I {heart} Staycations

Such a simple thing:

Stay home instead of going away.

While we certainly love our getaways, sometimes it's nice to just stay home and  enjoy what we have. In Joe's words, he just "wanted to live like a normal guy".  Our schedules are always wonky with the car business and he had three major tent sales which took up lots of time, plus never getting a full weekend off unless it's vacation/holiday….it takes a toll!

So what'd we do?  A little of everything.

Tuesday he got up before the sun to go hunting, and I followed with the kids later when they woke up.

I was supposed to bake pies and hang out, but we ended up tracking a deer for over 3 hours, with no luck finding him. :(  quite discouraging, but the kids had some nana/papa time so that was fun for them!

Wednesday night we hired a sitter and went out for a date night!

Thursday-we took it easy and I ran errands to prep for our party.

Friday we hosted our first "Friday Night Meatballs"…more to come on how that went down!

Saturday-- Was another super lazy day. Flannel pjs, fire, coffee…and then I remembered Brooke had dance at 4:15! So I had to actually shower etc. ha





Sunday- My sister came over and we hung out, made chicken marsala and drank red wine.  [Joe got the new Call of Duty and has been playing with his buddies whenever he can!]



Monday-  We got up and out of the house for breakfast!

We drove around in the country for a bit, until the baby was like ok I've had enough.  We kind of randomly stopped to check out new mattresses…we have both been waking up with terribly sore necks, backs and just keep feeling out of whack. I thought it was the baby and the toddler…I see a chiro on a regular basis, but we realized our mattress was 12 years old and maybe it was time.

After that we quickly rounded up the troops and tried out Cracker Barrel.  We hadn't eaten here in years, and since we were "on vacation" we figured it was ok…ha.

After lunch both kids crashed and we checked out a new butcher shop downtown.   We grabbed some delicious sausage, bacon and a giant steak to try out tonight.   You can see our new pillows (which are amazing!!) in the back too.

It wasn't like we did anything super crazy, but honestly just being home and enjoying each other, catching up on some things around the house really makes such a difference!   My husband never complains about working so much, but he did keep saying how nice it was to be home with the kids.  He didn't hunt nearly as much as he wanted to, simply because he missed us.  Soon we will have our land and be able to get out all the time, but as for now, his overall drive time etc. is a lot for him to hunt.   We are also excited since we (just hubby and wifey!) will get to go away soon to Arizona for a business trip.  Stay tuned!

Staycation Begins!

Happy Tuesday!! I am so excited for so many things around here.  Super detailed over here, I know.  But really, we had an incredible Halloween, with far too few photos.  Can I just say, I had NO idea how hard it would be to get two little ones all bundled up and out the door to trick-or-treat in costume, with the doorbell ringing and my husband scaring off little kids in his big bad wolf mask?!  Oy, it was quite the sight!  When we eventually did make it out of the house, we had a ball.

And while I am beyond thrilled about Christmas, I have to check myself because even though my husband doesn't love turkey, he does love the idea of Thanksgiving.   I thought of him when I saw this!



Baby boy is just growing up so darn fast!! Post bath curls and pre bedtime bottle.




As for trick-or-treating? Brooke was on the hunt for lollipops. It was the only candy she wanted, and of course so few people hand out lollipops!  She also had a mini fit over not having a glow stick. #momfail  Next year I will stockpile those bad boys so that she can glow with the rest of the minions. Overall, she did great! We actually went around to a lot of houses and she was probably more interested in their dogs, cats, or other noises.  She even told one lady, "Close the door!" When she was done getting candy.  I don't know where she gets all that sass from.

Yesterday I took advantage of that awesome sitter we found (she's in between and looking for a full time job, so I had to take what I could get!) and I cashed in a gift card to a beautiful spa that Joe won.  I felt a little bad with the whole "no spend november" but when you find someone to trust with your kids, it's hard to not just use them! Once our sitter gets hired elsewhere, I may not find someone again until February! So, $60 spent on her was worth it.  My gift card covered both a pedicure and facial--and tip for both! I feel totally rejuvenated and my skin looks awesome.  I even got to hit up Trader Joe's for our grocery trip this week.  I love their stuff!

So today begins my husband's "staycation."  He loves to hunt, and so that is exactly where he is this very moment.  I am hoping he gets his trophy buck and we can just relax the rest of the week! We have dinner plans one night and we have our big "Friday Night Meatballs" coming up this Friday. I am a little nervous as to how many people will be here, a lot have said yes!  But I just keep reminding myself that if you have more than enough, build a bigger table, so that is what we shall do.




