Things I'm Loving Thursday - October Edition

It's time for the Things I'm Loving Thursday October edition.  Without further ado...some of my faves these days...

1.  Simply Balanced Sparkling Water from Target...

...I don't drink soda but I sure do love seltzer.  This blueberry flavor is good, but their other citrus one is even better.  I highly recommend it...and it's cheaper than La Croix too.  Bonus!

2.  Castronovo Chocolate...

...I got these truffles as a gift and they were INCREDIBLE!  It's a local chocolate shop and I can't wait to pop in and purchase more for myself.  She knows her chocolate!

3.  Stroller Running...

...the weather has cooled off enough that stroller runs are back in the regular workout rotation which makes for one happy momma....perfect timing for half marathan training.  I'm signed up for 2 this winter and absolutely giddy about it.

4.  Clif Kid Bars...

...my boys love these things and have been especially thrilled with the halloween version.  I feel good about feeding them a nutritious, organic snack.  It's a win-win.  I can only find this variety at Target so far...just fyi.

5.  RealBeanz...

...I think I found my new favorite long run recovery beverage.  This stuff is delicious and currently on sale at the Fresh Market.  I don't love coconut water but know how good it is for me after a tough workout and apparently I do love it mixed with coffee.  Who knew??  Check it out!

6.  Mrs. Meyers cleaning products...

...If you haven't discovered Epantry yet, you need to check them out.  (Shameless referral link included.)  They were having a nice sale and as a new customer I got an extra $10 off and free shipping.  I didn't have to think twice before stocking up.  Love all the unique scents to help make cleaning a bit more enjoyable. 

7a.  My boys...

...watching them play together makes my heart incredibly happy!

7b.  My boys again...

...I love catching moments like these. 

8.  Halloween Season... 

...every year our neighborhood does this fun booing thing and it always helps add to the fun of the season.  This week we got booed and got to boo some other neighbors.  It was fun!!

9. Free coffee... 

It's free coffee week at RaceTrac and they have pumpkin spice...need I say more??  Only 2 more mornings left to take advantage of it.  

10.  My PiYo Strength Slides...

...I've been using this things a couple of times a week this month and have fallen in love with them.  It's such a nice way to mix things up and get a killer workout without impact.  I think they're alot of fun too.  They're part of the PiYo deluxe workout upgrade and worth every penny.   You can get them here.  You won't regret it!

What are your favorite things these days?  Care to share?  I'd love to know what you're lovin' these days too.  

Some Sprucing Up

Well, hello there!  How's this picture for a greeting on this lovely afternoon...

...the boys are really pumped about Halloween this year so we've been doing lots of practicing with scary faces.  It's pretty funny around these parts these days.  We'll see how funny they think it all is when the real day rolls around.

Anyways...Our weekend was a productive one and I'm quite proud of all we accomplished.  We kicked it off in typical fashion with a trip to Home Depot for some building fun...

...now we have new birdhouses to replace the ones that are falling apart.  Woohoo!  They are definitely sprucing up the yard ;-)  

We spent the rest of our morning tackling a million errands that are now happily crossed off the list.  It was pretty dreary outside which made it much easier to give up the weekend to chores.  

We've been on a mission to declutter and better organize our house and after getting rid of a bunch of stuff, decided we wanted a couple new things to spruce things up and made a trip to Home Goods.  I'm so glad we went.  It's amazing what some new throw pillows on the couch and a new quilt for the bed can do for making your house feel a little more cozy.  

By the way, that place is way more fun to shop in without two crazy 3 year olds in tow.  Can't say they didn't have fun though...

Needless to say, this happened as soon as we got home...

...fitting name on the label, huh?  Sometimes I feel like we're a freakshow on parade wherever we go.  The boys never cease to get way more than enough attention.  I think it's starting to get to their heads.  The other day they told someone asked if they were twins, they said "yes, we're cute twins boys and we're 3!"  Oh my!

With all our errands out of the way, and a ton of clouds still in the sky and lots of passing showers, we decided to dedicate our Sunday to Fall Cleaning, football and comfort food.  Since cleaning and football aren't much fun to document, I decided to document my chicken pot pie instead...

...I used this old recipe and it was delicious, especially on a dreary day.  The only subs I made were to  use gluten free flour and almond milk.  I highly recommend it!

