My Plan for the Week

Hi!

Wheeewwwww. What a week.

(Taken at a house we thought about possibly buying before reality hit and we realized we can barely meet our baseline requirements, let alone try to sell a house, move, and then maintain a house built over 100 years ago.)

This week I was firing all engines from the time I took my first sip of coffee to the time I pressed play to watch my nightly episode of Gilmore Girls. It was like the perfect storm of work demanding more of my time, plus the girls needing extra attention, plus our house/yard needing a few things done. A few highlights:

• We bought a brand new riding awn mower. This is super exciting for us as we buy almost everything else used. Dan mowed the yard two days in a row. 
• I was able to stick to my workout plan, which somehow always seems easier when I have more things to do.
• Cora is officially weened from nursing. She isn’t the happiest about it, but I have to be honest and say that I am enjoying a little more freedom in the bedtime routine.

Things started to wind down around Friday morning and then by Friday night everything was chill just in time to have some friends come over for a sleepover. (Yes, adults do that.) We had some chili, started a fire outside, and stayed up way past our bedtime.

This is Malcolm and I am pretty sure he won my scientist heart forever when he told me that the marshmallow roasting on the fire was a “chemical change."

Then Saturday we made breakfast and hung around the house in the morning. My mom came over in the afternoon to watch the girls while Dan and I hit up the plaza art fair, which we love to do every year. The art was as cool as ever, but I have officially decided that watching the people is way more interesting. 

Today is church, then visiting Papa Gordon at the nursing home, then small group, and hopefully some football. 

Here is my plan for the week: 

Food:

• Sunday: slow cooker white bean pumpkin turkey chili
• Monday: pernil with cilantro lime rice and cabbage slaw
• Tuesday: steak fajitas
• Wednesday: Asian glazed chicken with brown rice and roasted broccoli 
• Thursday: pressure cooker Italian chicken
• Friday: pizza night 
• Saturday: out to eat
• Food prep: pumpkin bars and hard boiled eggs

Fitness: 

• Sunday: rest
• Monday: JM Body Revolution Workout 5
• Tuesday: 3 mile run
• Wednesday: JM Body Revolution Workout 6 
• Thursday: rest
• Friday: HIIT Workout
• Saturday: 4 mile run

I hope you have a fantastic week! 

My Plan for the Week

Hello!

How has your week been? Do anything fun that felt like fall? Eat anything pumpkin yet? So far we haven’t, but that is mostly because I keep forgetting to add pumpkin to my grocery list. 

Our week was a little all over the place. A few highlights in bullet form:

• Ina was sick, but is thankfully better now.
• We celebrated my birthday by going out to eat at Chuy's. I had to do the math to figure out how old I am. 
• Danielle and I went on an almost 4 mile run. If it were up to lazy-6 am-me we wouldn’t have gone at all and then we would have run closer to 2 miles, but thankfully I had Danielle there to motivate me. She’s the best.
• We celebrated a friend’s birthday at Jump City, a bounce house paradise. I may or may not have broken the weight limit rule a few times to go down a slide with Ina. 
• I have been working a lot more, which feels good in a productive human/improve the budget way but not so good in the mothering two children way. 

Here is our plan for the week:

Fitness:

• Sunday: rest
• Monday: JM Body Revolution Workout 5
• Tuesday: 3 mile run
• Wednesday: rest
• Thursday: JM Body Revolution Workout 6
• Friday: some type of HIIT
• Saturday: 4 mile run

Food:

• Sunday: Indian chicken (with pre-made sauce from Aldi) with brown rice and roasted brussels sprouts
• Monday: Asian Skillet Slaw
• Tuesday: Dan’s turkey burgers with sweet potatoes and salad 
• Wednesday: Spanish chicken and rice with roasted green beans
• Thursday: sesame chicken noodle stir fry
• Friday: Having friends over for dinner - grilling something...
• Saturday: Plaza art fair! 

My Plan for the Week

Good morning!

(Cora has been on a smoothie kick for breakfast. I am trying to convince her to take in some cow’s milk in the morning and a smoothie is the easiest way to make that happen.)

This weekend was a little all over the place. Ina made the last minute decision to go to the lake with my aunt and uncle, so Dan, Cora and I spent Friday night eating pizza and watching Gilmore Girls reruns. 

