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!!

Just an Ordinary Wednesday

Don't get me wrong, Indiana was great, but we are SOOO happy to be home.  The boys thrive on routine and are happily back to theirs.  Now that they're finally in their own beds again, they're catching up on the sleep they missed out on while they were on vacation.  I love it when they sleep til 8:30.  Keep it up boys!

We had a pretty lazy morning before finally getting our butts in gear and heading to the gym.  In sticking to my mission to repair my diastasis, I'm on a 2 month hiatus from running but can still do the elliptical and can walk to my little heart's content.  Careful weight lifting is approved as well.  After 2 weeks away from the gym, it was nice to be back.  Since I had lifted weights at home while the gym was closed yesterday, today I caught up on some reading while I clocked 6 miles on the elliptical.  My current read is...

I am loving it so far.  Two different story lines are currently merging and it's fun to watch the story unfold.  

On our way home from the gym, we swung by Starbucks so I could get my first free coffee of the month thanks to this handy dandy mug my sister hooked me up with...

For the whole month of January, coffee from Starbucks is free with this mug.  SCORE!

We also made a quick stop my the Property Appraiser's office for what I thought would be a quick drop off of some paperwork but turned into a sit-down meeting to fill out some forms.  Next time I'll leave the boys at home.  God bless the lovely lady who was patient with the tree of us while we took care of business.

We made it home in time for a yummy lunch.  The boys love the comforts of home for meal times as well it seems.  They have been eating machines since we returned...

They devoured five chicken nuggets each, some dried cranberries and a mandarin orange...right after snacking on some crackers and fruit leather in the car.  Yesterday they ate an entire box of Annie's Mac N Cheese for lunch.  They love that stuff.  Thank goodness BJs sells it by the 12 pack.

We might have to upgrade to the family size box for them when they get older...

I enjoyed a lovely salad for my lunch.  My mom made some yummy food while I was home and had TONS of yummy snacks for me to nibble on ALL DAY LONG but it feels so good to lighten things up a bit now that I'm home.  Today's combo included dried cranberries, slivered almonds, skinless rotisserie chicken and honey mustard atop field greens with a side of baby carrots. 

After lunch, and once the boys were down for their naps, I had a date with this guy...

I can't get over how messy my house can get when I'm not even home.  We had dirty feet from being inside all day yesterday.  NOT COOL!  No more dirty feet for us.  I managed to tackle the crumbs in my car as well while the boys were napping.  The mess in there was getting to me as well.  I'd say that's enough cleaning for the day...maybe I'll tackle the outside of the car during tomorrow's nap time...maybe not :-)

I'm hoping to get some thank you notes written and do my 10 minutes of core exercises while the boys are still sleeping.  Once the boys are up, my mission is to enjoy some fresh air until the sun goes down.  It's gorgeous out there and we need to take advantage of it.

I'm making spaghetti squash with chicken and marinara sauce tonight...YUM!

 

Today...

This morning was one of those ones where I had to talk myself into lacing up my running shoes and loading up the boys in their stroller for a run.  Most days, I look forward to getting out on the road but I have days every so often where my motivation wanes.  I hardly ever give in to the temptation to skip my workouts because I know how great exercise makes me feel.  Like Dr. Suess says, you can steer yourself any direction you choose.  I chose to steer myself out the door for a run this morning because the brains in my heard told me I'd be glad I did.  I'm not gonna lie, it took me at least 2 miles to settle into my run, but it got better after that and I crossed another 5 mile training run off my half marathon training plan.  It felt good to start my day right.

While I push the boys, I try to help them find cool things to look at.  It helps pass the time for me and entertains them.  Some of their favorites are dogs and big trucks.  I thought this was the coolest thing we'd see all morning:

The boys even let out a "whoa" when I pointed it out.  But we ended up running into this even more exciting thing just around the corner from our house at the end of our run:

I'm not good at photos on the run but this thing really amazed my boys.  Soon my boys will know the names of all these trucks.  I told them it was a bulldozer...hope I'm right!

We also got to see a train as well as seven dogs on our slow five mile journey so overall, I'd call that a success.

This is what I found when I went to get the boys out of their stroller when we got home:

I love Colton's upside-down sunglasses.  Too cute!

Because of my reluctance to get out the door this morning, my later start made my morning more rushed but as part of my new mission to be more mindful, I decided to sit down and enjoy my breakfast of egg whites, and english muffin, and leftover sauteed peppers and onions on a very special 22 carat gold accented plate.  I felt like a princess eating off that fine piece of china.  I'm definitely going to do that more often.

