In & Unpacking

We have been in our house a little over a week now, so here is what’s been going on during the past week.

We wrapped up our last couple of days in the hotel with lots of pool time, eating out and gearing up to move out of the hotel and into our house.

It’s safe to say our kids are maxed out on eating at restaurants. When we are at home doing our normal routine we rarely eat out. So it was fun in the beginning but everyone is ready to eat at our own table and have a home cooked meal. Calvin is especially antsy having to sit and wait for his food so we had to get creative with things for him to do.

Turns out cutips and make up bags make for great fun.

They were both so busy at the pool it was tough to get a photo and just as tough to coax them out of the pool.

We finally had a chance to see the inside of the house when we received the keys. The kids were really excited to finally see where we will be spending the next several months.

The next morning…

They waited patiently for us to pack everything up the morning we were officially moving in.

And then we got to the house and had to patiently wait some more as we were all anxious to see our household goods unloaded off the truck.

The unpacking of the truck is an all day activity so my goal for the day was to keep the kids occupied and out of the way. Our not so bright idea was to also have our van’s oil changed this day, so we were out a car all day. Therefore, the kids and I spent lots of time exploring our new neighborhood.

Nora’s baby came along too. Luckily her stroller was unpacked pretty early in the day 😉

Not pictured is Cal’s nap in the stroller. Then all three of us headed out for a run.

I was pleasantly surprised when Nora requested that I run with them in the stroller. She has requested we do this two days since and it just makes me so happy. I love to run and really haven’t been able to much since having the two of them and Nora isn’t a big fan of riding in the stroller. But if this is something she now enjoys then I’m pumped to get back into a running routine again. There is also a Mom’s running group here in Monterey called Stroller Warriors (apparently there are other locations around the nation too). But once we are back into a normal routine I think I’ll bring the kids and join them on Tuesday and Thursday mornings.

We had to take some meal and snack breaks. And the boxes just kept on piling up.

And the following day we began unpacking…

This is pretty much what every room in the house looked like, some worse than others.

Calvin and I took a break from unpacking. It felt good just to lay there for a minute and not think about the giant mess around us 🙂

We had to quickly work on installing the baby gate on the stairs. These stairs are carpeted and much safer than the ones in our previous house, however Calvin would without a doubt love to go exploring upstairs by himself so we will try to prevent that.

Nora really enjoyed her first time using power tools. She has loved getting to be so much more involved with the moving process this time around and helping whenever she gets the chance.

While we had lots to do at the house we have been spending quite a bit of time visiting preschools and spending time outdoors so we can meet new friends in the area. We visited two preschools last week to see what their programs were like. And earlier in the week Nora had the opportunity to try out a nearby gymnastics class.

She loved it. We are waiting to see what her preschool schedules is before we commit to any particular extracurriculars but it was so fun that she was able to test this out before we actually join a class.

Calvin was dying to get out there with her, but he was stuck hanging back and watching with me.

Later we went shopping at our local Target for some house necessities and found this hat that complimented Calvin’s outfit well 😛

On our way home from running errands, this is our view along the highway. It is beautiful here!! Not pictured is The Monterey Bay Coastal Recreation Trail that runs all along the water. We plan to enjoy that as well a lot while we are here.

The kitchen was the first room in the house to get fully organized. Anyone that has visited us knows, my kids love their whole wheat waffles every morning. Ever since we left Missouri Nora has been asking if the movers have our waffles 😉 So we have finally been able to whip up some of these waffles and enjoy them for breakfast again.

I kind of have tunnel vision right now with not being able to think about anything else but getting our house in order ASAP, so hopefully we can get as much of that done as possible in the next few days and move on. So more on how that goes later! 🙂

Monterey so far & Moving Highs & Lows

We finally got word on when we will be able to move into our house and we can’t wait! So far we have been spending our time checking out new parks, restaurants, shopping, celebrating the 4th and gathering resources to help us get settled into the community here.

So far the best park award goes to a huge Dennis the Menace park about 10 minutes from our new house and walking distance from our hotel. We spent two and a half hours there the other morning exploring and playing.

There are a lot of cool slides.

Half the fun was getting to chase all the sea gulls around.

Nora tried a snow cone for the first time. I thin she liked it considering she refused to share even a little with me.

Then we went to the local Costco to grab some samples and stock up on some snacks.

These two were hungry and really happy about all the samples we found.  

These Cheddar Crisps and Lentil Chips I think have been the best finds of our entire trip. Both have clean ingredients, make for great snacks & we all love them. We’ve been dipping them in hummus as part of meals/snacks.

Later in the evening we were all exhausted and just hung out in the room watching a movie.

We switched hotels the next day to one we stayed at when we were here two years ago. We all approve of the breakfast here.  Nora is particularly fond of the bacon.

Then to celebrate the 4th we headed to downtown Monterey where they had a big 4th of July festival going on. There were tons of free games and activities for the kids, live music, and food! We spent all morning there, played every game, jumped in all the bounce houses and sat and enjoyed the music.

