5 on Friday

Christmas break is almost over, which means I am about to head into my toughest semester.  I will be student teaching 5 days a week and then going to three night classes...whew!  But it's only 4 months.  I can do anything for 4 months, right?

I want to post about Christmas down south (and maybe catch up on Thanksgiving and the fall!), but I'll start with my favorite...5 on Friday!

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I know I have mentioned this before once or twice (okay, fine, like every time I post), but I am obsessed with Modern Mrs. Darcy's What Should I Read Next podcast.  Besides just getting a slew of new book suggestions, I have also learned a lot about myself by her book descriptions.  I realized that I like realistic fiction.  It can have a touch of mysticism or fantasy (L'Engle, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Tana French), but I don't really want or need a thriller.  I like plots that are slow and beautiful.

I think that preference pours over into my choice of movies and television shows.  One of my favorite shows is Gilmore Girls.  While the talking is fast paced, the plot isn't.  It even verges on the mundane, at times, but the characters and their development is so captivating.

Enter in my new favorite show:  This Is Us.

Oh, ya'll, this show is incredible.  I was talking about how good it is with another girl, and, when someone else asked what it was about, we just really couldn't give an answer or explain.  It's just the story of a family, but it is told so beautifully.  I guess there are some exciting plot things that happen, but what's more interesting is how everyone responds to those events and to each other.

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I am a huge Christmas money hoarder.  My birthday is in July, and it is not uncommon for me to still have Christmas money left over by the time it rolls around.

This year, though, I have already spent some!  I have been reading about FabFitFun for a couple of months, and I really wanted to try a box.

They just came out with the Editor's Box.  I went with this option, because I could actually see what I was going to get.  

I got my box in yesterday, and I love it!  My favorite item is definitely my blanket scarf.

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This has been the Christmas break of sickness.  I had a short bout of either the flu or the flu-like virus.  Bech had the stomach bug.  And now Jack has walking pneumonia.

I knew he wasn't feeling sick when he disappeared one afternoon and I found him asleep on Narnia (more on that in a later post!) at 4:45.  I tried to wake him up for dinner, but he wanted to sleep.  He slept from 4:45 until 7 the next morning!

He's on antibiotics, and he moved up from a nebulizer to an inhaler.  He's on the mend and will hopefully be better for school next Tuesday!

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Jack has flown a TON in his short life, and Gil has already flown a bunch too.  But, other than one trip to San Diego, Jack didn't fly from 10 months until 3 1/2.  That age is just SO tough to fly with!  And of course, that's right where we are with Gil.  Gil doesn't want to sit in our lap or a seat...he just wants to move!

A friend (thanks, Ashley!) recently mentioned that they bought a plane ticket for their (then) almost two year old and brought his car seat on the plane.  Well, Gil is now over two so this was his first flight with his own seat.  We decided to do the same.  

Y'all.  GAME CHANGER.  Gil is an incredible car traveler and does great in his car seat.  The same was true for flying.  He fussed a little, and we had to stop him from kicking the seat in front of him.  But other than that, he did pretty well.  The car seat made a ton of difference.  Until he's a little older, I think we will always fly with our car seat.

Head's up, though, you do need to double check that your seat is aircraft approved.  Only one flight attendant asked me, but I was glad I had googled the night before where exactly that approval was located on the car seat.

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Everyone's doing it, so I decided to make a best nine collage of my 2016 instagram pictures.  

I always get so tickled at these things, because Bech gets the most likes!  With the exception of the second picture and the last picture, Bech is in every one.  Well done, Bech, well done.

Do y'all find that to be the case?  That people like a picture more when you or your spouse is in it?

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!  We have some fun plans for NYE that I am excited for!

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Trip Down South

We spent two weeks in early July back down South.  We got to go to the beach with Bech's family and stay in both Brookhaven in Jackson, so lots of family time!

We flew into Jackson and hopped in the car the next day to spend a long weekend at the Beach Club in Gulf Shores, Alabama.  Bech was able to come last minute so he flew into NOLA and drove over with his brother.  

Which means I flew by myself with both boys.  It was as bad as it sounds.  Actually, it really wasn't, but it definitely wasn't a fun experience.

We all had the best time at the beach!  Gil is a big beach fan, and Jack prefers the pool (mostly because he can practice his swim skills!).  They went to bed completely wiped out every night.

And of course they loved getting lots of time with grandparents, aunts, and uncles.

When we got back to Jackson, we spent the rest of the time back in forth between it and Brookhaven.

This is the first snow cone that has been only for Gil.  He only ate half of it (is he even my child???), but he sure is cute here.

Jack on the other hand ate his in 5 seconds then begged for some of mine.

Also that is an old soccer jersey from a team my brother coached.  Also known as Jack's favorite new shirt.  Forget designer duds, just give him jerseys.

Jack's favorite Brookhaven tradition is making donuts with my grandmother.  It's my great-grandmother's recipe, and my Nana has been making them for us since as long as I can remember.

One of my favorite Brookhaven traditions is spending as much time as possible on the front porch, at least when it's cool enough.  My parents live in a victorian house built in 1904 that has a large porch out front.  I drank coffee there every morning while the boys ran around.  And on this night, mom and I made drinks and listened to Anne Bogel's What Should I Read Next podcast (obsessed much?).

We were even able to visit with some cousins who drove in for the day.  Tricia and I both think Millie and Gil look alike, so it was fun to have them side by side!

Doc (my dad) took us all to a Mississippi Brave's game one night.

It was SO hot, but these boys loved it!  Gil would pump his arms up and down or clap every time something good happened in the game.  And Jack was so serious about it all.

I drove up one day to meet my bed friend Courtney, her husband, and her son for lunch at the Council House Cafe (where I had the best BLT of my life).  I loved getting to meet Baby Matthew for the first time!

I love this picture.  Just a snapshot of Gil trailing after my Nana while she waters the plants.  I was lucky enough to have a great grandmother until I was 14, and I love that my Nana and Papa are able to be a big part of my little boys' lives!

Jackson, MS, has the BEST children's museum.  Seriously, it's right up there with The Magic House in St. Louis.  We were able to go there our last day (our flight was late afternoon).

The museum had a visiting Thomas exhibit.  Jack loved it, and I was hoping we were rekindling our Thomas obsession.  So far, he hasn't pulled out the trains since getting home...Oh well, there's always Gil!

We had a quintessential last day in Jackson: Children's Museum, lunch at Beagle Bagle with Uncle Hunter and Nina (Bech's mom), and then popsicles at Deep South Pops with Uncle Blaise and Bella (my mom).  And when you are an extremely messy little boy, you have to eat your popsicle shirtless!

It was a great trip and we are already missing our family!  But we have over a month left of summer, so time to tackle our Vermont summer bucket list!

5 on Friday!

I have been completely MIA lately.  We traveled to Mississippi for two weeks (just got back Wednesday night) and have been trying to soak up every minute of summer.  So here's what's up this week:

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Already, I am LOVING this 5 year old age.  Jack is hilarious and witty, polite and (mostly) obedient.  He has been a joy.  And traveling with him?  So good!  I would say that the only times I had to correct him were because I couldn't watch Gil (who was not fun to travel with) and help him with whatever he wanted at the moment.  Other than that, he was great!

I snapped this picture at the Atlanta airport during our layover.  Chewbacca book bag? Check! Tintin book? Check!  So of course, this calls for laying on the airport floor to get some reading in.

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Our summer CSA from Intervale Community Farm has been incredible!  This week, we got lots of flowers, two basil plants, parsley sprigs, scallions, onions, lettuce (mixed greens and a head of romaine), squash and zucchini, chard, unlimited green beans, and tomatoes.  Local, organic produce for $17?  That's a great deal!

I've already got basil growing like crazy on my back porch, so I decided to make a big batch of pesto.  I shared this on instagram, but when I make pesto, I freeze it in this silicon mini muffin pan.  When it's frozen all the way, I pop it out and throw it in a freezer bag.  We use it all winter long for pizza, chicken, and pasta.

I'm quite partial to Ina Garten's pesto recipe.  I don't add walnuts, so I just double the amount of pine nuts.

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Thursday night, we went to our first Summervale of the year.  It started back up two weeks ago but we were gone.  Summer vale is down the street from our CSA pickup.  It's a community event with live music and food vendors, plus a face painter.  The kids can run around and I can drink Citizen Cider with friends.  Win win.

Is anyone surprised that Jack is Harry Potter, yet again?

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I took these pictures a few weeks ago but haven't shared them yet.  For Christmas, my grandparents gave the boys a pass to Shelburne Museum.  We went for the first time on Jack's birthday, and we are obsessed!  We've already been three times and I think we are heading there again tomorrow morning.

We always end up spending lots of time at the Owl Cottage.  It has crafts for the kids, lots of toys, and dress up!  Jack looks like a member of the Hamilton cast here.  

