Two Days!!!

I hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving! We had a great day together...just the four of us. Initially I had planned on getting a lot of packing done since Kauai is right around the corner, but I found other things to do. :)

That's my bow making station. :) Without a big cooking day, I got to spread out! I didn't just make some cute bows, I also went to Walgreens for a laundry detergent deal...buy 1 at 6.99 and get 2 free. Of course I had a coupon and my favorite shopper...Dylan. We also hit the grocery store for our rotissere chicken. Only Randy and I were eating this special meal so no turkey this year.

After everyone except me got their nap, we ended up at our favorite place...the park.

"I'm ready to go!"

Feelin' content

He was very proud he made it to the top.

Playing catch

As I mentioned a while back, we bought an iPad. Love it! Dylan now calls it his iPad. This statement is partly true because we bought it when we did to entertain him on the plane. Each night we put it up so that Dylan can't get to it before we're up to "help" out. Well, apparently I didn't do a good job with this the other night because when Randy came out to the front room in the morning he witnessed Dylan watching the Disney channel and listening to Dr. Dre. :) I don't think Dre's lyrics are appropriate for a 2 year old. ;) So if Dylan starts calling his friends "bitches", we're in trouble. :) We are now looking to see if we can create a music file just for Dylan so that he can turn on his tunes. He loves music and breaks out some great moves while he dances.

With our Kauai trip fast approaching, I am soooo focused on this plane ride. I feel like packing for the week is the easy part. I'm so committed to an easy flight that I even waited in a ridiculous Best Buy line (30 min.) for this special Crayola pen that lets you color pictures on the iPad. I got the last one!

Now 30 minutes may not sound too long for black Friday, but when it is our 5th store (2nd Best Buy), 12pm and I have both kiddos no daddy...it is LONG! We were worn out! I did get the last one though! I hope he loves it! Was I crazy to do all this shopping? To be honest, Dylan is at his best when we are running errands. He LOVES being out of the house and busy. Ava slept for a lot of it so we were great until THAT Best Buy. Survival at its best! :) I know you're wondering where all this planning is going. Wanna see?

Now these are just the surprises! I will also have the many snacks for the pickiest eater I know. Dylan also has all of the "must-haves". He will have a backpack, Randy will have a backpack and I will have a diaper bag as well as an additional bag. We are traveling heavy, but happy. :)

As I said earlier, the flight is my focus, but that doesn't mean I can forget about 10 days in paradise. So...to make sure I get all those little things, I have a bag that I keep on the counter where I just put things in it as I remember. Look at the bow making station pic and it's the Hawaiian bag in the corner. :) This bag includes things like vitamins and chargers of all kinds. :)

The goal for today is getting the kiddos packed! This shouldn't take too long since I made a list...of course; however, right now everyone is napping so I'm at a halt. :) Wish me luck on this packing thang!

Keep the Kiddos Busy

Tomorrow is the real start of the holiday season! When I think of Thanksgiving, I think of lots of family around a large table gorging out on food. I especially enjoy all of the sweets! I grew up in a very loud family...there is always more than one person talking along with lots of laughter.

Randy and I have had a couple of these just the two of us.

Dinner with friends in 2004

We had just returned to VA from our honeymoon.

This year our family of four will be doing our first little Thanksgiving together. :) Guaranteed there will be lots of noise...with little ones, quiet is dangerous. :) Our feast will be a bit more modest because we really don't want leftovers in the fridge while we bask in the Hawaiian sun. Oh yes...and we only have to wait 3 more days until we jump on that plane! Woohoo!!

The days have been flying by as I'm getting this crew ready for our trip to Kauai. Frankly, right now I'm focused on the 7 hour flight. I am over planning to make sure that we are set up for the best flight possible. Things will happen, but at least we will be ready. So...part of this planning includes being efficient in all of my errands while keeping the kiddos happy and busy.

The park has been one of our favorite places this past week. We started off with a fun Friday afternoon with friends.

