#FreeToBe Bubble Painting with all® Free Clear

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #FreeToBe #CollectiveBias

Every summer, I love to get outside and enjoy the weather and outdoor activities we look forward to each year. It’s also the one thing I know can calm down a fussy or whiny child and is a sure bet to wear them out! Growing up, we always played outside and ate dinner nearly every night on the back patio and I love doing the same with the girls. Matt and I will have our friends over for a BBQ and set up our corn hole, chairs, and a blanket for the littles and spend the entire day in our backyard. I’m really going to miss these days when the summer is over!

Something we’ve been enjoying a ton of is bubbles! For Ellie’s third birthday party we did a bubble theme and all the fun is still going strong! Emma just loves to watch them float around and Ellie loves to catch them with her butterfly net. It’s honestly one of my favorite things to do with the girls because we can do it at any time and it’s nearly a no cost activity. Since her party, we’ve been bubble painting like crazy! Today I wanted to share how to do it, using all® free clear detergent to get the best bubbles!

- Mix 1 tsp all® free clear detergent with 1 C water, stir gently until soap is dissolved. I had to play with the measurements a bit, but this seemed the closest!

- Add a pinch of white sugar to help your bubbles last longer

- Add 1 drop of food coloring to create “paint”

- Mix food colorings to create different colors/shades

- Get to blowing and popping those bubbles!

Ellie LOVES this activity! It’s fun and gives each of her artwork pieces something special and unique! It's something that gets us outside and while Ellie "paints" I'll blow non-colored bubbles at Emma. It's simple to make and is easy to clean up, which is a must for toddler activities.

Everyone in our household has sensitive skin and we’re very careful with what soaps we use from top to bottom. We once left a blanket at a family member’s house who washed it for us before returning (so sweet of them!) and when Emma used it, she had a rash all over her! We had to re-wash the blanket in all® free clear detergent to make it safe again for her sensitive skin. When I was first pregnant with Eleanor in 2013, I was worried about choosing the right soaps and having everything ready for her arrival so we could snuggle her without worry. I did some research and found that all® free clear is the #1 Sensitive Skin brand and doesn’t contain any dyes, perfumes, or irritating residues.

Since switching to all® free clear, I knew I could trust it with Emma’s arrival as well and I depend on it greatly since Emma has shown to have the most sensitive skin of us all. It's so nice not having to worry and being able to send her to daycare with bedding for her to sleep on. We love the all® free clear detergent and their all® free clear Mighty Pacs®, for a fresh scent and no fading color.  We pick up ours at Target, my favorite place to shop! Interested in continuing the conversation? Join the all® free clear community and connecting with parents just like you!

Our Weekend

This weekend was amazing for us. We did nothing! It was awesome not having somewhere to be or go (besides regular errands and swim class). We're always on the go, go, go, and I'm so happy to be busy with loved ones, but we've been needing a weekend just at home. The days seemed long and we napped both Saturday and Sunday (not long naps, but a quick cat nap that I'll take any day). They were long in the sense that we didn't feel like they just slipped between our fingers with a blink of an eye. We played and played with the girls, did some weeding outside, went on a Costco run, and caught up on Big Brother.

Hat // Top // Shorts (on sale!)

This hat is a lifesaver! I've been wanting a baseball hat forever and it's just one of those things for me that I don't really go out and buy, it's something that I just kind of come across. Does that make sense? Since we moved into our house, I seem to have lost all of my hats except for two- a floppy felt hat and a straw panama one. Well, I've been on the lookout for baseball cap that I like and I couldn't pass this one up. Matt and I are Dodger fans, it's a soft fabric, and it's small so it fits perfectly. I've basically lived in this exact outfit all weekend long. Here, I had just washed and blow dried my hair (just flipping it over, no time for a real blow out) and threw it on to run a few errands. I think I'll be wearing this hat all the time!

 

Suit

Ellie has been doing so great in her swim lessons! She goes just once a week for 30 minutes, but we swim a lot on the weekends with family and friends. She's been working really hard on a few skills and this past week she's moved up in her class. We're so proud of her and her accomplishments! I really look forward to every Saturday because I love watching her in the water. She's such a natural and it's so fun to see what she's learned and how far she's come from when she started.

