Our (Long) Holiday Weekend

{Bracelet c/o Bela Bracelets, use the code: kozyandco for 20% off}

I had every intention of posting about our Fourth of July yesterday, but coming off of such an amazing long weekend required a full day of recovery, and even today, I'm still struggling to find the motivation.

This week holds other big milestones though... Max's 4th birthday is tomorrow, so there's no time for moping around.  On a total side note, HOW is my "baby" going to be four??? (more about all of this to come, of course).

{bow, Free Babes}

Our fourth weekend was amazing in every way possible.  We kicked it off Friday with some good old fashioned strawberry picking, which went so much better this year than last year, when Max refused to pick berries because he was disappointed to find that we didn't take him to an actual farm.  This year, both he and Ella were great helpers and totally into it.

We picked a ton of berries, and then had to beeline it out of there when the rain started to fall.  We drove home in crazy thunder storm, that cleared up just in time to grill for dinner.

On Saturday, we lounged in our yard, and the neighbors... in our kiddie pool, and their much cooler in-ground pool.  They have 2 boys who are about the same age as Max and Ella, so it's always a good time when we hang with them.

After all of the kids got in a good nap we enjoyed a collaborative dinner together... we provided the smoked brisket and pasta salad, and they made the burgers and strawberry shortcake.

Sunday was full of more sunshine, swimming, food and fun.

On Monday, we headed into town for a parade and a barbecue fest... which turned out to be too difficult to navigate with a double stroller, so we hit up one spot, sampled the food and enjoyed a couple of cold beers, and then we headed home just in time for naps.

I'm embarrassed to admit it, but we were so exhausted by Monday evening that we didn't even make it out for fireworks.  I know that sounds so lame, but the kids crashed hard, and Mike and I weren't far behind.  It was one of those great summer weekends, where we swam, sunned, and ate to the point of exhaustion.

Now it's time to dive head first into planning for Max's birthday... I always feel so guilty that because we are currently living out of state, my kids are going a couple of years without big birthday parties, but we have some really fun stuff planned, and I can't wait to share more.

Hope you are all having a good week... If you are on Instagram, I have teamed up with a bunch of my friends to give away a $50 gift card to Target and $50 to Starbucks, so be sure to enter!

xoxo,

Weekend Recap

I'm pretty sure that it was just last week that I was rambling on about how I haven't been doing weekend recap posts, because our weekends usually just aren't that exciting... But this past weekend we actually did some things that were worth posting about! So, low and behold, another weekend recap my friends!

Our Weekend | Camera Roll Unload

Every once and awhile, you have one of those weekends where the stars align and everything is pure perfection... That was this past weekend for us.

The weather was great and we got to get out and enjoy it as much as possible.

We ate great food, spent quality time together, enjoyed an amazing Easter mass, and indulged in some fun holiday traditions.

Holidays are just so much fun at M&E's ages... It's so magical to see their excitement over every little detail.

It's been awhile since I unloaded a bunch of photos on you guys, and since I took a few hundred this weekend, I thought I'd share a few of my favorites!

I hope you all had an amazing Easter weekend!

Weekending

It's been awhile since I have written a post about our weekend, but this one was such a good one, I felt that it was worthy of documenting.

It finally warmed up a bit around here, allowing us to get out for some adventure.

On Saturday, I spent much of the day cleaning house while Mike entertained M&E.  It always feels good when the house is picked up, and thoroughly cleaned (even if it doesn't last long), but at 33 weeks pregnant, my back surely paid the price for all of the work.

While I cleaned, Mike took Max on a nature hike, and then Ella got to go out for a run with him.  Sometimes it's so nice to spend one on one time with them.

{Bow | Necklace}

On Sunday, we packed up the minivan and headed out for a little day trip to Lake Placid. 

We had never been before, and it was absolutely beautiful there.  The mountains, the lakes, the snow, all of it.

We checked out the Olympic facilities, and Max was totally into it when we stumbled upon a kid's hockey tournament.  He wanted to stay and watch, and repeatedly told Mike and I how much he wanted to play.

Ironically, we just took him ice skating for the first time last weekend, and we are planning on signing him up for lessons because he loves it so much.  Perhaps we will have a little hockey player on our hands.

I'm really trying to soak up my time with M&E over these next several weeks... as crazy and exhausting as they can be, I know that once the new baby arrives, so much of my time will be dedicated to nursing and caring for their little brother, and I want to make sure they both get the attention they need and are aware of just how much they are loved.

They've both been so silly lately and have been saying some really funny things.  I forsee another post coming soon about all of the crazy things they do and say lately that make me laugh, even through the most stressful of days!