On our way back to the car Calvin passed out in the stroller, so Nick walked back with him to the hotel while Nora and I drove back to grab some lunch before hitting the pool.

Then we spent ALL afternoon at the pool. Probably one of the best 4th’s we have yet as a family of four.

I’ve shared a lot about all the fun thing we’ve been doing lately, but I wanted to share a little about the high’s and low’s of our moving process. As moving day approaches there is always a lot to do, so there is little time to be excited or anxious, I’m just always really focused on the task at hand. This particular move was different from our past 2 since we had to drive cross-country. Although long car rides with kids can be rough, we really had a lot of fun surviving it all together and exploring all the new places we visited along the way. It was fun and exciting knowing we would get to see something new almost everyday as well as reach our goal of getting even closer to our new home. Then the sweet relief set in when we finally made it to Monterey with no more long drives ahead. And we could begin to settle in as best we could while we wait for housing and our household goods. However, this mood quickly shifted for me on day 2 here. The reality of my circumstances quickly began to wear me down mentally & emotionally. Here I was again at a new place, with 2 kids this time and had to start from square one with everything. I was feeling the pressure of wanting to find the best preschool for Nora, best dance classes, positive social/play environments for Calvin, a reliable and trusted babysitter so Nick and I can resume date nights, an outlet & friends for me. I think I broke down in tears maybe 4 different times throughout the day. Really there are so many things that fall into place in our daily routines that we take for granted until our routines and world are completely turned upside down and we have to put them back together in completely new surroundings with new & different resources.

Needless to say I was not in the best of moods for pretty much that entire day. A lack of sleep from the night before with a toddler coming down with a cold didn’t help my frantic state of mind. However, it just so happened that Nick already had it in his mind that we would spend a good part of the morning driving around the military community stopping at the various places that provided paperwork, information and welcome packets to help families in integrate into their new home more smoothly. I also messaged a few acquaintances who lived here prior to us to get their opinions on preschools, etc. After collecting as much information as possible and doing some research  by the end of the day I was already feeling a lot better about how best to move forward to begin getting everyone’s schedules and activities put together.

But I know I’m not completely in the clear yet. In just a couple of days we will be getting all our things unloaded off a truck and into a house that may/may not have some issues of its own (that is yet to be determined since we haven’t been inside yet). Things may have been lost and/or broken and we may not have a place for some things that we did in our previous house. Things will inevitably have to change and be/look different. But I’m slowly learning that if I change my mindset and choose to keep an open mind about what lies ahead, I can remain more peaceful & joyful and everything really goes much more smoothly. But even getting to that point is a process, but I’m learning 😉

 

On the Road Part II

Six states, nine cities, five hotels later and we made it to Monterey. We are still in a hotel until we get the keys to our house and our household goods arrive. But it feels good to finally be here and have the opportunity to get to know the bay area a little better.

The long car rides were starting to wear us all down. Luckily, I don’t think we have any road trips planned in the near future. I will say though that I am super impressed with how well my kids handled it. I envisioned things being a lot tougher, but they both persevered through it all and made the best of it.

When we left Utah, we headed straight for Reno, Nevada. The drive was much different from the drive from Colorado to Utah. Fewer mountains and lots of salt flats.

We made it to Reno just in time to grab some dinner and head to bed.  Their was a convenient path along the river right outside the hotel, so the next morning after breakfast we spent some time exploring the area before hitting the road again.

We were anxious to get going and finally make it to California. We were about 4 hrs way from Monterey, but for the kids sake we decided to give them a break from long drives and cut it in half, stopping in Sacramento.

We discovered the library was just a few blocks from our hotel so we stopped in to check out their kids section.  The kids had a ton of fun playing. Nora wasn’t in the mood for pictures, but I caught a couple of Calvin enjoying himself.

Before we headed out the next day we found a park that had a small amusement park within it called Funderland. This was both kids first time at an amusement park so it was a fun experience for all of us.

I don’t know if you noticed, but Nora insisted on wearing that same dress 2 days in a row. It was pretty cute though how she had to have it displayed next her bed so it was ready for her when she woke up in the morning. Shoes and all…

The drive to Monterey was supposed to be two hours but turned into about three and a half. Apparently many people like to leave the warmer temps and head to Monterey with milder temperatures for long holiday weekends, so there was a whole lot of traffic. But we did finally make it and headed straight for our new neighborhood to give the kids a visual of where we will soon live. They were both so thrilled to finally get out of the car and be at our final destination.

I Just love these two and these rare moments of appreciation for each other 🙂

After dinner we decided to celebrate surviving our trek across the United States with some froyo. This was Nora’s first time really participating in the froyo experience of sampling, choosing and topping her own. And Calvin’s first time eating it. They both loved it! We may become regulars here.

We are all so anxious to move out of our hotel and into our new house, so hopefully we get word that we can soon! In the mean time, we will continue to make the best of it, exploring our new home & enjoying this time together when Nick doesn’t have to work and I don’t have to worry about cooking or household chores!

