Friday, March 6, 2015

Friday Favorites! (is it spring yet?!)

Another round of FRIDAY FAVORITES! To see last week's favorites, click here. The previous week can be found here!

So, I am willing spring to get here.  I am begging it.  I don't want to rush time.  But I am ready for that wonderful warm-ish weather that comes with spring.  65 degrees sounds like heaven right now-- I am sick of the cold weather!

That being said, my Friday Favorites this week are all about getting ready for SPRING!

Number 1: bathing suits!
We are taking a vacation for spring break (yayyyy, Aruba!) and I am in the market for some new bathing suits! I had a lot of luck with my athleta suit last year for when I was at the club pool and swimming with boys... here are some favorites this year:

Athleta:
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Nordstrom:

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 This next one is in the juniors department...I don't even care.  I love the back of it-- and that I can wear it with some black bottoms I already have... and, this model looks 10. 
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 Target: (I love target suits!)

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 reallllly love this one-- has a super cute back and it comes in a great blue color too....
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There are sooo many more cute suits right now.  Just a start here!

Number 2: sports bras

Okay, so now I have to get in shape to wear those bathing suits! I used to wear target sports bras all the time and they were....fine.  I don't have a huge need for support, if you catch my drift....but, my mom gave me a sports bra from athleta and, I don't mean to sound dramatic...but it was life changing.  Okay, maybe that's a bit much.  But it is awesome.  I workout often during the week-- usually 5 days at least-- so I can appreciate a good sports bra!

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I also love this top-- it's so fun!
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Number 3: roasted veggies

This is random, right? This is my new most favorite snack/meal-- and it's healthy so it can get us ready for spring break and bathing suits and won't ruin our good workouts in our new sports bras...

Preheat oven to 450 and while it's heating up, chop up a yellow pepper, a red pepper, a green pepper and a purple onion.  For the record, I am not a huge fan of peppers of any color.  I have never liked them.  At all.  But cooked like this? I eat every last bit of it.  It doesn't make sense.

After veggies are chopped, I drizzle a little bit of olive oil over them and lightly toss with my hands.  I add a little bit of garlic salt (which is also a fave-- it will make a Friday Favorites post, I am sure!) and a little bit of garlic powder. 


I mix it all up and then, when the oven is ready, I pop it in for 10 minutes and then shift everything around a little bit and then cook it for about 10 more minutes.  I like them soft :)
 
On several occasions, I have made this and eaten every last bit of it.  No sides. Just chowing down on this.  It totally fills me up... a yummy snack! (or a meal!) (or a side to a big meal!)

Number 4: Favorite Instagram Accounts to Follow

I make no secret of my love of the instagram... I love to share my pictures and I love to look at my friend's pictures.  I also love to follow some fitness accounts-- many are LAME, but you can get some really great workouts from instagram!
Here are some of my favorites:
 @alexajeanfitness
@sugarysixpack --- love this one!
@magenrathbone --- my personal fave!
@shonda1020
@homeworkouts_4U

and, because laughter is the best medicine... these are my favorite instagram accounts to make me LAUGH:
@textsfromyourex
@yourshittyfamily
@beigecardigan
@betches
@girlwithnojob
@crazyjewishmom-- just started following this one and it makes me laugh-- not as hard as some of the others, but it is still pretty funny

Number 5: MY MOMMA!
 This woman is a good person.  I always say that about her.  She really is one of my absolute favorites. 
 She is always happy and always positive and always wonderful.  I love her and I love our relationship...

Sooo, there you have my Friday Favorites for the week!!! I hope to read yours too!!!


 

Thursday, March 5, 2015

A day in the life post

I like to do these posts sporadically so I can look back on what life was like when...blank.  I picked a random Monday-- it was March 2nd, 2015-- nothing big happening, just a typical, normal day!

Eddie was gone on his Costa Rica trip so I was rolling solo with both dogs and kiddos. 

Here we go.... a day in the life:

 I woke up before 7 and grabbed  my phone.  I checked my emails and got caught up on instagram and read one or two blogs on my bloglovin app.  Andy was alseep on the floor next to me (sigh).
 Right at 7-oh-oh, Cal came running into the room, wishing everyone a good morning.  He was mighty chipper....
 He snuggled on Hank-- who slept in my bed with me since Eddie was gone--
 And Andy climbed up into my spot. 
 Soon, Bruce was letting us know he was ready to go out so we all headed downstairs and I took the pups out to do their business.  We don't have a fenced in yard, so it requires me leashing Bruce (Hank walks on his own) into the yard to pee.

The boys requested bagels so I popped a few minis in the oven (our toaster is in the garage... didn't feel like bringing it in), and fed the dogs

While the bagels cooked, I took Bruce out (again) for his morning poo-- he always goes after he eats breakfast! ha The snow on the ground made bathroom trips take even longer.  
 We came in and the boys ate their breakfast, I pulled out their lunches (made the night before) and put dishes in dishwasher. 


After breakfast, we all headed up the stairs where the boys both brush their teeth....
 ...and make their beds. I am trying really hard to get both boys to do this every morning.  It is part of our routine and I probably say "it's time to brush our teeth and make our beds!" a hundred times a week.  Trying hard to make this a habit for them.  Cal is pretty good at making his bed-- Andy prefers the help. He can do it...but he'd rather have the help. 

