Category: Family

Using a Party Bus for a Children’s Birthday Party

Planning a birthday party is something that gets easier as time goes on. When you’re in the midst of organizing a children’s birthday party, you’re usually surrounded by chaos! It can be tough to even take the time to sit down and get everything together when you’re in the middle of tasks at home or at work.

However, it’s always worth it to put forth the effort, especially when you consider how special your child will feel having had an awesome birthday party, regardless of their age.  One of the toughest things about planning a child’s birthday party is making sure that the entire group of kids is entertained. This becomes even more difficult when you have a diverse range of age groups that will be present at the party.

When you take a look online at party planning resources like Pinterest, it’s so easy to get overwhelmed with all of the different options for decorations, activities, party favors, food, and overall entertainment. However, it’s important to stay realistic about the celebration, and keep in mind that children don’t pay attention to many of the little details that adults do. This will always work out in your favor as far as parties are concerned!

A great way to provide a venue for a party and simultaneously entertain a group of kids from all age groups is to reserve a party bus or a limousine for the festivities. We know what you’re thinking, this type of transportation is only reserved for crazy bachelor or bachelorette parties, right? Wrong! This is an extremely popular way to celebrate a child’s birthday party considering the different amenities that can often be found on board. The convenience of cup holders and counter tops on the road allows the kids to enjoy their food and drink without a mess. Plus, kids can’t get enough of the neon changing lights throughout the interior, as well as the booming sound systems with auxiliary cords. You get to customize your own playlist for the ride!

With a limo or party bus in Dallas, you can choose to visit different destinations, or you can ride around town enjoying each others company. You get to use your time as you please! This is a great way to keep all of the children in one place, and you can click here to get started with the reservation process.

Plus, most people aren’t aware of the fact that local transportation companies often find their chauffeurs from local school systems, so they’re used to driving while simultaneously keeping a watchful eye. You’ll be known as the coolest parent in town for reserving this type of transportation for your child’s birthday party in Dallas.

Summer in the Fast Lane

Summer in the fastlane people.  That’s how I would describe the last few weeks.  It’s been “CRAY CRAY”!!!

So, I will start off with a great occasion…we celebrated my Nannie’s 80th birthday in Arkansas.  She is the light in our family and I hope someday I can be just a small piece of what she is.  It was so fun to reunite with relatives we hadn’t seen in a long while.

We had a huge buffet, cake, and some great music!  We also had a wonderful ham from Petit Jean Meats. It was sooooo delish!

If I look even HALF this good at 80 I’ll be just fine with that 🙂

My sweet family

My Mom worked so hard on the party planning and all the food.  She made timeline boards with each decade of Nannie’s life and they were great.  (See that’s why you should always take photos…you never know!)

It’s so hot in Texas right now you could fry and egg on the pavement.  We had a great 4th of July with family.  We swam in the pool and BBQ’d.  Connor is enjoying his camp this summer.  I can’t believe school is starting up again so soon!  I’ve gotten so many back to school catalogs in the mail this week Ahhhhhh!!!!

Although I am secretly excited for fall weather.  That is my “season” y’all.  I’m headed to the Megaphone conference with friends in Arkansas soon.  It’s a great conference if you are a blogger or want to learn anything about social media.  You will also meet some great friends too!

I’ve been really busy with photo shoots lately and I’m on a summer reading kick.  I’ll link to some of my favorite summer reads so far. *If you don’t enjoy drama or romance- this ain’t for you*

Don’t forget to follow us on the daily on INSTAGRAM!  xoxo Becky

Summer Travel Prep + Enter to WIN! #SummerTravel #SickJustGotReal

This post has been sponsored by Pfizer Consumer Healthcare. All thoughts and reviews are my own.

Connor and I just got back from a fun road trip to Arkansas!  We celebrated my Grandma’s 80th birthday.  We had the best time and got to see a lot of relatives we haven’t seen in ages.  I make the drive to Arkansas about 3-4 times a year and the only way I get through it is a book on tape (or whatever they are on now) and an iPad for Connor.

I remember the days of traveling when he was a baby.  One time Terence and I were headed home and Connor started getting sick all over the car.  We pulled into a gas station and Terence was just throwing paper towels at me saying “Get it I can’t look at it!”  Ha ha!  Oh yes…we’ve all been there a time or two.  I get crazy allergies when I go home too and I’m not sure why.  The last couple of times I’ve had to visit an emergency clinic.   All of this to say… PREPARE YOURSELVES PEOPLE!

I take our medicines and vitamins with us when we travel and it’s been a lifesaver at times.  I carry Children’s Advil®, Children’s Robitussin® and Children’s Dimetapp® for Connor.  I just pop them in a waterproof bag or you could use a plastic bag, and put them in my purse.

Now I don’t have to run around like a chicken with my head cut off looking for a pharmacy when sickness strikes us!  If there’s one thing I know from traveling is you cannot be too prepared.

WHEN SICK GETS REAL:

  • Ease those aches and pains, while reducing a child’s fever fast with Children’s Advil®*, a great solution for kids as young as 2 and up to 11. Children’s Advil® comes in several great-tasting flavors, including: Sugar-free Dye-free Berry, Bubble Gum, Grape, Blue Raspberry, Fruit and Dye-Free White Grape flavors. There’s also Infants’ Advil® White Grape, which provides unsurpassed fever relief (among OTC pain relievers) with a syringe for easy dosing for children 6-23 months.
  • For your child’s cough, trust Children’s Robitussin® Extended-Release 12 Hour Cough Relief to control and relieve symptoms all-day or all- night. Available in grape or orange flavor, for children ages 4 and up. Please note, certain Children’s Robitussin® products are only suitable for children ages 6 and up.
  • Children’s Dimetapp® Multi-Symptom Cold Relief Dye-Free eases your child’s stuffy and runny nose, while quieting a bothersome cough. All in a great-tasting grape flavor that’s dye-free, for children ages 6 and up.

ENTER TO WIN A $25 VIRTUAL VISA GIFT CARD & A SICK JUST GOT REAL MEDICINE GIFT.

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Summer Fun with Fruit Shoot

It’s summer and Connor’s been in full speed camp mode.  He went to a great camp a couple of weeks ago on lake Grapevine and it was so much fun.  Also, can I just say how HUNGRY this kiddo is all the time?  He is constantly wanting snacks and drinks…but I guess if I had the energy level of a 7-year-old I would too!  One of our favorite snacks are Fruit Shoot® juice drinks.

Fruit Shoot’s resealable cap allows children more independence and is user friendly. The bottle is durable & won’t puncture easily like some pouch drinks we’ve tried before.  The best part is you can put the cap back on the bottle and drink later, you don’t have to sit there and drink it all in one sitting!

No matter what he’s doing he’s alway going to want a drink afterwards & we love Fruit Shoot drinks because they are so easy to pack+go.  Fruit Shoot comes in several different flavors: Fruit Punch, Berry Burst, Strawberry & Raspberry, and Orange.

I know it gets so hot here in Texas you can fry an egg outside and it’s so important to keep hydrated.  We found Fruit Shoot at our local Albertson’s grocery store.  They are also available at Walmart.

Follow Fruit Shoot on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter

Promises…Promises… Life Update

Yeah, remember how I said I was going to start posting a whole lot of awesomeness…cough cough….

Here we are!!!

So, I just turned 36.  That means I passed the 30 marker and am headed straight towards the 40’s freeway.  I’m feeling it too.  When people tell you things will start to fail you when you get older and you laugh it off at 25 years old….you just wait!  Terence also just turned 36, he’s two weeks older than me.  Ha ha!

One of those being “Why is weight sticking to me like literal butter?”

I used to eat LESS than I do now and it wouldn’t even phase me.  What’s happening???

Anyway, I decided to join the dark side again…hair color that is.

So far I’m really loving it.  It seems to grow faster and be all around healthier when I go back to my “roots”.  Although I love being blonde as well.

We’ve been swimming a whole lot and Connor started summer camp.  I love our confetti YAY ball!  Anything that sparkles or has confetti is alright in my book.

Connor and I are heading to Arkansas tomorrow bright and early.  This has been a super busy season in life and I keep telling myself to knock things off my list….and I’m going to.  The question is when?  In the meantime I’ll still keep on trucking along and drinking all the coffee- because it makes life so much more in focus right?

My Nannie is turning 80 and we are so excited to celebrate this milestone birthday with her.  I wish Ter-Bear could come, but alas he took a new job and doesn’t get vacay until December.

Any good books on Kindle I can listen to on my trip???

Speaking of trips a couple of months ago we got to drive this 2017 Mazda CX-3.  You remember I told you then whenever we have the joy of driving a new car for the week we always name it?  This one we named “SMURF“.