 

 

 

On the Road Part 1

So much has happened since I last posted. My blog has been a bit neglected over the last several months. But jumping ahead to what’s up with our family now. We are officially on our way to CA as in we have driven over hundreds of miles across the U.S. and are over halfway there.

Backing up to the beginning of this journey. The kids and I flew to Missouri a couple weeks ago where we visited lots of family & friends. I was really nervous about flying alone with the two of them. I’ve done it before, but Calvin was a baby, not an extremely active toddler. But it went so great! They both were champs and had a great attitude for both flights & the layover.

We stayed with my family while we were there. That is always a lot of fun.

We also were able to meet up with many of my friends! Finding things to do to keep the kids entertained during the day was key. So we hit up parks, the zoo, played outside and in tried to fit in some naps in between.

Well, one of them napped.

And more friends…

Nick met up with us later in the week. He drove so we would have our van to continue our trip to CA.

We headed out a few days later to Kansas City, MO to see some more friends. It’s never easy saying bye to family, but at the same time we had a lot of exciting things to look forward to as we move on.

It’s been great that most of our friends we have been able to see have kids also. I neglected to take a picture of the adults unfortunately, but it was such a wonderful time getting to see my friends from high school/ college who I don’t get to see very often! And so special getting to experience our kids getting to know one another and becoming fast friends.

The four of us shared a room at our friend’s house. Surprisingly it worked and both kids slept well. Nora had a pretty sweet set up for a bed. She sure loved it.

We left Kansas City early Sunday morning to begin our drive to Colorado. We stopped halfway at a cute little zoo in Kansas. We were able to have some lunch and let the kids burn some energy running around and checking out all the animals.

We drove 3 more hours and then stopped once we got across the Colorado border to have some dinner before heading out the next morning to finish the trip to Denver.

This girl is a traveling champ. Loves hotels and checking out new places. She hates car rides, but she has even managed to learn to persevere and make the best of them.

Once we hit Denver we met up with some friends we knew while we were living in Hawaii. It was so much fun getting to catch up with them, see how their daughter had grown and meet their son. We had fun reminiscing our lives together while we were in Hawaii.

After getting our things settled in our new hotel we met up with some more friends (seriously, all these people we have been able to connect with has certainly been a huge blessing!) This is my mom’s very best friend from college who we have stayed connected with for all these years!  She and her husband met us for dinner & ice cream. It has been years since I last saw them so it was such a treat getting to spend the evening with them and introduce them to my kids.

We headed out the next morning for Utah. We had a long day ahead of driving so we planned a stop mid way. We took a couple of hours to picnic lunch and play at Centennial Park  in Rifle, CO. If you are ever driving through and need a place to stop and entertain kids this place was perfect. They have a play ground, splash pad, pavilions and walking trails. And it’s in a beautiful little area near the Colorado River.

 

Something a little crazy about it was the number of wasps that we discovered swarming around the splash pad. There were quite a few families there and no one seemed bothered so we just went with it. I’ve never experienced friendly wasps before but the whole 2 hours we were there not a single person was stung, the wasps were only interested in drinking the water. So perhaps friendly wasps really do exist?

The rest of our drive somehow turned into about 4 hrs instead of 3. We hit a few construction spots. This was the most challenging part on the road yet. But to be honest it really wasn’t too bad. A few meltdowns from the littlest one who couldn’t understand why he was STILL stuck in the car. But all in all everyone in the car chose to make the best of it. But we were all so relieved to finally make it to the hotel in Utah.

Our day spent in Utah has been phenomenal. I follow a few people on blogs/Instagram who live around here so I anticipated it would be beautiful. But it is really just so beautiful here. We are staying in the valley so we are surrounded by mountains.

This picture definitely doesn’t do it justice, especially since it’s taken from inside a car. But you get the idea.

We hit up Thanksgiving Point for the morning. The kids had a blast! Another great recommendation if you are ever in the Salt Lake City, Utah area. There are lots of different excursions there but we chose the farm. All the animals are up close and personal with the visitors, so very interactive. And they have pony rides, wagon rides and a really cool little indoor play area.

Nora met Heidi the dairy cow. She wasn’t sure what to think about her. She was quite large.

After the farm we had lunch at an awesome restaurant Aubergine & Company.  We wish that we had this place near us. We would have loved to sample everything on their menu!! Nick and I shared their falafel lentil quinoa bowl. It was delicious! They even had some vegan, gluten free ice cream made with cocoa, cashews, dates & sea salt that we tried and an avocado cashew cheesecake. I kept one of their menus because everything looked delicious and right up our alley in terms of how we like to eat. So I hope to use some of their ideas for my own creations at home.

Oh and I can’t forget Nora’s look as we were leaving the hotel to hang out in Utah. Of course her baby has joined us for every bit of our trip. She is really quite the attentive mommy (for a 3 year old) 😉

For dinner we grabbed take out at Blue Lemon, a restaurant recommended by a friend back at West Point who used to live in Utah.  It didn’t disappoint! Another great one to try if you are ever in the area.

