How to Relax and Enjoy that Road Trip (Plus a Travel Center Tutorial & 25+ Game/Activity Ideas!)

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc and its advertiser. 

All opinions are mine alone.

#RoadTripOil #CollectiveBias

What do you think of when you hear the word "road trip"? Do you groan and remember being stuck in a car for what felt like forever? OR do you get excited and start planning right away? I have to say that I have felt some of BOTH of these emotions. BUT...over the years, as we have traveled literally from the South to the North on both sides of the country, I have come to feel excitement all of the time now. Most of this is due to figuring out how to make road trips successful and making everyone in the car happy. And today I'm going to share all of my great tips with you to do just that!

Plus I have over 25 game and activity ideas for many different ages that you can play in the car...including a tutorial to make this fun and easy DIY Travel Activity Center.  

It's magnetic and keeps everything in one place and from falling all over the floor. So keep reading to see How to Make Your Road Trip a Happy One For Everyone.

The key is to prepare!

100th Day of School; Dress up like you are a 100 years old day

This week my daughter's class celebrated the 100th day of school. They were all told that they could dress up the way they think they will look when they are 100 years. I gotta say...I had a ton of fun with this and can't stop cracking up at all of my daughter's facial expressions in these pics! haha My younger daughter said, "I didn't know it was Old Lady's Day!" Bwahaha!

We decided to look together to see how we could easily make her look 100 without going out and buying much. This is what we came up with and we loved it!

We picked out a loose fitting dress and sweater for her to wear.

  

A Wall of Christmas {Decor}

I don't know about you, but I am so ready for the end of this week. If you have kiddos in school, you know how crazy these last two weeks have been...especially this one! I've been up since 5:30 this am working on last minute Christmas gifts my kids told me about last night! UGH! (My son told me last night he had a white elephant gift exchange in one class today and can he also take gifts to his teachers?) I think I have made about 20 teacher gifts now this week. Ha! Plus little gifts for my kids' friends and for classmates, and a teacher's bday, and and and...then you get all the class parties and more! I'm exhausted and so ready to sleep in! haha

One thing I did finish recently though was my "Wall of Christmas"! It's so fun with fun Christmas quotes. I love how it turned out and wanted to share.

It really was pretty easy and I love how it transforms our living room even more into the spirit of Christmas! I pretty much took boards and frames I already had and just gave them all an update! I also took a bunch of my fav pics of my kids in the snow and put them all in a frame. So fun!

Seasons of Life and My New Announcement!

Well, if you follow me on Facebook or on Instagram, these pictures will look familiar to you. AND it will explain why my posts have been a bit fewer and further in between lately. haha

As we took the picture above, the kids were wondering why there was an extra pumpkin, but my oldest daughter caught on really quick. haha

Creating More Memories, and Less Regrets #TreatYourFamily

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc and Walmart Family Mobile.

All opinions are mine alone.

#TreatYourFamily #CollectiveBias

I can't believe that the holidays are already right around the corner. Once we hit the end of October, it seems the rest of they year kicks into fast forward warp speed! One of my goals this year is to not let the enjoyment of being with family and friends get away from me during this time. It's so easy to get caught up in everyday life and your "have-to-do-this-today" lists, that sometimes we forget to focus on what matters most and where our real blessings are found.

Reduce Water Bottles

A couple of years ago, I found these great water bottles at a great price and picked up a set of them. I was thinking about how great they were the other day, except we had lost most of the lids. I decided to check out their website and was happily amazed to find that they sold replacement lids at a great price with LOW shipping too! That brings me to today. If I love them so much and now love them even more for not making me buy brand new water bottles when I was just missing the lids...I just had to share!

I actually picked them up from Woot. (Great website that I love, but don't get me started! lol) But they are sold on Reduce Everyday. And like I said, they are great!

My Top 10+ Fall Posts

Happy Thursday! Are you as ready for Friday as I am?! My son that got injured this past weekend, and now has a concussion, has consumed my week and now he has the doctor's orders to stay home from school. A good thing (for his brain) and a bad thing as far as stressing about how much he is missing and getting behind on in school.

So...to cheer me up AND to celebrate the beginning of fall, today I've got a round up of my past and best 10+ fall projects! I don't know what it is about fall, but just knowing that it's here, has me smiling!

So many fun things to do in the fall!

From baking these yummy cookies...

Fun Finds at Magnolia Market

Happy Middle of the Week! So far no more injuries at our house. haha Thank goodness!

So, one of my favorite shows IF I ever get a chance to actually sit down and watch it is Fixer Upper. I have watched it since about the beginning. I love so many things about it...JoJo's style, the fun relationship between her and Chip, seeing how they include their whole family into they daily lives, even at work...I could go on and on,

So...this past summer when we were traveling, I talked my husband into stopping by Magnolia Market, as we were driving through Waco, TX. I had looked up info on the shop already and it was pretty much what I expected. Lots of fun items to use in your home decor collections. Some more than I would pay, but oh so cute and so much inspiration. 

I wanted to just pick up a couple little things to add to the kitchen I am trying to create for my future house. And this is what I decided on:

Simple, but so fun!

I love the pop of color between the light blue and the strawberries....

Walmart Neighborhood Market Grand Opening in MY area! {Rogers, AR}

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. 

All opinions are mine alone. 

#GameTimeClean #CollectiveBias 

Happy Monday everyone! I'm not sure about you, but I after my son got injured this past weekend in soccer, I was ready for the weekend to come to an end, and a new week to begin! Ha! I don't usually feel that way. I always think I need an extra day between Saturday and Sunday, but this time, this mama is ready for a new week, one withOUT any injuries and concussions. (Kids, take note! haha)

One thing I do at the beginning of every week is to make a weekly menu and list of items that we need. If we start the week off more organized, the week always goes smoother. (Unless of course you collide with someone else during a soccer game and land on your head. Ugh.)

So, here I am making a list of everything I need to pick up at the store for the week, and I wanted to share with you how excited I am about all the Walmart Neighborhood Markets that have been popping up.

 In fact, there's another one near me in Rogers, AR that is opening this week, and having a Grand Opening on September 23rd, in just TWO days! My kids LOVE going to the Grand Openings with me.

Cinnamon Apple...in a pot! {Teacher Gift or Fall Candy Bowl}

#teachergift #apple #fall #backtoschool #teacherappreciation #endofschool #firstdayofschool #cinnamonapples #gifts #diygifts #gluedots

I'm ready to say Happy Fall Ya'll! But we're not quite there yet. haha

We started back to school last week here and I wanted to share with you a super duper simple easy peasy! teacher gift that you can use right now OR anytime of year. Seriously! It can't get any easier than this! AND it's multifunctional for the teacher!

It's a Cinnamon Apple...in a pot! So so easy and yet, they can use it later to take home and plant something in or put their pens and pencils in...whatever they want! I even thought of dolling it up a bit more by putting the teacher's name on the front or a big A+. BUT decided that I liked the simplicity of it being just a big red apple this time. :)

So, here is your list of supplies needed to make this gem: