Fourth of July Weekend

Just a little bit late posting my 4th of July Weekend recap. Didn't want the month to go by and not do it! I had to go back to my planner to see what we did since it was almost two weeks ago! Overall it was a fun weekend! We started the weekend off on Friday heading to the Westport Vineyards for a night of music and food trucks! It was such a nice night. Afterwards we went looking for fireworks. It was the kiddos, myself and my mom. We were able to see the Marion fireworks from a spot in Mattapoisett. 

Saturday was spent grocery shopping, visiting my Uncle Johnny and hanging out with Brett and the kiddos. I didn't take any pictures! On Sunday, we headed to the beach and then went to my parents for a cook-out. I brought pesto! 

Monday was the 4th and we started the day off at the Marion Parade. I grew up going to the parade and love caring on that tradition with my kiddos. After the parade we went back to catch the end of the Road Race. Then it was back at the beach. Later that afternoon we got ready and headed to dinner and to see the Fireworks. It was such a fun night with family and the fireworks were spectacular! 

 4th of July weekends are always my favorite. Besides Christmas this is a favorite holiday for me! Already looking forward to next years! Now that 4th of July is over though it feels like Summer is almost over! We still have a lot to look forward to. This weekend coming up is Harbor Days. The kiddos are already planning on doing a lemonade stand at my parents on Saturday. Another thing to look forward to is my birthday! Turning 40! Lordy Lordy look whos turning 40! 

xoxo, 
Erika 

Meal Plan Tuesday

 Good morning and Happy Tuesday. It is a normal summer day for us. I have a short day at work today since Brett has training and Hudson is at camp this morning. I'm thinking we will go to the beach after lunch for a bit but can't really stay too long since Harper does have lacrosse clinic tonight. We shall see how the days goes before I make any solid plans though! You never know it might be a good day for a nap! 

Ok, enough talking about the day! I need to get better at our meal planning and saving on our grocery bill! I hate meal plan/grocery shopping. It all stresses me out but totally need to do it or else we will be having chicken nuggets for days. This week's dinners were planned around using the grill. Since it's a bit hot out these days I don't really want to be using the oven/stove! I have also been a bit braver to use the grill. I don't know why the grill scares me but it does. This meal plan is in no particular order. I kind of just plan the meals and then go from there to see what the night brings! Let me know if you have any fun dinner ideas that are super simple and easy to make! 

• Grilled Pork Chops, Mashed Potatoes, and Green Beans
• Hamburgers and Mac & Cheese
• Grilled Chicken Sandwiches with French Fries and veggie platter
• Garlic Bread Pizzas ( already made these this past Sunday and everyone loved them!)
• Steak and Potatoes grill packets

I only plan four to five meals for the week because come Thursday/Friday I'm exhausted and over cooking so we probably do sandwiches, breakfast, or take-out. Do you meal plan? I will update you next week on what meal was a hit and what was not so good! 

Time to get ready for the day!

xoxo, 

Erika 

Weekend Update!

Good morning! Happy Monday! How is it already Monday again? The weekends always fly by! It was a pretty low key weekend. Lots of time spent at the beach! Let's start our weekend recap on Friday. I worked from home for a bit in the morning. Mollie and Hudson slept super late. Mollie was up at 9:45am and Hudson I had to wake up at 10:15. Hudson's is my sleeper! Mollie wanted to see how long she could sleep in for, so I'm not sure when she really woke up! After they woke up and got breakfast we went into my office to check in. After that we went to the beach. The kiddos swam and we walked down to the slip for an ice cream break! After the beach we headed home to get ready to go out to dinner with Brett! We went to Cask & Pig and then went to Target. It was a crazy Friday night in our house! 

Saturday morning was another late morning. I think everyone was up by 9! Loving this summer time and no where to be on a Saturday morning! We did go to the playground and grocery store. I will have my meal plan up for the week tomorrow. After we got home from the grocery store we had lunch. Mollie went off with a friend for a bike ride. Harper, Hudson and I went to the beach and Mollie joined us after her bike ride. It was low tide, but we stayed long enough that tide was coming in and we rode the current up the river! Always a fun thing to do! After we had enough of the beach we headed home. I made grilled chicken sandwiches for dinner and we started a puzzle, which was on our Summer Bucket List!

Sunday, was spent cleaning in the morning, finishing the puzzle and getting ready for the beach. We went to Home Goods to get a new dog bed and of course had to get Starbucks for Brett and I. We picked up Mollie's friend and headed to the beach again. It was a gorgeous day and spent most of the day there. Once we got home, everyone showered, we had pizza and watched a movie - Parent Trap. I think everyone was in bed by 9. 