And then the next day we headed out and onto Reno, Nevada!

 

 

An Overdue Recap

Here is a brief recap of the last couple weeks. Two weeks ago my phone stopped charging so I went over a week without it while it was getting fixed. Therefore I have very few pictures to share. So I’ll just hit some highlights and throw in what moments I did capture.

The week following Easter was pretty typical. I was busy preparing to be gone the following weekend. I wanted to make sure all the laundry was done and the kitchen and freezer were stocked with plenty of food choices. This also meant that resources wouldn’t be depleted when I returned, making life easier for me when I got back. But last Friday I flew out BY MYSELF and met my girlfriends in Kansas City, MO. I spent my first ever night(s) away from both kids. I was there until Sunday. My friends and I had the absolute best time. It felt a little foreign traveling by myself without having to worry about managing the kids and all their stuff, but definitely glorious. I did have to drive to LaGuardia airport in NYC at 4 a.m. That was a little daunting, but I made it smoothly to my gate and could not have been more giddy with excitement to read in peace and quiet on the plane until I got to see my friends!!!

Back up a bit, I can’t forget that weeks new recipe. I made these Black Bean & Quinoa Veggie Burgers.

 

These were so good! I also made the yogurt sauce, however I ended up tweaking it a little for additional flavor. Turns out we love it as a salad dressing and it tasted awesome with some sweet potato fries dipped in! Here is what I included:

Yogurt Sauce:

1/2 cup plain greek yogurt

1 Tbs honey/maple syrup

1 (heaping) Tbs dijon mustard

Smoked Paprika & Salt (to taste)

-Mix everything together in small bowl. After mixing the first 3 ingredients I probably added at least a teaspoon of smoked paprika (but I didn’t measure) and sprinkled in a little salt. At the end I also added in just a tad more dijon mustard so that’s why I think using a heaping tablespoon at the beginning is important.

We bought smoked paprika for the first time a couple of moths ago. We didn’t realize what we were missing! I had made a few recipes that called for it with just regular paprika, but wow what a difference the smoked flavor makes! So good!

Ok, back to my trip. One of the awesome parts of this time with my friends was that we didn’t have to have any kind of schedule, it didn’t matter what time it was or where we had to be, we could really just do whatever we wanted whenever we wanted. Such a nice change of pace from our normal, daily lives with our families. When I got there we grabbed some lunch and did some shopping. Right before leaving to check into the hotel we hopped into Bare Minerals so one of my friends could pick something up real quick. This turned into a 2 hr endeavor. We all ended up getting our make up done and found new products we loved!! I had been doing the same make up regimen pretty much since I was in the 8th grade and started wearing make up, so I was overdue for something fresh and new. I absolutely LOVE everything I purchased. And I’m excited because I’ve been on a quest to find the most natural (but still effective for my skin) body/beauty products and bare minerals is IT for my face.

Advanced Performance Cream Eye Shadow

Stroke of Light Eye Brightener

Lash Domination Volumizing Mascara

Ready Blush

BarePro Performance Wear Powder Foundation

Gen Nude Matte Liquid Lip Color ( we all bought this in the JuJu shade, AWESOME color)

I actually got their starter kit which included several of these products and a couple of bonus items. And then I got an eye kit bundle.

I don’t think we ate dinner until about 8:30 Friday night, soooo late for me. And we stayed up much later talking.

The lighting in this pic is terrible, but here with all our with our new products on. It was pretty fun waking up Saturday and getting ready together, trying to remember how to put everything on correctly so it looked as good as when the ladies at Bare Minerals did it for us.

We enjoyed a very leisurely morning Saturday. We didn’t actually make it out of the hotel until 2 p.m. Sitting around and talking about life with these two is the BEST! And that’s what we did all morning. When we finally made it out, we grabbed some lunch and hit up another mall. We shopped and then spent the evening lounging in the hotel. I flew out around noon on Sunday. The mere 48 hrs I had on the ground with these girls was not nearly enough time, but I’m so thankful for the time we had together and the much needed time away for myself.

It was really sad saying our final good byes at the airport. But we are already planning our next girls weekend away! Perhaps next time to a beach!

 

Monday was back to reality. Poor Calvin was coming down with some sort of virus. This little guy can’t catch a break. So he wasn’t thrilled about anything that day. But we managed to have some fun nonetheless.

I also bought these jeans on my trip. I haven’t had a light pair like this in years, but I’m loving them and the way they fit! Great for dressing up or down.

The weather was nice Monday so we were able to get some play time in.

Tuesday I had a dermatology appointment. Calvin had the pleasure of joining me while Nora was at preschool. He is a pretty good little companion for any kind of errand.

