Friday Faves

>>>Flip-flop weather! Need I say more? :)



>>>Scanpan. Maybe we're crazy for spending so much on a cooking pan, but I'm seriously loving our new scanpan chef's pan from Sur La Table. It has a lifetime warranty which is nice after our previous one broke, and has eco friendly non-stick coating so I don't have to worry about eating teflon. We got it last weekend and have used it every day (sometimes multiple times) since then. Our cost per use will totally justify the $200 price tag. :)

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>>>Chickpea chocolate chip cookies. I made these on Monday (subbed Wow Butter for peanut butter) and they're surprisingly good! I've been heating them up so they're nice amd gooey and eating them for breakfast and/or snack all week. I'll definitely make them again. Although next time I'll be sure to blend the chickpeas much better. Each cookie has a couple of whole ones, which is kind of weird.

via The Hungry Tortoise

>>>Tortilla pizzas. I was too busy scarfing mine down (made several since last week) to take a pic, but I sliced up some zucchini and put that over some mozzerella on a pan-heated tortilla. Splashed some balsamic vinegar on the zucchini and sprinkled with feta and broiled (in my new scanpan!) for 2min. Seriously DELISH!

>>>Game of Thrones is back on. The flip side to that is Shameless, House of Lies and The Walking Dead have all ended, but GOT fills the void pretty nicely.

>>>Lorelai's new dress. I scored this gorgeous dress that Lorelai wants to wear for her birthday at a clothing exchange at my mom's church. Brought a garbage bag full of outgrown clothes and baby items, and walked away with a few dresses, a bunch of shorts, skirts and shirts for Lorelai this spring and summer.



>>>It's been the fastest week ever. I worked from home on Monday so I could be with Aidan and Logan, then all three kids went to Grandma/Grandpa "camp" on Tuesday and Wednesday. It was SO weird not having them home on a weeknight, then getting up and ready for work in the morning without them. Adam and I even ate dinner on the couch while we watched TV, which we never do anymore. Made it almost seem like a weekend in the middle of the week. So glad they're back though (even if they wanted to stay with Grandma and Grandpa forever) because I miss them like crazy when they're gone.

TGIF!!

High Five for Friday

ONE. There was still snow on the ground at the beginning of the week, but Lorelai is all ready for the pool. We bought her a new bathing suit (thanks Target Cartwheel coupon), and she hung out in it on Sunday and Monday. Speaking of Monday, I got to hang out with Lorelai all day since daycare was closed for a teacher workday. I took a few hours off work for us to take a girls trip to Target.


LOVE this suit!


TWO. We had a family outing on Sunday to go see the Lego Movie. 10 thumbs up--whenever we weren't shoveling popcorn in our faces--from all of us!




THREE. My Polar FT7 came in the mail on Tuesday! A day late to try it out at Zumba (bummer!) but I put it to the test with a Wii Just Dance session. Turns out, it's a pretty good way to spend an hour. I just thank goodness none of my neighbors can see me through the window, because I'm fairly certain I look beyond ridiculous. But you don't burn 457 calories half-assing those dance moves. :)



FOUR. I made this super yummy cauliflower pizza casserole I found on Pinterest. Roasting the fresh cauliflower made the whole house smell like farts, but it was totally worth it. Everyone asked for seconds! This will definitely be in our regular rotation. I may try steaming frozen cauli next time because that doesn't casuse such a smell...




FIVE. I ordered some kettlebells (a 15lb for me and a 25lb for Adam) and they came in the mail yesterday. Did my first workout and it was great! My muscles felt like jello afterwards, but in the best possible "that was a good exercise" kind of way. Hopefully I can keep up with it and it can be a workout Adam and I can easily do at home, together.



And a bonus, because how can I not mention the fact that it's gotten up to 70* the past two days. We still had a pile of snow on the ground from where we shoveled, so the boys were outside in t-shirts playing baseball with snowballs. So weird! But VERY glad for this spring-like weather. Hope it sticks around for good.



TGIF, y'all!

Five on Friday

Seems like random thoughts are about all I can manage these days, so here are a few more coming atcha on this Fine Friday (which is all the more fine knowing I don't have to work tomorrow after all, yay!).


