How?

How is it the last official week of Summer Break (NOT the last week of Summer. You best believe we will spend our weekends in the water and eating ice cream for a few more months!)  and I haven't published one single blog post all summer? Oh... wait... we moved. And I have an extremely active almost 3 year old. (I be three in August... her current favorite thing to tell someone.) 

Memorial Day weekend was just like last weekend... right?

Here are a few summer facts:

I didn't take my "big" camera anywhere this summer. Usually it is attached to my arm for the many memories that need documenting. This summer the iphone X was my jam. And believe it or not, memories were still made. And documented.

When I grow up I want to sell ice cream on the beach. I'll charge $3 for each one and put the $4 man out of business. It's a good thing Calla Cain gets ice cream money from family for her birthday. She did a good job saving it for the summer. ;)

Our new town is simply Perrydise. From food trucks to water days, perfect afternoon shopping, and the sweetest little ice cream shop walking distance from our front door.... life is really really great.

Oh... and did I mention these views while I run?

My front porch has become my favorite place to sit in the evenings.And mornings. And afternoons. It's just my favorite. 

As Always,
C^2

Life Is Like....

Life is like... really good right now.

We made it... May is here. Bring on the to do list that is 18 miles long.

 Rather than the millions of things that should be done... here is what the CainFam has been doing in our free time:



Lots and lots of time playing outside with our favorite CainWeims.

Speaking of the CainWeims... we LIVE for evening runs. They kinda get us all kinds of crunk.

Quick trips to the city...

Visits to our favorite Whale Sharks.

Oh.... and trips to the park where you leave your teacher rules at home and let your kid slide head first.

Love love, 

C^2

A Break For Spring

It took me a week to finish this post because I wanted to use it as a photo dumping place. Here you will find all the details on the super exciting vacation we took as a family during Spring Break 2018.
Just kidding... we never left the Atlanta area. Ha!

Spring Break 2018 was a tad different than those of the past. This year the Cain Fam decided to stay home and do some spring cleaning. Coach and I have worked very hard to throw out, de-clutter, organize, and get ready for some #LifeChanges that will soon come in the summer. (More to come on that in the future.)

Here is how we celebrated the Spring this year:

Saturday-Sunday:
Easter weekend with family.

Callahan has spent 2018 becoming more and more obsessed with eggs. We hide eggs, hunt eggs, open eggs, close eggs, cook eggs, eat eggs.... the list goes on. Calla ended her Easter season with a grand total of 5 egg hunts. Hopefully that satisfies her until 2019. We told her the Easter Bunny had to take the eggs back and bring them next year. All eggs have been successfully packed away. (All but the five that are still in the tub.)


Monday-Tuesday: Major cleaning out. Nothing was safe. Coach was able to part with two shirts from his closet. (eye roll emoji) Me on the other hand.... it all goes! (I do have a crazy problem with keeping Calla's stuff. Why?)

Wednesday: A trip to the zoo!

Would it be a break without a trip to check on our favorite animals? We actually met up with some new friends and had a blast meeting them and touring our favorite city attraction. I am to the point that I just let Calla guide us all around. She knows where the good animals are!

Thursday:
Coach had to take Wynn to the vet. We noticed a huge lump on his throat. I was slightly freaking out. Dub is the craziest dog ever. He gets into so much mess I can't even tell you.... yet he is pretty tough. We have been super lucky in all of his adventures. Wynn on the other hand.... sweetest stinkin dog ever. He is so calm. So kind. Never making a mess. Just so sweet. He apparently got a bug bite and blew up like a balloon and wasn't his super happy self. Luckily we have a super awesome vet that fixed him up in less than 24 hours. I am happy to report all is well!

I should also use this as a quick rant: Shelters get Weimaraners all the time. People claim they are too much to handle. Too hyper. Too much. These pups? They just need love. I mean.... hyper? These dogs?

Friday:
Friday I was up early to get all the cleaning done. After naps (I say napS because Coach doesn't let a break go by without a nap.)

When everyone was up from their naps we loaded up to head to the local farm for some strawberry picking. Calla LOVED her first picking experience. She would pick and eat them all! We had to take the bucket to help her fill it. She probably ate 12 berries off of the vine.

Then we sat on the grass and enjoyed probably the best ice cream ever.