Unfortunately the rest of the week we dealt with sickness yet again. Poor Calvin has really been down with some kind of virus. This is probably the sickest we have ever seen him. We are anxious to get him better and have our bubbly, happy boy back.  So we’ve had lots of down time and snuggles.

We did throw in a few fun things at the end of the week. We had some cadets over for dinner who we wanted to catch before they leave for their summer details. And of course we had our weekly meal with Elliott. So while we were still able to lay low for Calvin, we enjoyed our time spent with all of them at our house.

Nick is starting to close out his end of semester duties and things are starting to feel real as we will be moving in just a little over a month! And with graduation ahead we are having several house guests, so there will most likely be lots going on to share soon!

A full week & Easter

Nora’s spring break was last week. So we had a couple extra mornings on our hands and some free time to kill.

We started out Monday with pedicures (of course while Cal napped). She refused to have matching polish with me so I had hot pink and had more of a rose-pink 😉

When this guy wakes up early and I’m still in bed, I bring him back to bed with me and I get some great quality snuggle time with him. As I’ve mentioned before, he is slow to wake up so this can last for quite some time, but I love it!

Morning shenanigans with these two. Already wanting to be outside.

We really lucked out and had great weather! Some days temps even made it up into the 80’s! Considering we had more time at home without preschool, it was great to get to go outside almost everyday! It’s also been really fun breaking out some of our summer clothes! Nothing better than crisp warm weather and a fresh wardrobe!

We also did a little shopping. For the first time Nora had her own money to spend. She received some cash as a gift from a relative in Boston, so she was excited to have free rein in the toy aisles and choose whatever she’d like.

 

Her cheerfulness is wonderful and contagious. She has been battling some kind of cough and congestion that really deflated her joyful little spirit for the past month (probably only something I notice cause well, I’m her Mom). But this week she is finally sounding a lot better and back to her normal bubbly self. Sometimes I’ll ask her what she’s thinking or feeling and she’ll say “Nothing, I’m just happy Mom” in the sweetest cheerful little voice.

Nora and I did some Easter prep during the week and died eggs (her first time!). She had fun with it but I anticipate that next year it may be a little more exiting for her.

I really wanted to try these Healthy Reese’s Peanut Butter Eggs for an Easter this year. But with the crazy day we had Saturday with the yard sale I just didn’t get a chance. I’m definitely going to make it happen next year!

However, I did enjoy a different rare treat all week. My mom sends the kids an Easter box every year and this year she sent me these. I LOVE dark chocolate, but these delicious dark chocolate truffles with the dark chocolate cream inside were certainly a fun surprise. Thankfully Nick helped me eat them so they didn’t sit in my presence too long tempting me.

We were able to get together with some friends a couple of times during the week. Calvin just loves anyone his size. If he becomes familiar enough with them, he loves to give them big hugs. Or in this case, in the photo, he kept patting his friend’s head trying to play. However, his friend wasn’t too fond of this game.

Here is the new dinner recipe I made this week One Pan Chicken & Veggies. It was pretty basic but good! It called for a couple of vegetables I don’t use very often, like green beans. But I was pleased with it! I served it with rice.

I’ve never really been a big coffee drinker. I think it’s fun to have every now and then but I never seem to be able to drink a full cup. But now that I wake up at 4:50 most mornings, I decided maybe it would be helpful to incorporate a little caffeine into my day. Years ago I used to drink soda daily. But ever since I stopped, my body has been SUPER sensitive to caffeine. Like sipping on a little coffee in the mornings would leave me feeling jittery for a bit. So, since I’ve started having coffee, I only fill my mug about a fourth of the way full. But I’ve come to really look forward to that little bit!

I use our little french press, it makes just enough to last me a couple of days. Obviously I’m really not finicky about my coffee since I’ll drink leftovers 🙂 But I’m really enjoying Folgers Vanilla Biscotti right now and with a little bit of unsweetened vanilla almond milk, it is just right!

We had a huge post wide Yard Sale Saturday. In the past I have only participated by shopping. Lots of people who participate in the selling are likely preparing to move or just recently moved and are trying to sell anything and everything they no longer need. We were in that pool of people this time and we attempted to purge A LOT of stuff. We had so much stuff out that I’m not sure how much we actually sold, but we made quite a bit of money, without visually seeing a huge dent. But now that we have attempted to sell most of it, we are motivated to either donate or throw away the rest.

This is a small peak at the array of things we had out. It looks like a mess but believe it or not there was some organization involved. The sale technically starts at 8 a.m., but people started showing up at 7 to see what we had out, so we were quickly trying to pull out as much as we could as quick as we could. Then people would show up in herds to dig through everything. It is open to the general public so all kinds of people come through. It made for a fun, busy and interesting day.

Easter Sunday we woke up to have the kids discover their Easter baskets, we headed to church and then we spent the entire rest of the day outside. It was absolutely beautiful and 83 degrees! We attempted pictures of all of us when we got home from church.  These two really keep us laughing.  I had to negotiate some jelly beans to even get Nora to pose for pictures. She is very adverse to photos these days.

