A Very Merry Zabek Christmas

From our family to yours, we are wishing you a very Merry Christmas! 

Keeping it real!

This week has flown by. I have no idea where it went and blogging fell to the wayside once again. Honestly, I have been making a conscious effort to stay "unplugged" throughout the day and in the evenings have been focusing on spending uninterrupted time with my guy. Moving 1,000 miles away is really hard on a family and marriage. New job, new house, and trying to make new friends all while learning the new normal for your family. It's hard. So we have been really focusing on what is most important which is the four of us. Josh travels a good bit and doesn't leave a lot of time for quality time together. Of course, we are very calculated in all of our travels trying to get the most bang for our buck so to speak. The girls and I travel while he travels so that there isn't extra un-needed time away but the return is always a game of catch-up and trying to get back into a groove leaving little time for fun. Thus why we have started to really focus on our family. I recently had to remind myself of the pecking order of relationships. I had lost sight of it in the hustle and bustle of moving and just trying to keep up: God, husband, children and so on. I feel like being "unplugged" has really given me more of an opportunity to take time for daily devotion & prayer, my husband and my children. To be honest, I can tell a difference it each of those relationships. I'm feeling calmer, more grounded and balanced throughout the day which is like a domino effect touching each of the relationships most important to me. If you are moving or have recently moved, remember not to lose sight of the important things. The boxes can wait!

I challenge you all to take a week or if your job doesn't allow it, allot a few hours a day to go unplugged and focus on what's important. 

Happy Friday y'all! This week my sweet friend Stacy sent me our family pictures. Man, did they put a smile on my face. I can't wait to share the ones for our Christmas card!

Wednesday Weekend Wrap-up

Well it's Wednesday and I am finding myself just getting around to wrapping up our weekend yet again at our week's midpoint. With two sick kids in tow, I have been working diligently to get into a new groove with this whole time change thing. The girls are waking at 6:30 these days where they were waking at 8:30 pretty regularly. That really puts a damper on me getting things done before they wake. 

Here is our Halloween weekend wrap-up!

Friday night we enjoyed some fab family time eating pizza (Mama and Daddy only snacked before a date night), bouncing in the bouncy house and watching a movie. It is kind of our Friday night ritual. 

This picture cracks me up!

After the Zabies were in bed asleep, Josh and I went out for a date night. We accidentally stumbled into a Peruvian Cuisine Restaurant thinking it was a Sushi hot spot. We were wrong but, oh man, the food was amazing. They had one of my all-time-favorite dishes, Lomo Saltado, and it was to die for!

Then we went for some awesome adult bowling at a local, old fashioned joint. It had bowling lanes in the back and bar in the front. We bowled three games and called it a night. 

On Halloween we kept it pretty low key. We watched Georgia football, had snacks and then ate homemade chili for supper with Grandma and Grandpa. The rain subsided and we decided to get our very cranking girls dressed to trick or treat at a couple of houses in hopes that the fresh air would also helped with Quinn's croupy cough (per doctor recommendations). Their bad moods quickly lifted and we all enjoyed their cuteness!

Here are our last three years of trick or treating. 

Happy Hump Day, y'all! This Mama is ready for Friday!

Restaurant Kit

This week I reached out to a friend in a two year old panic. Josh, the girls and I went to a quick, informal supper with Josh's mom who we call Grandma. Kensington was a total nightmare. Both of the girls are usually well behaved when we go out to dinner but this was the second time in a week that we had attitudes, pushing of plates and refusal to eat. I was beyond mortified. I've taught my children better. Sure they are two (and sick) but they know better.

The friend I reached out to is our Multiple Moms professional sleep trainer and she always has great suggestions when I am at the end of my rope- which was likely due to being in the ER until 4 am. 

I digress. 

Back to my friend.

 Her name is Jen and she has similar expectations of her children so I knew she was the one to reach out to. She went over some really valuable things such as giving the girls choice at dinnertime which I don't do as much when we go out to eat. Then she said, "You bring things for them to do right?"

  Umm... Yeah. No. 

Mommy fail. 

I usually rely on the restaurant to have a coloring sheet and crayons which is usually wadded up somewhere on the ground before we ever place our drink orders, if they even have them.

