It's My Life

We live in flip flops all summer long. Who doesn't? The other night The Short Chic suffered a blow-out in her flip flops. We threw them away and walked home barefooted. The Short Chic has a hard time letting things go. I had to promise her a new pair or she would not have thrown them away. I found super inexpensive flip flops at a large craft store. They were less than $2.00 a pair. I also picked up some ribbon and some sparkly buttons. Total project cost: $7.00 a pair.  Making these flip flops is easy and quick. You simply cut pieces of ribbon, tie them around the straps of the flip flop. I used pink and black ribbon and alternated colors. You can make a pair with all one color or go crazy and use a whole rainbow of colors. After I was finished, I trimmed the ends of the ribbon and used my E-6000 to glue a sparkly pink button to the center of each flip flop. I really don't think it needs this step, but the sparkly button sure made The Short Chic happy....

A few confessions here. First confession: I LOVE Diet Coke. No, really, like I am really totally addicted to it. Second confession: I do not normally like anything in my Diet Coke. No lemon. No lime. No vanilla. Not even cherry. None of that foolishness for me.  Then I heard about the Dirty Diet Coke. Have you heard of it? Well, I love coconut almost as much as I love Diet Coke so I was down to try it.   Dirty Diet Coke 1 can Diet Coke Torani Sugar Free Coconut Syrup {we purchased our bottle from World Market} Lime Ice You put some ice in a glass and add your Diet Coke. Then you put the Coconut {2 pumps} and the lime {a chunk} and you stir it all up! If this does not make you smile...you might just wanna go to bed! The conclusion: Third confession: I loved it! I think I found my new go-to drink. It is kind of dangerous. I drank one and wanted another one!

While camping Memorial Day weekend, The Short Chic and her running partner, Miss B,  learned to fly kites.   It was a super windy day that was perfect for flying kites.  When was the last time you flew a kite? For us adults, it had been a while. Even putting a kite together was a bit of a challenge for us rusty parents. Who ever realized that some thin wooden rods {now plastic rods}, some paper {or plastic}, and some string would provide hours of enjoyment was a pure genius! Happy Wordless Wednesday! {or slightly wordless!}

It is summer time here in my part of the world. That means hot days. Bored children who are out of school and need to be entertained. It also means my kitchen cools down. I look for foods that are cooler to make. Cooler to eat. This begins my summer dessert series. In preparation of the first full week after school ended I decided to use my new popcicle mold and make some homemade strawberry popcicles. I found some cute  Popcicle Makers  at World Market the last time I was shopping there. You of course do not need Popcicle Makers to make homemade popcicles. You can use ice cube trays or dixie cups and craft sticks. I was pleased with how these turned out! They are creamy. They are cold. And they are sure to be a hit on a hot summer day! Homemade Strawberry Popcicles 3 cups of strawberries (cleaned, remove the stem, cut in half) 1 cup milk Truvia to taste Before you get started you should know that I am a skim milk connisuer but for this receipe you will want...

Did you know that my home state of Missouri was named as the 2013 Best Trails State Award by American Trails ? One of our favorite summer weekend activities is to get up early and head to Smithville Lake in Smithville, Missouri and bike the trails. Here in Missouri, it gets hot and you want to be up early to cycle before the heat sets in. The trails at Smithville are covered with large trees and you never know when you are going to round a corner and find you are sharing the path with a deer.  This summer Missouri has started a 100 Missouri Miles initiative. Walk, bike, run, skate or however you like to do it, Missouri is encouraging you to get out and visit it's trails. I signed up this morning. I am so looking forward to hitting the trails and logging my 100 miles. You can sign up too! It is super easy: just go to 100 Missouri Miles . Besides getting my miles in I am looking forward to trying out a few trails I have never been on before. Do you have a favori...