Fun in the Kitchen, Etc.

It is incredibly awesome to have the opportunity to be stroller-free on some runs these days.  My boys sleep in and I get out there early while my awesome husband holds down the fort at home.  It's fantastic!!  It's also incredibly awesome that I have a running buddy in the neighborhood who I chat away with while we run.  It helps make the miles fly by.  We kicked off our morning bright an early with another 6 mile run.  It's going to be even better when daylight savings rolls around as the weather continues to cool off.  Yay fall!!!

After breakfast and a shower, I rolled up my sleeves to get to work in the kitchen.  A friend had a baby and I always love an excuse to cook for new moms.  On the menu.......mashed potato-topped meatloaf...

...compliments of the recipe from this magazine...

...which is FULL of fantastic ideas for halloween, by the way.  Good stuff!

I also whipped up some honey-glazed carrots...

...using this tried and true recipe.  YUM!  And for dessert, I frosted up the sugar cookies I made last night...

I used this new recipe and may or may not have licked the bowl clean when I was done.  YUM!

I hope having dinner ready to go makes their day a little easier.  It warms my heart to be able to do it.

Once I got the kitchen all cleaned up, we loaded up and headed off to run some errands.  Check out these fun hats we stumbled upon at Old Navy while browsing their stuff and sale event...

The bills even open to make them even cooler...

Between these hats and their new pirate hats, the boys may never be without a hat on any time soon.

The little hams couldn't get enough of the camera...

Fun times!

Time to catch up on some chores around the house...one can only avoid it for so long, right??  The boys helped me get a head start before nap time...

After a non-stop couple of days, we're looking forward to some down time for our family tonight.  Woohoo!

  

Some Hot Stuff

After the boys napped til 5:45 yesterday,  I was so worried they'd be up all night but they went to bed just a little later than usual and woke up at the regular time.  They must have needed their sleep.  While they were napping, I ate almost half of this container of nuts....SOOOOO good!  

Finally something the boys will have no interest in stealing from me :-)  Since I never steal their snacks, right??  

Mason spent most of the time between nap-time and bedtime taking his long train up and down the hallway.  

We had fun FaceTiming with Mimsy and Grandpa too.  I'm looking forward to the day when the boys attention span is longer than 2 seconds for things like that.  I'm sure my parents are too...

I tried to get my run in before it got too hot out there but I didn't have much luck...I called it quits after 5  sweaty miles.  The thunder was a good excuse to head home.  

I sent this lovely picture to Mickey post-run...bet it turned him on, haha!

My running buddies were great company.  We found this cool crane while we were out and about and couldn't pass by it without checking out what it was up to.  Easy entertainment! 

We cleaned up, ate some breakfast, and hit the road to tackle some errands before the day got away from us.  We scored some serious deals on all kinds of organic stuff at BJs this morning.  Must be in honor of Earth Day.  We are stocked up on all kinds of goodies now.  Lucky us!

The boys thought they were in heaven when they discovered there were M&M samples being handed out.  YUM!

We also swung by Old Navy where the tees are buy one get one free...perfect when you have twins.  The boys picked out some great tanks.  I'm pretty sure Mickey's not too excited about his boys wearing sleeveless shirts but the boys love them, and it gets hot here, so we stocked up.  

We had high hopes of joining some friends for a little festival later in the day but the crummy weather and our hungry bellies delayed us a bit and we ended up deciding just to stay in.  Now the boys are napping and I'm planning on vacuuming out my car before curling up with my book.  I'm hoping the weather clears up so we can play outside this afternoon.  Life is so much more fun when fresh air is involved.  Otherwise, we resort to entertaining ourselves with things like this...

Hot stuff, huh?  Sure to impress his future girlfriends.  Love you Colton!!

Savings Galore

After a VERY hectic day yesterday, I was quite happy to be able to make it to an evening spin class.  I hadn't taken a class in over a year and it was great to be back in the saddle, literally, again.  My ankle was feeling better this morning so I decided to give my 45 minute tempo run that was scheduled for yesterday a shot this morning.  Success!  

It wasn't my fastest tempo run but it was a good one, nonetheless.  It even included a bridge, which is extra challenging with that heavy stroller.  Thank goodness for the cooler weather which made it a bit more enjoyable as well.  I'm really hoping all this hard work pays off with a PR next weekend.  Then, it's back to my relaxed, enjoyable runs again.  Can't wait!  I think I'll be finding time for more spin classes as well.

Once we got cleaned up and presentable for the day, it was time to head to MOPS.  I was especially interested in the topic for today, "Bringing Sexy Back After Baby."  She had some really great ideas and valid points to be made, such as "You're the sexiest woman in the room every time you're in the bedroom with your husband."  I liked her suggestion to make a list of 10 things you like having done for you that let you know you're loved and thought about, and then to your husband do the same.  Trade lists and make it a point to do at least 3 of the things on the list for your spouse each week.  They have to be easy, repeatable acts such as getting take-out so you don't have to cook, getting flowers, being treated to a pedicure, or having you coffee delivered to you in bed while your spouse gets the kids up.  She also reminded us to keep flirting with our spouses along with a million other valuable tips.  I'm so glad I went today!  If you're not a member of MOPS and would like to be, let me know and I'll bring you along with me.  You won't regret it!

After MOPS, it was time to hit the mall for Old Navy's Stuff N Save sale.  I am NOT a shopper but I do indulge in old navy's big 40% off sales when they roll around.  My plan was to stock up on shorts for the boys but since there were maybe 4 pairs on the racks and none of them were what I was looking for, we settled for dino shirts that the boys literally growled for...

...and fancy new shirts for Christmas...

They were regularly $20 but at 40% off and including a tie, I decided to splurge a bit for my little men.  They're going to look SO cute on Christmas.

I might have gotten some staples for myself as well...

...and I also got some gifts for my mom and sister whose birthdays are coming up.  I felt pretty good about my purchases when I saw this lovely number on my receipt...

...especially when everything I bought, except for the boys' fancy shirts was already on clearance.  Double savings are definitely my style.  I got 20 items for $76.  Less than $4 an item...holla!

Now it's time to finish up some chores around the house and spend some quality time with the boys before I get to go to Book Club tonight.  After last night's spaghetti clean-up, I think I'll be sticking with cleaner finger-foods tonight to avoid a repeat...

That spaghetti face sure is cute though, isn't it?  Thank goodness for bath tubs! 

Make it a great day...don't neglect your spouse! :-)  

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