And then Monday we were able to enjoy another day all together because Nick had the day off of work!

I hope everyone had a Happy Easter!

Family Day & Boston

While we are still trying to recover from being sick, we had quite the fun week last week. Nora’s preschool has something called Family Day, where each child’s family gets to spend the day at school with them to partake in all their daily school activities. Unfortunately Nick had to be out of town for a conference so he was unable to make it. But Calvin and I went and enjoyed the morning with her. Here are just a few highlights from the day.

 

Nora’s favorite thing to do during their free play is paint (as seen in the top left photo). Calvin loved the water table and really anything and everything he could get his hands on. He had SO much fun exploring and engaging with all the new people! This week is her spring break so they celebrated Easter a little early and had an Easter egg hunt. Nora has been counting down to Easter pretty much since Valentine’s Day was over, so she was pumped for that. I had so much fun getting to experience her day at preschool and see all that she gets to do and how she interacts with all her little friends.

Nick had headed out for Boston for a conference on Wednesday so it was just the kids and I until Friday when we drove out to meet him. Boston is about a 3 and a half hour drive for us and this was my first time making a long road trip alone with the kids, I was a little nervous but it actually went pretty well.

Since Calvin is still a bit of a picky eater, there is a lot of food to pack for trips. I packed most of his meals in a small cooler we have. But here is what our car snack bag looked like. (The random container of cinnamon isn’t a snack, I threw it in last minute to have for oatmeal his 😉 )

It’s always fun at hotels because we typically have access to their lounge where an array of free food is available for breakfast. Nora likes to go all out and have her own little buffet.  In reality she really only nibbles on a little bit of it. I guess having all the options displayed in front of her is exciting for her though 🙂

We had so much fun getting to spend the day with family Saturday. Everyone gathered at my sister in law’s house. We even got to have another Easter egg hunt.

Then we hit up a park nearby. Calvin’s favorite part was playing in the wood chips, picking them up and throwing them. Entertained him for probably 20 min or more.

And I can’t forget our 5th passenger of the trip

Nora’s baby traveled to Boston as well this past weekend. (P.S. check out Nora’s super cute suitcase she got for Christmas last year!) She came with a whole array of play food and essential baby items. If only I had snapped a picture of the mini fridge in Nora’s room. She packed the ENTIRE fridge with EVERYTHING she brought for her baby. It was pretty intense 🙂 That baby is well taken care of.

We had a really great time getting to spend almost the entire visit with family.  Nick had a really successful experience at his conference.  He has attended/presented at this same conference (American Association of Geographers) the past 2 years, but he had a really great turn out of attendees (people in attendance to the conference sign up for individual sessions with different presenters) on Friday and lots of great feedback and questions regarding his topic. He always seems to excel and really give 100% at each task/goal he has set before him. But I’ve enjoyed watching him really grow in this particular area of his career. He is pretty awesome.

I was lucky that each day Nick was gone, both kids slept in so I was able to do my early morning yoga. Great start to my day. Apparently Calvin has been observing me quite a bit when he is awake, he is really picking up on that downward facing dog. I randomly catch him doing this throughout the day if I leave my yoga mat out. 🙂

Speaking of Calvin, we finally saw the Dr. today and he does indeed have an upper respiratory infection and ear infection. He is truly such a trooper, which makes it difficult to determine how sick he really is somethimes and when it warrants a Dr’s visit. But we are finally on meds and hopefully on the road to recovery!

 

Two In One

Between sick kids and Nora boycotting her nap almost daily I’ve been short time to blog. So you get the pleasure of one really long post to cover the past two weeks 🙂

I started something new this past week that I’m pretty excited about! Now that Calvin is sleeping through the night until about 5:45ish (somewhat consistently) I decided I really wanted to incorporate more yoga into my life because I miss being able to practice more than once a week. So this week I began waking up at 5 a.m. so I can get about an hour in before I have to start the day with the kids. l’m still keeping up with my other workouts later in the morning on Monday, Wednesdays and Fridays and so far it’s working out. It has been a great change of pace!

Finally making some progress in wheel pose. First time I’ve gotten a foot off the ground. Now to just get it up a little higher. 

What actually prompted this change was this awesome new YouTube channel I found Five Parks Yoga. When we lived in Hawaii, I went to Core Power Yoga 6 days a week and LOVED it! They had an early morning yoga class called Sculpt that incorporated weights (with yoga flows) and a little cardio throughout the class. It was awesome. Needless to say, the Five Parks Yoga YouTube channel has a huge variety of 30 min- 1 hour classes and several that include weights. She calls them her “Fit Yoga” classes.  Her yoga teaching style is the closest I have found to Core Power and I’m so thankful I stumbled upon it.

Sometimes Calvin wakes up a few minutes before I’m done, so he gets to enjoy an early morning snack once Nick leaves for work, while I finish up.

