Strawberry Picking with the kids!

We love strawberries at our house... like, we would eat them for all of our meals and all our snack and become great big strawberries if we could.  So, I thought it would be fun to go and pick our own.  Plus fresh strawberries are WAY better then the ones at the store!  My youngest is just starting to get to the age where she can do more things independently, so that means more outing for us!!  Yay! 

We went to our local Orchard/Farm... they have apples and pumpkins in the fall and strawberries in the summer.  It was a warm and sunny day so we went early.  It was a good thing too, because it was the last day of picking so we just squeaked in!  Phew!  

It started out like this... both kids were very into picking the RED ones!

But it turned to this after only a couple of minutes....

I am pretty sure they lost money on us since most of our strawberries were eaten before we made it to get weighed.  

My son just wanted to play with the flag they gave us to mark our spot.

"Ok, honey- can you just pretend that you are picking strawberries for me to get a picture??" 

"Yeah- sure mom."

I ended up picking most of the berries while trying to keep the kids from bugging other people.  But at the end of the day both kids said it was their favorite thing of the day!  AND we got some YUMMY strawberries to boot!   I see this becoming a summer tradition! 

What have you been doing with your kids lately?

Atlantic Luggage Legoland Sweepstakes!

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Atlantic Luggage for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

Have you heard of Legoland in Florida?  It is a theme park based all around Legoes!  They have fun LEGO themed rides.  They also have a new water park with a Wave pool, tube slides and much more!  Families can also build their own unique LEGO vessels and set it a float in the lazy river!  I know Florida has all the fun stuff right!  My sister has been to this theme park and LOVED it!  Her son now wants to be a LEGO engineer!  I have a couple kids of my own that would love this park!  Wanna a chance to go?

Atlantic Luggage is give YOU a chance to win a trip to Legoland for your family (2 adults and 2 kids) in the:  Atlantic Luggage and Legoland Sweepstakes! The Prize package includes: 2 hotel nights, Car voucher, a meet and great with a Legoland Master Model Builder and FREE set of Atlantic Luggage!  Sounds great to me!

 

Atlantic Luggage is lightweight and durable.  They offer a verity of sizes and sets so there is something for everyone!   Who doesn't need good luggage... I know we do!   I like that they have a bunch of colors!  So that you can pick your bag out at the airport quickly and not be lost in the hundreds of black suitcases!  

 

 

Show Off Your Stuff party # 134

Hello and Welcome to our Show Off Your Stuff Party!! 

Before we start party-ing I would like to wish all the the American readers:

Here is what we have to show off this week:

Jeannine's Easy Healthy Black bean dip:

Fawnda's Painted Patio:

And now it is YOUR turn!! 

Here is the run down:

1. Pay attention! There are 4 categories to link up:

Crafts and Sewing

DIY and Home Decor

Recipes
Inspirational/Creative Writing

pick one and go with it!

{If you pick the wrong one... you can delete your own and add it to the right one! :) }

2. Add a link to your specific post, not the main page of your blog.

3. Please do not link up to something that you are just trying to sell.

4. Link to this party from your post so everyone can get in on the fun. You can just grab my button!

<a href="https://www.firefliesandjellybeans.com/search/label/Show%20Off%20Your%20Stuff%20Party" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="blank"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fvxHkFmRuww/TjYS_3oztzI/AAAAAAAAAjA/H6n_MRE4xhs/s200/Show+off+your+Stuff+party+button.JPG" width="125" /></a>

&

We painted our Patio!

Our Patio was in rough shape.  It had tons of cracks and it had some stains.  The previous owners used it to work on cars and other machines so it has rust and oil stains.  To give it a facelift we desided to paint it.   This is an easy solution to fixing the patio with out having to replace it. .

This before Pictures is not the real before.  We have painted it for a while now.  But Here is this years before picture.  Before you start you want to pressure wash the patio and use outdoor paintable caulking to fill int the cracks.  This picture shows you this step. 

You want to use Exterior Cement paint.  There are a bunch of different kinds.  We like the Skid-Not since we have pool and the patio gets wet.  It is also thicker so, it covers some of the cracks and rough spots better.  We got ours from Loews but, we have also bought it at Home Depot.  You can get it tinted to a bunch of different colors to match your outdoor decor.  We went with a warm sandy brown color to help hide the dirt.

 You will want a Paint Brush to use for cut-in around the edges.

You will also want a roller with an extension pole to roll on the paint.  This makes the process MUCH faster.  Make sure you get a ROUGH paint roller.  They are extra cushy to get into all the nooks of the cement.  My cement was pretty rough so I got an Extra Rough Paint Roller. (found at most hardware stores)

You will want to make sure you have a couple dry days in a row.  First, cut in around the edges.  Then, roll, roll, roll away.  I did 2 thick coats to get the coverage I wanted it.  

 Way better- right?! 


 

Easy, Healthy, Black Bean Dip Recipe

Need a quick and easy Snack for the 4th of July picnic?  I have the perfect thing for you! 

Recently I was at the grocery store looking for a snack to bring to a friend's house for girls night. I was thinking about Hummus and Crackers, and I came across something called "Black Bean Hommus." I bought it because I love black beans, and I figured it would be good. It was amazing. So I set out to recreate it, and this is what I came up with:

Ingredients:
1 can black beans, drained {you can rinse them if you want, I didn't because I'm too lazy}
1 T minced garlic, or 1 large clove
1 T chili powder
1 t cumin
1 t onion powder
1/2 t salt
handful of fresh cilantro  
{real hummus would also have Tahini. If I had some, I would add some, but I've never been able to find it. I should probably order it from Amazon.}

Directions: Put all ingredients into food processor or blender and puree; garnish with sprigs of cilantro if desired. Dip crackers, tortilla chips, bread, or veggies.