I got both kids dressed and then got myself dressed and then this guy was ready to go out...again. One last pee before going in his crate for his morning nap!

We loaded up the car and headed to school.  I drop the boys at 9:00.

After school I headed to a 9:30 popup class! 
 It was a good class and much needed... Monday workouts are always hard. But I feel so much better after-- it sets the tone for the week!

I headed out after class and was hot and sweaty:

Bruce had a vet appointment so I headed home to get him.  The sky was looking gorgeous! 

Bruce had a well visit at 11:30. He loves riding in the car with me...
 He weighed in at a whopping 61.1 pounds.  Not bad for an 8 month old....! He was great for the vet and loved all the attention he got. 
After the vet, I ran Bruce back home and then ran to the grocery store to grab a few things. I didn't take any pictures of the store... don't be sad. 

I ran into Cafe Carolina for a quick lunch and then went to get the kids. I did the classy thing and ate lunch while driving-- with food on my lap.  I do this all too often...

The boys stayed for lunch bunch and enjoyed the beautiful day outside.  

We got in the car and Cal skinned off immediately- gotta love boys! I guess he was hot...?

We headed home and I carried in all of my groceries.  About this time, Andy decided he wanted to poop.  When Andy wants to do this, we all stop whatever we are doing to encourage this process.  He usually won't go without me sitting on the stool.  Here was my view for the next 15 minutes.  The struggle is real, y'all. 

Once that was done (and hands were washed), I started making a big ol' fruit salad.  We all love fruit (minus Cal) and I find if I make a big bowl like this and store it in the fridge, we all eat more fruit.  I have been putting this salad in Andy's lunch and he is gobbling it up every day.  

I sat down at 1:45 with blogger for a few minutes to update some posts, etc... I have been trying really hard to schedule my posts and plan out what I want to post every week.  There's no reason for this-- I just like to feel more organized with my posts! It is easy to let the blog go to the wayside, so I am trying with scheduling to not let more than a few days go without a post.  
 I headed upstairs at 2:00 to jump in the shower-- also no pictures, apologies. ha

Tuesdays, I teach in the preschool and I knew I wasn't going to want to shower and do hair in the morning, so I took the time to dry and straighten my hair Monday night so I could work with it Tuesday morning and save some time.  Andy came in right as I was about to take the picture screaming hysterically.  He pinched his finger in the closet door.  He was not thrilled.  At all. 

Once we calmed everyone down, we packed a swim bag with towels and jammies and we were off to swim practice! The boys swim every Monday night-- well, Cal swims.  Andy struggles with this weekly.  It is a struggle for me too, honestly.  I told him on the way to swim on this day that I was not going to fight with him.  If he didn't want to swim, he didn't have to swim.  And that was that.  I wasn't going to battle that.  The problem I have is I can look at him and see how badly he wants to swim.  He is just all in his head about it. It is sooooo frustrating.  I am trying to be patient and caring.  But part of me wants to just rip the bandaid off and make him do it.  But that doesn't work.

On this Monday, he told me he was ready to swim-- after much bribing and encouraging.... and 15 minutes after the practice started, he was in and swimming....and HAPPY!


Swim goes from 3:45-4:45 and then we hit the showers.  I always bathe both boys there and take them out in their jammies.  Makes life so much easier for the rest of the night! They get nice and warm and all they have to do is eat and sleep....

They were all smiles on the way to pick up dinner! I had cooked a bunch lately and decided on this day that chick-fil-a sounded perfect for dinner. 


We hit a TON of traffic heading home and my patience was about shot by the time we finally got home with dinner.  They were happy to eat their food while I took the dogs out. 
Tuesday is trash day, so while the boys ate, I hauled the trash cans out to the road and the dogs peed, came in and ate dinner, and then went back out to poop.  It's a cycle! 

After dogs took care of their business, it was bed time.  The boys were tired and I was worn out.  We were in the beds at 7:05 after a book together.  Bruce always likes to help with bed time.  I kissed one boy...

 ...and then I kissed the other...
 And then I sat at the top of the stairs waiting for quiet to fall.  The boys share a room still so sometimes they will talk to each other or get each other riled up.  I usually sit here for 5 minutes...
 One this night, Bruce joined me, like he often does. 

He heard the other boys got kisses and he wanted in on the action too
I came down stairs and made the boys' and my lunches for Tuesday.  I have to be at work early on the days I work, which makes the morning rush crazy.  I am trying to do as much as possible the night before to ease up the craziness in the morning. 
After switching some laundry, I finally sat down (much more of a PLOP) on the couch and opened up the computer to reply to some emails.   (My dog humped a stuffed animal for quite a while....)

By 8:00, I was in position to watch the Bachelor: The Women Tell All (so good.  So crazy and so so good).  


At 9:30, I took Bruce out one more time and then sent him to bed-- he usually doesn't make it past 9:30, ha! 
 I watched the end of the Bachelor and then headed up to my room.  I brushed teeth and washed face and was in bed by 10:15.  I turned on the tv and looked at my phone for a few minutes before drifting off to sleep...

 What a boring post with a lot of pictures!





 
 
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