It was a nice summer weekend! Looking forward to this upcoming weekend. It's Harbor Days weekend and the kiddos are planning a lemonade stand on Saturday. I hope everyone had a nice weekend. 

xoxo, 
Erika 

Under Construction

 Good morning! Don't mind the blog as it is going through a little update! Stay tuned! 

xoxo, 

Erika 

Weekend Review!

Good morning! I'm a day behind on posting my weekend review. Hopefully I can remember what we did this weekend. I just have to say that I'm still tired from the weekend and can't wait for this weekend to catch up on my sleep!! Ok lets get into the weekend review. 

We started the weekend off on Friday. Mollie had practice at 6pm. It was a weird night for weather. It kept raining off and on during the practice. I stayed at her practice just incase they called it off. Luckily Brett was home with Harper and Hudson so I got some quite time! We came home and had dinner and then just hung out for the rest of the night. 

Saturday was spent folding laundry in the morning and cleaning up the house! Mollie had her first Spring soccer game of the season and they tied! It was cold at the field but it was a great game! 

After the game we came home and all had some quite time! I then prepped dinner to bring to my sisters house. We went over there around 5ish and the kids played and then had dinner! They were being silly dressing up in their cousins tutu's. 

They also gave Hudson a mohawk. He loved it! We came home around 8 and watched tv for a bit then it was off to bed. Harper and I had to wake up super early to head to Nantucket for her lacrosse game!

Sunday morning came quickly! I woke up with a headache, but I took some Advil and was fine! Harper and I headed out the door to Nantucket for her lacrosse game. We were taking the 9:00 ferry with her team! 

It was Harper's first time on the ferry and she loved it! We got to Nantucket and headed right to the field to start warming up! She played goalie for the first half and loved it. She was awesome! They ended up winning the game! After her game was over we watched the next game and then headed into town for lunch and some shopping! Then it was time to catch the ferry back! We got home around 7pm. Brett had made pizza so we ate dinner and then it was time for showers! I caught up with what Mollie did for the day! She went to her friend's house. She was kind feeling a little sad that she didn't get to go! Next time! Before you knew it was bed time!! 

It was a long weekend but lots of fun! Have a great week! 

xoxo, 

Erika 

Easter Activites

 Easter is only a few weeks away and each year I always want to do fun activities with the kiddos but then it gets too late and next thing you know Easter has passed and we just barely colored eggs! So I have compiled a list of activities for us to do from Pinterest this year. This is in no special order but will probably save the more difficult ones for the evenings we don't have any sports or for the weekends. 

1. Free Egg Decorating Coloring Pages - I found these coloring pages that we will start off doing first! Love that all my kids will like doing this!

2. Easter Bingo - We definitely will be playing bingo and will be using jelly beans as the markers. The kiddos love bingo and it will be good for family game night!

3. Peep Playdough - I love peeps and it wouldn't be Easter with out them! This will be a fun activity for the weekend! I feel like this will be the kiddos favorite activity. 

4. Easter Peep Houses - We tried these a couple of years ago but it was a fail so we will give it a try again. A little hack that I started doing with our gingerbread houses is using hot glue instead of icing! So we will try that hack on these houses!

5. Easter Eggs - Ok this fun way of dying Easter eggs is more for Hudson but the girls will love it too. I'm sure this will make a big mess and hopefully we can do it on a day that is not too cold outside! 

6. Easter Cards - I found this cute template for Easter cards. It is usually the girls that enjoy making Easter cards for everyone but I kind let them do their own thing but will give them this option! I might try to find a different one too so that they are not giving duplicate cards to family! 

I'm looking forward to all of these activities and I know the kiddos will love them all. Now I just need to put them in my planner for when we are going to do them. 

Now that I got all the Easter activities planned out I need to figure out what to bring to Easter dinner at my sister's. I said I would bring my cornbread casserole along with an appetizer and dessert! Back to Pinterest I go. 

xoxo, 
Erika

Weekly Meal Plan

 Another week has gone by and that means it is time for my weekly meal plan! I did my grocery shopping on Saturday. I was able to get our grocery bill under $300 this week. I think I spent $284. It definitely helps when you meal plan to save on your grocery bill! I will have to go to the grocery store on Thursday to get some more fruit/veggies and milk! So here is my meal plan for the week. 

Saturday - Tacos 
Sunday - Roasted Chicken with roasted potatoes and asparagus
Monday - Crockpot steak tips with mashed potatoes and green beans
Tuesday - Hamburgers with French Fries 
Wednesday - Pork Tenderloin with rice and green beans
Thursday - Make your own sandwiches - Everyone is pretty much on their own this night for dinner since both girls have practices and I have a work meeting! 
Friday - Pizza night 
Saturday - Butter chicken with mashed potatoes
Sunday - Breakfast - we will be away for the day in Nantucket for Harper's lacrosse game!