ONE.
Lorelai was barely in the Three's class for a month before she could recite the pledge of allegiance by heart. I finally realized that I should record her saying it. (I actually did record her saying it last month on instagram, but 15 seconds wasn't quite enough time for her, so I recorded it again today.) I've also caught her singing God Bless The USA. She's a patriotic little thing. :)

TWO.
We decided on Halloween costumes, but both Logan's and Aidan's involves some DIY action that Adam has been hard at work putting together. Lorelai, on the other hand, lost her mind over a Minnie Mouse costume at Target and wouldn't take No for an answer. At least hers was easy--swipe card, and done.


THREE.
I'm so excited that Scandal is back on, but I'm not used to having to wait a whole week between episodes, after binge-watching the first two seasons. Speaking of TV, how great was the Walking Dead premier? I can't wait to see where this season goes. And I think I'm still bothered by some of the past few Sons of Anarchy episodes. That's another seriously intense and great show. 

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FOUR.
I've been stress eating lately and I'm so not happy about the extra few lbs I've packed on recently from eating ALL THE CARBS! :( But I've been back to Zumba for two weeks in a row now (after a shameful 6 month hiatus), so hopefully I can get back on track with my exercise and get motivated to eat healthier.


FIVE.
We've amassed quite the collection of Chick-fil-a happy meal books, and while I was reading the latest about pandas, I couldn't help but think about this and crack myself up.

via

Now I'm off to watch Scandal and Grey's Anatomy, as per my regular Friday night ritual. TGIF, ya'll!

Tidbits

>>>The sun finally came out today after over a week of mostly cloudy/rainy days. I think what I dread most about Fall is the days becoming shorter. I need sun in my life.




>>>What I initially thought was going to be a few hours of work last Saturday turned into almost a full 8 hours total of work. Conference calls while my kids played (and Lorelai threw a tantrum once) in the backgroud, included. For the record, Saturday software releases SUCK!



>>>Aidan and Logan started back to school this week after their fall break, and the transition was tougher than normal, for Logan especially. While it was really great bonding time, I think them being home with Adam for two full weeks almost spoiled them so they weren't as ready to go back as they have been in the past. They wanted to keep doing all kinds of fun things with daddy. But we're settling back into things. Homework included, ugh!

>>>Lorelai's daycare was closed for Columbus Day on Monday so she and Adam had some quality daddy/daughter time. They went to Starbucks, the library, watched a movie and went for a bike ride to the bus stop. Fun times.



>>>This came up on my Timehop app recently from when Aidan was 5, and gave me a huge giggle all over again. :)



Happy Tuesday, which means it's almost huuuuummp daaaay! I'm not ordinarily as happy as a camel about Wednesdays, but tomorrow is movie day at work. Woot Woot!

Random thoughts: shopping, avocados and carnivals

1. I learned my lesson: never go clothes shopping wearing a sports bra. We stopped at Old Navy this weekend since they were having a 30% off sale, and I grabbed a couple of cute tops to try on. They were so unflattering that I left mad, without getting a single thing. Maybe they would have been unflattering anyway, but the sports bra sealed the deal. Bummer, because I really want some new tops for spring/summer.


Not wearing a single thing from Old Navy, but still the cutest model there :) Should have just skipped my section and shopped for her instead!

2. I also tried on a bathing suit, and I stand by my previous statement that bathing suit shopping makes me wish it were winter all year long. Ugh.

3. Avocados (or "applecados" as Lorelai would say) are awesome. She and the boys don't appreciate their yumminess so that meant more for me and Adam. On burritos for Cinco de Mayo, and then on toast with feta and tomatoes for lunch the next day. Yum! I just wish they weren't so expensive...



4. I sat in a conference room all alone for a meeting today. Lame. (And it happens more often than you might think...)



5. I took the kids to a school carnival on Friday. Bounce houses + games + soda + staying up past bedtime = good times. Plus, Logan's friend's mom got us free tickets, so that's a total win in my book.


Logan's favorite thing ever was soda pop drop ring toss. He play so many times until he won, and was so excited to drink his 7up, a treat since he rarely gets soda :)


 Also, is it really only Tuesday? Geez.

Morbid thoughts.

Sometimes my mind gets stuck on a worst-case scenario and I can't stop my brain from going down the rabbit hole of what would happen.

For example, yesterday when I was running, I kept picturing myself collapsing on the sidewalk. I was really struggling with my run (so maybe the jogging stroller isn't the cause of my problems...?) and I've also been having this weird issue where twice in the past two days, it's felt like my heart or lung is ripping inside me when I try to breathe deeply. So I guess that's where it came from. But instead of just brushing it off and moving on, I started picturing details about what would happen. Someone would drive by and see me laying there, and would grab the phone off my arm to find out who to call. They'd probably call the number labeled Home, Adam would answer, and they'd describe a person laying (dead?) on the street. He would freak out, get the kids in the car, and pull up as the ambulance was loading me in. Very detailed. I just couldn't get my brain to move on.


