hope you do too…because my philosophy is somebody’s got to win why not me???

Entenmann’s Little Bites® is allowing me to do a fun giftaway with all of you too!

ENTER TO WIN A $25 VISA GIFT CARD + 3 COUPONS FOR THE PURCHASE OF ENTENMANN’S LITTLE BITES

(This giveaway is sponsored byEntenmann’s Little Bites® Snacks and they are only providing the $25 virtual Visa gift card and three (3) coupons for up to $5.00 off the purchase of Entenmann’s Little Bites® products)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The coupons for product redemption, information, and gift card have been provided by Entenmann’s Little Bites® so that I could try the product and share my thoughts and information about Entenmann’s Little Bites®. The opinions expressed in this post are my own and do not reflect the opinions of Entenmann’s Little Bites®.” 

Christmas 2020

Christmas is always a busy season for us.  A lot of things were especially limited this year, but we still had an amazing time at some of our favorite places around DFW.

This is one of my favorite photos from the Bingham House in McKinney, Tx.  We all enjoyed a lovely breakfast with Santa. Pictures with Santa were a bit different this year with Santa behind plexi glass.

Some pretty pictures of my Heidi Bug 🙂

And my almost 11 year old Connor. Oh my goodness!

This is one of my favorite pictures from Luminova in Arlington, TX this year.  The lights were so pretty!

2020 Christmas tree

Some fun pictures from the Gaylord Texan.  We sure did enjoy this walk through experience of our favorite movies.  Like Elf, A Christmas Story, The Polar Express, and Christmas Vacation.

Our Christmas card photo

More photos of breakfast and storytime at the Binham House with Santa.

Pictures from the lovely lights at Luminova!

The beautiful Gaylord Texan.

We hope you all had a lovely holiday season…and as always you can follow me daily on the GRAM! xoxo Becky

Fall 2020 Recap : Part 1

I’m a bad blogger these days.  I started back to work full-time during a pandemic and I LOVE my new job….but gosh it sure doesn’t leave much time for writing my thoughts down these days.  Regardless I’m thankful to be gainfully employed at a job I love and hope that now that Heidi is a bit older I can carve in some more time at the computer.  I know Instagram is the place you’ll find me most days, but there is also something to be said about the art of writing it all down too.

Here is Connor and Heidi on Halloween 2020.  A vampire and his little batty sister.  I can’t believe Connor is over half way finished with 5th grade and next year we’ll have a middle schooler on our hands.  He’s a great big bro and they love and annoy each other just as I imagined 🙂

Heidi at 15-16 months old.

Pumpkin patch pics 2020.  We love our home and the fact that we live right across from a pumpkin patch every year is just as fun!

We had a great fall despite all that is going on in the world right now.  Praying this next year is full of happiness, health, and a much brighter outlook.  Incredibly blessed by my family and friends and forever grateful for each one.  God is so GOOD!

Next up….All the Christmas recaps of 2020!!!

The Summer of 2020….Blah!

I have been the worst blogger in the history of bloggers.  So much has happened that I can hardly keep up with everything, let alone sit down and write it all out.  But….alas….here I am writing for the sake of writing and the memories we made.  I remember the days I used to blog every single day, but a lot’s change in 10 years, so these days you’ll mostly find me over on Instagram.

So, for the sake of memories here I am with a crap load of saved photos from this crazy long summer (aka the longest spring break ever).

We spent a lot of time in the pool and barbequing burgers.  Heidi took her first official dips in the pool this summer too and she loved the water.  

We got out to eat at an actual restaurant on the 4th of July and even burned a few sparklers 🙂

Connor and I had the best time at the Gaylord Hotel over the summer for their Summerfest.  It’s definitely something we’ll plan to do again.  Everything was so nice and the rooms were super clean.  The hotel took every precaution to remain clean and sanitary and we felt very safe while staying there.  It’s been awhile since I’ve spent some one on one time with Connor since Heidi was born, so he spent the night with Mama and we ordered room service.  He was so excited to order room service and felt incredibly important and “fancy” in doing so.  It’s the little things in life y’all.

Heidi came for the day to swim in the water park.  We had the best time and love that the Gaylord Hotel is right in our own city.  The Christmas ICE festivities will be a bit different this year, but you can read more about that on their website too!

The most ginormous cookies EVER!!!

Thank you Gaylord Texas for the BEST STAY EVER!!!  The memories we made are priceless.

Next recap is our trip to Arkansas to see family.  We were blessed to drive this 2020 Toyota Highlander for our trip and it was a dream.  Did I mention we actually got a new car too???  Terence got a 2020 RAV 4 Hybrid, and so far is loving it!

With two kids now the more room the merrier.  I love the cream interior and the third row seating option as well.
Heads up display

A backup camera that is waaaay more than just a back up cam.  It’s like a drone hovering over your car.  Super cool!

REAR AIR.  Need I say more…this is summer in Texas.  This is my absolute dream to have one day!

Pull down sun shades for the kiddos.  I love this car, maybe someday I can upgrade to this because the Highlander is exactly the kind of SUV I’d want.

When we reached Arkansas we had a great time visiting family.  The boys favorite thing was visiting the creek and going swimming.  I grew up swimming in the creeks every summer, so it was awesome to be able to take my kids and let them experience that too.

Connor and Jarrett jumping off the rocks

Beautiful waterfall The boys eating their smore’s on the farm.

We had a birthday cake for Heidi too in Arkansas and it was so delicious!

Lunch at our favorite place YaYa’s in Little Rock.

Farm tomatoes the BEST ever….

Heading back home to Texas

I also recently left my job of 5 1/2 years to go back into banking.  It was a bittersweet day, but I will always have the best memories from Oliver Dental.  They are like family and mean the world to me!  I love my new job and it’s nice to be back to work full time and I’ve met so many wonderful people in the process.  God is always watching over me and I’m excited for what the future holds.

Of course it’s hard to leave my kiddos every day and I’m not as involved at Connor’s school, but hey it’s 2020…so who is 100% these days?  I’m just thankful for God’s provision and and a great new opportunity.

 “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11Well, that is our summer in a big old nutshell.  I’m sure I’m missing a bunch of stuff…but I’ll try to be more diligent with this whole blogging thing.

xo, Becky

We Have a 5th Grader!

Connor James it seems like I have documented every milestone of your life on this blog.  Although I haven’t been as frequent at blogging as of late, I sure am glad you have all these memories stored somewhere.  I need to make it a point to post more like I used to for both you and Heidi.  Someday when I’m old and gray you both can read what Mama wrote and laugh about it all!

I’ll recap our summer (or the longest spring break ever) in another post…but I wanted to post your first day of 5th grade picture.  You look like a grown man!  TIME= THIEF!!!

Flashback to your first day of Kindergarten.  Seems like yesterday.

Heidi is almost walking.  You saw her stand this weekend and were so excited!  We had fun in the pool this past weekend.  It’s so incredibly hot here in August.  It’s been over 100 degrees outside, it sure is nice to have a pool to dunk into….especially in times like these.

Love you sweet boy.

Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. Matthew 6:33