The kids and I are going out to my dad's while Joe hunts and I do believe my step mom and I will be making some apple pies.  It will be nice to get out and visit for awhile.  As my husband put it, he's just happy to live a little bit of a "normal" life this week.  Meaning, he won't be working 8-8 and living at work.  We are more than excited to have him around for a bit!!  He's done the stay cation thing now, since I started this blog, back in 2011.   Two times I was super pregnant and he usually and a list of baby stuff to finish up…but this year, we can just play! Have you taken a staycation?  What do you like to do when you're off from work?


I'm going to try something new and attempt to make a weekly vlog, highlighting some moments in our lives each week.  I am having fun with the video, so bear with me while I learn to edit etc.  I hope you enjoy!  Subscribe to my channel for updates.

And I uploaded our trick-or-treat at Wegmans last week too, if you want to see the kids in their costumes some more.

Staycation Re-cap

What a week!! While I love going away and being on a "real vacation" being 32 weeks pregnant, having a toddler, and us wanting to save some money with the new baby on the way, and let's be honest, Joe wanted to hunt…we made the most of a stay cation.  I'm not so sure I'll want to do them when then kids get older, because I find true value in all of us getting out of the house, exploring new areas to travel and explore.  We are already planning our July family vacation, and I'm pretty sure it will involve the ADK mountains and Lake George again.  With baby boy being rather small, I don't think we will go all rustic, but I am excited to get out and see that place in action!

As for our stay cation, what did we do? I suppose this is more for my own memories, but feel free to read on if you'd like.

Monday was really low key and I just ran errands alone (woop!) and Joe grilled us some BBQ bone-in chicken breasts.

Tuesday we found Brooke a big girl bed! It was like 70 degrees and so nice out so it was perfect weather to get out and about with her.  This was a huge deal to find her bed set, as we really need to get the crib/changing table into the nursery sooner than later, and transition that girl!  I don't want to be dealing with a newborn and a toddler up all night.  We accidentally left her sound machine at my parents' house, so she's been sleeping without that for the week, and has been fine!

We also picked up our 40 pounds of Zaycon Chicken.  I haven't tried it yet, but it looks huge and awesome! For such a great deal, I will surely be back in March when they return.  If you are interested in $1.89 a pound for chicken, that is hormone and antibiotic free, use this referral code!

https://www.zayconfoods.com/refer/zf369969

I had my girls' night Wednesday and it was so much fun.  I haven't seen Matty since before I was prego, so I believe that was April?? He shared some amazing news---him and his boyfriend are coming home in June!! I couldn't be more excited.  I can't wait for our monthly girls' nights to start up again.

Thursday I thoroughly enjoyed my prenatal massage and even drifted off to sleep a few times!  Joe arranged for my stepmom to watch Brooke while he hunted that same day, so I also snuck in a pedicure and then went to my OB appointment without trying to wrangle Brooke and pee in a cup. Do you know how much talent that is, especially since she can open that bathroom door??? #justsayin

In baby news: he is measuring ahead at 34 weeks, while we just entered 32.  I told my doctor how I have been having Braxton Hicks, which I don't really think I had them this much with Brooke, and he was all like, 'eeeehhhh don't worry mon' [he's Jamaican] but for real, said it was no biggie, but then he started feeling around and goes, "OH WOW.  He's already in position, head is way down.  You have a few more weeks fella, what are you getting all cozy down there for?? No wonder you've been having BH contractions, his head is low.  As long as they don't get painful or start coming really frequently, you should be fine."   So, stay put baby!  We love you and can't wait to meet you, but are not ready yet! Keep on baking.

It also snowed a little bit off and on, so that is always fun when it does that for the first time of the season.  I know I've mentioned it before, but I am ready for the cold.  I'm so weird.

I did get a little emotional the last few days, with missing my Sadie girl.  I had been fine, but then when a week came up, I realized how much I do miss her so, and it just makes me really sad she won't be here around the holidays.

Friday we started the morning with a cozy fire and I met with a new cleaning lady.  We also decided to go to the mall, which is always an adventure with an almost 2 year old.  Joe did find himself a nice new winter jacket and I stocked up on my holiday soaps from Bath and Body.  She got to run around like a maniac and wanted to climb the gates that held in all the Christmas trees.  This whole Christmas season will be fun and reeeeeeally interesting!

We ordered takeout from a fancy restaurant for dinner, so that was quite delish!!!  I even set up the living room, so we could eat in there. I just stick Brooke in her high chair and we flip the ottoman top over and it's a table.  Silly, but we never eat in there/with the tv, so when we do it's kind of a big deal.

I was able to go to Wegmans (our grocery store) TWICE this week by myself.  That's a vacation right there!  Saturday I also got to run errands: library, post office, dry cleaners, without having to buckle/unbuckle, lift and somewhat struggle with the constant in/out of errand running.  It's really not fun for her, (or me) so I really do appreciate when I can get out and do that.  

We lit our fireplace and just relaxed a bit here and there too.  I am horrible at just putting my feet up and constantly feel the need to do stuff; I believe the nesting instinct is really kicking in like crazy, and I have all these projects I start and need to finish.

Today is Sunday, he's hunting (still hasn't gotten anything yet) and Brooke and I just finished up some Buckwheat pancakes.   I'm thinking lasagna for dinner.  I feel like all I do is cook, eat, clean, figure out what to cook next, cook, eat, clean…repeat. Which is why I need to stop procrastinating and go clean my kitchen!

More than anything, it was nice to have Joe around more.  He was still 'working' on other projects he has started #entrepreneur but I can tell Brooke really enjoyed just having him home more often than not.  We still have a lot do before baby's arrival, but I can't stress…he will come regardless of what is in place or not.

I'm looking forward to:
-hosting my first homeschool meet up tomorrow (I know one other momma is brining her girl)
-sharing AdvoCare at a holiday stop and shop tomorrow night
-Thanksgiving
-picking out Brooke's new bedding
-reading my books from the library

Stay-cation Recap

Thank you for those who wished my day to be better~ it certainly improved!! I'm so happy to be blogging about now again--I've been enjoying all of your upcoming Thanksgiving stories, recipes and current events.  It's great to be able to share mine!

Our "stay-cation" in review:

Monday: I went deer hunting. I was my first time and it was actually pretty cool! We only saw one deer running off as we walked through the woods after sitting in the stand.  

After our hunting expedition, we worked up quite an appetite, so we decided to check out the new sushi joint about 5 minutes from our house.  It's super trendy and doesn't feel like we're home.  We sat at the sushi bar and the sushi chef turned out to be the owner.  You learn so much by sitting there talking with them!

 Philly Roll & Spicy Tuna Hand Rolls

 Tuna Dumplings

Tuesday: He hunted, I had my Scentsy party at my house, so I spent most of the day prepping/cleaning for that.  I had some great people stop by and lots of laughs.

Wednesday: We went for a couples massage and ended up having sushi again!

This time we tried sushi pizza~ah-mazing!

Thursday: I had a hair appointment while Joe hunted and then we drove south to pick up our processed deer.  Of course, on the way back, we had to go to Dick's to buy a new trail cam, then go put it up at the land where he hunts.
Friday: Joe hunted again, then we went sushi again!! Seriously, it was that good and we were on "vacation" hehe.  We had a "date night" in, which included a nice fire 

and the movie:

{via}

It was a cute movie and we enjoyed it.

Saturday: We grabbed breakfast bagel sandwiches {this one place has low carb bagels that are actually yummy!} & I had a coffee and we were off to go shopping at the mall.  Some fun new purchases included:

in white

 

all express images

And a two infinity scarves.  Everything was buy one get one half-off, and I had 3 coupons. Yay!

And a new store Lush opened, so I had to bring home a sample of the all natural chocolate mask~

I liked it!

Of course, the red cup.

And even hubby had some great findings:

New shoes....trying to get him out of those Nikes 24/7!

And some fun Banana Purchases

 And some work pants, and a new sweater, and a new pair of jeans. He never finds stuff, so when he does it's game on!

For dinner we dined on some grilled venison tenderloins, marinated in balsamic vinegar dressing. 

Sunday: We went hunting again. I must say the only negative thing about it is having to shower with the "dirt soap".  It's really a scent remover, but I have realized that I just love pretty smells, and "fresh earthy scent" isn't one of them.  He's so serious!

 

We still saw nothing, but it was so warm out, it was easy just to enjoy the peace of nature that surrounded us.  We then hung around the house and watched the 49ers win again!!  It was a great to have Joe home for the week, I wish he got more time off than just 2 weeks a year.  

Have you taken a stay-cation?  Would you?
What do you to save money and still keep things fun & lively with your significant other?

FYI:

I've been on a pumpkin kick, so I'll be sharing my pie & bread recipe shortly.  I'm so excited for Turkey Day.