Gil wanted to get in on the dress up action too.

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I turned 31 at the beginning of this month.  I decided that for my birthday I wanted to pick strawberries and eat wood fired pizza with some friends.  It ended up being a perfect afternoon/night.

We went to Norris Berry Farm in Monkton for strawberries and Folino's for pizza.

So that's what we've been up to in Vermont.  I just uploaded lots of Mississippi pictures so I will post on that soon!

One Last Trip to DC

For the past three years, my sister and brother-in-law have lived in DC.  While we were in PA, they were only 3 1/2 hours away, so we went down a couple of times a semester.  Now that we are further away (9 hours), we haven't gone quite as often.  But they are moving to Atlanta in a couple of weeks, so, since Jack had spring break this past week, I decided to load the boys up and get in some last minute snuggles with my new baby niece.

I woke everyone up super early last Monday, so we could get to DC before traffic hit.  Of course, I then had a flat tire 1 1/2 hours away from DC.  

We pulled off at a gas station in a small town and the boys played around for a while on this stretch of grass.  But it took the roadside assistance guy an hour to come!!!

Hot fudge sundaes from the McDonald's across the street for the win!

Seriously, I never cease to be amazed by how great these boys are when it comes to traveling.  They act up LOTS of other times, but they do so well in the car.  Thank goodness.

Our 10 hour trip (that's including stops) became a 12 hour trip, but we were so glad to get Anne Douglas snuggles in when we arrived.  Jack is a HUGE fan of AD snuggles.

We didn't get out too much (you know how the newborn stage is!), but when we did, this is what it looked like.  3 car seats, one CRV backseat.  I loved snuggling AD, but I also love that my backseat does NOT look like this.

Thanks for a friend's suggestion, we went to this amazing park, Clemyjontri in Langley, twice.  If you are ever in the DC area with kids, check it out.  It's huge and is wheelchair accessible (there is even a ramp swing for a wheelchair).  My boys LOVED it.  

They also loved the warmth!  We had snow in VT yesterday, so my boys were enjoying a whole week in shorts.

These curls!  I just can't even.  Toddler curls are my favorite.

Jack is just smitten with AD.

AD is still not so sure.  Totally understandable, but I bet that she will be obsessed with her big cousins in a year or two!

Gil was fascinated by the breast pump and carried it around like this a lot.

Yup, you aren't going to get anything with that, Gil.

Gil is VERY stingy with his kisses, but he always gave AD at least one a day (more than I get!).  He was also very concerned if she didn't have her pacifier and would bring it to her.

From our second trip to Clemyjontri park.  Gil and Jack had the best time here. 

We did other things, like two Target trips (there are no Targets in Vermont, so I am in withdrawal), ice cream, Shake Shack, and Matchbox.  And I got some AD snuggles in, which was what I wanted.  She is about the sweetest baby, so pretty and petite and with the cutest, craziest hair!  I won't get to see her again until July, so I am glad we went for one last DC visit.

5 on...Sunday?

Y'all, third post THIS WEEK.  Crazy, right?  I don't know what inspired this increase in blog activity.  But you know what's going to keep it up?  5 on Friday Sunday!  Because there are few things I love more than making a list.

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I haven't updated on the 21 day fix.  Well round 1 is done!  I am currently doing a week of maintenance, then I'm going to start it back up again.

I am officially a fan of the fix.  It is super hard and intense, but you can see immediate results.  I still need to be able to have some cheat meals, but overall, both Bech and I really like clean eating.  I struggle with the protein aspect, because we don't normally eat tons of protein.  But I loved eating more fruits and veggies.

I ended up losing 6 pounds.  I was hoping for more, but I cheated the last two weekends of the fix.  And, I know that I gained a bunch of muscle.  

I didn't do my measurements before I started (because I'm dumb and forgetful), but I did them a week in.  So after a week of maintenance, I retook my measurements...12 inches lost!  

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One thing I am enjoying a lot about the fix is the exercising.  I don't normally like exercising at all.  But I am actually enjoying all of Autumn's videos.  Her motto is "You can do anything for 60 seconds," and I love it.  Sometimes, I feel like there is no way I can do another burpee, and then I think, it's only 60 seconds (then a 15 second break)...I can do 60 seconds.

But it has made me realize what my favorite type of exercise is--Pilates.  I love yoga, but I want a little more intensity than the normal yoga workout provides.  Pilates is a great answer to that.  It's a little faster paced and there is a little more strength training, but it's not as hardcore as Autumn's cardio workouts.