I'm looking forward to the warmer weather when we can start grilling! Summer meal planning is my favorite. I'm getting sick of comfort food! 

xoxo, 
Erika 

Weekend Review!

 Good morning! Happy Monday. It is going to be another busy week ahead. This past weekend was a busy one for sure! It started on Friday when the kiddos had a half day. I got them from school and we headed home for lunch. I ended up getting a huge migraine so we didn't do much in the afternoon. Brett came home and we had dinner. I made butter chicken with rice! While I was cooking the kiddos went outside to play on the trampoline for a bit. After dinner we went to Target. Crazy Friday night over here. We then grabbed ice cream on the way home. We were all in bed by 9. 

Saturday was the busy day. I got up and went to the grocery store around 7 am. Came home and put everything away and Harper got ready for lacrosse practice. After I dropped Harper off I came back and folded laundry and picked up around the house! After Harper's practice we went to the playground. Hudson had his friend their which was fun! My mom and sister came too. After about an hour or so we had to leave to drop off Hudson at home and bring Harper to a birthday party at a trampoline place. I stayed with her there. Mollie went off with my mom and sister. They had lunch and went shopping!! She came home with a new nail polish and pop-its for Harper and Hudson. When Harper and I got home from her party we crashed!! Brett went to bed since he was working at midnight. We had tacos for dinner and then went to my sister's house to hang for a bit! We came home and once again everyone was in bed around 9. 

Sunday wasn't as busy but the kiddos had fun. We did our weekly clean up of the house. The girls both had friends over and we headed to the playground. The girls rode their bike around town which was their first time with out a parent! They did a great job. The girls had a pizza party at Nick's for their basketball team. After that we all crashed again until dinner time. I roasted a chicken for dinner along with potatoes and asparagus. We watched Peter Rabbit 2 since we are close to Easter! Everyone was in bed around 8 since it was a school night. 

So it was a pretty busy weekend and I didn't take any pictures! My goal for this week is to take more pictures through out the week! So let's see how that goes! Looking forward to next weekend when we start games. 

Have a great week! 
xoxo,
Erika 

Weekly Meal Plan!

 Ok so I know grocery prices have gone up and I'm really struggling to get our grocery amount down each week. As a family of five we spend about $300 each week. I know I can get it lower than that but I'm going to have to get creative. I'm going to post our meal plan each week. I was hoping to get this post up earlier this week but life happens! Our meals are not set in stone that it has to be a specific night. It really all depends on what is going on and what meal will be the easiest for that night. I do the majority of the cooking so I do the meal planning! 

Saturday- Beef Stroganoff with noodles and peas
Sunday - Leftovers - we actually went out to dinner this night with my parents for Chinese. So much better than leftovers!
Monday - Pot roast in the crockpot! This is super easy and I just add brown rice and green beans. Tuesday - Breakfast - eggs, bacon and toast.
Wednesday - Butter Chicken with mashed potatoes and green beans.
Thursday - Hamburgers and fries
Friday - Take-out 

By Friday I'm exhausted and totally over cooking so we usually get pizza and do movie night if everyone is home! I try to do my grocery shopping on Saturdays for the upcoming week. I do have to usually stop at the grocery store on Tuesday/Wednesday for more milk, fruit and veggies. Hopefully in the next few weeks I can get our grocery bill down! Wish me luck. 

xoxo,
Erika 

Weekend Recap

 Good morning! Once again the weekend went by so fast! It was quite which was nice. Just a few more weeks and the weekends will be filled with sports. Mollie is playing travel soccer, Harper is playing lacrosse and Hudson is doing t-ball. So we will be all over the place. I love it though and it keeps the kiddos busy! 

Our weekend started on Friday after school. Mollie had friends over after school. Harper was suppose to but her friend was sick! After Mollie's friends left we got pizza and then we all crashed and I think everyone was in bed by 9. By Friday everyone is so tired from the week! 

Saturday morning I woke up around 7ish and no one was up yet. Harper is usually my earlier riser but she slept in. I made myself a cup of coffee and turned on Housewives of OC (don't judge) and enjoyed the quite time while reading my book (multitasking!). 

One by one everyone woke up and I made breakfast for the kiddos. Once Brett was awake I headed to the grocery store. I went to Super Walmart. It was a rookie mistake to go on a Saturday. I usually don't go to Walmart but with grocery prices being so high I was trying to see if I could save money by going to Walmart. That didn't work though because I ended up spending more money! It is what it is! After I got home I put away the groceries, which is the worst part. We then headed to my parents house to visit for a while. The kiddos played outside with their cousin and we all had lunch together!

After we left my parents we went to Home Goods in search for a salt shaker. We found one along with these two Easter mugs! I love them and luckily I didn't have any Easter mugs. More mugs to add to the collection. 

