saturday: song

i hope everyone is enjoying a beautiful weekend with friends + family.

i have always loved ray lamontagne + his latest album "supernova" might be one of my favorites.

enjoy my friends.

we will be pool side at cici + pop's house all weekend.

a day together

after working so hard this entire summer (more to come on my next project soon!), i decided to take a day for myself. a lot of mama's would choose a spa day or a day just to be doing something alone. trust me i crave those days too, but this time i wanted something different. i chose to pull nate out of summer school/camp for the day + take him to the perot museum. we met up with some friends we'd been missing all summer. while he's been having fun at school with friends + i have been able to get a lot of work done without him at home, i've been having working mom guilt. this was the perfect excuse to spend the day together without worrying about who i needed to call, what emails i needed to respond to, + my ever growing to do list. here is a little peek into our day together. sadly i didn't actually get a picture of the two of us, but i will always have the memories of that giggle filled day of discovery.

rockets were a huge success, our friend noah had to help launch.

nate just could not get that jump right. 

nathan's car he built beat the daily record + kept getting faster (final time 1.83).

we tried hard for the all time record, but it was a no go.

i am one lucky mama to be able to spend the day with this one. 

beat the heat

it doesn't seem to matter where you are from, there are going to be days this summer that are unbearably hot. those days are constant and already starting here in texas. [it's this time in june that i start to really worry about the august heat] 

today i wanted to share some fun outdoor kid's activities that help beat the heat .

clockwise from top left: one // freeze their favorite small toys. your littles will have to work on ways to melt the ice (hopefully before the sun does) to get to the toys. you could even get new trinkets + toys that all fit to one theme + do a new theme each week or month. two // water balloon learning fun! get a bucket of water balloons + write the alphabet or sight words on the driveway with chalk. have your kiddo try to hit the requested letter or word. learning + having fun can't beat it! this will most likely end in a water balloon fight, a nice cool off. three // a kid car wash. i am sure you have all seen this, but have you built one yet. they are very easy + can stay up all summer long. we like to paint nathan's "cars" with watered down tempra paint then go through the car wash. four // make your own frozen chalk paint. messy, icy, fun. five // need a car wash? have your kiddos help. i would let them be in charge bc then you might get a wheel cleaned, but what a fun way to get wet + clean. six // water beads are an absolute favorite at our house. they are made for flower arrangements, but make the best sensory activity.
images via one, two, three, four, five, six

how do you stay cool on these long, hot, summer days?

homemade: cherry popsicles

looking for an easy "beat the heat" project at home?

follow this super simple recipe and be enjoying popsicles all summer long!

we have been experimenting with popsicle ideas since easter (that's when the easter bunny brought our popsicle molds). we have made some absolutely delicious desserts + some throw it in the sink immediately popsicles. don't worry this is not one of those.

if you are a fan of cherries, like we are then you will love this recipe!

i even threw together a cherry lemonade popsicle in this batch. 

it was pretty darn good as well. 

popsicles to be enjoyed on the back porch in the texas heat!

cherry popsicles: by the little things blog

ingredients:

1/3 c cherries (sliced or chopped without the pit)

1 c vanilla yogurt (option: greek yogurt)

2 tbls honey

blend the cherries until pureed to your liking. 

add yogurt + honey and blend some more until smooth.

pour into popsicle molds + freeze. 

seriously that's it. it's that simple!

to make the cherry-lemonade popsicle all i did was pour in lemonade instead of yogurt + blended together to mix well. it helped clean my blender and was definitely my favorite of the batch! 

it's even more fun to eat a popsicle with this little guy. come over + try it sometime!

here is a large list of recipes we are going to try over the summer:

yummy

local favorite: KXT Summer Cut

if you live in dallas, then i am sure you have heard of the radio station KXT.  

if you live in dallas + haven't heard this station, turn your dial push your button, tune into 91.7, + turn it up!

laura + me sitting in the lawn

KXT is a public broadcasting station.  It has been broadcasting since november 2009 + has a triple-a (adult album alternative) music format.
 they play a lot of local + fresh new artists. a mix of acoustic, indie rock, folk rock, and alternative.

laura + her husband gabe

every year they put on a big concert called Summer Cut featuring artists that they play on the station.
this year we had the wonderful pleasure of going + it was maybe one of the best nights ive had in a really long time! we had a blast!

b + me when we first arrived

there is something about an outdoor all day concert that makes you feel young again. maybe it just makes me feel young again because i hadn't been to an all day festival since i was 21 + because i was childless for a whole day + night.

we danced in the rain, while drinking good beer, laughing with friends, + listening to amazing music.

a special thank you to my sister for getting us seats for my birthday! i love you al. 

KXT has another concert series called Barefoot at the Belmont. I haven't been but hope to catch one this summer.  if you are going to any concerts this summer. tell me! i would love to hear about it!

happy weekend

i hope everyone has a wonderful weekend. 

we have nathan at the lakehouse with cici + pops

+

b + i are off to the KXT Summer Cut concert.

i am so excited! 

a mini music festival in the rain...oddly enough makes me incredibly happy

all this month my saturday songs will be from bands that will be at summer cut.

today i leave you with a song by The Orbans. (one we are looking forward to)

now how to get a good enough camera in the door. hmm. 

when i say summer, you say....

color...

clockwise from top left: pantone tarts / guanajauto, mexico / colorful macaroons / nail polish / gorgeous flower bouquet

i don't know about you, but when i think of summer, i think bright fun colors! these are images I've been collecting that scream color and therefore scream summer. enjoy.

 I'm stuck inside recovering, in so much pain!