I'm about to do another round of the fix, but I am thinking after that I might do 60 days of Beachbody's Piyo workout.  Any one have any experience with it?

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Y'all, Bachelor this season is almost done.  I don't watch a ton of TV, but I do NOT miss this show.  I usually try to resist, but then get sucked in by Pinterest Told Me To's recaps.  But this year I started watching right from the beginning because I love Bachelor Ben.

Any other Bachelor watchers out there?

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We are officially on Baby Watch 2016.  My sister is due at the end of this month with a little girl, Anne Douglas.  I have been making tentative plans for the next couple of weeks because we plan on hoping in the car and heading down to DC as soon as Katy tells us she's in labor!

Gil has no idea what's going on, but Jack is pretty pumped to be getting a baby niece.  I have been watching two little girls during the week (one 4 months and one 6 months) and Jack just loves them.  He asked me the other day if we could buy Vivian (the 4 month old).  Um, pretty sure her parents might have something to say about that!  But he can claim Anne Douglas as his.

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Bech's little brother is getting married the first weekend of April, and the boys and I are headed down South at the end of March.  CAN NOT WAIT.  I love springtime in Mississippi.  And it is always fun to leave the cold north for a Mississippi spring.

I will have just wrapped up my second round of the fix, so I'm not going to go too crazy.  But you better believe I will have a couple of snow cones while I'm home.  Plus, I NEED some Sakura Bana sushi!

So there you go...five random thoughts/topics from my head.  I hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend!

5 on Friday

I'm baaack!  Actually, I just posted a Christmas post, but made it show up from a couple of weeks ago (is that cheating?  like blog cheating?).

I have a couple of posts I still haven't done (visitors from November, a book list), but I feel like 5 on Friday is such a good starter to get back into the blogging swing of things...So here we go!

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We have had a crazy last couple of weeks.  I drove the boys down to DC (to see my sister and her husband) for MLK weekend (10 hours there and 10 hours back BY MYSELF with two little boys!).

Katy and I spent a ton of time working on Anne Douglas' nursery, and I think it's turning out pretty cute.  But we had a little time to play too.  Since it was pretty cold that Sunday, we headed to Chuck E. Cheese for pizza and games.  Oh, and for Katy's birthday.  Isn't that the way you like to spend your birthday?  Seriously, Katy was so sweet to spend her birthday dinner there, and Jack and Gil had a blast and burned off some energy.

Gilbo is a big fan of pizza, well of any food in general!

As a side note, my kids did INCREDIBLE on the car rides.  They both have lots of things they struggle with, but traveling is not one of them.  I think it's because we have just made them ride in car rides from the beginning.  The first one or two were rough, but now they are amazing when we travel places.

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I got home Monday night, and then Wednesday, we had a whole batch of people in town.  Bech was part of a show at Burlington City Arts, and some of the other artists showing were PSU grads too!  So we had people in and out of our house through early this week (Jonas delayed a couple of flights).  We had lots of hang out time at our house, plus we got a babysitter and went out with friends Friday night.

It was so fun to have friends in town!

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After all that craziness, Bech and I started the 21 day fix.  Have y'all heard of this?  It's a workout/diet plan that you do for 21 days.  

Basically, the food part is all portion control and low carb/high protein.  And then you do a 30 minute workout video each day and drink TONS of water.  And it's totally kicking our butts!  Bech and I are enjoying eating more veggies and fruit, but we are pretty hungry a lot of the time.  We are 5 days in (so 16 more to go!).  I'll let you know how it ends up.

If you've ever done this before, we are not doing the Shakeology portion.  It just seemed too expensive for our current budget.  Maybe I'll try it in the future?

Also, if you are a 21 day fix expert, any recipe tips or advice?

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I forgot to share this picture from my Christmas post:

Here's our little traveler, coming home from Christmas.  He's got a Darth Vader suitcase and a Chewy bookbag.  This little boy is ALL about some Star Wars!

Can I just say that four is so much fun!  This little guy is hilarious.  He loves to cuddle and talk to me, and I love it too.  He definitely still has his moments, but I am just enjoying this age so much.

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I've had a couple of friends lately ask for book lists, and I have grand plans for two separate blog posts about that.  

But I posted a couple of months ago about wanting to read more classics.  Since then, I read Anna Karenina.  Okay, I know it's a classic so obviously someone likes it.  But that was a looong read.  And I like long books.  I can tear through some Ken Follet.  And Atlas Shrugged is one of my favorite books.  But goodness, I struggled with AK.  Glad it is done!