Romper // Bonnet (c/o Little Sun Hat)

Last week I realized I never gave a full update on Emma and her broken finger, so sorry to be so late on it! Emma had her cast removed a few weeks ago and her finger is healed!! Originally, the doctor had said we would need to follow up every three months and that surgery could still be a possibility. I was worried that it wouldn't heal correctly and afraid that she would have to have surgery. When the doctors removed her cast and took new x-rays, her finger had healed so well that no follow ups will be needed! I'm so incredibly thankful! Thank you everyone for your sweet words, prayers, and thoughts. It means so much to me and the family!

Are these not the cutest bows you've ever seen? I'm just in love with them! They're from Rain & Honey Bows and the colors, prints, and shapes are just to die for. I seriously want every single one in every single color and shape. Ugh, they're so cute. 

We've lived in our house now for just over two years and it's slowly coming together. One room that is just the bane of my existence is our dining room. We've been wanting a buffet since we moved in and last weekend I finally found one! It was a total score at HomeGoods and it was so funny because when we had just bought the house I found a similar one there and by the time I decided to buy it, it was already sold! In a matter of 15 minutes or less! So this time, my mother-in-law and I guarded it with our lives until a worker came by to help us out. Now that we have it set up in the room (we finally busted out our China set from our wedding!), we just need to style it, paint the room, get a mirror, art work, a new dining table and the room will be complete! LOL. The room looks so much better though now and we finally have a direction of what we're looking for and where we want the room to go. 

Sheets // Ruffled Comforter and Pillow Set (Target, similar here)

Square Pillows (HomeGoods)

Last weekend, I took advantage of a bedding and bath sale at Target and I just love how a fresh made, clean sheet bed feels. I love these sheets because their have an extra elastic on them that keeps them from coming up on the corners- a problem we always had before! We've bought so many different brands and types of sheets (deep pocket ones for example) and these are our favorite! I love this taupe and gray print too, it looks so pretty against our headboard.

That's exactly where I am right now too- in my nice cozy bed, finishing tonight's Big Brother, with my little Ellie belly snoring next to me (thanks to a bedtime meltdown, she's in ours for the night). Hope you're ready for the work week! May your Monday go by quickly tomorrow!

Friday Faves

Whew? Is it Friday already? I've been on vacation and had my dad in town this week and it's just flown by! So much has happened this week and I will be doing a full blog post recapping Ellie's birthday bubble bash and Emma's broken finger next week. Kids, I tell ya! If it's not one thing, it's another. Thankfully everyone is ok and in good spirits. Until those posts are up, I wanted to share some of my favorites from this past week. I'm hoping to have some posts up soon, and I'm sorry to be so behind! Lots of great reviews coming up though!

One of my fave bloggers and girlfriends, Meg, sent me this gorgeous highlighter when I couldn't find it anywhere! Isn't that so sweet? I just love her and so will you! Check out her blog and today's post of her May Favorites! This highlighter is so pretty and perfect for summer nights.

White polish is everywhere this summer and so on trend! I found this perfect pink/white shade from China Glaze and it only needs two coats to be perfect opaque. Win! It's Let's Chalk About It and it's awesome! I can't find it online other than Amazon, but it's from their 2016 collection.

Sandals // Shorts // Tank // Polish

Target has so many adorable doormats right now! This pineapple one is adorbs and I almost got it since the color matches our Welcome wreath, but this flamingo one also caught my eye. I want them all! I never used to change out our mat or even thought much about it, but there's so many cute ones that I've found it to be an easy way to add some color and personality to our front porch.

This week we finally tried Rita's! I hear about it all the time and I couldn't wait to try it. The Italian ice was delicious, but I didn't care for their custard. I love custard, but thought that theirs was too thick. I want to try them again, what are your favorites?

How adorable are these matching tees? I found Cheerily on Instagram and instantly fell in love! They have the cutest tops and they are so soft and perfect for little ones. All the sayings are super cute, But First, Milk kills me and Tiny Dancer are my favorites! They're offering 15% off through June 15 using LOVELIPSTICKANDPEARLS15 so be sure to snag some!!

Hope you're all have a great day and that your week is full of sun and fun with loved ones!