Saturday morning we found out that Dan’s parents’ house was struck by lightening and caught on fire the night before. Thankfully, both Teresa and Gordon are OK, but the house is going to need a lot of work. Dan spent the day helping his mom with insurance claims, finding temporary housing, and cleaning out the fridge. Cora and I spent the day, um, well, watching Gilmore Girl reruns. 

Sunday we went to church and then I cashed in my birthday request of a few hours of kid-less uninterrupted shopping. Chessa and I plowed our way through three stores and had a blast. Then Sunday afternoon we hosted our first small group of the season. It was absolutely great to have our house full of these families that we adore. 

This week and weekend are looking a little more chill, but this is only Monday, so you never know what will come up. Here is my plan for the week:

Food:

• Monday: stuffed cabbage casserole
• Tuesday: My Birthday - out to eat, somewhere...
• Wednesday: bacon and brussels sprouts spaghetti carbonara 
• Thursday: chicken and broccoli stir-fry with brown rice
• Friday: homemade pizza with arugula salad
• Saturday: beef and vegetable soup (Dan’s creation)
• Sunday: zuppa toscana 

Fitness: Now that the weather has cooled down a bit and Dan leaves the house a bit later I am going to attempt to start running on a more consistent basis. 

• Monday: Jillian Michaels Body Revolution Workout 3
• Tuesday: 3 mile run
• Wednesday: Jillian Michaels Body Revolution Workout 4
• Thursday: 3 mile run
• Friday: rest
• Saturday: 4 mile run
• Sunday: rest

I hope you have a fantastic week! 

<3

Thankful

Good morning!

So many things to be thankful for this week:

Thursday

1. Our friends/neighbors Mike and Kim fed our dog while we were gone and also played dog catcher. Apparently he missed us because he got out of the yard and made it on the neighborhood Facebook page many times. Bless their sweet hearts for taking on such a responsibility!
2. Our last day of vacation was so good: breakfast, swimming at the hotel, pirate boat ride, nap time, dinner at Salty Dog, and then Harbor Town to see Gary Russell
3. Speaking of Gary Russell (a family entertainer who has been performing in the same place for 40 summers in a row)- I was so thankful he was there the same time as us. We practically missed him, as it was his last weekend there! We have been singing the unicorn song nonstop since then. 

Friday

1. We left the island just as the hurricane turned tropical storm was coming. We saw piers that had broken off on the way out and it took us about twice as long to get off the island, but this way it wasn’t so hard to say goodbye. 
2. We found a Pappasitos (one of our favorite Houston restaurants) in Atlanta. YUM. 
3. Even though our hotel in Nashville seemed somewhat sketchy, we had a perfectly pleasant experience and all the other patrons were more than nice to us.

Saturday

1. We found a Dunkin Donuts when I was seriously craving an apple fritter
2. Dan drove the entire day
3. We are HOME! The girls played in their toy room for two hours straight. 

Sunday

1. An amazing message at church: When God Says No. 
2. Having time to spend with Dan’s parents. Papa Gordon slept most of the time we were there, but squeezed in some Ina snuggles and Cora smiles first. Although he is tired, he isn’t in pain, which I am so thankful for.
3. Dinner with friends.

Monday

1. Cora returning to her normal wake-up time of 7:30, versus her vacation wake-up time of 5. Why?
2. Lunch and swimming at Grandma Frankie’s
3. Returning to the normal routine. I always look forward to vacation, but vacation also helps me look forward to a plain ol’ normal day.

Tuesday

1. Dan starting a new job working with his dad selling and renting campers, mainly Teardrops. We are both super excited about it and I hope to do a whole post about it soon!
2. My co-workers who covered my projects while I was away. They had quite a bit of work to do. 
3. When Ina decided to recreate her Snapchat filter, she used washable marker. Sigh.

Wednesday

1. Some activity has returned to my life: a morning walk with the girls, a lunch time JM workout, and an evening family walk before dinner.
2. Ina ate all her vegetables at dinner last night and then asked for carrots after she was done. Vegetables have been a pretty big struggle lately, so this is definitely something to be thankful for. 
3. My kale plants starting producing more leaves. I thought they were done for the season after some bugs got them, but it looks like we are good for a few more weeks at least!

