Birthday Weekend!

Hello, Loves!

This past weekend we celebrated my birthday. Birthday's are always a bit difficult for me. For as long as I remember my birthday always brings me anxiety, depression, and I kid you not- I always seem to get sick. 

I started September with anxiety and depression. I think about all the things that I didn't end up getting done in the last year. I just didn't feel very happy about my birthday. But I swear these kids just make me feel so loved. I couldn't help but have a wonderful birthday. So, instead of having the kids spend the night at their Mimi's for a romantic weekend getaway, we decided to bring them along and have a fun family birthday!

We got away for a 24hr mini-vaca! The kids were so excited to celebrate my birthday by being included in a little fun. We checked them out from school an hour early, stayed at a really nice hotel, rode a ferris wheel, got ice cream, and played uno all night. 

This might be one of my best birthday to date!

Do you have any family birthday traditions? What are they? 

XOXOX

Weekend Before School!

To help with before school anxiety, Ryan and I decided to go for a drive to what us Arkansas's call a beach on Sunday. Ha! With school being on Monday the kids were nervous and sad Summer was coming to a close...

We swam, had some ice cream, and enjoyed the sun. The kids were wiped out by the time we drove home.

Easy Eye Look

Happy Saturday beauties!

Please check out my easy eye look. Let me know what you think. 

Best Darn Cup! Not a YETI!

For any of you living in the South, y'all are with me when I say Summers here can be brutal. 95+ temps. 100% humidity. And where I live there are barely any lakes.

If you are in the heat for any period of time, I promise the ice in your drink will disappear. 

Everyone I knew for the past year raved about the Yeti coolers, and tumblers. How the cups would keep ice all day long, or if you want a hot drink in the Winter it would keep all day, but there is no way in hell I was going to pay $39.99 for a cup. 

Well, a little miracle happened when I was introduced to a "Yeti" type cup for only a 1/3 of the price. 

Meet the Ozark Trail 30oz tumblers! Look at this fancy cup! You can get this cup at Walmart, and Neighborhood markets. 

If you want one, get one fast! They seem to be flying off the shelf! 

30oz tumbler $9.74 compared to the $39.99 Yeti. 

20oz tumbler $7.74 compared to the $29.99 Yeti. 

If you get one, let me know how it works for you. Mine is awesome! :)

Sister's Maternity Pictures

Welcome back, beautiful souls!

I had the honor of doing a maternity session for my younger sister a couple weeks ago. How beautiful is she! This is her first child and our entire family is so excited to meet him.

My sister has been quite the trooper in this 95+ heat down here. At the time of the session we were all sweating and reapplying her makeup and stopped for a while just to sit in the car to cool down. ha!

Summer Strawberry Jam Recipe!

Welcome back beauties!

It's strawberry season, and boy do I have a fast & easy Strawberry Freezer Jam recipe.  

This past weekend we took the kids to pick strawberries. It was tons of fun, but of course I forgot all my SD cards for the camera.

See ya later, beauties!

Tutorial-Homemade Mini Apple Pies

Hello loves,
This past weekend I made some cute little apple pies for a Halloween party. These mini pies are easy to make and taste amazing.

I like the idea of everyone having their own little individual pie.

This recipe makes around 20-25 little individual pie.

Recipe: 

• 12 Tablespoons of flour
• 1 1/2 cup of Sugar
• 4 heaping spoons of Cinnamon
• 8 medium/larger apples
• 2 boxes of pie crust
• 4 table spoons of unsalted chilled butter
• Unstick Spray
• Set oven 400 degrees and bake for 18-20 minutes

Step 1: The first thing I did was cut out the pie crusts for the cupcake/muffin tin. Some might need an exact measured circle. I used a red solo cup and flipped it upside down. It seemed to work perfect for my size pan. 

Tip: I pulled the pre-made pie crust out of the fridge and started to try and unroll it. Of course it cracked. So I just pressed into a ball and rolled out again. If I remake these, I would allow the pie crust to come to room temp. in order to save a little time. 

Also, before adding the pie crust to the tin, SPRAY THE CRAP out of the pan with non-stick spray. I just used a butter generic nonstick. I didn't want to make these and them not pop out when done. 

Step 2: I peeled the apples, and diced them up. I then added the flour, sugar, and cinnamon. Mix around. 

Tip: Dice the apples fairly small, the bigger the chunks, the less amount of pieces you can put in the pie crust. 

Step 3: Fill your little pie crusts to the top with the apple mixture, and then top with a few little pieces of the chilled butter.

Tip: When I first got all my stuff out to start making the pies, I just threw a stick of butter into the freezer, then it was pretty chilled by the time I was ready to use.

Step 4: This is totally optional. I just created little lattices for atop the pie's. I have seen other recipes where they just cut out a leaf shape. I then melted a little butter and brushed the tops. Then bake for 18-20 minutes until golden brown.

Below is the final product. These babies are just enough to get the sweet craving to stop, without eating an entire slice of pie. 

If you try them, please let me know how they turned out! I would love to read the comments and see pictures.

Also, if you want a video tutorial, please just let me know and I would be happy to make one.

Until next time, loves!