I hope you all had a great weekend, and that your week is off to a fabulous start!

Our Weekend

{mug from Homegoods}

I don't want to bore you with too many of the dull and uneventful details of our weekend.  It went pretty much the same as most...

Lots of lounging, snacking, coffee, and football.  We noshed on TONS of Thanksgiving leftovers, snuggled by the tree in our Christmas pj's, and sipped on peppermint mocha flavored coffee.  It was fabulous.

{Ornaments, all from Target}

We did, however, manage to get in some holiday decorating.  Our main tree; a 12 footer that we cut down, and then had to give a major trim in order to fit in our living room, is totally traditional. White lights and family ornaments are scattered all about its massive branches.  

Max was really into helping this year, and was fascinated as he watched me pull out all of our decor... It made me super happy to see his excitement over Christmas, and gave me great anxiety as I watched him hang ornaments, and had to patiently wait until he wasn't looking to rearrange them.

We decided to have a much smaller tree in our playroom this year, and went a little rogue with that one.  Colored lights, strung popcorn, and whimsical colorful ornaments cover it from top to bottom.

{Snowflake stocking holders, glitter deer, and bottle brush trees from Target | Gold candle holder from Michael's | Anthropologie-Inspired pom pom garland can be found under the DIY section of this blog}

{coat, boots, cowl}

A quick trip to the local farmer's market, and then to Trader Joe's capped off the long holiday weekend, and now we're (very) slowly easing our way into the week ahead.

{sheets}

Hoping yours is a good one!

Our Weekend

Happy Monday, friends!  I live for fall weekends, and although I know it isn't "officially" fall yet, this weekend, it sure felt like it was.

After a week with temperatures in the high 80's, it finally cooled off on Sunday, giving the air that autumn crispness that I wait all summer for.

So, with my PSL in hand, we headed out to enjoy Farm Fest... complete with hayride, piglet sightings, and fresh apple cider!

M&E had an absolute blast, and to be honest, so did Mike and I.

After all of that fun, it was back home for an afternoon full of football and lounging on the couch.

I cooked our favorite brisket, and we had sandwiches for dinner, which was followed by a nice early bedtime!

We kicked off Monday with our usual trip to Target (shocker, I know), where we picked up the ingredients to make our favorite ranch pretzels, and perused their amazing fall decor line!

I thought I would share our recipe for the ranch pretzels... I know there are about a million of these on Pinterest, and they all vary slightly, but this is how I make them.  We like them extra ranch-y, and these usually don't last more than a day around here!

Ranch Pretzels

1, 1 pound bag of pretzels (mini, sticks, nuggets, whichever you choose)

1 packet of ranch salad dressing mix

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 tsp dry dill weed

1 tsp garlic powder

Preheat oven to 250 degrees. In a bowl, whisk together all ingredients, but pretzels.

Pour pretzels into a gallon-sized ziplock bag, and pour seasoning and oil mixture into bag, moving around so that all pretzels get coated in seasoning (you can certainly do this in a large bowl, but I'm a big fan of any method that results in less dishes).

Spread pretzels into an even layer onto large baking sheet.

Bake for 40 minutes, stirring around every 15 minutes or so.

Allow to cool, and try not to eat them all in one sitting!

Have a great week!

Weekend Recap

This past weekend flew by in a total blur, but it sure was a good one.  

It seems crazy that there are so few summer weekends left at this point.  Mike and I were discussing yesterday, that we feel guilty about spending a summer Saturday or Sunday lazing around, because we know that all too soon, it will be cold here, and we will be longing for the warm summer days that we should have spent at the lake.

Still though, it feels so good sometimes, to spend a day at home, lounging, playing, cooking, and watching movies... especially after an exhausting Saturday spent partying all day at the neighbor's house.

So that's exactly what we did...

I did however manage to hit up Bath & Body Works to take advantage of their 2 for $24 candle sale.  Their fall scents are my absolute favorite (leaves in particular), so when they're on sale, I make it a point to stock up.  I believe the sale runs through today, so if you want some, move quick!

On Sunday, we totally indulged, and I made some homemade pistachio ice cream from the Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams at Home cookbook.  Her recipes are some of my fave!

We also, tried Bread Cheese for the first time.  If you have no idea what this is (like me), this article explains it perfectly.  We grilled ours, and drizzled honey over the top along with chopped walnuts (which I failed to photograph).  Honestly, there are so few cheeses I dislike, but this stuff was incredible.

Otherwise, we played, pumped gas in our underwear, and mowed the lawn in a dress.

Another perfect weekend in the books.  Hope yours was perfect too.