So I treated myself with a little popular fiction

Ready Player One is sort of a dystopian book, but most of the action takes place in a virtual reality video game.  I used to read William Gibson when I was younger, and this book reminded me slightly of his style.  Plus, there are so many 80's references that make it a fun read.  Ready Player One is not the most incredible or life changing book, but it is an enjoyable read.  A good break after Anna Karenina!

Alright, there's my 5 on Friday which is sort of a catch up.

Christmas 2015

I know it is WAAAY past Christmas, but I want to be able to look back later and remember what we did this year!

This Christmas, we did things a little differently.  We usually go home before Christmas (actually, in order to afford tickets, we go home a lot before Christmas to miss out on those expensive tickets right before Christmas Day).  This year, we stayed in Burlington through Christmas Day, flying out of Manchester, NH, that afternoon.

Our Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were super low key.  We had some friends over for brunch on Thursday.  That afternoon, I told Jack he could open one present and thought I was giving him a wooden plane kit.  Nope, it was the face painting kit.  Thank goodness for artist dads who can paint a mean tigers face!

That night, I made ham and swiss sandwiches on hawaiian rolls and tomato soup.  Bech and I had champagne and Jack was SO excited about his sparkling cider.  We ended up not going to church, which I was sad about.  But our church is a plant, so the church building we use was being used by the church that owned it.  And Gil is a hot mess in church nurseries, so I didn't want to try a new one out for Christmas Eve.  We read our Ann Voskamp reading, the boys went to bed, and Bech and I stayed up to watch Holiday Inn.  I was surprised by how much Bech liked it!  

By some crazy miracle, our boys slept in the next morning.  I think part of it is that we aren't doing Santa, so Jack was not on pins and needles to see what he brought.  We didn't actually go downstairs until 8:30.

Bech bought me this vintage coffee table (which I LOVE), but Gil is convinced it's a dance platform for him.

This little guy got 3 Christmases this year...he looks pretty pumped, don't you think?

I love my sweet boys.

Gil was also a big fan of this Curious George in the box.

We kept it really simple, and the boys enjoyed it.  They each had a few clothing items, a couple of books, and a few toys.  Jack got a lot of Melissa and Doug craft kits as presents and in his stocking.  I figured we could use those this winter when we are inside.

We had plenty to time to open presents, play with presents, and clean up the house before hitting the road for Manchester.  We chose to fly out of there (even though it was 2 1/2 hours away), because we could fly Southwest (so free bags!). 

I wasn't quite sure what flying on Christmas Day would be like.  It was actually really fun.  Everyone is in a good mood and both flights had free drinks (and I love a gin and tonic).  Both of the boys were really good on the flights.

We got in pretty late to New Orleans, so we slept at Bech's parents condo down there and headed to Brookhaven bright and early, with beignets in hand.

Also, this about sums up how Gil feels when he first meets you (or sees you in a while).

This little guy got into opening some presents this year!

And this little guy wanted to stay close to his Uncle Blaise all day.

My sister is having a baby girl (SO SOON!), and it was fun to see her open lots of little girl things this year.

We spent Saturday night in Brookhaven and went to Faith Pres before church the next day.  I love this picture I took before Church...Jack is being introduced to The Empire Strikes Back. #starwarsobsessed

We then headed to Jackson to spend the next 5 days with Bech's family.  Sadly, this is the only picture I have.  But, I think you can tell that Jack adores his Uncle Hunter (and he's pretty pumped to gain Mary Kathryn as an aunt!).  We had a great time with Nina and Farfar and the rest of the family.

Also, Jack does wear other pj's on occasion...

While we were in Jackson, we spent one morning at a trampoline park.  Ansley really wanted to take Jack to one of these and it did NOT disappoint.  Jack loved it!

He's definitely a fan.

When I do posts like these, I always wish I was better at taking pictures.  We spent New Years Eve going to the restaurant Hunter works at with Bech's parents.  We then spent the rest of the trip in Brookhaven (although Bech took a quick trip up to see our friend Michael in Tupelo).

I did happen to get this picture of our sweet friend Bess playing with Gil.  Gil doesn't go to anyone new!  But for some reason, he just plopped down in Bess' lap and started playing with her.  It was a fun treat to get to catch up with Bess and Julian and sweet Piper.

We flew back on the 4th, right into 10 degree weather and lots of snow.  Talk about shell shock!