Busy, Busy, Busy...

'Tis the season for nonstop activities and yesterday was no exception.  I kicked off my morning with a lovely run with my running buddy...

...I agree, MapMyRun, that we did a "good job."  :)  I live for my morning runs with my great friend...they are a gift!!  

Our next stop was Story Time.  It's Halloween week so of course we had to read some appropriate stories.  Yesterday's features were...

and

I have to say....my little story time friends are AMAZING.  Both of my choices were a little longer than my usual stories and the kids did a GREAT job listening.  Fun stuff!!  

After Story Time, it was time to head to music class.  Miss Rabe was fantastic as usual, always keeping things interesting.  She let them explore a variety of instruments which was a huge hit with the boys...

...and then let them each take a turn playing the didgeridoo... 

I didn't catch Colton in action actually playing the instrument, but that's him on the floor with his ear to the opening.  He thought it was a riot!!  

Colton also never passes up an opportunity to play the guitar...

...but Mason was out of sorts and stuck to the comfort of my lap...maybe next time.  

On our way home, we squeezed in a trip to the fresh Market for some chicken...it was Tuesday after all, and it's hard to beat their prices on Tuesdays.  We also got to check out Mason and Colton's coloring contest entries hanging on the wall...

...yep, that's them on the top left and top right corners of the display.  Their first gallery showing...lol.

We also picked up their new sales ad.  I get excited for all the yummy stuff this time of year...

...lots of good deals coming up too...

We spent the rest of our day at home, finding lots of ways to entertain ourselves, including some coloring thanks to gifts from Mimsy...

Before I knew it, it was dinner time which meant a girls night out for me with some of my girlfriends to celebrate Cecilia's birthday at the Deck restaurant...

...it was fun to get out and catch up with everyone and you obviously can't beat the view... 

I'm grateful for my amazing friends!

While I was off hanging out with my friends, Mickey was hanging out with the boys, decorating our front door...

...he does good work, huh?  Now it even has teeth on it too.  Fun stuff!

Now it's Wednesday and I kicked it off in my typical fashion, with a trip to the gym to crank out some miles on the elliptical while trying to make some progress on my book club read...

...I finished up with some lower body light weights before calling it a day.  

Now it's time to brace myself for the craziness of the day...MOPS, produce, story time, and pumpkin carving will be keeping me busy today.  Fun times here in Plankerville.   Have a LOVELY day.  

Pumpkin Patch Fun

It seems like Mondays are always kind of a bummer these days...the weekend is over, Mickey has to go back to work, and the relaxed weekend atmosphere that revolves around family time takes a backseat to the busyness of the work week.  The fun stuff (like bottling beer, haha) diminishes significantly during the week...

...I can't wait to try his pumpkin ale.  Yum!!   

We had lots of fun with these monkey sticker scenes this weekend too...

...they were a LIFESAVER at dinner Saturday night...kept the boys attention the whole time we waited for our food.  We need to invest in this cool stuff!!

At least we usually manage to make time for some nightly snuggles on the couch, no matter how busy life gets...

I'm not gonna lie...we anticipate 5:00 all day long these days :-)  I get an extra set of hands and an adult to talk to and the boys get some guy time with their favorite man...good stuff.  

In an attempt to start my week off on the right foot, I drug myself out of bed at 5 am to get in my cardio  before it was Mickey's turn to hit the road for his run.  I cranked out 45 minutes on the elliptical while reading our current book club choice...

...it's getting really good.  So far, I highly recommend it.  Definitely helps to have something to distract me from the tediousness of the elliptical as I get in some cross training.   Tomorrow's my turn for the 6 am window of exercise opportunity instead of the 5 am window.  Yay!

Speaking of workouts, I tried this one out yesterday and it was FANTASTIC...

...you can find more details here. 

After breakfast, it was time to meet up with some friends at the pumpkin patch...

They had a great storyteller who kept our attention in the shade for a bit, which was a nice treat...

...thanks, Dana, for the family shot :-)

Check them out last year at the pumpkin patch...

...what a difference a year makes!!

I don't think I'll ever get used to 90 degree weather while we pick out our pumpkins.  This time of year always makes me a little homesick, since fall is my favorite season, but I know the cool weather will get here soon and I'm grateful I don't have to deal with months of bitter cold but get fall-like weather all "winter" long here. 

After the pumpkin patch, the kids got to play with their friends while I ran some errands.  We're still working on the "kind hands" thing in these parts so I'm not sure their friends were thrilled to play with them, but I'm grateful for all the supportive friends who are helping us through this rough stage of parenting.  Raising toddler boys is TOUGH these days!!!

Check out the pumpkins they made with their friends...

...once again, Mason decided to give his pumpkin a sad face...silly boy!