It was a rainy afternoon so you know what that means? It was a perfect afternoon for a nap. I took a nap which I haven't done in a long time in my bed! It was glorious. Brett and I were a bit lazy the rest of the afternoon. I think it was about 6 when I decided to get up and make dinner. In my defense we did have a late lunch so Brett and I weren't that hungry and the kiddos had snacked a lot! 

I made beef stroganoff for dinner which has been on our weekly meal plan a lot lately. It is weight watchers friendly which I have been doing for the last month. Done 15 pounds! After dinner, we cleaned up and got ready for movie night! The kiddos watched the new Cheaper by the Dozen on Disney+. I made popcorn for them. I showered and then finished watching the movie with them! Brett was watching basketball. After the movie it was bed time!! 

Sunday morning I was up a bit earlier than Saturday! Watched another few episodes of RHOC and then one by one everyone woke up again. Everyone was on their own for breakfast and I headed out for a walk. It was so foggy but felt good to get out there! 

After I got back from my walk we went to get the pitch back from my parents for Harper to practice lacrosse with! While the kiddos and Brett were outside I folded laundry and needed some caffeine! 

We then had lunch and I made English muffin pizzas in the air fryer. They were really good and everyone loved them!

After lunch we all had some rest time before Mollie's last soccer game. We headed to the game around 3 and unfortunately they lost but it was a great indoor season and she loved it! After the game we went to dinner with my parents! We got Chinese and it was so good. We had a nice time with my parents!! We got home around 645ish and Harper and Hudson went outside to play a bit. After that everyone came in and took showers. The kiddos went to bed around 8 and just like that the weekend was over!! 

xoxo, Erika  

Harper's Birthday Getaway

 Happy Birthday Harper!! Harper turned 10 on February 10! How is she 10? Time flies by so fast. She had a great day! Started the morning off with waffles for breakfast. She opened her presents from us and got a iPod touch and the kiddos gave her a big comfy sweatshirt and a hat she wanted! We had our family over that night for dinner and cake! Harper requested chicken broccoli ziti from Ricardi's and ice cream cake! It was the easiest birthday dinner ever! She wanted an arts and crafts party theme! We got canvas for the family to paint which was fun! It was a great night! 

The next morning we packed up the car and headed to North Conway for the weekend. We left super early in the morning and got to North Conway around 10 am. We couldn't check in till around 12ish so we drove around and walked through the town! We had lunch at Muddy Moose and got penny candy from Zebs. Once we checked into the hotel we had some quite time. We then headed down to the game room in the hotel and spent 20 dollars on playing lots of games! After the 20 bucks was gone we walked over to the outlets and did a little window shopping. Brett and the kids got some clothes at Under Armor. We then went back to the hotel and changed for dinner. We went to Barley and Salt for an early dinner since we were going to the ice castles that night. We had great dinner. They had mac and cheese for Hudson, so he was super happy about that. After dinner we went back to the hotel to get change and bundle up for the ice castles. It ended up being about an hour drive and the kiddos all fell asleep on the way there. We had to go through the Kancamagus Highway so it was lots of windy roads, kind of creepy during the night!! We arrived at the Ice Castles a bit early but were able to get in and it was busy!! We had fun walking through them, we went tubing, and got hot chocolate and chocolate chip cookies. The ice castles were beautiful and lots of fun for all of us! It was a busy day for us so every one crashed as soon as we got back to the hotel. 

On Saturday we all slept in till around 8. That never happens for me! We got ready and went to Peaches for breakfast. We got there at a good time because the wait started to get very long once we left! After breakfast we walked around the town again and then went on a train ride. Hudson loved it and so did the girls, but it kind of made me motion sick! After the train we got lunch. The kiddos and I got Chipotle and Brett got Dairy Queen. We walked through the outlets again, why not they were just outside of our hotel! On Saturday afternoon we had planned a sleigh ride at Nestlebrook farm. It was lots of fun! The place was really pretty, it was a bit warmer that day so everything was melting and it was very slushy!! After the sleigh ride we went to dinner to a place that I can't remember the name of!! It was really good! We ended the night back at the hotel room and watched a movie! 

Sunday morning we woke up and packed up our stuff and went back to Peaches again for breakfast. This time we had to wait about 30 mins since it was Sunday and we got there a little later than on Saturday! After breakfast we walked through the town one more time and then headed home. On our way home it was starting to snow. Our car started to not drive right. The transmission started to go! Luckily we got home and were able to get our car over to Uncle Marks on Monday. It needs a new transmission! Ugh I hate cars. We are going to get a new one though, but there isn't anything out there! 

Time to get ready for work, but I will leave you with some pictures from our weekend away! Have a great day! 

xoxo, 
Erika