Wednesday, April 22, 2015

Hello dust bunnies, good to see you have moved in

Since February we have steadily been on the road. 
Disney World 

Aspen Co. 

SXSW

Horseshoe Bay Resort Hotair balloon festival & Easter

Palm Desert, California for Coachella 


Throw in 2 baby showers, rodeo, 2 concerts, 3 of us had birthdays and potty training twins! 

I'm not complaining because I have a serious case of wonderlust, but I can say home life is rather a mess! Clutter is stacking up, dust is piling up and I'm not getting anything done till the day before it's due! I write more blog post about how I miss writing blog post than any other subject! 

I think I need to be locked in my house with cleaning supplies for a stright 24 hours! 
But when you live in a amazing city like Austin there is always something fun to do! Eeyore's birthday is this weekend along with some fun kids parties not to mention a charity brunch, NKOTB concert and Mother's Day are right around the corner.
 Oh well I'll clean when I'm dead! Now I shall go finish my Disney blog post! 

Thursday, March 12, 2015

Disney World 2015 Part 1 {Packing}




I have found to the key to a successful trip with kids starts with the planning. My nature is more of a wanderlust traveler and I like to let the culture be my guide. With kids…NOT SO MUCH! 



With toddlers I know that surprises will come up, tantrums will happen and clothes will need to be changed. The more organized and simplified I can make packing the more help I have found my husband can be. When it’s all just up in my head then obviously only I can execute. So with this in mind I have developed my packing strategy! 

Step 1: I write out how many outfits I will need and pull up the weather report for the days we will be gone. Then I go one kid at a time and pull the outfits together making sure they are good for what ever activity we have planned for the day (ie. travel day is always soft clothes) 


Step 2: I place each outfit in a gallon zip lock bag with EVERYTHING they need to get dressed. Diaper, socks, hair bow, hair tie ect. The thought behind this is that the kids should be able to dress themselves with minimal help and questions. When left with a suit case of clothes I find they spend more time digging around and throwing clothes on the ground. Also when I tell Mr. T to dress a kid it ends up being me doing it because he can't put an outfit together to save his life and I end up dressing all three kids plus myself and we are 1.5 hours into the day and I’m already tired. With the clothes pre bagged everyone just takes their bag and gets stated. 

  • this saves a ton of room in the suit case when you press all the air out. 

When we get home each evening I ask the kids to just put the clothes in a pile and I collect all the dirties into a trash bag. One for kids and another for adults. This saves me a ton of time when we get home because they are already separated kids/adults; dirty/clean so can just throw each load into the wash. 

My packing assistants




And presto only hours of folding left! 

Wednesday, February 4, 2015

Calling all Disney World Advice!



HELP! 


We booked a last minute trip to Disney World and we leave in 6 days! I am so excited! I have been several time over my life but this will be my husband and kids first trip! This will be our first time flying with all 5 of us! Miss Campbell is well versed in travel and is so easy but up till now the twins have stayed with Ganny or a nanny! I always find bloggy Moms to be a great source of advice on this sort if thing! So give it to me!!!!! 

Comment, send me links or pictures! I'd love to read your own post about your Disney Trips! 

A few things to know:

Shhhh...The kids don't know yet! I plan to tell Miss C in a fun way the day of the trip. I'll pick her up early from school after a valentines party and then I need a fun way to tell her! I have been talking to the twins about "going to Mickey's house" and now they will say "I wanna go Mickey house!" Give me your ideas on how to tell the kids.

My kids ages: Miss C is 3 weeks shy of 7 and the Twins are 2. 
-Did you take your kids in for a nap or just press thru? On that note we are staying at the on site at the animation hotel. 

Flight tips? 
Favorite things to see? 

We eat, sleep, sing and own all things Frozen and the hubby and Rush love Nemo and Cars. 




Anyone want to share they're amazing itinerary? I made a few reservations and fast pass elections but nothing that can't be changed. I'd love you forever if you shared! 