We spent the rest of our afternoon around the house doing our usual stuff.  I even managed to squeeze in a bonus Shaun T workout--upper body focus this afternoon...

...love those short, intense workouts.  

I also got in some tutoring with one of my favorite students...definitely a highlight of the week.  Now rock that social studies test, girl!!

Time to ditch the computer and join the family on the couch....

Tuesday Fun!

This morning I got started on the right foot with a quick cup of coffee before tackling one of my favorite quickie workouts these days...

I've been a Shaun T fan since the Insanity days and these workouts are like a condensed version of them.  Simple, effective, hard-core workouts---PERFECT if you ask me.  And you've always got 25 minutes, right??

I've only just played around with it, haven't really followed the plan yet, and today I chose...

It was a great way to start my day!

After scarfing down my breakfast (leftovers from yesterday's breakfast date) we hit the road for story time.  Today's featured stories were...

My boys LOVE rhyming books like Stretch.  They are starting to be able to guess the rhyming words that are coming to complete the sentences in the books.  Fun stuff!!  Doreen Cronin never disappoints!  They also like the repetition and silliness of What Did You Put in Your Pocket...great stuff for toddlers. 

Oh, and my new bubble blower was a hit...hooray!!  I keep the bubble industry in business.  They never get old.  Ah, to be a kid again!!

After story time, we headed off for a fantastic music class.  While waiting for class, the boys had fun playing with the phone...

How cute are they???

I'm really starting to see the musical lessons clicking for my boys and it's so cool to be a part of their learning experience.  I love that Miss Rabe has started teaching them musical terms and concepts like recognizing treble clef and where it belongs on the music paper as well as quarter note and eighth note rhythms, etc.  It's amazing what she can do while tolerating and so positively redirecting their typical 2 1/2 year shenanigans at class.  We LOVE Miss Rabe!!

I'm taking full advantage of having my man home full time one more week and we ran some errands that are easier done with the buddy system before stopping into the gym quickly before lunch.  

I had a great second workout of the day rotating 5 minutes on the elliptical at a moderately challenging pace and resistance with rounds of 50 kettlebell swings with a 20 lb kettlebell.  Good stuff!!

With lunch behind us, Mickey at a meeting, the boys tucked in for nap time and some ridiculous rain going on outside, I'm savoring some downtime and planning to get some book club reading done.  So far this is a light-hearted, entertaining read...

...curious to see where it's headed.  I'll keep you posted.  

Whole30 - Day 1

This weekend, I spent every free minute reading this book...

I was captivated with the ideas and theories presented in it.  You can read more about it at their website.  I've found lots of great info on their to supplement what's included in the book.  

The book includes a 30 day challenge, called Whole30 where you go 30 days with no grains, no sugar, no alcohol, no legumes, no white potatoes, and no dairy--very similar to the paleo diet, only a bit more strict.  There's no paleo-ified junk food replacements allowed.  It encourages you to stick with 3 big meals a day centered around meat, produce, and fats.  

The ideas that appealed to me were the opportunity to "reset" my body and digestion, a chance to balance out my hormones, the opportunity to get in touch with my hunger signals again rather than my all-day graze-fests, and eliminate the junk from my diet...I was getting a little carried away.  I decided to go "all in" and start the challenge today.  It's only 30 days...I can do this!!  I'm curious to see how my little "experiment" works out. 

Breakfast included 3 eggs scrambled with a giant handful of spinach and half an avocado, diced and topped with hot sauce, of course.  I had half a grapefruit on the side too.  

It was filling and delicious...but I was hungry again by 11.  Hopefully that improves...but in the meantime...I downed lots of water and planned a very big lunch.

For lunch I had a turkey burger, some broccolini sauteed in olive oil, and a tomato, avocado and balsamic salad.  I also ended up eating most of the boys' leftover mango too.

I'm planning to go out to eat for dinner but already have a game plan in mind for the greek restaurant--greek salad, skip the feta, olive oil and vinegar for dressing, topped with a piece of grilled salmon as long as they don't marinade the salmon in anything crazy.  Maybe I'll throw a can of tuna in my purse just in case...haha.  Just kidding!  

Enough food talk.  We've done other fun stuff besides eating today...

We kicked off our morning at Story Time where we were supposed to have a special guest but our firefighter got called into duty so we stuck with Firefighter books instead. We read...

...and...

Both were big hits with the kiddos.  I especially liked Tony Mitton's rhymes and Ant Parker's illustrations in Flashing Fire Engines.

We hit up the gym after Story Time.  I was feeling pretty un-energetic so I took my legs workout over to the elliptical for some circuits.  Usually the speed of them keeps me from feeling too tortured.  I warmed up for a mile before alternation quarter miles on the elliptical with the following legs circuits using dumbbells.  I repeated each circuit 4 times.  