Needless to say, we were late to MOPS but I had a great time, as usual, chatting it up with the other mommas.  Between the chatting and up-cycled can craft that I botched, time flew.  The non-crafty side of me should have known better than to select the canister with rounded edges to wrap with sticky paper.  Duh!  Live and learn.  At least it's recyclable.  Next time, if there is a next time, I'll stick to the simple can.  Like I've said before...I'll run circles around all you crafters.  Just kidding!  :-)  I wish I was more patient with crafts but that's a whole other topic.  

I enjoyed a yummy lunch today that I will definitely be enjoying again sometime soon.  It included super greens topped with cranberries, edamame and chopped almonds with some balsamic and basil.  YUM!

I may or may not have also indulged in a couple of bites of of the boys thai chicken on the sly even though I'm trying to avoid meat.  Baby steps, right?  I've done well with avoiding dairy today and I know I won't be able to go completely vegan overnight but I'm making progress.  

Oh and by the way, I finished The Happiness Project last night and highly recommend it if you haven't read it already.  I've become much more aware of areas where I can work on being more happy and I've also learned to be more accepting of myself as others.  Happiness is contagious so I'm hoping my happiness is rubbing off on you each day.

I've got some tutoring to do this afternoon and hope to also find time to cuddle and play with my boys.  Once they go to bed, I'm hoping to watch a movie before crashing myself tonight.  Got this one from Netflix yesterday...

I'm hoping it makes me laugh.  I loved being pregnant with my boys but am happy to report we won't be adding to our family any time soon.  Two toddlers are enough for now.  Love them!

Life is GOOD!  Do something that makes you happy today and be mindful of the experience.  You won't regret it.

Booster Seats, Sunrise Runs, Music Class and More...

Last night we crossed a big milestone for the boys...they transitioned from high chairs to booster seats.  Boy do they think they're big stuff now that they can sit at the big table.  How fun!

Our night was pretty uneventful besides that highlight.  We did have a yummy vegetarian dinner though.  It's the second time we've enjoyed it.  If you like cheesesteaks and you like mushrooms, I highly recommend the Portabello Cheesesteaks from Men's Health.  Mickey thinks they're delicious too.

Their picture, not mine.  Mine looked almost as good...

This morning the boys let me drink my coffee and read before they got up.  I even snuck in the bathroom for some alone time, but they wouldn't let me get out the door alone so I took my favorite running buddies along for the ride.  They're such good company and love to rock out to The Kingston with me.  Here they are at the summit...

Aren't they cute in their jammies?  It really was a beautiful morning for a run and I'll happily take them with me as long as they're willing to ride along.  We got in our 4 miles to satisfy the half-marathon training plan for the day.  It was a little slower than I hoped but I usually add time when I add the bridges. 

I hope my half-marathon training continues to be as enjoyable as it has been so far.  It is reinforcing my love of running.  I also love having a goal to work towards.  It's super-motivating! 

We had a yummy breakfast when we returned home, thanks to Mickey.  I forgot how much I love hummus on a sandwich.  Mickey put some on our egg sandwiches this morning and it was delish.  I'm glad I whipped some up yesterday using the Forks Over Knives recipe.  The only change I made was to add 2 tablespoons of Tahini.  I must say it's the best hummus I've ever made in my life.  Part of its success is owed to my awesome Ninja blender.  I know it's not a VitaMix but it's the next best thing and fit our budget much more easily.  I love that thing!  I'm so happy to be finding vegan recipes I like as I work toward becoming a plant-based eater.  Baby steps...  I think I'll be more successful if I already have some tried and true recipes to rely on.

Mason had fun with my running shoes while Mickey and I ate our breakfast.  Apparently someone thinks my shoes aren't as dorky as I thought...

After some play time at home and the usual morning chores.  It was time for music class.  The boys loved it even more this time than last time.  I really hope we can get them signed up for the fall semester.  I love that I get to learn some sign language and other tricks while I'm there too.  I can reinforce what she's teaching at home.  We all know I need all the help I can get...

Today, Colton was very intrigued with the guitar and the piano while Mason wanted to march to the beat of his own drum...or shaker.  He was very good at marching!

We came home in time to squeeze in a quick workout session with a friend and then devour a yummy lunch.  I'm running out of organic produce but had enough to make one more yummy salad today.  Guess we're headed to BJs this afternoon.  Their organic salad prices are UNBEATABLE!  I love buying the big tub of spinach too and throwing spinach into everything.  

The highlight of today's salad was definitely the wasabi peas.  I love the spicy crunch!  

Make it a great day.  Don't forget to move!