Weekend Recap — New Year’s Edition!

Happy Sunday, friends! I hope that you all had a great New Year’s celebration. Read on to find out what we’ve been up to the past few days…

I started my Monday morning with a 30-minute workout in my living room, courtesy of one of my favorites: Denise Austin! And speaking of workouts, be sure to check out my guest post over on Jen’s blog: 10 Workouts for Beginners! There’s something there for everyone…just in time for Resolution Season!

For breakfast I had some peanut butter on an English muffin, along with a slice of this Eat Clean Broccoli Breakfast Sausage Quiche (although I substituted some honey baked ham for the sausage since that’s what I had leftover from Christmas).

I made it the night before so that I would have it for quick breakfasts or lunches during the week. Trying to take my own advice from the New Year, New You 2-Week Fitness Challenge!

Then we were off and running for the day! Emily, our babysitter, came over to stay with Gibbs and Casey while Spencer and I went to my annual check-up at the doctor’s office in Charlottesville.

We made a couple of stops at various stores on the way home, including Jo-Ann Fabric for some floral supplies, a wreath, and other fresh decor to spruce up our house.

{Yes, he insisted on bringing his musical lightsaber into the store with us.}

Once the Christmas decorations come down, I always crave some fresh, clean accents in the house. White flowers, whitewashed boards, and rustic baskets with fresh fruit are in just about every room of our farmhouse right now!

Tuesday was another cool, rainy day. We met Aunt Barbara in Charlottesville at Costco do some quick shopping,

{don’t they look thrilled?!}

and then headed to lunch at Chik-Fil-A so that the boys could run off some of their wiggles on the indoor playground.

Back home, Spencer took a nice long nap while the older two played with new Christmas toys, ran through puddles outside, and complained about being bored.

Wednesday — another rainy day, a few bored kids, and a different indoor playground…

Dinner that night at Buffalo Wild Wings following Tae Kwon Do class!

Our Rockin’ New Year’s Eve was actually pretty tame. That’s what happens when you have three little ones, I guess?! Our friends decided to host a New Year’s Day potluck (kids included) instead, so we stayed in on Thursday evening.

Casey’s friend Aidan came over to play (and eat pizza),

and I made a late-afternoon SOLO trip to Target (like a vacation without kids!),

and to the grocery store for essentials like booze, basil, limes, and lucky Black Eyed Peas.

Keith smoked some organic chickens from Costco, so we had one for dinner and I used the meat from the other bird in a Greek Pasta Salad that I made for our party the next day.

The rest of our evening was spent on the couch with Ryan Seacrest in Times Square, and it looked a lot like this…

Unfortunately, Spencer had us all up by about 5:30 a.m. on Friday morning. The best way to start the New Year? Almond Joy Overnight Oats…

and a walk along the river!

This little guy felt strongly about his outfit that morning and picked out each item of apparel on his own (including the yellow rugby shirt hiding under that coat). ?

That evening we went to a fun New Year’s Day potluck party/bonfire at our friends’ house.

I brought a Greek Pasta Salad, which was a big hit and the kids (surprisingly) devoured it! I need to make it again soon! The recipe for this salad, as well as the overnight oats shown above, will be included in an e-book that I’m writing for sale later this year (eeeek!). More details in the coming months!

Saturday was mostly spent around the house. I hopped on the elliptical at the gym for 30 minutes before the kids woke up (perfect time to read some favorite magazines!)…

and cleaned out my freezer. This task was on my list for the 31 Days of Organization Challenge, but I tackled it earlier than planned because Keith put a beer in the freezer the night before to “chill”…and then forgot about it. I woke up to a beer that had exploded all over the freezer. Ewwww!!! And NOT easy to clean up AT ALL. Needless to say, my freezer is now spotless…

While Spence napped and the older two rested that afternoon, I finally had a chance to sit down with my Lara Casey Power Sheets and do some serious Goal Setting for the year. I have many, many ideas that I’d like this business to accomplish, so it’s time to actually formulate a game plan. 2016 is going to be a good one!

We went for a walk in the afternoon (so happy to see sun after a very wet week),

and then we enjoyed our lucky New Year’s dinner. Since we were at the party on New Year’s Day, we ate the lucky foods a bit late! Grilled pork tenderloin, greens and black-eyed peas (I used Lindsay’s recipe here), and some homemade macaroni and cheese (SUPER easy recipe coming soon!).

Since I was on a roll with my clean freezer, I figured that I should tackle my refrigerator this morning (and check another item off of my 31 Days of Organization list). I pulled everything out so that I could discard old condiments and wipe all of the shelves and drawers clean. It took longer than I would have expected, but it was definitely worth the effort. Maybe I should do it more often?! ?

Then we took the boys to Culpeper to Mountain Run Lake Park. The sun was shining and we all needed some fresh air.

While the kids played on the equipment, Keith and I did my 15-Minute Jump Rope Workout.

We also visited the ducks and walked around the lake for a few minutes before heading back home.

Now we’re back home and I’m getting ready to feed the hungry crew some lunch. Off I go! Have a great week, everyone! We’re looking forward to getting back into the routine a little bit!