Memorial Day Weekend 2016

Happy Memorial Day Weekend Everyone!

We have had the most wonderful break with the family.  There has been A LOT of activity, and I have barely sat down, but I wouldn't change a thing!  This weekend has been filled with outdoor lounging, lemonade sipping, baseball watchin, shrimp boil makin ... FUN!

We are so blessed to live in an area where our kids can run and play, our friends are family, and the days are filled with sunshine!

Here's to all the fallen soldiers, you are not forgotten and forever in our prayers.  Everyone enjoy Monday, and let's not forget what Memorial Day is really about!

When a storm blew threw just as we were about to eat outside ... boo!  Had to move it indoors!

On Monday we did eventually get to enjoy some sunshine in the back!  I made these cute drinks - Pineapple, Lemonade Rum ... YUM

#teamimhoff #thepamperedmom #memorialday2016

Sponsored Post: Mosquito Authority at Home

Boy did I get bit!  Just the other night, before the rains came, I looked down at my poor little plants, still in the containers that you get from the store, and they were wilting!  I spent the money on them already, I just could not find time to get them in the ground.  1 hour later ... all planted.  I was tired, ready to relax when I realized, I had been bit ... A LOT, while outside.  I hadn't even really realized it until I was back in the house getting all the dirt off.

To my surprise, I had bites all down my legs.  It's one thing for this to happen to me while outside of our home, but what if it were our kids?  Do I really want to risk our kids getting some disease just from playing in our backyard?  This is just Spring here, so it's just the beginning of outdoor activities. Pool, BBQ's, relaxing on the patio, s'more making ... this was not a good sign!!  Considering we had such a mild Winter, I would say it's only going to get worse.

Thankfully, we knew exactly who to call and were able to schedule a treatment that day.  Mosquito Authority is a family run business here in Frisco.  They create a barrier in your yard that repels Mosquitos, and breaks the mosquito life-cycle to prevent the pests from making your yard a breeding ground.  Amazing right?!  What about dogs, what about the kids?  No worries, the mist application they use is safe, and virtually disappears into your landscape.  I had my puppies back out side just as soon as it was dry!

You of course do not need to be home while they are applying the barrier to your yard, but I wanted to know what our technician thought.  JH was SO helpful and walked us through the process from start to finish.  He first walked the property and looked for any standing water.  If there was any, he applied a formula that would eliminate any potential eggs that were there.  I had no clue that almost 200 mosquito eggs could be laid in a quarter's worth of standing water ... EWWW!!  The next step was the mist application.  He applied it all over the yard, fence, trees, and home.  Afterwards, JH walked me through what to look for or keep my eye on.  It's amazing to me that this 15 minute process will help my family create more memories right here at home.

Standing water could be in your drains ... you may want to check or have Mosquito Authority come and look for any standing water ... these are breeding grounds!!

I am so impressed with the service we received. Thankful that I know we're in good hands and excited to enjoy the outdoors without the risk of disease! Did you know that Mosquito Authority also has a service to eliminate ticks?!  We'll be using this service for sure!  Thank you Mosquito Authority!!

#mosquitoauthority #mosquitos #outdoorswithouttherisk

AH-Mazing Grout Cleaner - FOR CHEAP!

Ya'll ..... I can not believe this works!!!

Let me first start by saying .... if you're like me and these hard, manual tasks are daunting ... If I can do it ... so can you!!!

I have been in my home for over a year now.  I have cleaned the kitchen floors weekly since moving in, however, the grout has NEVER been cleaned!  Eeewww ... grosss ... yeah I totally know.  But in all reality, I don't have time to sit there and scrub my floors until they sparkle.  I was literally 2 seconds away from calling a company to come and clean the grout.  It was getting bad.  I mean, I have two dogs, two kids, and we use our kitchen like there is no tomorrow!  I knew it had to be done, and that's why I was really curious when I read that you can use Lysol Gel Toilet Cleaner on your grout.  Say whaaaa??  I know, I was just as curious as to how this worked as you!  I jumped in the car and headed to the nearest CVS to see if it would work.