On the way home we let Calla hold the bucket of berries where she ate about 21 more berries straight from the basket. Pre washing. Mom of the year here.


Once we were home we did our absolute favorite activity ever: blow up the jumpy house, sit outside in the driveway and fuss over the Pandora station. This is where Calla sat in my chair and enjoyed 56 more strawberries... that still weren't washed. I'm winning.

This smile is the best!

Our stay-cation was just what we needed during this crazy busy time in 2018! It just has Calla Girl SUPERRRRR ready for a beach trip this summer!

How I Do Dinner

I know I have discussed this before, but I wanted to add some details today and give a few tips...

My family is pretty busy. We also love to go outside and play, go for walks, play fetch for an hour or longer when we get home in the afternoons... I'd rather play than worry about cooking.

 I believe I have found my weird hobby in life. I think I am slightly obsessed with cooking dinners. Not just any dinners. I am obsessed with cooking dinners that are:
a. healthy
b. cheap
c. 20 minutes or less.
d. everyone eats.
e. enough for leftovers for Coach and I to have lunch the next day.

bonus: I really LOVE to have a different meal for each night of the month.

So I attended my first Meal Prep Party in November. I made 10 meals that all went in the crock pot. Coach LOVED (like seriously loved) all of them. They were amazing, but the best part was that they were ten meals that I have never made before and did not require a single can of anything soup.

So Saturday morning I had a few friends over to try some dips and meals and one sweet friend took advantage of making meals with us. She left with 20 meals completely ready to cook.

Here is how it works: 

• You follow this link. 
• You pick your meal plan (ten dinners) that fit you family. (Don't be afraid if one or two meals are not something you would normally make. I promise those are our faves!) 
• You pay for your kit. (Your kit is full of amazing spices, marinades, oils, and blends that make your meals out. of. this. world) 
• You then get a list of every single grocery you will need. Be a champ and click list that mess. I spent around $70 on everything at Wal-Mart. Here's a $10 off coupon! 
• The night before you want to prep... you kinda PRE-PREP. You will be given a list of instructions. It will tell you to number your bags from 1-10. It will then tell you what meat and veggies to put in each bag. I made 10 bags and it took me 57 minutes. You then put your meals in the fridge until you are ready to add your WildTree products.
• Then you open your kit. You are told what WT product you are to add to each bag. When your bag is done, you are given these awesome labels that you add to the bag. The label will tell you how to cook each meal. 
  
• This process takes about 45 minutes. My friend did 20 meals in 45 minutes because I was just so excited that I jumped in and helped her. Those marinades and blends were amazing. I told her she had to text me about every meal. 
  
• This was my fave. 

I should add that I am in no way a WildTree rep. I just literally LOVED the products so much! I love that we have a healthy dinner made when we get home. Like I said, I think I have found my weird hobby.

I was just exploring and they have KETO kits! All the guessing and prepping done!

Overall it is cheaper than the other meal services we have found. It has literally double the food so there will be plenty for leftovers. It seriously takes the thinking out of dinner each night.

This week I will be prepping the Crockpot Dinners and Family Favorites. (If you want a suggestion)

Ok.... so if you are interested in giving this a try... you can click here and look around. If you have ANY questions at all just message me! I would LOVE for you to try it!

What I Want To Be

The people and pups are napping. Dinner is cooking in the crock pot. I spent an hour doing some updates to this spot of the dot com.

One day I will pay someone to design this little space... but until then I'll keep spending my money on this one...

Y'all, I turn 30 in less than a month. (Insert big eye emoji) 
I've been thinking about where I wanted this little spot to go in life.

I want to blog about life. 

I want to blog about being a mom. 

I want to blog about being a teacher. 

I want to blog about buying all the things from Amazon. 

I want to blog about cooking all the things. In my crockpot. 

I want to blog about things that make me want to punch people in the face. 

What do I want to blog about?! 

This morning while sitting in the Wal-Mart line at 7:45am it hit me. 

I finally know what I want to be! I know what I want to blog about. 

I want to turn this blog into a place where I blog about.... 

 life. 

 being a mom. 

 being a teacher. 

buying all the things from Amazon. 

 cooking all the things. In my crockpot. 

 things that make me want to stomp people on the foot. (Moving from punching people in the face.) 

There you have it.... 

Nothing here will change. 

Nothing at all.