I was trying to get them to smile. :)

It is amazing how quickly she can get those woodchips in her mouth!

Dylan loved this park so much that he said the whole way home, "I want to bring Daddy here tomorrow." So, that's what we did. It was such a nice morning that we decided that we need to do this more often on the weekend.



Playing baseball turned into throwing pop flies and Dylan running after the ball.

While Dylan and Randy ran all over the place, Ava found herself in the woodchips once again!

Parks are magic! They create happiness and fun while passing the time. Love it! Unfortunately, sometimes this fun turns into ultimate tiredness when we get home.

I couldn't help it...I had to take a picture. He didn't like that idea. It all started because he wanted me to unclip his carseat. He's going through this "Mommy phase" where I have to do EVERYTHING! Once he is done rolling around upset, he is such a wonderful loving little boy. :)

Dylan goes to school M, T, W so those were the days I wanted to get a lot done. One thing that was highest on my priority list was the gym.

I am a mom that needs to work out. Dylan and Ava getting a smiley patient mom when I workout. I feel like I'm just more fun. Unfortunately, my gym closed today and will be closed until Monday! Argh! So I needed to go Monday and Tuesday. This brings me to the keep-the-kids-busy plan this week. :) I'm committed to doing something active everyday until we leave on Sunday. One...this keeps me happy and I feel more ready for the bathing suit. Notice I didn't say physically ready? :) Ha ha. Two...this keeps the kiddos happy. Win win!

The plan today was a nice swift walk with the single or double stroller (depending on the time of day) to the park for some playtime then a great walk home. The morning was quite busy so Ava and I didn't get a chance to walk. We did get to have lunch with Dylan at school though. So cute. :)

The walk didn't happen until Randy got home. We had a plumber coming over due to a kitchen sink leak and of course by 5pm we were still waiting. Oh well...our walk was shorter, but still fun and theraputic. :) No pics because me and the kids were to busy working the slide. :)

I feel like tomorrow is the turning point to the planning because now we are that much closer to take-off. When I am not eating or crossing things off my to-do list, I will hopefully be running around somewhere being active and keeping the kiddos happy. When they're happy we are right? :)

Loving the Music!

The theme today is music! I decided that while I was charging full-force on the elliptical this morning. Let me explain. :)

Dylan decided that this morning was going to start very early...5:30am. Despite his training of waking up quietly, this morning wasn't one of the model mornings. Needless to say everyone was out of bed by 6am even though I tried to prolong it. Maxim greeted this morning with a present...argh!!!! We are currently working with Dylan on how to love on Ava gently so that he doesn't knock her over, irritate her or squeeze the life out of her. He did all of these this morning so boy was I glad that today was a school day. :)

The gym was calling my name all morning!

Because of the early rise, I didn't make it to the gym until after Ava's morning nap. It ended up being perfect because she was so happy at Child Watch today. Yippee! The lunges did kick my butt yesterday and I was feeling it this morning. I can't let that stop me though, I'm going to be in a bathing suit in 11 days!

Poipu, Kauai!

So, I hopped on the elliptical,

set it to the random hill workout, hiked up the resistance then hit play on my shuffle. Yes...I charged it this time. :) Ceelo started singing and I found myself smiling. I just felt great that I was there. I was ready to work out the angst and listen to my music friends. I rocked it on the elliptical with a little Ceelo, Lady Gaga, Pink and LMFAO to mention a few! I had so much...umph in me that after the first two songs I had already hit 1 mile. At 15min, I was at 2 miles. Really? Well I guess when my speed is between 8.5 to 9 the whole time...you cover lots of distance. :)

As you may imagine, I felt quite good when I was finished. I then did an upper body workout and found that the energy was still there. I wish I had my watch! I burned so many calories today! I just know it! Rounded off the workout with some fantastic stretching. It reminded me of my dancing days. :) With the endorphins sprinting through me, I decided that today was going to be about music because it just makes me smile. Singing feels good even if it doesn't sound good...in my case anyway. ;) I also decided that I'm in need of a playlist entitled "Kicks A**". This is for those special times where your turbo kicks in and you find energy you didn't know you had. :)

I had 1 1/2 hours left before picking up the boy so I headed to Hobby Lobby for some ribbon.