Obviously I was fine, but exhausted. And I should also mention that I waited to get Lorelai from daycare so I could run without the jogging stroller. #don'tjudge


It also happens regularly when I'm driving on a bridge over water (I admit, I have anxiety when it comes to bridges--driving to the OBX was really scary for me and you will probably never see me with fewer than two hands on the steering wheel over water). In my mind, I can't help but picture and play out what would happen if I drove off the bridge. Not that I would purposefully drive off the bridge, but if we had an accident that caused us to go over.

And I do it with the kids, too. It'll be a completely harmless situation--like they're at school when I get a call that something tragic has happened. It's always very disturbing. Kind of like a nightmare, but I'm wide awake.

I don't know, maybe it's just me subconsciously confronting my own mortality in the wake of senseless tragedy like the Boston Marathon bombings. Or my kids' mortality whenever I (often) get sucked into terrible news stories of kids dying...

Do other people do this too, or am I mentally unstable? And did I just admit that I'm mentally unstable to the entire interwebs? Maybe I should also ask: has anyone else had a similar feeling like your heart's going to tear or like your lung can't expand anymore or it'll tear (it's hard to describe)? I know better than to google...(or do I?)

Because the fashion bloggers said so

The other day I told Adam I thought I needed a chambray shirt because they're apparently all the rage these days. I know this because they're all over pinterest and pretty much every fashion blogger I follow has one and tells me they're awesome.

But doesn't she just look so great?! via

So I pointed one out on a girl at the mall, and Adam looked at me in horror and said "you mean a DENIM shirt?!?! You can't be serious?! Oh please NO, don't ever get something like that."

And just like that, my hopes of being trendy like Kendi were dashed. But I think I'll live, because yeah. It's basically a denim shirt.* :)

Awesome image via Whitney, who I found while looking for the first image, and
who shares my sentiment on the influence of fashion bloggers :)

 *I know, I know. Chambray and denim are technically different fabrics, but still...

random/funny

Warning: randomness ahead. I found some pictures from April I never shared, plus some other random/funny things that have absolutely nothing to do with the pictures.

First of all, Aidan has been clearing out his desk at school this week, and today he brought home this paper. My heart melted and I tried not to cry when I read that his proudest moment was when his sister was born. Awwwww!

(PS: drowling = drawing, and yes, he's good at it. Just not spelling.)

Last weekend, in the span of literally 1 minute, I had to tell Lorelai: "Get out of your brother's nuts" (in direct response to Aidan saying "Lorelai's all up in my nuts"); "Don't bite his toes" and "no spitting." OMG, she's feisty. And I partially blame the boys for showing her how to wrestle around and act crazy :)





Tonight, Lorelai was in the bath playing, and Logan wanted to help rinse her off (since he was already being so "helpful" by playing in the water). As he poured the water on her legs, he said "I'm putting the water in her farm."

"Huh?!?"

"Between her legs, by where her peener is."

"Sweetie, girls don't have peeners, remember?"

"Oh yeah. What's it called?"

"A vagina."

"A bagina?"

"A vagina."

"Vagina?"

"Yep."

Glad we cleared that up. But farm?!? What was that all about? I'm so confused. (And yes, the boys both still say peener instead of penis.)



The other day on a walk with the boys, Aidan and I were talking about running, since were were trying to keep up with Logan who was riding his bike. I mentioned how I hadn't run in a while and was getting out of shape. Aidan reached over and touched my belly and in a complete non sequitur, said "so how do you make another baby? Do you just wish for it and then it happens?"

I was completely caught off guard, so I said "yeah, that's got something to do with it. But there has to be a daddy, too. A mommy and a daddy make a baby together."

Thankfully he let it drop after that.



A couple of weeks ago, I randomly started loudly singing. Lorelai stops what she's doing, runs over to me, and says "Hush Mommy, hush. Hush." It was hilarious. But to her credit, I did sound pretty awful :) And lately she's added the finger to her mouth to emphasize her point. See? Feisty.



The boys found some frogs in our back yard. I had to watch Lorelai closely so she wouldn't step on this litte guy or try to pick it up. I was kind of hoping for a little more fear (for the sake of not having to clean frog guts off of her hands or shoes). She also completely decimated one of the blooms on one of my newly planted dahlias. (No, that's not the dahlia below. I promised random, didn't I?)