And...here we are at Monday again and back to the grind.  The highlights of our day have included this snail spotting...

...Mason's request for a salad for lunch that he actually ate...

...more Halloween finds at the Dollar Tree...

...and the start of a new walkway outside our front door...

...soon there will be no more falling down on the slippery tile right outside our front door.  We're excited!  

Time for some PiYo before the boys wake up.  I'm on round 2 and doing the strength round this time.  So far I'm loving that the beginning workouts are just as challenging as they were the first time around.  That's the beauty of PiYo...as you get stronger, you are able to do more, and the challenge remains so change continues to happen and you continue to improve.  I love me some PiYo! 

Happy Monday!!

Staying Dry

It's been fun around here in Plankerville these last couple of days. I feel like we spend most of our time trying to stay dry, either dry by avoiding the rain, or by trying to avoid sweating when not exercising.  Neither kind of wet is fun for very long if you ask me.  

Tuesday didn't really go as planned, but we made it fun nonetheless.  My regularly scheduled early morning run fell through at the last minute but since the weather was a bit cooler, I decided to head out with my other running buddies, the kind that ride in the stroller :-).  We decided to multitask and spent our morning on foot, tackling our to-do list for the day.  Our first stop was story time for some fun with our adorable little friends.  The featured stories were...

...I gotta say, Jane Simmons writes some cute stories.  What's not to love about adorable ducks who do things toddlers can relate to?

Our next stop was the library where we had some fun restocking our stash and playing on the computer a bit.  We always manage to have a great time when we're there.

We made one more stop at the Fresh Market for some Tuesday specials...chicken and chocolate are our top picks this month :-)  When we headed back outside, I immediately regretted not keeping an eye on the weather while we were out and about.  We raced the storm and won, (who knew I could run a 7 minute while pushing that beast of a stroller?)  getting to our front door just as it began to pour.  Lesson learned I'd say.  Whoopsies!

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful after that...fine by me!  And we all slept well that night...

...love how I caught Mason sleeping with a pillow over his head while Colton snored right next to him.  So funny!

Wednesday we did our usual produce thing and all this deliciousness passed through our house en route to lots of organic-loving families...

...I always love getting my produce drawers restocked for the week.  Yum!  

We also managed so squeeze in a park play date that morning, as well as a killer PiYo workout.  I love how it continues to be challenging even as I get better at it.  I can't believe it took me so long to do consistent flexibility and balance work.  And the fact that I can multitask and work on my strength while I'm at it makes me love it that much more.  It's the perfect compliment to running.  (Shameless plug...if you're interested in trying it out, I just happen to be a Beachbody coach and can help make that happen for you.  I'd love for you to see what I've been raving about!)

We finished up our Wednesday with a fun Story Time...

...followed by some luscious wine in the courtyard while listening to the accordion tunes.   We finally got a day with no rain...just lots of lovely summer heat.  Is it fall yet??

Today got started on the right foot with an excellent 7 mile run with my non-stroller running buddy.  Afterwards, we had big plans to finally hit up one of the summer movies that everyone raves about.  I was having such a hard time finding ones that were rated G and showing on days when we were available.  We finally succeeded today...

...Rio 2 completely captivated the boys, and me :-), and we had a fantastic morning beating the summer heat.  We made sure to pop in Whole Foods while we were down there...who can resist??  I wonder what the checkout worker thought of me as she rung up my purchase of wine, almond milk, eggs, coffee, nuts, chocolate and olives...obvious staples for a mom of two 3 year olds, right?!

We headed home for lunch and just beat the storms again.  We've been doing the books and lunch thing lately around here.   After reading a story that had a monster in it, we got a little carried away pretending we were a three-headed monster...

...the friendly kind, of course :-)  Selfies always lead to more selfies in this house when the boys are involved.  As a result,  I've got some two-headed monster pictures to share with you as well...

...Happy Thursday!!!

Enjoying the "Cooler" Temps

As I sit here and type this, it's raining buckets outside.  I think my yard may soon resemble a lakeI feel bad for the guy who does our yard work...aka my husband.  Poor guy! Gonna be a mess to clean up.  At least everything will be green...and muddy...haha.

Thanks to the Hurricane Bertha, which thankfully isn't really much of a threat, we had a bit of a "cool" front for the last 36 hours or so and you better believe we took advantage of it.