I'm a little hesitant when using products I have never used before on floors.  I didn't want to stain them or ruin them in any way.  There were two options to choose from.  There was the Lysol Gel with Bleach and the Lysol Gel with Hydrogen Peroxide.  I had read the bleach worked well, but honestly, I wasn't willing to try it.  I get a little nervous about bleach.  So I opted for the HP.

When I got home, I tested a small area under our back door rug, just to see what I was working with. To my surprise ... It WORKED!  and with minimal effort ... [see above where I don't have a lot of time!]  Below are the exact steps I took to make my grout sparkle like the day I moved in. If you have dirty grout ... don't be ashamed :) Do what I did!!

Okay ... so this is the exact product I used.  I think I paid $3.75 for it at CVS.  You can probably find a coupon ... but again ... WHO has the time?!!??!

Steps:

1.  Prep your floors.  I swept my floors only. I didn't clean them at all, just used the hardwood floor vacuum.
2.  Take your Lysol toilet gel and apply it to your grout.  Like the photo below ...
3.  Take a bowl of water and a brush [just a reg. ol scrubbing brush you have laying around] and dip it into the water and scrub the grout.  You don't even have to scrub hard!  Just enough so the blue gel turns white and bubbly.
4.  Wipe away all the gel and water, and then refill your bowl.  Again, scrub the grout using only water and get the access away and continue to dilute the tile and grout.  [I don't know if this step is necessary, but I wanted to make sure I wasn't leaving the product on the title for too long, so I made sure to do this step each and every time.]
5. Wipe away and let the title DRY.
** The tile grout will look darker than when you started ... this is ok .. it's wet and needs to dry.  [see photo below]

Tips:

1.  Make sure to TEST a spot.  I would hate for you to try this product and it NOT work.  Don't blame me ... I told you to test first! :)
2.  Select small areas at a time. It's easy with this Gel to just keep on filling in the grout ... DON'T.  This is still a strong blue gel, and if left on too long, could stain.  Do you really want blue grout?!  So start small.  I did mine in sections and didn't have a problem.
3.  Don't leave the gel on too long.  As soon as I applied to the grout, I filled a bowl with water and got started.  I only gave the gel about a minute to work. Any longer and I would have gotten nervous it could stain.
4.  Don't skip the water and brush step #4 .. just saying :)
5.  Allow to dry for a few hours before you really examine the tile.  For me, my tile took about 2.5 hours to really dry and look clean. You will freak out for a moment when it's drying and say "what have I done, it looks worse."  If you followed these steps AND tested, you will be super pleased with the outcome!

My title grout looked so good, when the hubs got home, he noticed it RIGHT away!  That's right ladies ... it's that good!

** I have real stone tile and grey-ish grout.  It did not stain or harm my floor in anyway.

Share your own photos ... I would love to see how it worked for you!!!

#cleaning #grout #lysoltoiletgel

Mother's Day 2016

I hope everyone had a wonderful Mother's Day! Amen to all the mom's who keep their family organized, work, clean, and multi-task the family's calendar.  Lord knows I had one heck of a mentor!  Love you Mom!

I had to share this on the blog today, I couldn't let it go any longer.  This Mother's Day was rough. I had run a race on Saturday and really pushed myself too hard and ended up with a mini heat stroke.  So, needless to say, I had to really take it easy and rest.  Ryan and I picked out stone for the front of the house and he put it in while I rested.  I am totally impressed!  I just think it turned out perfect and turned our boring outside, into something we can really be proud about!

For Mother's Day he gave me a pedicure gc ... because he worked so hard, I begged him to go with me and rest his feet too ... so I had a pedi day with the hubs!  Then the  most wonderful Italian for dinner.  I was totally spoiled, but I am so blessed and appreciative of my sweet boys!

#mothersday2016  #imhoffhome  #landscape