So many choices! Ok...so it's not Xmas, but I love it. :)

On the way there I decided I wanted to chat with someone that makes me happy. I ended up catching up with my brother Nick

and one of my longtime friends Marissa.

Finished off the 1-child morning with a quick shower

I only had 20 min. and this is what Ava did during that time. :)

then off to pick up Dylan. Sang in the car. Remember...it's music day. :)

Now it's naptime and I'm watching Ellen because her dancing makes me happy. It's the little things. :) So...we'll see if I can convince Dylan to go to Child Watch tomorrow. I may not be walking very well by then because I'm already stiff from this morning. :) Soreness brings results...again, thinking of my dancing days.

What's your favorite workout song?

The Mommy Trap

I was dropping Dylan off at school yesterday morning and had kind of an "ah-ha" moment when I saw my reflection in the window. Now granted, it was about 7:30am but let me just share the mom look I had going on. I was wearing baggy comfy pants, a hoody, flip flops and hair in a pony. I looked lovely. Can you hear the sarcasm? ;)   I was rocking UA Wilcat gear so I should get some points for that one.

It's one thing to just have those days, but it is quite another for that look to become the norm. I always said that kids wouldn't take away my ability to dress myself and look like a normal person. When I was working, I just looked so put together...most days :)

So today I decided that I was taking back control. I dropped Dylan off this morning wearing a ponytail, but also in a cute gym outfit. I figured if I got up and dressed for the gym, I would have more of a chance of actually making it there. :) I came home had breakfast, coffee and got Ava all set to go. Yes...all of this did take about an hour, but I was checking her into child watch at 8:45am. Woohoo! I've been almost dreaming of the gym for the past couple of weeks now.

The funny thing is that along with the relief of finally getting to workout, I was also reminded of how long it has actually been since I showed up. My favorite workout accessory, the polar watch, had a dead battery!

This is obviously an old pic. :(

I'm addicted to that thing and it was not showing up for the workout. I get on the treadmill ready to run and guess what else is dead....my shuffle!

Are you kidding? Besides water, those are my staples for working out and neither are ready. That just showed me it had been too long, but I'm so glad that I'm back on the horse. :)

Now the workout itself was tough! This isn't because I did anything really difficult, it was more that my body got lazy. So after 30 min. on the treadmill and a lower body strength training workout that consisted of lunges holding 5 pound weights (ok, these were not fun), I picked up Ava and off we went to begin our day. It felt so good! I'm going back tomorrow!

We then hit Fry's for an awesome couponing trip where I saved $96...67%. Ava passed out in the bjorn so we were killing two birds with one stone...naptime and groceries. :)

Before picking up Dylan, I needed to get myself showered and looking normal. It felt so good showing up in an actual outfit with makeup on. I haven't used the blow dryer in a while so that should be my next goal. :) I've decided that in order to not fall into the mommy trap, I need to get myself ready in the morning even if I'm spending most of the day at home. I completely understand all those mommies on What Not to Wear.:)

Ava just got up from her nap so it is time to go. The plan tomorrow is similar to today, but instead of groceries, I want to go to Hobby Lobby for some ribbon. It's time for Xmas bows!

It's Been 6 Years!!

Saturday, November 12, 2005 was the day I officially became Erin Krekeler. That day was so much fun; I wish I could do it all over again! I was given advice from friends that your wedding day goes by so fast so try to just take it in and enjoy it. Well said and I did exactly that. So before showing off all sorts of wedding pics, let's jump back a bit on how I met this hubby of mine. :)

In Aug. 2003 I moved into a house on Oliver St. in Pacific Beach with my friend Jennie.

