Friday Five - it's been a while...

1/20/2017

This month of January seems to be kicking my butt and flying by all at the same time. Its been a while since I've been on here (an unintentional hiatus) so I thought I'd jump back in with a Friday Five today. Hope everyone is having a great winter and has plans for a fun and relaxing weekend. Here are today's FIVE:

photo courtesy of Disney's Vero Beach Resort

Warm weather vacation planning

When you live in a colder climate planning a little vacation to somewhere warm gives you something to look forward to and get you through those extra bitterly cold winter days. We are frequent Florida visitors, with family down there and the ease of getting there with little ones it makes sense for us. We've found some great spots in the state (you can read about some of our trips here and here) - Hawks Cay & South Seas Island Resort have been among our favorites. This year we are piecing together an adventure, spending a few days visiting family and staying at the Plantation visiting family nearby and then spending some time at Disney's Vero Beach Resort (which we've never tried but are looking forward to). Oh, and did I mention we are taking the Auto Train down? Could be the best thing we've ever done or it may end up being a crazy experience that well never do again, either way it will be an adventure. Piecing a trip together together is fun but there are a lot of details that have to fall into place. I've been working with Shauna at Key to the World Travel and had a great experience; she's local to me and a travel whiz. I'm not surprised that travel agents are making a comeback, it just sense (especially for busy families). It makes the process so much easier and really doesn't cost any additional money.

Not the best picture - snapped this of the pantry shelves while my little critters were sleeping

Pantry organization

Yes I realize this sounds a bit lame.. but organized and efficient are big words for me in 2017. This month I've been on a tear to streamline and kick clutter to the curb. Room by room my goal is to declutter and get my house far more orderly and efficient. Up this week was the kitchen and while I'm not sure it will ever be perfect with so many little hands diving in for snacks, I've cleaned every shelf, purged what we don't need and arranged things in ways that make sense. I'm happy with the progress and loving these POP clear containers from OXO, they're making it much easier to keep the shelves looking clean and snacks easy to find.

Rodan + Fields eye cream & cloths

I feel like this last pregnancy has aged my face, maybe its less sleep or one more kiddo to worry about, but my face (especially my eyes) look tired. I usually try to stick with natural products when it comes to skin care, but lately I've been looking for something to give me more results. Rodan + Fields REDEFINE Multi-function eye cream and eye cloths are among my new favorite products. I started using them a few months ago and I'm a convert. I also love that I don't have to go searching the stores and I can get it from a friend and support a mom in business. If you're looking for a rep, check out my friend Angie's page here. I'm no beauty blogger, but stay tuned, a round up of all my current favorites is coming soon. If you have any must have products, I'd love to hear about them - leave me a note in the comments.

HOCKEY

Yup, caps for a reason, #hockeymomforlife. My 4.5 and 6.5 year old are currently obsessed with all things hockey. We are at the rink multiple times a week, I'm sure it sounds darn right crazy to some, but it's so fun to see their love for the game and the progress their making. My oldest had his first big tournament last weekend and had the time of his life. Little baby W is a hockey player in the making (not that he has much of a choice) but he started taking his first steps on his own to play with his new hockey stick.

excuse the mess and the hose (thats used for the hockey rink) but this photo was too cute not to share - he was SO excited about his new stick

Boston Children's Hospital

Living in Maine, I'm so grateful that we have amazing medical facilities, doctors and resources available just two hours away. I should say the kids are just fine I don't want to sound alarms. We were just down is Mass earlier this week for appointments for Walter. We learned when he was just about 5 months old that he is completely deaf in his right ear but we are so lucky that he has complete hearing in his left ear. We've been seeing some really fantastic specialists at Boston Children's Hospital and are in the process now of looking into a Cochlear implant for his pesky right ear. The research and advancements happening in Boston is truely incredible and we are so lucky to benefiting from it. More on this as we move through the process, but if any of you have experience with hearing loss and/or cochlear implants, I'd love to hear about it.

Thanks as always for stopping by and following along. I'd love to hear your favorites this week! Have a great weekend!