After church yesterday, we hit up the waterpark for some fun in the sun...

...thanks to the overcast skies, it was relatively uncrowded there which was completely fine with us... 

 

...we had a great time and left just before they cleared the place for lightening...perfect timing!   It was lunch time anyways.

After naptime, the storm had passed and it was cool enough to brave a little run with the boys... 

...I had been missing our Sunday afternoon shake-out runs and enjoyed the return of them, if only for a week until the cooler weather returns.  We made sure to hit up Walgreens along the way for some coupon action with the Haribo gummy worms...only 49 cents a bag--SCORE!

Along the way, we also saw the cutest momma duck with her babies no doubt enjoying the cooler temps as well...

We finished off our weekend with some quality time with Dad once he was home from drill.  The boys always love trying on his gear on drill weekends...

...they're so proud of their army dad.  Can't blame em.

This morning, we headed off to our Monday morning play group.  The highlights for the boys were the fire engine puzzle...

...and the stories.  They were the oldest ones there today and also the only ones who seemed interested in the books today...

...you never have to ask them twice if they want to read some books.  

After the playgroup, the rain still hadn't hit yet, so we took advantage of the miler temps and headed to the park to burn off some energy... 

...mission accomplished!  Check out their new "cheese" face...

...ha!  They are such goofs!!

Since we were at the beach playground, we made sure to check out the beach for a bit too... 

...never a bad decision to stare at God's beauty for a while.  

We made it out of there and home before the rain hit.  I managed to get in some PiYo...

...I'm officially on month 2 now and it kicked off with Sculpt which is NO joke!  I love it and keep coming back for more.  It's incredibly challenging yet incredibly addictive and energizing.  You've got to try it if you haven't already.

Afterwards, I enjoyed lunch with the men in my life and now the boys are napping.  Time to tackle some laundry when all I really feel like doing is curling up on the couch with a book and some tea while I listen to the rain.  Maybe I'll have time for both...wish me luck :-)  

August Already?!

It's finally the weekend...WOOHOO!!!!  I cannot wrap my brain around the fact that it is already August 2.  I'm so glad we don't have to deal with back to school til next Fall...I'm so not ready for that yet.  Thank goodness for one more year of little wiggle room with our schedule.  To those of you that are gearing up for back to school, God bless you!!

Our weekend kicked off in typical fashion with a trip to Home Depot for some building.   We're getting spoiled with all the extra activities during the summer when it comes to building projects.  I continue to be amazed with how the boys are able to do more and more of it by themselves.  So much fun...

...Mason went with his signature color, red, and Colton decided "plain wood" was the look he was going for... 

...I know I'm biased but I think they're the cutest little builders ever...

I give to you their finished product...

It looked like it might rain so we ditched our water park plans and headed to Barnes and Noble instead for the Marvel superhero story time.  I'm not gonna lie, it's not my favorite place for story time, but it's in the A/C and it's a change from the ordinary so we decided to give it a shot... 

...at least learning about some new superheros was entertaining for the boys.  Too bad we didn't win any of the cool action figure raffle prizes.  

I had quite the tough time getting the boys to leave the store without more of a tantrum than we had when I told them we couldn't get any of the Thomas trains they were DYING to buy...

...they've got their eyes on Diesel 10 and Luke.  I think I found some good incentives for future rewards.  Those boys sure do love them some trains.   

After our fun morning, I was in desperate need of a pick-me-up.  We popped in to Target for a little multitasking coffee and errands trip...the reason behind my earlier back to school laments for all of you.   It was crazy in there today!!

I think the Target craziness rubbed off on me.  I splurged on the coffee light frappuccino...

...crazy, huh?  Ihaven't had anything but black coffee and Americanos in forever.  It was good, but I actually ended up wishing I had just gotten a iced Americano.  Next time :-)

Now it's naptime for the boys which means PiYo Strength Intervals time for me...

...I did Drench yesterday and it was by far the hardest workout in the series so far.  I had such a feeling of accompishment after finishing it.  Next time I'll save it for a day when I didn't also run in the morning.  It was waaaaay more challenging than I anticipated.  I can't wait to see how I improve with it.   I'm seriously hooked on these workouts.

Maybe I'll even get some solo poolside time in before the boys wake up...fingers crossed. 

Happy Saturday!!!