I tried a new one pan dinner Wednesday night (I love these, they are so quick and easy!). I made this Peanut Chicken Sheet Pan Dinner and everyone loved it! Everyone except Calvin, he still isn’t too keen on chicken. (Next time I’ll remember a picture)

Calvin and I did our usual grocery shopping while Nora was at preschool Tuesday. He fell asleep on the drive so we headed in as soon as he woke up. This is his “I just woke up, why am I in a grocery store” look.

He also enjoys helping me out any chance he gets. And yes that is one of those cart covers you see, I still put it on there for him even though he is 15 months. But he prefers to snack while I shop and this thing is great for holding his snacks and keeping them from falling all over the floor 😉

It was Nora’s turn to bring snacks to preschool on Thursday. So Wednesday her and I got to work putting them together. She is always so excited to do this, but in reality very little gets into the bags and more in her mouth. This time we combined pretzels, raisins, popcorn and chocolate chips. Then she decorates the bags with stickers of her choosing.

Thursday morning was jam-packed with Dr’s appointments. Calvin had his 15 month check up and I had a last-minute scheduling for a follow-up with my Dr. regarding something I’d had checked out the previous week. With both appointments, Calvin’s immunizations and a trip to the pharmacy, we spent a total of 2.5 hrs there. I came fully prepared with books, Baby Einstein to watch on the Kindle and snacks. Calvin was a trooper.

There is a diaper there somewhere, it’s jut hidden 😉

Nora is really into her baby doll right now. She always has been since Calvin came around, but the involvement at which the baby joins our everyday life varies. Last week though she had to be included in everything. This was Nora’s set up for a couple of days. We have learned to utilize the kitchen table as much as possible when she doesn’t want Calvin interfering with her playing. That baby gets fed soup a lot 😉

And we had a fun mid-week visit with Elliott. He had just returned from spring break with loads of laundry and an appetite for a home cooked meal so we happily obliged.

The tail end of our week and the week after we have been hit with sickness. Experienced croup for the first time in the middle of the night with Nora. The steroid shots and breathing treatment in the ER cleared the croup but we are still trying to get over the residual cold symptoms with both kids.

Although we are not all 100% better, everyone has been in pretty good spirits.

I’ve tried a couple new things in the kitchen this week. I made some butternut squash noodles to go with dinner one night (picture on the left). They were so good! You simply spiralize the squash first and then roast the “noodles” in the oven.  Another night we had some roasted vegetables including sweet potato, brussel sprouts and zucchini. I sprinkled them with salt, pepper, garlic and parmesan. These are my fave! I really love any roasted vegetable and especially love adding them to salads.

Later in the week things warmed up a little outside and we were in the mood for something lighter. I made this Spicy Quinoa & Kale Black Bean Salad. We haven’t had this since last summer and forgot how delicious it is! And talk about simple and quick! This is great leftovers too as it always taste even better the next day, after it sits in the fridge and all the flavors absorb into the beans and vegetables.

I sampled a new recipe for Calvin as well this past week. It turned out to be a win for both kids! These Zucchini Bites are cheesy, healthy & delicious (I sampled one or two as well).

We tried to lay low this week to let everyone rest up and start to feel better. But no matter how sick they are, it’s hard to keep this two kids down. Calvin is always ready to play, especially when his sister is close by.

I think she had actually moved off the couch to get some space from him, but he quickly found a way to move closer.

I love being their Mom, most days are pretty fun 😉

We got a little bit of relief from the cold. But we are hoping that we can get another burst of warm weather that will stick around so we can start enjoying the parks on a daily basis.

When Elliott came over for dinner Friday I tried a new recipe that is definitely a keeper! This Sweet Potato Black Bean Enchilada Bake is something Nick is already asking for again. This picture doesn’t do it justice, take note of the original bloggers pictures of the inside of the enchiladas.

I used corn tortillas (as I have a gluten sensitivity) and I’m still trying to determine if dairy is a problem for me. For whatever reason my stomach can handle feta cheese ok, so I mixed that along with sharp white cheddar cheese for the “Mexican cheese blend” the recipe calls for. You could really do whatever type of cheese you wanted. She does mention at the end of the recipe that it is on the spicy side. I used only about a Tablespoon and  half of jalapeno and I only used 1/4 tsp of cayenne pepper in the enchilada sauce. Mine still turned out a little too spicy for the kids. So definitely do some taste testing as you go along to make sure you get the spicy kick that best fits your taste buds.

I did finish reading Present Over Perfect but I’m going to have to save my thoughts on that for another post in fear of making this one ridiculously long.

Here’s to hoping this week brings a restoration of health and some warm sunshine! We are hopefully headed to Boston at the end of the week, Nick has a work conference, the kids and I want a little change of scenery and we will have the opportunity to enjoy some time with family!