We lived on the right and Randy lived with two friends on the left.

We had no idea that getting this awesome rental was going to change my life. :) Randy lived with 2 guys and all of them were Navy helicopter pilots. The five of us neighbors quickly became really good friends and we hung out everyday.

That is an elephant trunk on my head. The roommate, Ryan, had a chicken beak.

Jennie, Dave, Me and Randy...where's Ryan?

A couple months after moving in, Randy asked me out. Our first date was the Navy Ball...more specifically, just the helicopter pilots. They are a rowdy bunch!

That started our 8 years together. :) Now at this point, Randy already knew he was stationed in Norfolk, VA next so as we continued to date I knew that I was going to have to make a tough choice. Was I really going to move across the country? Yep!

Here's a few pics in the dating years...

Randy proposed February 1, 2005 :) then left March 25th for a deployment. :( While he was gone, I planned our super fun wedding with some help from my mom and my longtime friend, Marissa.

Before our actual wedding day, there is a tradition on my dad's side of the family...a golf tournament, the Nuptial Open 9! The first one was when my parents were married over 30 years ago. So, of course we had to continue the tradition. Our foursome was Randy and I with our dads.

We didn't win, but I did win longest drive for the ladies!

This was the winning team!
Aunt Susan, Uncle Dennis, Murph, and Uncle Bill

November 12th came quick and I was so excited! No tears, no nerves; just a big grin.

 We got married outside overlooking the Torrey Pines Golf Course. Then partied it up!

After partaking in many tequila shots, Randy got on the dance floor!

The guys sang You"ve Lost That Loving Feeling. I think it was the Navy pilot influence.

What a fun day! 

Since then, Randy and I have lived in three states, purchased two houses and have had two kiddos. We have had a lot of fun so far with many more years to come. 

Love you!

A Turning Point

My mindset was ready for a smooth day. It was more like one of those exercise ropes that when give it a tug, it sends a large ripple down the rope.

My mantra today was ...BREATHE. I'd like to say that I did a good job with my "reminders" from yesterday, but I reacted...Dylan is good at getting me to react. It's that redhead Irish in me darn-it. A little Facetime with Grammy on the iPad helped us to reset and we started the afternoon fresh.

Dylan has been napping for almost 2 hours now. Yay! Good nap! What was even better than this nap is that he went down without a fight today. Woohoo! We did talk a lot today about how nap was going to look. He earned his soccer ball back for a great afternoon and will be earning a truck back after this nap. Along with the toys, Dylan LOVES frozen yogurt. I actually think he loves the gummy worms on top more than the yogurt. :)

Since frozen yogurt is one of my favs too, I dangled this little carrot in front of him. So...not only is he getting his truck back, but we get to go to frozen yogurt! I'm hoping this is our turning point and tomorrow will be a day full of earning back toys. :)

Moving on from kiddos, I have really had fun getting the mail the last two days!

I sign up for free items all the time and I also email companies whose products I regularly use to hopefully get samples or coupons. This energy earned me these items in the mail! It's just fun to get free stuff!

The other exciting item brewing in our home is our future trip to Kauai!!! My parents purchased a timeshare at the Mariott resort, Waiohai,  on Poipu Beach about 7-8 years ago.

I have been able to go almost every year. Now the years we were living on Oahu were the easiest, but we would only come over for a long weekend instead of the full week. Well, this year the fam is flying out for a 10 day vacation!!! We are so excited! I made the rental car reservation yesterday...we're doing the minivan. :) I've also begun stocking up on airplane goodies for Dylan. I need a bundle for the ride over and the ride back. We do have a direct flight over which is great, but it is still about 7 hours. Yikes! I'm loving the $1 area at Target! :) Overall, Dylan is a really good flyer. Ava has only flown once so we'll see how this one goes. All of the prep is worth 10 days on the beach! We can't wait!

The boy just woke up and he's happy! This is going to be a great afternoon!