Our Weekend

Happy Monday and happy February! Where has the time gone already? I can't believe we're already in the second month of the year! I hope you all had a wonderful weekend, we had another great family weekend full of pizza, cuddles, and play-doh.

On Friday after work, we decided to go out for dinner instead of cooking at home. Ellie loves pizza and playing games so we went to a local family pizza place near our home. It was kind of late, but it was so much fun! The pizza was great and Ellie loved playing all the games. She even won 50 tickets playing some game and the look on her face was priceless! Now our diaper bag is full of useless "prizes", but she was so proud of herself and took her time picking out exactly what she wanted.

Bronzer // Mascara // Brow Pen // Lip Balm // Beauty Sponge

Saturday the girls and I ran some errands and did some chores around the house. I picked up some goodies at Ulta. I went in to check out some eyeshadow palettes, I'm torn between the Tarte Matte, Tarte Bloom, and the Urban Decay Gwen Stefani sets.  The blush palette from the Gwen collab is truly stunning and I think I'll have to get that too. The colors are so gorgeous! Do you have any of these palettes? Let me know what you think of the sets! While I was there, I picked up the brow pencil and beauty sponge after Meg recommended it and I'm really happy with them both so far, I'll do a full review soon. I also grabbed the lip balm in Honey after Veronika posted about her favorite pinks, I love the color and how it feels on my lips. I want to buy more shades! It has a nice minty smell too. The clear mascara and matte bronzer are repeat buys for me.

Booties (old from Old Navy, similar) // Jeans // Top (sold out, still in stores) // Purse

That night Matt and I went out on a double date for dinner to Lucille's BBQ (their peach lemonade is my favorite). It was so much fun to have some adult time together! We really needed a break, the terrible twos have kicked in and this week has been a power struggle about everything will Ellie. We had a great time talking and laughing and it was nice to have some time just us.

Chalk Sign // Letter // Family Proclamation // Window Frame

Sunday it rained all day so we stayed home in our pajamas and worked around the house. Our front room walls have been bare since we moved in (although we put up a giant framed Santa at Christmas time) and I've just gone back and forth about how I want to decorate it. I finally got sick of the plain wall and hung up a few things we had to make the start of a gallery wall. I like it and I'm so glad we have something up. It's not my favorite and I'd like to add on to it, but it's a start!

We ended the night with some delicious chicken enchiladas and white sauce Matt made (he's amazing in the kitchen) and some cuddles on the couch with the girls. Another simple and great weekend for the books! Now a full week of work and the start of a new month! I can't believe January is already over!

Hope you all had a great day and today starts off your week and month to a wonderful start!

Gallery Wall for a Toddler with Minted

Hello, good morning! I am so excited to share today's post! I've collaborated with Minted to share a gallery wall of independent artist's work to complete Ellie's big girl room. Over the last 6 months or so, we’ve been slowly transitioning Ellie’s room. We've made little changes here and there, but have been stuck with what to do for the main wall that her bed rests against. Then, a fairy godmother of Minted sent me an email and her room was done! I was pumped to work together with Minted to help take Eleanor’s room from a nursery to a big girl room.

Greatest Adventure // Favorite Books // Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
Wild Rabbit // The Fountain // Bonjour Ma Fleur

Ellie is in love with her new wall, The Fountain print is her favorite! She shows it to me every day and it's the one she's focusing on in the pics. My personal favorite is Favorite Books, I changed two of the books to include The Princess Bride and Little Women which are my personal favorites that I look forward to reading with her.  

Greatest Adventure (8x8) // Favorite Books (8x10) // Twinkle Twinkle Little Star (8x8) 

Wild Rabbit (8x8) // The Fountain (5x7) // Bonjour Ma Fleur (8x10)

Minted has many amazing art pieces and their website is really user friendly. What I love most about their projects, is your ability to personalize and preview your options. Minted offers a large range of sizes, and if you’re a visual person like myself, they have pictures that show you the sizing against each other so it’s easy to choose the right sizes for your home. You can also choose to have the pieces you’ve chosen framed or unframed and preview each frame with the picture. There’s lots of choices you can make for each art piece to really have it fit your home, but it wasn’t overwhelming or daunting, again, their site and set up is simple to navigate. It was an awesome experience working with them and it was really easy to visualize and see how my favorites would fit together to complete her room.