 

 

 

 

 

Spring Break

We had lots of tentative travel plans for this year’s spring break, but at the last minute we decided that we really just wanted to relax and enjoy time with one another and ultimately with what we have going on right now, staying home and doing some new things around here sounded like the best plan for us. Little did we know that during this week we would get the biggest snow storm yet this winter. Our change of plans actually worked in our favor cause the snow would have actually changed or canceled our scheduled travel plans. Here is a glimpse of the weather we received:

This is out our back door. The picture on the left is around noon after it had been snowing since the wee morning hours. And the picture on the right was around 4 p.m. and it kept coming down. It is hard to say much we actually got since there were such strong winds and lots of snow drifts, but my guess is around 30 in.

We had to get creative with what we could do inside. We weren’t supposed to be out on the roads Tuesday or Wednesday so there was plenty of time to kill.

Here was our first try at snow ice cream. We added a little sprinkles for topping.

But enough about the snow. Let’s back up a bit. Sunday night we had a movie night after Calvin went to bed, we watched Trolls and had popcorn and just had a lot of fun hanging out the three of us, it doesn’t happen very often anymore.

And on Monday we went to an indoor play place near us called Elk’s Place. The kids had so much fun as did Nick and I. We had such a great time that once the roads we cleared, Friday we ventured back there to play again.

We followed this with lunch at Panera. This week was the first time we were able to get Calvin to successfully eat a meal out. He still isn’t keen on restaurant food, but he actually ate his entire meal I brought from home at the restaurant!

I made one of our favorite soups this week to have on hand. This Thai Coconut Butternut Squash Curry  Soup is really easy and versatile. We like it served over rice and we typically top it with whatever vegetables we have on hand or if you’re like me and love feta cheese I think it is a great topper as well.

It’s hard to decipher in the photo, but here we threw in some feta, red pepper, zucchini and some leftover grilled eggplant we had.

Some other ways Nora filled her time while we were stuck at home. In the pic on the left she is playing with some really fun reusable stickers she got as a gift, these Melissa & Doug  Reusable stickers to be exact. She loves them! She is also really interested in learning to write letters these days, she has mastered the letters for her name so we see that everywhere now 😉

If Nora would let him, Calvin would lavish her with love & affection all the time. Well his version anyways, being any kind of bodily contact whether rough or gentle.  While she was watching her morning show he climbed off my lap right over her and laid down, but had to make sure his feet were still touching her.  We are having a lot of fun watching their little relationship develop.

Saturday we had a filled day with friends. In the morning we got together with some of our friends who have kids the same age as Nora & Calvin. Then later in the afternoon some friends of ours who have a new baby came over to hang out for a bit.  Then we ended spring break with a quiet Sunday and it appears the snow is slowly beginning to melt and our patio furniture in the backyard is starting to appear again 😉

Now back to reality! (And in case anyone else is counting, only 10 more weeks until we move on to the California sunshine. 🙂 )

Waffling and Last Week

First off, food. I don’t know if waffle makers are that common in people’s kitchens, but we certainly love ours. Nora eats these whole wheat waffles every morning for breakfast. (P.S. if you are looking to transition to clean eating this website is a great place to start! So many great recipes and tips, I have followed her for several years.) I typically double the batch and freeze them to last us about 2 weeks.

But we also like to use our waffle maker to “waffle” other things. The picture below is a rice waffle. Calvin loves these and they are easy for him to hold and feed himself. It is simply rice, egg and whatever else you want to add to it. In the past I have added cheese or beans. He doesn’t seem to like it with beans, although eating beans and rice in a bowl is one of his favorite meals. We have all actually tried this and agree it tastes great! You could really include anything. We have also made omelets in it which turned out great as well. For kids it has really turned into a creative way to serve them foods they may be getting tired of,  just changing the presentation makes it exciting again.

Last week Nora started practicing her photography skills with my phone. I’d say so far she is doing a pretty good job. Calvin had just woken up from a nap, and that’s his look for about the first 10 min upon waking. But after he shakes that off and really wakes up he is always right back to his happy and smiley self again.

We  have music playing a lot in our house and anytime it’s on you most definitely will find Nora dancing. ALWAYS. Sometimes she requests music just because she is in the mood to dance. And almost every time a family dance party ensues because her enthusiasm is contagious.

Nick had some work obligations that kept him out late into the evening Thurs-Sat and  half the day Sunday. So I was solo with the kids for most the weekend. We hit up church on Sunday but had to fit a cat nap in for Calvin before hand, so we left extra early so he could sleep in the car. This meant a great parking spot since we got there so early to let him sleep. Nora was pretty happy about it too since she got to watch something on her Kindle for the drive and while we waiting for him to wake up. I was a little worried it was going to turn out to be a failure and he not sleep and then be a mess going into the nursery but he proved me wrong and slept great. Waking up just in time for us to go in. It was one of those good “parenting win” moments for me 🙂

I’m currently reading Present over Perfect right now. I had been on the wait list at the library for the e-book for months and it finally became available! I’m only a few chapters in but I’m definitely intrigued by the authors thoughts. I’ll post my thoughts and a little book review when I’m done .

And we are closing out Nick’s week of spring break now, so more on that later!