Circuit 1:

Squats - 20

Deadlifts - 20

Lunges - 20

Circuit 2:

Squat with Side Kicks - 10 each

Side to Side lunges - 20

Curtsey lunges - 10 each

I finished up with another mile as my cool down and called it a day.  Hopefully I'm feeling more energetic tomorrow.

We've spent the rest of our day around the house, getting some chores done...while keeping an eye on last night's episode the bachelorette.  The first episode doesn't require your full attention anyways :-)

A Fun Start To the Weekend

Apparently yesterday was spouse appreciation day.  Who knew?  I got this lovely message in an e-mail and I was quite moved by it...

The military spouse is a unique being - it's independent, able to act as both mom and dad while the other is away, has a kiss that cures everything from a child's torn teddy bear to a Soldier's weary day, and has the patience of a saint. The military spouse has a heart that swells with pride, can sustain the ache of separation, says "I understand" even when it doesn't and says "I love you" regardless.

SO true!!  And I wouldn't have it any other way.  I am SO incredibly proud of my soldier.  What an awesome role model for our boys, too!

They've changed SOOOO much since that photo was taken.  

We kicked off our day with a chat with our superhero before heading to the gym.  The boys now say "mommy needs her exercise" when we pull into the parking lot.  They get it!!  I kicked my own butt with some full body weights and some intervals on the elliptical.  It felt GREAT!

After that we headed off to meet up with a friend for a play date to Chick-Fil-A.  Would you believe it was our first visit to that place?  An air-conditioned play area was the selling point for me.  I tried to convince the boys to just eat some fruit, but when they saw their buddy eating those delicious waffle fries, I caved and ordered some for them to share as well before they tried to eat all of his.  The boys were happy to trade fruit for fries...worse things have happened.

I was glad I remembered to pack a protein bar...

This one wasn't too bad.  It got the approval of all the boys too since of course they have to have a bite of anything I'm eating.  Less calories for me, right?  Haha!

We played outside for a bit when we got home.  The boys did an excellent job of hunting down the stray coconuts with me so we could put them on the yard waste pile...

The heat got the best of us all though and we had to call it a day.  Gotta get out there earlier next time...summertime takes it toll fast on my little guys.

I'm gonna have to find some good shade to plant our little seedlings so they don't melt from the summer heat as well.  Aren't they cute??

The boys have been having fun watching them grow.

We hit up the park in the early evening...

We're getting better at the "big boy" swings but can go SOO much higher in the little ones.  Both have their perks and are equally enjoyed by the boys.

Colton was taking climbing tips from the big kids too...

This was waiting on the porch for me when we got home.  I have some pretty amazing, thoughtful friends.

I don't know what I'd do without them.  It seriously brought tears to my eyes.  So did this video another good friend posted on my facebook page...

We ate a late but delicious dinner, including the boys favorite food, roast chicken, and some overcooked broccoli they let me have all to myself...love them!

This one might have been one of the best I've made yet.  It was a hit!

I have to agree with them that it's pretty darn good.

I called it a night right after I put the boys to bed since I knew I had plans to get in a run this morning.  It was HOT out there so I changed my plans a bit and made a detour to the gym after the first two miles...

I quickly got bored with the treadmill...

...so I hopped on the elliptical for a couple of miles...

(The clock is a countdown from an hour, not how long it took me...lol.)  Then we headed home, braving the heat one last time...

...for a total of only 3.5 miles outside.  I guess I did cover about 8 miles total, though.  It felt good to get it out of the way.  I gotta get started earlier if I want to keep up my running this summer.  Now I just have to get the boys on board with that plan...wish me luck!!  

After we cleaned up at home, we headed downtown for the Family Fun Fest.  I'm so glad we went.  It really was a fun events.  The boys got to paint flower pots wearing cool Home Depot aprons...

Once they were painted, they got to put a flower in them.  Look how cute they are in our yard now...

They also made butterflies at the Macaroni Kid table...

They were a little nervous about the fire truck and wouldn't even go near the ponies, which surprised me...oh well.  As usual they wanted nothing to do with the bounce houses either.  Saved me $2...thanks boys!

Of course we couldn't leave without some balloons...

We parked ourselves in the shade for a bit while we enjoyed this view and I sipped on an iced coffee while the boys ate bagels from Osceola Street Cafe using the money I saved from the bounce houses, haha...

It was a FABULOUS morning.  

We came home to a package waiting on our porch.  The boys' backpacks arrived and they're even cuter than I hoped...

They are perfect for the boys to carry some snacks, books, toys, etc. on the plane.  They wore them around the house saying "these are for the airplane."   We're getting excited for our little trip.  

With dinner already made, my new nap time ritual I'm totally digging, I can now kick back and relax for the rest of the boys nap.  Afterwards, we're hoping to have some poolside fun for the rest of the day.  

Happy Mother's Day weekend!!!!!!!