Florida Recap - May 2014

We went to Florida in May. (Yes this is late, but better late than never)! Our first "real" family trip...and by real I mean on a plane, with a rental car, in a hotel.  We have done many trips with them locally - Maine, the Cape etc...but nothing quite as complicated as traveling with two suitcases, two carry ons, two strollers, two car seats and ...two toddlers!  This was a new experience for us.  We are used to the husband and wife carefree vacations...Ohhh how things have changed! But, I will say, the kids were A-Mazingly well behaved and loved every minute! I couldn't have asked for anything more.  When we pulled onto our street coming home, Jaxon cried and said he wanted to stay in Florida.  That, to me, means it was a successful trip. (And a sign that we were back to reality).

So...here is a time line of our fun filled May 2014 trip to Florida! :)

Patiently waiting to get on an airplane for the first time!

Fully supplied with ipads, headphones and coffee for the adults!

Some exploring after we arrived - and some jumping on the bed! It is vacation after all ;)

Not much cuter than a toddler in a two piece!

Or a little boy splashing around!

We are in a cove under a waterfall = family selfie.

Our first full day = SeaWorld! (The kids look tired already - and it was only 10 am).

Loved the dolphins!!

And the whale show!

Jaxon missed the whole thing!

And Anya wasn't far behind!

We took a quick nap break and then headed back to SeaWorld for some rides, souvenirs and a few more animals to see. 

Our evening finished with their very first sno-cones. They had two bites each.

The next day was a pool day followed by a spontaneous evening at Downtown Disney.

We did some exploring...

(Love this).

had some Ghirardelli's ice cream... 

and watched the sunset.

The ice cream was so good Jax got every last drop!

Then we walked right into a dance party!  Leave it to us to always find one.  We danced off the ice cream for a good hour and a half! They even announced Nate's name because he was busting out the moves with all the kids! :)

Next day was Animal Kingdom.   This was on our safari.

It's amazing how close you get to the animals.

Tree of Life

We met Donald Duck (Jax was a happy boy...Anya was terrified).

While Jaxon slept, Anya and I met some animals at the petting zoo. 

Lunch at an African bar...and that was a delicious mojito I must say!

And then, the next day we headed home.  This sunset on the way to the airport just screamed that we should be staying longer!

So...that was a walk down memory lane. It was such a fun vacation! Next time we will be going for a full week!  I never thought I would be one to visit Disney frequently, but we quickly decided we think it will be a yearly trip.  (We also quickly decided if we want to travel a lot, two kids is just right for us...but we can save the details on that for another blog post).  ;)  Our kids had a blast and so did we!  To see the excitement in their eyes and their faces light up over and over again made the trip through the airport, both ways, totally worth it!! :)

 

 

~Erin Leigh

3 Years Old

 

My little guy turned 3 yesterday! I cannot believe how fast time goes by! It seems like just yesterday I was anticipating his arrival with lots of excitement and anxiety.  What a life changer it is becoming a parent.  I love it and am so happy that Jaxon made me a Mom. :)

With that being said, I love birthdays and making it a special day for my family.  We had a fun filled weekend for Jaxon's 3rd birthday!  It began with his birthday party with his friends on Saturday at Pioneer Gymnastics.  A time where the kids ran free, climbed, jumped on the trampoline, played in a foam pit, went in the bounce house (which Jaxon made very clear he would NOT go in), had pizza, cake and all passed out immediately following! 

Then yesterday, on his actual birthday, he woke up to a balloon surprise when he opened his door, had waffles with peanut butter and sprinkles with a candle and we sang to him, got donuts, went to the park, watched a few requested shows on TV, had family over for steak dinner (as requested) and a Planes cake, as talked about for the past month.  He said it was a great day = success :)

Jaxon at 3 years old:
30 pounds
Loves cars, trucks, airplanes.
Loves being outside.
Can throw a Frisbee better than me.
Likes soccer, red light green light, hide and seek.
Likes to climb and jump and throw himself on the ground.
Is a thinker - likes seeing how things work.
Likes popcorn and a movie.
Has to sleep with his blue blanket and tag.
When he wakes up - he announces to the world he is awake as loud as he can.
(Typically this wakes up his little sis).
Loves to talk about our day before bed, detail by detail, and chooses his favorite part of the day before bedtime prayers.

Jaxon - You are such a joy in our lives and we love you!  I wanted to make sure this day was documented, because (confession) I am still not done with our 2013 yearbook!  You are such a smart, fun, exciting, determined, logical and happy little boy.  Your laughter fills a room and you never stop making me smile.  We love you so much!
 
Here is a recap of your 3rd birthday weekend:



Patiently waiting to go to your gymnastics party.

 

 

 

 

Love, Mom <3

Taking a Break

I am taking a break from blogging.  I am going to continue to experiment with making my own recipes and use my blog as an online recipe bank so I can always find my favorites.  I plan to share certain family events, milestones and activities that I would want to remember and share with my children down the road.  So basically, I have decided that I am going to use it for my own personal data storage rather than for reaching others.

There are several reasons I made this decision, but I will keep it simple.  There are too many distractions in the world today and my time is precious.  I want less distractions to allow me to be more focused on the things that are important to me such as my family, my friends and my career. Although it isn't a direct distraction from those things since I blog during my downtime, I feel like technology is everywhere and I want to take a break from it in areas that I have a choice in.  I have a Facebook account, a blog Facebook, my work Facebook that I run, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, Linked In, my blog, my yahoo email, gmail email and work email.  It is actually really ridiculous when I think about all the accounts.  So, I am basically taking a break from all of it or decreasing my time on it (except my work email...where my emails are always increasing!).

I have stopped browsing social media and blogging since the beginning of the month to see if I felt like it made a difference and it has.  I feel less distracted and more focused on the important things.  So...that being said...I am going to continue! 

If you feel like you have too many distractions, I challenge you to give some up or take a break from them!  You will thank me!  :) 

~Erin Leigh

Last Minute Meal

Last night I was looking for a quick and easy dinner to throw together (are your surprised??)...I had pork to make so I decided on using my Tasty Tomato seasonings to season my pork and home made sweet potato fries!  So quick and simple and delish!

 

Pork Chops:

3 Pork Chops

Sprinkle with Adobo, garlic powder and Sassy Onion from The Tasty Tomato

I cooked it in a large pan on the stove with a little coconut oil - approx. 10 minutes per side

 

Sweet potato fries:

Preheat oven to 425

Slice two sweet potatoes into thin small pieces (you can also cube them)

Sprinkle with Adobo, garlic powder, sea salt and Sassy Onion seasoning

Bake for about 45 minutes - flipping fries a few times

 

Talk about quick and easy!  I loved the flavor using the Sassy Onion seasoning packet! I also used it in my beef stew the beginning of the week in place of a Onion Soup packet - it was a huge success!  I like that there are no additives in it like packets you buy at the grocery store!  If you want more information you can check out their Facebook page.  Hope you like! :)



 

 

~Erin Leigh

Quick and Flavorful Pork Roast

Mondays are always a tough day for dinner because both my husband and I get home between 5:30-6 so many times it is my day for a crock pot meal!  I threw this Pork Roast together quickly in the morning before rushing out the door - a great weeknight go-to meal for the working family (or any family for that matter ;) )!

 

Pork Roast

Ingredients:

1 Pork Roast (whatever cut is your preference and size to feed your family)

1 onion, sliced

1 teaspoon minced garlic

sea salt

black pepper

parsley

oregano

garlic powder

onion powder

2 Tablespoons worcestershire sauce

2 potatoes, cubed

carrots (2 handfuls of baby carrots or 3-4 chopped carrots)

 

 

Directions:

Slice onion and place in the bottom of the crock pot (I heard this helps with adding flavor).

Place roast on top and rub minced garlic onto the top of the roast (You can make a few shallow cuts in the top of the roast so the garlic gets into the roast for added flavor).

Season with the remaining seasonings to your liking (I add a few shakes of each).

Finish with the 2 Tablespoons of worcestershire sauce on top.

 

 

 

 

I then added the potatoes and carrots around the outside and seasoned those with garlic powder and Adobo (of course). 

 

 

Cook on low for 10 hours, or on high for 5.  Let sit for about 10 minutes before slicing.  The onions caramelize at the bottom and are full of flavor to use as a topping on your pork.  Mmmmm :)  Enjoy!

 

~Erin Leigh



Organization - Week 2

So last week was week 2 of organization projects.  I am tackling/implementing three things a week until...who knows when...and then maintaining!    If you need to catch up you can read about the three things I tackled week 1 here. 

 

The first project I tackled during week 2 was our coat closet...the one we actually use for coats and not toys!  You can see the before and after below!  Talk about a wreck before...tell me I am not the only one whose closet can quickly get to this status?! I went to Target and bought two large baskets...one is holding winter hats/gloves/scarves and then the other is holding summer stuff.  I also picked up a shoe rack.  I LOVE how organized it is now!  (The things that excite me these days are starting to scare me....who am I?!?!)  Anyways...that was task 1 = complete! :)

 

 

Project 2 of the week was implementing another round of "nesting" aka - purge through remaining baby belongings, organize, sell and donate.  I sold items to five people that I am meeting up with this week and added more to my donation collection.  One step closer to basement organization and renovation!!

 

And lastly, the third project, that is only partially completed because it is a LONG project, and quite frankly, I don't have hours on end to work on it...but, I made some progress! My closet (our closet).  Closet, oh closet. I have such a love/hate relationship with you.  I love clothes and shoes and accessories (maybe too much) but it quickly gets unorganized and I haven't purged my own stuff for some time.  So, I started on Saturday.  You can clearly see that it is a complete disaster!  Well, I organized the shoes, pulled out clothes that I won't wear again, separated the remaining clothes by season/style (aka work clothes, pants, casual, dresses, sweaters etc). 

 

I'm clearly thrilled. ;)

 

I will be honest, the left side is still a disaster but I am loving this after shot!  The organized look makes me so happy. Let's see how long the shoes can stay that way! (Probably until my kids find their way into my closet and try on all my shoes)!  The left side of the closet is on my list this week!  One step at a time!

 

 

So, those are my three things I did this week to de-clutter/organize!  Did you do anything? On top of that, I made a goal of 5 workouts for the week giving me a little leeway with a minimum of 4 workouts.  Well - 5 workouts it was - 1 of them being a run on Saturday! It was a nice sunny day!  Overall week 2 was a pretty productive week! :)

 

~Erin Leigh

 

 

 

Reflection

My little one found her reflection this weekend and I fortunately had my camera handy to capture the "interaction!"  She has, of course, seen her reflection before, but this time she was interacting with herself.  She had so much fun and it was such a cute moment! Saying "hi," making funny faces, giving herself dirty looks and kisses...it was precious!

 

 

It is amazing how such a small event in the life of a child makes my heart want to burst with love as a parent.  Do you experience little moments like these that makes a bigger impact than you would think?  

 

~Erin Leigh

 

Like Fit.Fun.Lifestyle on Facebook! :)