I didn't do too much reading, but here are some books that I picked up and my thoughts on them. I'm really excited to share my May readings, as I'm halfway through 2 books and it's only May 3!
What have you been reading? I'm always looking for a new good read!
There are lots of smiles around here. It seems that everyone was in desperate need of some vitamin D. Everywhere we go people are laughing and in good moods. It's so nice!
Friday it was just me and this guy. Daddy & Brooke worked hard all day finishing up the latest rental. I decided to take him to a little park for a bit and then we went to Wal-Mart for some Summer clothes.
A little Wal-Mart Haul
I have been really enjoying my nightly walks with Holly.
I try very hard to not text on the phone or check social media, but I do bring my phone/camera.
Playing outside = way more baths!!
Saturday night we watched a stupid/funny movie.
Sunday morning we were up bright and early for dance pictures!
Daddy had an open house at the rental and we stopped by with some Starbucks. We found a renter--yay!
We came home had a quick lunch, got the kiddos to nap for a bit, but then I had to wake them to go to a birthday party. I didn't get any photos, but they had a ball running around, playing in the bounce house and eating cupcakes.
After the party, we grilled a ham steak and some organic lime/cilantro chicken sausages and called it a night. We were in bed shortly after 9! It's crazy how busy we are sometimes, but it was really a fun weekend.
I got my Winter edition in the mail the other day and decided to open it and take a closer look with you! I don't do any other subscription boxes, and this month's was pretty good. {Last months was one of my favorites ever, so that was tough to beat!}
Spoiler alert --I open the box in the video, so don't watch it if you don't want to know!
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.
I am so excited that it is MAY!! April was full of germs and cold weather…so I am hoping for lots of sun and pretty Spring flowers!! Summer is my favorite season and I cannot wait to play in the sun with my two kiddos.
As you'll see (if you watch the video) I love life. I have a lot to say and sometimes don't know how to hold back; I tend to say what is on my mind, unless I have time to think about it. I turned to blogging a few years ago, when I quit teaching and was simply a housewife. My husband and I laugh at how I thought I was "busy" then. Sure, I was busy. I was making lavish, gourmet meals and spending countless hours at salons. Hair. Nails. Pedicure. Wax. You name it, I was keeping myself quite pampered. Now? I am lucky to get a 4 minute shower and the only salon I frequent is my hairdresser because I am a blonde at heart, but unfortunately not at the roots. ;)
I love being a mommy and would not trade this season of my life for the world! I know that all too soon, they won't need me for every waking second and that these sticky hugs and stinky diapers won't last forever. In the midst of mommy mode, I do my very best to be a good wifey! I adore my husband and I put him and the kids before my own needs most of the time. I know when I need a timeout, and I try my very best to balance working out, eating right, and doing things that I LOVE--which brings me to blogging. I love to write and I love to read; neither of which I do a ton of because of many reasons. My husband works long hours at his day job, has several houses as part of a rental company, is fixing one house right now and just embarked in a start up company. He has an entrepreneurial spirit that cannot be tamed, just simply harnessed. He has big dreams, as do I, and we do our best at cheering each other on.
So who am I?
I am a confident and loyal person. I love salty air, sand between my toes, and beach hair. I have a flare for the dramatic and have learned to weed the drama (mostly) out of my life. I much rather watch it or read it, not live it. I have everything I could have ever dreamed of and each day keeps getting better. I have learned to live a "progress not perfection" life. I used to be way more uptight when I was younger but have learned to loosen my grip a bit. I constantly have goals and dreams that I am trying to achieve. I think that is why my husband and I get along so well; we are just full of never-ending ideas!
I am not someone who has 200 friends, but rather just a small handful of really close ones. I am shy at first, but I am really trying to put myself out there. My goal is to make more mommy friends so that my kids have other kids to play with…since I feel like we are alone a lot, I want that to change.
So, if you are new, hello!! And if you've been with me awhile, maybe you'll learn something new. Ask me anything, as I really want to to take my blog to the next level and really discover more about myself.
{{I was all ready for my workout, which did happen finally at 8pm last night!!}}
Well that was fun!! I think we got about 20 inches of snow or so and so I'm probably not going to leave my house today either!
It's just not worth it if there is no place we have to go, I'd rather stay inside and play with Brooke all day. I don't want to dig my Yukon out anyway!! Haha.
My husband did come home early yesterday and there is NO better feeling than having all of us home safe and sound. It really makes me happy!
We cooked up a quick and easy recipe from Food.com [hubby's favorite recipe site!]
Smoked Gouda Bacon Wrapped Chicken…wowza!!
I made a yummy tilapia the other night too--I used Giada's Lemon Basil Pesto recipe for the topping!
So this was early Wednesday morning.
Late Wednesday night.
Thursday Morning
Crazy to think Brooke and I were walking around in the sunshine Tuesday!
Hey hey hey!! I'm trying really hard to blog every day, but my life keeps getting in the way! hahaha No really, I was going to blog last night but I totally left my laptop over at my dad's, so that my brother could show me how to use it. {thanks bro!} and so that made me SUPER productive this morning because I didn't have it. I decided I would partake in the "Sweater Weather Tag" because it's just so darn cute. I don't know what I'm even supposed to blog about #bedn today! oops!
Here are the questions!
1. Favorite candle scent?
2. Coffee, tea, or hot cocoa?
3. Do you switch up your makeup routine for the season? [or dark or winged eye]
4. Favorite Thanksgiving food?
5. Hats or scarves?
6. Most worn sweater?
7. Fall nail color
8. Football games or jumping in the leaves.
9. Skinny jeans or leggings.
10. Boots or Uggs?
11. Favorite thing about Fall? [memory?]
12. Song that gets you into the Fall mood or a favorite song at the moment?
13. What is the weather like where you live?
Feel free to vlog or blog your responses and leave a link below!! Happy Fall!!
Hiiiiii!! I'm back and blogging from my brand new computer!! She's so purdy!! I have full ambition to catch up on my #bedn challenge....let's see if it can actually happen!! I'll simply start out by saying, my gosh. While I wish we were sunning on a beach some place {let's be honest, 19 degrees is freaking freezing here!} I really couldn't be more thrilled with our "stay cation." This was the 3rd year we've done it and I'm really happy. Joe's a hunter, and while I was worried I'd really miss him and wish "I had gone away on vacation," really it's been so nice to see him relax. He works so hard, many long hours and not a lot of free time. He doesn't have a lot of hobbies, he golfs maybe 3 times last summer. He does play his video games, but hunting? He loves it and it's really great exercise walking the ravine, hills, and just the fields!
Wednesday was our family day, we had a sushi lunch and we ventured out to the mall and saw the new Von Maur store--very chic! Brooke was a little fussy; she had a runny nose, cough and sneezes. We didn't stay more than 40 minutes and that includes giving her a bottle by the fancy fireplace seating. We then drove a little bit because it was her nap time; man she is really stuck on our routine, and then stopped at a few stores. I needed my Vanilla Bean Noel lotion & hand soap. We also purchased a new garbage--wahoo--such a silly but needed thing to buy. I finally got to bring Joe to Trader Joe's and that's always fun too!! We picked up some delicious French cut pork chops and he grilled them for dinner.
I will share my video from the other day--when I found out I have no further issues with my brain!! I'm so relieved and probably far too happy to learn it's just early arthritis in my neck. I am very blessed and it's really putting everything into perspective with life. I just don't take anything for granted.
I used my phone to record so I was distracted a bit by text messages coming through. You get the point though. Thanks again for everyone who wished me well!!
So for today I am still on a de-cluttering mission! I am cleaning out junk we are not using and either donating it or saving for a garage sale. This girl is ready to organize!! I just want a clutter free happy home haha! Make today a wonderful one!
Happy Halloween! I am so excited to dress up as a family tonight! We are going to have so much fun. Looking back, I definitely think we made the most out of our October. We didn't carve a pumpkin, but we may try to squeeze it in later today. It's tough when she's only 9 months old, and our crazy schedules.
I decided to share some of my favorite items from this fabulous fall month. .
Also, I found a UK blogger who is doing a "BEDN" Blog Every Day in November. I put the button at the top right corner of my blog. Join in on the fun! I think I'll mix it up and do blogs/videos. I've got this!!
[seriously though, what is with the thumbnail image it picks? sheesh!!]
What are some of your must haves from this past month?
---Side note---I did my first TIU workout! {found here} I did the bikini beach ball workout 3x and that's all I had time for yesterday.....OH...MY...GOSH!! My abs are killing me! I love love love it! I don't remember the last time my core burned like this. I can't wait to workout again today. Thank you for your encouragement and sweet comments yesterday. I think I'll start every week off like that! I'm just sorry I didn't start this TIU sooner! It's great to be able to pull it up on the laptop and stop/start as needed with the baby. 21 minutes total. So awesome.
Onto today's post::
I hadn't made a video in awhile, so I figured I'd do a quick one on our recent baby girl clothing finds. I'm hoping the weather heats up and she can get into them soon! I apologize in advance, I didn't know a friend stopped by, and that was why the dogs were going nuts...but I had already attempted this video a few times, so I was not re-doing it again.
There is shot of "little" miss at the very end in a ruffle pink dress, legwarmers....
Happy viewing!!
awesome screen shot
Gap
Target
Marshall's/T.J. Max
I know you can't always scour the stores on your own; if you're expecting a baby girl or know someone who is, maybe you'll find an outfit in this video you really love!! I'm noticing a weekend trend with 30% off lately at Gap; not sure if it's all the time, but keep those eyes peeled for sales. I didn't show them, but I bought an awesome pair of green broken in straight-leg khakis, ohmageeeeeeerd, love em!!
