Home!

Had a nice morning -- we picked up coffee, smoothies and muffins and had breakfast on the beach.  We saw some sea lions close by in the waves which was cool.

On the way home we visited my poor Aunt who thought we were coming tomorrow (totally my fault!).  We had a nice visit and then hit the road to go home.

I ran out to BJ's and Stop and Shop to pick up food since we have company tomorrow and Sunday.  We put away everything from the trip and tried to straighten up a bit.  

The new bedding I ordered from Pottery Barn for the kids arrived so I put that through the wash and made their beds.

The love it!

Last Full Day at LBI

Thankfully my big boy woke up feeling great today.

We hit the beach in the morning. I took the little ones home for lunch and rest while my husband took the big boy to a water park.

When they got home we went out for a great dinner and the amusement park.  I just bathed the little guy and got him to bed.  The other three are out playing mini golf.  

It was so good to get away.  Looking forward to a few more days off and visiting with friends and family.

Sick Day :(

My husband rented a boat and took the two big boys out first thing in the morning to go fishing.  The little man and I took a nice walk. When we got home I received a text from my husband that my big boy was sick so they cut their trip short.

He was complaining his belly hurt, his head, his neck.  We were worried it was from the nail he stepped on, but pediatrician said it is coincidental timing.  The more I thought about it - he probably picked up a virus at the urgent care center when he went in to have them look at the nail.

Always something.  So I stayed home with him while he slept off and on while my husband took the two little guys to the beach.

We were going to go out for dinner so I had to reshuffle plans and ordered in.  He felt better after eating so we took him for a drive for fresh air to the other end of the island.  On the way home I ran into an ice cream shop to get them milkshakes.  Soon bed for all and hopefully tomorrow will be a better day.

One side note - my little guy handed me his bottle before and said "this is old". I said "no it's new - I just put milk in it".  He said "it's OLD!".  I said "it isn't!".  He said "well then you drink it!".
Two years old, people!  OY!

**one more thing I don't want to forget. My middle one said to me "If I had one wish you know what it would be?"  I said "what?"  He said "I would wish Robby (big brother) would feel better."  SWEET.

Beach Day Three

More of the same.  Beach.  Cut short by the two little ones rolling in the sand, crying that they needed to go to the waves to wash themselves off and then as we walked back to our area on the beach they would immediately fall into the sand again have their hair/face/hands covered....so back to the water we would have to go to wash them off.  They are exhausting.

My middle guy and I went to my favorite store in the world - How to Live  - to buy a new candle holder, which has been a tradition every year.  The lady in the store was loving him so gave him free of charge two little turtles made of shells.  He proceeded to tell me she gave them to him because he is "the middle one and special".  I agreed! :)

We then stopped at the fish market to pick up stuff for our one dinner at home. I made flounder, clams, mussels, shrimp over spinach linguine with a cucumber salad.  It was delish.

We ended the night with ice cream from Show Place Ice Cream Parlour and a few rides at the amusement park.

Beach Day + Pirates

Went out for breakfast and then spent most of the day on the beach.

We went for a 4 pm pirate boat ride and then to dinner.  They had a pirate night at a local restaurant. They had one room with the pirate making balloon animals, etc. It was total mayhem with all the kids.  My oldest looked at me and said "can't we just go in the other room"?  So we went to the "adult" side of the restaurant to eat in peace and not one of them complained about it.  Love them.

They were all a little crazy towards the end so we took them home early to relax. They are watching a movie and then bedtime.

Love end of Summer sales.  Bought this big bucket of sand toys for like 2 bucks last year. Tossed in my closet and marked my calendar to remind me to bring it with us to the shore. :) 

Vacation Day 2

What a day!  We went to the beach in the morning then home for lunch.

In the afternoon I stayed home so the little man could take a nap and the big boys went to a beach by the bay.  Apparently my oldest stepped on a rusty nail so had to go to urgent care.  The doctor said as long as he was up to date with his shots he should be fine.  Crazy thing is in our new car I found a piece of paper yesterday -- it was my oldest's doctor's paperwork from April.  Page 2 had the history of all his shots and the date he received them.  Crazy that it was in the car - -I have no idea where it even was hidden for all these months!

Went out for a nice dinner.  We had fillet topped with lump crab meat over lobster mashed potatoes.  I broke my no carb rule for the occasion. :)

Amusement park, ice cream and now home to bed. 

Goodnight!

Our home until Friday - we love it!!

Vacation!

Woot Woot!

We got to the LBI shore house in no time.  The big boys went to the beach and I went with the little man to stock up on milk, snacks, etc.

Went to a nice early dinner, the little amusement park and ended with ice cream.

Everyone is bathed and in their PJs watching Mickey Mouse.  Bedtime soon for all!

1 More Day...

until vacation!   Finishing up work and then heading home to pack.  My oldest has a friend over tonight for a playdate before school kicks off.

Tomorrow we leave for Long Beach Island on the Jersey Shore.
Hope everyone has a good weekend!

Excercise at Work

Tomorrow Amazon will deliver to my job a mini stair stepper.  I plan to put it under my desk and use it like this article outlines.