All the bells and whistles and display screen with backup camera, bluetooth, and navigation. 

This would be the PERFECT car if you are a commuter (gets great gas mileage) or have someone in your family about to start college.  

Plenty of trunk space too!  This Mazda CX-3 was super fun to drive and we can’t wait to review and show off more cars in the future.  Connor gets so excited when we get to try new cars and so do I.  I definitely get a better understanding of what to look for in a car for the future, and I get to show y’all what each vehicle is all about.  

Hope you all are having a great start to the summer!

Remember to keep up with us on the daily over at INSTAGRAM!

xo- Becky

 

Life is a Highway – with CapitalOne Auto Navigator

It’s been a crazy season in our lives, we bought a new home last fall, Connor is full-swing in school (which is about to be out for summer!), and Terence got a new job a couple of months ago.  It seems like life is always changing and nothing is set in stone these days.  So with all this newness on the horizon, let’s talk about cars shall we- it’s the one thing we haven’t change in a while.

If you happen to live in the DFW area then you know what a bear traffic is around these parts.  My husband has been commuting for years now.  His commute takes almost an hour each way and his car is about to hit the 200K mileage mark.  So, we know that car shopping is in our near future.  I’ve talked with you all about using Capital One® Auto Navigator® before and it’s such a great website.

I had the chance to test it out myself when I visited the DFW Auto Show.

Here’s why:

  • Capital One developed Auto Navigator to simplify car buying and financing. Auto Navigator allows consumers to pre-qualify for auto financing and see their financing terms before visiting a dealer.
  • With Auto Navigator, consumers can find a car and see their financing options, all in one place.
  • Auto Navigator gives consumers the opportunity to see if they pre-qualify for auto financing before they visit a dealer, without impacting their credit score.
  • Consumers can browse more than 3 million cars from over 12,000 participating dealers across the country, including in your area.
  • Consumers can see their personalized APR and monthly payment on each car once they pre-qualify for financing. They can build their offer and see how their financing terms change.
  • Consumers can also get dealer ratings and car reviews – all in one place – and even access car history reports, so they arrive confident and ready to buy when they visit a dealer.

We love traveling and going places as a family, and a reliable car is very important to us.  We want a good value and something that is going to last us years to come.  With Capital One® Auto Navigator® we don’t have to worry about the “what ifs” because we’ll have done our homework before hand & can walk into a dealership feeling knowledgeable and secure.

No matter what we decide a new car should always be a fun and exciting experience…and you can’t beat that new car smell am I right?  So if you’ve wondered what kind of car you can afford and where to find it at the best price Capital One® Auto Navigator® is here to help!

HAPPY ROAD TRIPPING EVERYONE!!!

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of CLEVER and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.

An “Eggo-Cellent” Breakfast

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

This past weekend we didn’t just have a regular old breakfast of cereal…oh no…I created an Eggo Waffle bar!  A few weeks ago I visited the Eggo Waffle Bar Truck and was inspired to create my own “Waffle bar”.  The Waffle Bar Truck will be in 200 locations from April-September 2017.  Find where the Waffle Bar Truck will be next HERE!

While the boys were out getting haircuts I whipped up some of our favorite breakfast items.  It’s so hard during the week to sit down and have a nice meal together as a family.  The Waffle bar was a lot of fun and Connor LOVED it and he keeps asking when we can do it again!

Our Waffle Bar Items:

– Eggo Homestyle Waffles, Eggo Chocolate Chip Waffles, Banquet® Brown’N Serve™ Original Sausage Links, M&M’S® Minis Milk Chocolate Candies, Smuckers Hot Fudge Spoonable Ice Cream Topping, Reddi-wip® Original Dairy Whipped Topping, Hungry Jack® Original Syrup, and fresh strawberries.

I had 1 Eggo homestyle waffle, 2 dollops of Reddi Wip, 2 Banquet sausage links, 3 sliced fresh strawberries, 1 tablespoon of Hungry Jack syrup, 1 teaspoon of M&Ms minis.  (1 serving- 1263 calories).
No matter how you make your waffles it’s a lot of fun to create your own.  Eggo waffles now have no artificial flavors and colors from natural sources.

All ingredients can be found at Walmart.

All of the products I used to create my waffle bar can also be found on the Eggo Waffle Bar Truck + so much more!

Here’s the Eggo Waffle Bar truck out and about.  It was so much fun creating my own waffle creation, and if you can’t think of what to make just spin the wheel and surprise yourself!