We are so happy with how the gallery wall came out! I love the colors, the sizes, and the art work. The hardest part was decided which pieces to choose! There are so many amazing art work pieces, I plan on ordering some for our play room too.

*** The artwork was provided to me, but all opinions are of my own. I had a great experience- you should check them out!***

Emma's Nursery

When we bought our home, we knew this room would be the new nursery when the time came and used it as a guest room in the mean time. We miss having a guest room, but always referred to the room as "the nursery" from the day we moved in. I couldn't wait to turn the so-so room into something special for a very special baby. Boy or girl, I knew I wanted to paint it a soft white with a gray undertone. Shopping for white paint is so much harder than I expected! There's so many undertones and I didn't want it to be too bright or harsh. I really love the color we chose, it looks great in every corner of the room that gets different sunlight throughout the day.

When envisioning the room for Emma, I didn't have any particular direction to start. I wanted it to have pastels and be calm and feminine. When browsing Target, I found the floral crib sheet and I knew then I wanted to do a floral theme. What could be more soft, gentle, and girly? I like to keep both of the girls' rooms simple, they have a play room that's busy so I like for their rooms to be a place they can unwind and relax and fall asleep quickly in. I really love how Emma's room turned out, I think it's just perfect for her!

Paint: Glidden Raindrop White
Crib

Sheet

Crib Skirt (from Ellie's set, similar here and here)

Quilt made by my Mother in Law

Lamb

Glow Worm

Elephant (no longer available, similar here)

Glider (hand me down, similar here)

Throw Pillow

Throw Rug (draped on back)

Laundry Basket (Home Goods, similar here)

Dresser

Lamp (out of stock, similar here) // Shade (out of stock, similar here)

Sound Machine

Changing Pad Cover

Pad Liner

Monogram

Hand/Foot Print Frame

White Frames

Mirror

You Are So Loved (Home Goods, similar print here)

I Am Because You Are (Home Goods)

I Am A Child Of God Print

E Letter
DIY Diaper Genie Post 

Dining Room Inspo

I've never been a huge HGTV watcher, but since being on leave I have become OBSESSED with the shower Fixer Upper. I love Chip and Joanna, their style is perfection, and I'm amazed at what you can get in Texas vs. California. If we ever move to Waco, I am getting on the show and telling them to just buy me whatever home they like and go to town, sight unseen. I would trust them fully and blindly and know I would just love it.

One room I haven't bothered decorating yet is our dining room. We have a nice sized table with a bench seat that I've grown to dislike. It's just really dark, it has a dark stain top with black legs and the chairs match. We've been wanting to get a new table for some time now, but Ellie makes such a disaster at meal time I would hate to ruin a new table. I want to sand and repaint the table, I just need to find the time to get it done. So, the dining room is on my mind to decorate and start pulling together.

I love a farmhouse look with a bit of glamour and an industrial touch. When you walk into the room, I want a relaxed, simple feeling where people want to stay and linger after each meal as we talk and laugh and build memories in our home.

Here's some of my inspiration pics I've found on Pinterest and from Fixer Upper :

Some items I want to decorate our dining area is some wooden shelves, a nice clock, some pretty dishes to display, wall decor, and a China buffet. Matt and I have been on the hunt for a buffet for over a year now. I've found two I loved at Home Goods and they were sold within minutes of seeing them and I missed out on them both times! I'm thinking about checking out thrift shops for a dresser and then having it upgraded with some glass or open areas. We're just keeping our eyes peeled for now.

Clock // Shelving // Topiary // White Pitcher (I bought this and LOVE it!) // Berry Basket

Count Your Blessings //  Server

Matt and I have planned out our space and totally have a vision for it, it's just about finding the right pieces for it. Finding the buffet will be the biggest key in pulling the room together, but that will come (one day). I'm ok with having everything else set up and ready and just have the one blank wall waiting to be filled with our wedding China. The items above I love how they add character and color to a space, we can switch them around with the seasons and from the buffet to the shelving, or to be used as a centerpiece. The tiered server is one of my favorites! I can't wait to get my hands on it and set it up with treats and decorations.   

What do you like in a dining room? What are your favorite pieces to pull the room together? Do you have any tips you're willing to share?