Have a good day!

My Labor Day Plan

Hey there!

We got back from vacation yesterday and bounced right back into life at home, or should I say, not at home? We went to church and then made the drive to Dan’s parents house for a quick visit. The good news about the road trip is that the girls are more happy to be in the car, like they have started holding hands in the car.

The bad news is that Cora is now almost completely resistant to the car nap. No more can we plan trips to coincide with her nap time. Darn.

After visiting with Dan’s mom and step-dad we drove back to the city to visit our friends the Nybergs, play, and eat some great food.

When I crept over to take that picture I head Silo ask Ina to marry him. Then Ina said something about the plants being wedding gifts. Heart melted.

Today we are catching up on some chores at home and then heading out to a Labor Day get together. 

Here is my plan for the week:

Food:

• Monday: Labor Day get together
• Tuesday: easy chicken and bean bake
• Wednesday: chicken tikka masala with brown rice and roasted broccoli 
• Thursday: stuffed cabbage casserole
• Friday: pizza plus arugula salad
• Saturday: out to eat
• Sunday: slow cooker pumpkin chili (sorry, I just had to)

Fitness: My erythema nodosum has calmed down significantly and I think I have rested enough to start slowly exercising again. My plan is to go through the JM Body Revolution videos one at a time and make my way back to my previous strength/cardio level, with a few runs/walks in between. 

I hear a Cora talking...

I hope you have a wonderful holiday! 

xxoo

Hilton Head Memories

Hey there! Remember me? The long(er than usual) silence around here was because we drove across the country to Hilton Head for a family vacation and just pulled into our driveway last night. 

We took two days to drive there and two days to drive back, stopping in Nashville to rest for the night on both journeys. The girls did absolutely fantastic in the car and although it messed up their nap/sleep schedule, never once did I wish we had flown instead. Seeing part of the country I had never seen before via car was great and it was some forced, close quarters, quality family time. 

A few memories to share from the trip:

-Reaching the beach and Ina plopping down to dig as soon as we reached the sand with the ocean 20 feet away. Apparently to her sand >>> water/waves. 

-Cora’s face off with a bird. Cora loved the birds on the beach and there was one that would let her get very close before it skittered off a few feet and then would wait for her to get close again. I think that if I didn’t rescue her she would still be there trying to get that bird. 

-Getting to know our friends The Nash Family even more. We were so excited to have them go with us and make some memories together. 

-Eating at Hudson’s (a great seafood place) and watching the kids try new food. Oysters, clams, shrimp, etc. It was so fun. 

-Speaking of eating, we ate many good meals at the hotel room. We love having a fully stocked kitchen on vacation. Breakfast FTW. 

-Building sandcastles and burying the girls in the sand (after multiple Ina requests). 

-Waking up and drinking coffee while looking at the ocean. My absolute favorite thing to do. 

-Dan and I had a date night that had not one, not two, but three fails with restaurants being closed, not serving food?, etc. Regardless, we still had a great time with adult conversation and were so thankful to the Nash family for watching the girls.

-Dan throwing the kids in the pool. Over and over again.

-Swimming with Ina and pretending to be different water animals. 

-Cora loving playing on the stairs of the pool and her diving into the water multiple times. That girl has no fear when it comes to water.

-Playing Phase 10. I love that game! 

-Finding an alligator! 

-Going on a night beach walk that turned into a night beach swim in our clothes and involved racing, cartwheels, and lots of laughs. 

-Climbing to the top of the lighthouse.

-Enjoying a pirate cruise that was real though that Ina was legit scared during parts and took the job of spraying Stinky Pete down with a water cannon very seriously. 

-Listening to Gregg Russel sing some pretty funny songs and watching Ina raise her hand to every question he asked. Ex: raise your hand if your parents are weird. 

-Ina and Cora wrestling on the bed of the hotel in Nashville, mostly because we wouldn’t let them be on the ground. The hotel was kind of shady. Note to self - deals online that seem too good to be true usually are too good to be true. 

-We did have one not so good memory that involved ice cream and a full on family melt down, but other than that the trip was only good memories. 

We had a blast, but are so happy to be home and ready to get into our regular routine again. I plan to see you tomorrow with my plan for the week! 

Have a great holiday!

xxoo