Lorelai loves shoes. Taking them off, putting them on, wearing other people's shoes. She also loves to swing, slide, and can climb up the rock wall by herself (for the most part) to get to the slide.

This girl is so hot and cold with her daddy. Sometimes she won't go to sleep without an extra snuggle from him, and sometimes (unfortunately way too often) she wants nothing to do with him. Breaks my heart. And his, obviously. Dear future Lorelai, you have a lot of making up to do with daddy. Make it happen. He loves you more than words.

 

(Ok, that last one wasn't funny, but it was kind of random.)

Random thoughts and pics: warm tushies, smelly trees and mason jar hoarding

It's been a while since I've done a random thoughts and pics post, so here we go:

1. Bathing suit shopping makes me wish it could be winter all year long :(
2. Speaking of winter, I love my seat warmer in the van. Yay for warm tushies!
3. About half the time, Adam and I will make a grocery list to bring to the store, and then promptly forget it. Fail.
4. I love vanilla tootsie rolls. Logan apparently does not, evidenced by the fact that he spit one out and left it in his car seat cup holder for me to clean out.
5. I keep getting Adele's "Set Fire to the Rain" stuck in my head. What does that lyric even mean??
6. What's the point of working out if I'm just going to keep gaining weight anyway? (I know what the point is, but seeing the scale keep going up, even though I'm both working out and watching what I'm eating is very disheartening.)
7. I've started hoarding mason jars. Adam's probably going to stage an intervention soon.
8. This morning Aidan told Adam "The frog mouth turtle lives with the talking bear." It was totally random (something a friend told him). I guess he's talking about the Yogi Bear movie (thanks, Google) but he kinda though it was a real thing.
9. Blooming Bradford pear trees STINK.
10. We need to make a trip to the zoo before it gets too hot.

And now some random pictures. These are from our trip to the zoo in October 2008. Aidan was 4 and Logan was 2.






Notice the backward sunglasses. Awesome.

Random thoughts and pics: IKEA, orange fingers, fugly shoes, etc.

Here are some random thoughts from the past couple of weeks.

1. Why in the world would someone throw their soda can in the trash when there's a recycling bin like 3 feet away?!? Someone must really hate the earth.
2. I hate that my fingers stay orange after I eat Doritos or cheese balls.
3. I REALLY wish I lived closer to an IKEA (the closest one is a couple of hours away).
4. Shopping online for fabric is difficult. Finding time to go to fabric stores might be even more difficult.
5. I want to knock a hole in the wall and build a closet, but that will probably never happen because Adam and I aren't handy or very DIY-ish.
6. I wonder if Adam and I would be more handy and DIY-ish if we had more fancy tools, or if they'd just sit in the garage unused and collecting dust?
7. Why are all the people who respond to my Craigslist posts to sell kids clothes either flaky or scammy? So frustrating!
8. Do toning shoes really work? I wish they didn't look so fugly.
9. I cringe at the thought of a teacher not knowing that it's "could've" or "could have" but NOT "could of."

And here are some random pictures from April 2008. Happy Spring!

Logan, 19 months

Aidan, 3.5 years

Random thoughts and pics: ice cream, goggles, thongs, etc.

Here are some of my random thoughts over the past week:

1. Why is there not a spin-only cycle on my washing machine?
2. Edy's slow churned light Samoa ice cream is yummy but doesn't have nearly enough samoas.
3. It's awesome to have a job and boss(es) who recognize my value as an employee. Unfortunately that's not the case for every job I've had.
4. Cold, rainy days suck!
5. Grandparent sleepovers are awesome, but I miss my boys even when they're gone for only one night.
6. I hate grocery shopping.
7. The DirectTV commercials with the tiny giraffe are funny (incidentally, searching "tiny giraffe" gave me 11 swagbucks).
8. I think places that sell candles should give you a book of matches with purchase. We're out of matches and I keep forgetting to get some at the store, so I've been in candle withdrawal lately.
9. Victoria's Secret one size (implied "fits all") thongs crack me up. They are really stretchy though...


And here are a couple of random pictures not related to any of those random thoughts:

Logan, 15 months (Christmas 2007)

Aidan, 3 years (Fall 2007)

Aidan (almost 4) and Logan (21 months) on Father's Day 2008

 
After digging up these old pictures, I have to add one more random thought: goggles are funny. What can I say, my kids love goggles.