I will update you all on how it works out!  Hoping that by doing this a few hours a day I will get some dramatic results!! :)

Weekend

Had a nice day at my niece's birthday party yesterday.  Waiting now for my husband's cousin, wife and new baby girl to arrive.  Going to grill lemon chicken, steak, corn and have a big salad and zucchini tomato casserole all ready to go. 

Date Night!

Haymount House tonight.  Hope everyone has a good weekend!

End of Summer Play Date

Had a pizza party play date for my middle guy with a few kids going with him to pre-k. 

My hope is that seeing a few friends before school starts will help ease the first day of school -- he'll recognize some familiar faces.  Fingers crossed!

Made up these goody bags - cookies and "my first ticonderoga pencil".  Put them in cellophane bags with a little sticker on them that read "You're a smart cookie! Have a great first day of school".  Kids loved them.  Super cute.

Random Musing For the Day

I love Coldplay.  Every song....except Yellow.   Until I heard this live version. 

Obsessed.

I am 14 years late to the party.

That is all.

Stitch Fix Shipment #5

They finally got it right!!

 

Keeping everything except middle right because it was too big. 

Organic Gummy Vitamins

My kids love Yummi Bear Oraganic Multivitamins.  I usually buy them off of Amazon, but Whole Foods (yonkers) has them on sale + a coupon this week.

I also read in Parents Magazine this morning you can get a free sample by clicking on here and using the promo code TNT. :)

Neon Yellow

Of course my oldest didn't want to be outdone.  I was looking forward to getting my orange nail polish removed today only to have my oldest beg me to take him.  He of course chose neon yellow as my nail color for this week.   Believe it or not I got a few compliments!

Had a busy day.  Usual routine of Whole Foods and manicure.  Ran up to visit my grandmother with the kids.  Took my oldest to a birthday party.  Visited my mother-in-law.  Now we're all getting settled for the night.

A new week is upon us!

Pool Party

Had a great day visiting friends.  They happen to have the most amazing pool ever with a waterfall so the kids had an absolute ball.  Great Summer day.

We ended it with a pit stop at Walmart which is always amusing to me.  Now off to relax!

NYC Weekend Activities

Stumbled across this site which posts activities in NYC that I thought might be of interest.

Hope everyone has a good day.  I am off tonight to hang out with a slew of old friends -- some who I haven't seen in 20 years -- thanks to facebook! Can't wait!

Hostess Gifts

Thanks Aunt G (#1 blog post of the year contributor ;)) for this tip for giving a hostess flowers.

"Oh here's a tip.  I think I read it and liked it.  When giving a hostess flowers have them in a vase.  It is so much nicer than the host trying to find a vase and trying to arrange them while you're going crazy getting the dinner together. Its inexpensive too. Vases can be bought for $1.00 each at garage sales.  I always have about 5 or 6 ready to use.  Of course, it's even better if you have a garden of flowers.

One hydrangea is beautiful or sunflower in a bud vase.  Don't be afraid of cutting tall flowers down to the size of your vase.   If you don't like the vase, wrap it in some tissue paper with a ribbon around the neck."

I usually keep vases from flowers that are sent to me and do the same thing. Thanks for sharing this tip!

Costumes!

Is it time to start to think about Back to School?

No, that was last month.

It's time to start thinking about HALLOWEEN!!!!  :) :) :)

Chasing Fireflies Halloween catalog has been reviewed by the little men and costumes have been ordered!

Ice Cream Picnic

How cute is this idea?!  Prescoop ice cream into little disposable tupperware and put on ice.

Super fun!

1 Year!

365 days ago I started this blog.  So today I recap what I feel are the top things that allow me to have a career and do so much with my kids:

3) a crockpot!
2) someone to clean my house (I never posted about this, but really it is worth every penny.  Life is too short to be spent scrubbing bathrooms and mopping floors.  Every penny I spend on this is time I buy back to be with my kids.)
and #1 hands down a huge support system.  I am just so lucky to have so many great people in my life who help out.  I know I am not the norm and many people don't have any help and those are the parents who are truly amazing.  I am a slacker in comparison!

Today we I took the kids to visit my cousin in Jersey.  Before we left my middle guy came with me to get my nails done.  I usually get a white or light pink color, but he insisted I get neon orange this time so I indulged him. Counting the days until next weekend to swap it to my norm. :)

Easy Zucchini Brownies

Just whipped up an easy treat for the kids.  I prepared a box of brownies as directed on the package and incorporated into it a cup of shredded zucchini before baking them off.  Kids are devouring them. 

Leaving all 3 kids with our neigbor's daughter for the first time ever tonight so we can go to dinner/gambling with some college buddies. :)

#1 Most Popular Post of the Year x2!

Two posts were neck-in-neck for the most popular so I am going to share both of them.

First up - Almond Chocolate Chunk Cookies.  These really were so good and I haven't made them since this day.  May need to whip up a batch soon.  Funny that this post also talks about my annual visit to my cousin's Summer home and that's where I will be on day 365 of posting this Sunday. :)

and the top, top, top post iiiiiisssssssssssssssssssssss......


Organized Gift Giving + Amazing Chicken Burgers! Isn't that photo of the tree just so gorgeous? Love that photo.   And I still need to make those chicken burgers!

Have a fabulous weekend!  I am taking the kids to see Superheros Live tonight!