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

We are officially 14 days away from our cruise! We are actually leaving a couple of days earlier to visit my grandmother in Florida where I will be spending my birthday! I can’t tell you how excited I am to have this week long vacation. It is so needed. 

I have been sort of dreading making the 7 hour drive to my grandmother’s house with our two babies. Mostly Hampton, because we can’t keep him still. I’m so scared he will be miserable that long in the car. After thinking about it, I decided to put together a travel activity bucket to keep him busy while we are on the road.

My friend and I ran to Walmart after our lunch date last week and grabbed some fun things I thought would keep Hamp busy in the car. In addition to a coloring book, stickers, and games, I also thought it would be fun to add one of our favorite family snacks – Twizzlers Twists. I also threw in some rainbow twists for fun! 

Here is what to put in an activity bucket for your summer road trips:

Coloring Book – This will keep them busy for a while. All kids love to color!

Games – We love to play all sorts of games in the car. Including some little hand held games for your toddler will help keep him occupied.

Snacks – I threw in one of my favorite snacks that we can all enjoy as a family! Twizzlers Twists have been my road trip choice for years and I can’t wait to share that tradition with my son. Snacks are always a great thing to have on hand with children. They get hungry and it’s not fun when you aren’t prepared for that.

Books – My son loves to read, and for that I am thankful. Reading books can keep him occupied for a few minutes at a time and they can also be educational, so it’s a win/win!

Your bucket doesn’t have to be complicated. Just think of things that will keep your child occupied and try to get several different things so that when they get bored with one, they can easily move on to another. Having an activity bucket will also help limit their screen time, which is something badly needed this day in time! Don’t forget to sing songs and make pit stops so the kids can stretch their legs for a bit. That will also help break up the trip.

Twizzlers Twists remind me of my childhood summers. We used to eat them all the time. I remember always stopping on our road trips to grab some snacks and they would always be my go-to. 


What would you include in your activity bucket? Twizzlers Twists remind me of my childhood, do they bring back memories for you, too?

This post is sponsored by Gerber® Good Start® Gentle  but the content and opinions expressed here are my own.

Before we had our daughter, I was very nervous about going from one child to two. Their age difference intimidated me (18 months), but I was also feeling all the emotions. Hampton would no longer be my only child. He wouldn’t be my baby. It was so emotional for me because he WAS still a baby. Let me just tell you, it is tough trying to explain to your baby that you are having another baby. He just didn’t get it at all.

Everyone told me to try to relax and enjoy my time with him and that he would be the best big brother once he got used to it. It took about 8 weeks before Hampton really did well with SR. We still can’t leave them in a room together without one of us watching them, but it has gotten so much better.

The best piece of advice anyone gave me was to just relax and take it all in. Hold my baby girl. Play with my son as much as possible. Read to the both of them and enjoy every minute. I have definitely been trying to focus on my kids a lot more and take this advice. I’ve been enjoying the little moments. The ones that most people miss. Only because I was told to focus on that time more, and I have.

With Hampton, we lost a lot of sleep. He was my baby that didn’t sleep. At all. His doctor even shook her head at him. As a newborn he slept 6 or 7 hours in a 24 hour period. He just never slept. Luckily, SR has slept great! It has been like night and day, and for that, we are all thankful, rested and happy! After I had Hamp, I wish I had known about the Gerber Sleep Consultants and the free appointments they offer! That would have been so nice. Sleeping more this time around has made all the difference.

If I had any advice for a new mother, it would be to rest as much as you can, hold your baby as much as possible and soak up every moment.  If you do this, you will have created the perfect #formulaforhappiness for you and your baby.

Photos by Allison Hilyer Photography

What is your Formula for Happiness?

My mother is extremely gifted in all things design and decor. She has an eye for it that constantly amazes me. My sister is fortunate to have received this trait as well, but the gene skipped me. I have, however, learned a few tips from watching them over the years on how to decorate, things not to do, etc. One of them is how to change your decor around to make it appropriate for each season without completely redoing your entire home. I recently bought new living room furniture and chose very neutral shades for our chairs, sofa and rug. Our walls are all very neutral – beiges, grays, and my chocolate dining room – so that I can easily change up accent pieces to make my home appropriate for the changing seasons. Here is how I do it:

Add color – I love to add touches of color throughout the home – yellow for summer, red for Christmas, pastels for spring etc.

My favorite trend this summer has been Flamingos by far, however, pineapples are definitely my second favorite trend. I snagged a pineapple necklace a while back from one of my favorite Etsy shops and I wear it all the time! I love small accents of pineapple! I also happened upon some #LilyforTarget pineapple sandals one day which was super exciting! I included a couple of items for babies as well because I love dressing SR in pineapples. One of my favorite rompers that she owns is from H&M and is covered in pineapples which was my inspiration for this post.

Here are a few of my other pineapple favorites:

Scarf
Swimsuit
Bucketfeet Sneakers
Straws
Bangle
Ice Cube Tray
Headband
Pillow
Garland
Tumbler
Dope Tee
Onesie
Gray Tee
Shorts
Earrings
Monogrammed Sticker
Necklace
Banner

What are some of your favorite summer trends?

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Check out these ways to make cleaning more fun with Scrubbing Bubbles®! Which is your favorite?