I have really enjoyed reading a series of post on Disney by Jenn at Two by Two Mom Blog. If your in my boat seeking Disney advice or just want to read a great blog check her out. 

Two by Two Mom link 



Wednesday, December 17, 2014

Teacher gifts

As room mom I'm in charge of the teacher gift for Miss C's first grade teacher. Her name starts with a P so I ordered a wire P from pottery barn teen and we created a giving P rather than giving tree! This allows each family to contribute as they see fit. I think it's turning out great. 

What do you think? 


What are some of your favorite teacher gifts to give or receive? 

Wednesday, November 26, 2014

Thanksgiving adventures!

Leg one of three is complete! 
We have made the drive from Austin to Corsacana, met my family and dropped the kids with no traffic and only one minor melt down by Rush over his Big Sisters iPad! Whoo! 


Now leg two, Corsacana to DFW. We are not fancy folk but occasionally we do fancy things. Amex has provided us with new cards that allow us access to the centurion longe. There are 2 in the US open, DFW & Las Vegas with 2 on the the way in San Fransisco & NYC La Guardia. Hope to be writing a post from this cozy little Amex perk in a hour or two! 
Leg Three, DFW to Las Vegas! This wil be my first time to Vegas during thanksgiving and I hear it's a great time to be there. 

If your wondering we did Thanksgiving with our kids and close friends on Sunday so I'm not feeling to terribly bad about jetting off! 

Friday, November 14, 2014

Five on Friday

{one}
 Iv been carb free all week so it's time for a free day! So fat kid Friday is back! Inspired by my favorite morning talk show on Cosmo radio wake up with Tay. I splurge and have some amazing dish. Back in the day we would try things like the McRib (yuck) now I'm more into local restaurants and trailer food, healthy comfort food & and just down right crazy food! Good thing I live in Austin!


Fried egg sandwitch from the always awesome counter cafe. Created and owned by my friend Ms.Debbie she sources everything local and organic. Two thumbs up it was delish

{two}
This bad boy is still afloat! I was appalled at the price of these giant balloons ($40!!!!) but I HAD to have it for my photo shoot this past Sunday. But it's now 7 days old! If you buy one make sure to get high float put in. If your in the Austin area Party Couture in the Hill Country Galleria actually has the best prices and the owner is super nice! 
See all the little people hand prints? 

{three} 

I'm trying to give up cokes. These are actually not horrible 

{four} 

Flying in for one show only in Vegas…  Sander van Dorn Think I need to go!!! OK I bought the tickets!
 (Surprise Honey)

{five}

ĆD release show for Jeremy O'Bannon! Congrats friend! I admire anyone that followes their dreams. Helps he is actually a great song writer! 



Happy Friday Ya'll 

~Amber 






Monday, November 10, 2014

November get healthy!

Iv already been asked if I'm crazy for starting a diet at the start of the holiday season. The modavation comes more from the thought of falling any further down the rabbit hole (a fat pudgy hole as a mater of fact) Fall in Austin is amazingly busy and fun. Football season, fundraiser a, election season, formula 1, ACL & the kids stuff! I had more candy brought home than I gave away! How did that happen! 
So I need to loose about 15 pounds. It's a crapy combo of post twins weight, a hypothyroid issue & poor diet. I very often eat with the kids and of course there is a lot of carbs involved. And more than anything else I have a huge coke addiction ( the kind in a can not from a crack head!) iv tried to quite in the past and it was so terrible! Since the babies are all in school I thought this would be a sorta kinda good time to have withdrawals. My headaches usually kick in about 10 am. 👹
So for this week I'm eating cleaner, cutting caffeine and reducing all carbs. 
Next week I'll try to emplament a formal diet. 
Any suggestion? 

4hr body, Adkins, Palio diet?????

As far as work out goes, 7 friends and I are doing a fall Barre3 social. I'm typing this from bed with a heating pad on my legs I'm already so sore! Thinking I should throw some cardo in the mix also. 


Is it happy hour yet? What no wine either? 

Will someone please hold me accountable?