This particular night we ate at a delicious urban bake and chop house called Crushed Red.

I was unprepared and I expected my kids to sit like little ladies and quietly eat their food.

What was I thinking? Was I delirious? Clearly. 

Since we occasionally find ourselves out to supper at a moments notice because our evening plans ran over schedule and we have chanting two year old requesting to, "EAT! EAT! EAT," with an occasional, "peas! (please!)"  in there, I decided to create a restaurant kit.  Guys, you know I have all the heart eyes for being organized and prepared. 

So here it is, my plan to not have another two year old meltdown while out to supper.  

Our Restaurant Kit!!

I started with a cosmetic bag from my favorite place, Target. 

I chose this one because it has the perfect number and shape of pouches that I need. 

Then I filled it. 

Coloring books, Lisa Frank stickers, Color Wonder coloring pad with markers, cut blank paper and crayon pouches.

I also enclose some of the necessities. 

Baby wipes, bibs, spoons & forks, hand sanitizer, and bendy straws. 

I like to have bendy straws on hand for the girls. A straight straw means water in their lap 100% of the time. Adult forks are too big for their little fingers to grip and usually results in them using their fingers. The rest is self explanatory. 

Necessities packed in! 

Fun packed in!

Super thin design that doesn't take up too much room in a booth, under the table or in the car. 

There you have it! I'm thinking I might throw a pack of crackers in there for the long wait times and maybe a couple thin books like the ones you get from Chick-fil-a to give them another option for entertainment. I'm trying my best to refrain from just handing them my phone. I can honestly say that the Zabies do not know how to operate my cell phone other than to press the home button to cancel out a FaceTime chat. Although, I can totally see how it would be way easier to just let them watch a video to have a peaceful dinner.

What do you do to keep your kids occupied when you go out to eat? I'd love to hear your suggestion!

Solo trip to Georgia

At the beginning of the month I took the Zabies & Harley, our fur baby, on a solo road trip to Georgia. An eight hour road trip turned into 10+ hours with torrential down pouring rain from a hurricane. The trip was relatively easy. The girls are amazing travelers and didn't complain unless they were hungry or needed to stretch their legs (and get their diaper changed). 

The trip started off rocky with a dead battery in my car resulting in me having to push my Yukon XL out of our garage since my guy works 45 minutes from home. Thankfully the girls just rolled with the punches of the day and made new friends at every stop!

Notice all of the stuff behind Kensington? I chose to load our stuff on the bench seat so Harley could have all of the back to stretch out and get comfy!

We celebrated my best friend's little boy's birthday while we were in town. I was so thankful that we were able to be there to celebrate him!

We had play dates with the girls' cousins, Emerson and Dylan.

We played at the park.

We got to love on the brand new baby goats in the front pasture at my parent's house. 

And climb the same fence that Mommy climbed as a little girl. 

The Zabies also helped their Pawpaw master the plumbing in the kitchen remodel.

Quinn has an obsession with Pawpaw's Harley. Dear Lord, help us!!

We had lots of family in and out all week but had a big cookout that was a huge hit with the girls.

One of my other Georgia bestie that I call LJ also came to our family cookout. 

It made my heart so happy to see these four together and to just enjoy the day with my sweet friend. 

These two! It's like a flash into our future. 

Josh joined us on Saturday and we celebrated my cousin's marriage... 

Had two year old melt downs...

Found humor in said meltdowns...

and thankfully didn't drop her on her head. 

It was a rough evening for these two. Thankfully they were super cute in the process. 

WWW|| Wednesday Weekend Wrap-up

This weekend was full of fun!

We enjoyed several local fall activities including a old town pumpkin glow with old friends that recently relocated to St. Louis also. Too bad it was too dark for any photo ops! We also enjoyed a family day at our local pumpkin patch  and trick or treating at Grandma's office! We had a wonderful weekend followed by a not so wonderful Sunday night. Kensington had some difficulty breathing from Croup which landed us in the ER and didn't get home until 4:30 AM. 

Here is a photo dump of sorts of our pumpkin picking and trick or treating weekend. 

Happy Hump Day!