Homemade Ice Cream // Hall Around Texas
Peach and Vanilla Ice Cream // Whole Food Bellies
Triple Peanut Butter Ice Cream // Little Dove Creations
Sugar Cookie Ice Cream // Chocolate Covered Katie
Cold Stone Creamery Cake Batter Ice Cream // CopyKat Recipes
No Churn Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream // Like Mother, Like Daughter
Toasted Almond Ice Cream // Little Dove Creations
Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream // Spoonful of Flavor
Wine Ice Cream // My Big Fat Happy Life
Toasted Marshmallow Ice Cream // A Happy Food Dance
Peach Ice Cream // The Dean’s List
Chai Chocolate Chip Ice Cream // Nourishing Simplicity
Cookie Dough Ice Cream // Nourishing Simplicity
Banana M&M’s Peanut Sundae // At Home With Sweet T
Java Chip Ice Cream // Oak and Oats
Lemonade Ice Cream // I Heart Naptime

What is your favorite flavor of Ice Cream?

Ladies Night by Mary Kay Andrews
Published June 4th 2013 by St. Martin’s Press

Pages: 464

Synopsis from Goodreads: Grace Stanton’s life as a rising media star and beloved lifestyle blogger takes a surprising turn when she catches her husband cheating and torpedoes his pricey sports car straight into the family swimming pool.  Grace suddenly finds herself locked out of her palatial home, checking account, and even the blog she has worked so hard to develop in her signature style.  Moving in with her widowed mother, who owns and lives above a rundown beach bar called The Sandbox, is less than ideal.  So is attending court-mandated weekly “divorce recovery” therapy sessions with three other women and one man for whom betrayal seems to be the only commonality.  When their “divorce coach” starts to act suspiciously, they decide to start having their own Wednesday “Ladies’ Night” sessions at The Sandbox, and the unanticipated bonds that develop lead the members of the group to try and find closure in ways they never imagined.  Can Grace figure out a new way home and discover how strong she needs to be to get there? 

Heartache, humor, and a little bit of mystery come together in a story about life’s unpredictable twists and turns.  Mary Kay Andrews’ Ladies’ Night will have you raising a glass and cheering these characters on.

Last summer, I experienced my scariest “mommy moment” to date. My son (9 months at the time), fell off of a float and into the pool at my parent’s house. My siblings and parents were in the pool when we dropped by to say hi and they wanted me to prop Hampton up on a float so he could float around with them for a bit. My dad decided he was ready to get out of the pool and he didn’t notice Hampton on the float. He pushed the float out of his way and Hamp went tumbling off and sank to the bottom of the pool. 

Without even thinking, I jumped in (fully clothed) and scooped him off the bottom of the pool. It was the scariest thing that has ever happened to me and Hampton. Luckily, he was okay, but I was so upset with myself for allowing this to happen. I’m supposed to protect him – always. It was so upsetting. This situation could have had a really different outcome. We were lucky. 

One thing I have learned with kids is accidents happen – whether a parent is there paying attention or not. Pools are so much fun, but they can be very scary. Thankfully, Aflac offers Accident Policies for these situations. Had Hampton been really damaged or hurt from this, it would have been terrible to not have insurance that covered accidents. 


I want to share some pool safety tips with all of you because it is always good to refresh our memories on how to stay safe while we enjoy our summer.

Pool Safety Tips:


1. Don’t run close to a pool.
2. Keep your children away from drains and other openings to avoid them getting trapped.
3. Watch your children at all times.
4. Teach your kids how to swim and basic water safety tips.
5. No diving in shallow water.
6. Keep riding toys (like bikes) away from the pool area.
7. Keep your pool clean so the water is clear.
8. Don’t swim alone.
9. Don’t push people in the pool.
10. Keep electronics away from the pool.
11. Teach children how to float as early as possible.
12. Make sure young children wear floating devices (arm floaties, life jacket, etc.) at all times.


Please be safe this summer! For more information on Aflac’s Accident Policies, please visit their accident insurance page.


How do you practice water safety?



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

Picmonkey is a free photo editor that is extremely easy to use. I absolutely love it and use it for most of my photos on my blog. It is so simple to edit the exposure, size, add text and create great collages.

StumbleUpon is great for gaining more exposure to your blog. By stumbling your blog posts, you are broadening your audience and putting your posts before new faces. You have to be really careful about stumbling your own posts too much. I try to stumble about 15 to 20 other people’s posts for every one of my own just to be safe. SU will penalize you for stumbling your own work too often.

Pinterest continues to be my #1 referral site to my blog. Take advantage of this free site. Create pinnable photos and pin every post to Pinterest. Pin each post to different boards on different days at different times so that more people will see them. Do you follow me on Pinterest?

Facebook Groups have been amazing for my blog. I have found some wonderful blogs to follow and read every day through these groups. It is so nice to have bloggers sharing your work for you, but you also spend a good amount of time sharing their work as well. Since working with these groups, my pageviews and unique visitors has seen a substantial increase.

Link-Ups are wonderful for bloggers. There are so many link-ups every day of the week that you can participate in. In the (almost) 3 years I have been blogging, I can tell you that most of my readers are other bloggers. Sure, a handful of my friends and family read it occasionally, but the ones that read it daily and leave comments are other bloggers. Link-ups are a great way to find posts to read and new blogs that are in your niche to fall in love with! Visit my link-up list here!

What are some of your favorite free blogging resources?