Barbecue Chip Sandwich and a Slow Jog

I did manage to go out for a run this morning but I was SUPER slow. I’m giving myself a break since I’m sick and I was pushing a stroller.

I ran 5 miles while Everett got his morning nap in. The poor little guy has had a rough morning.  I think he was mad at me for not getting him a Halloween costume until today.  Or it could be the fact that he is breaking another molar and he has a cold. He did enjoy our run and slept peacefully the whole 50 minutes we were gone. Unfortunately, he woke up as soon as we stopped running and was unhappy when I put him down to try to shower.

Dax brought home a whole goody bag of treats from school today. I took the liberty of eating the popcorn ball since Dax said he didn’t want it and I was starving.

This little ball was quite tasty and made me want to make some myself!

We stopped by the Halloween store after picking Dax up from preschool. The baby costume selection was quite limited. What do I expect when I go to buy a costume ON Halloween?!?! I was happy to find an adorable little Bee costume that is so cute.

“Mommy, I don’t feel good. Stop taking pictures of me and let me eat my banana in peace!”

I got my boys down for their naps and then made myself some lunch. I had a pulled pork sandwich with leftover pork from this dinner. I served my sandwich with a side of carrots and a bag of barbecue chips I found hiding deep in the black whole of my kitchen cabinet.

I ended up paying tribute to my Elementary School days by putting a few chips in my sandwich. Best idea I’ve ever had. The barbecue flavor and extra crunch made this sandwich go from good to out-of-this-world-amazing. You must try it!

My house looks like a bomb went off in it so I must get to cleaning before all the festivities happen tonight! Check back in later tonight for some more photos of the kids in their costumes.

Big Waffles and Halloween

Happy Halloween!!!

We had a great morning with the kids. Everett woke up first and I brought him into bed with us. I always hear moms talk about cuddling with their kids in their beds. Well let me just tell you, my kids don’t want to cuddle in the morning. They are in attack mode. Everett was climbing all over us and doing lots of body slams! I got up and got all the ingredients out to make pumpkin pancakes in honor of Halloween. Dax woke up and didn’t want pumpkin pancakes but was BEGGING for “big waffles.” Big waffles are just homemade waffles instead of frozen. Since it is a holiday I decided to grant his request.

I substituted 1 cup of the white flour for whole wheat and used coconut oil in place of the vegetable oil in an attempt to make them healthier. I topped my waffle with peanut butter and maple syrup.

These waffles were quite filling and I only ended up eating one with an orange on the side.

Dax got to dress up for preschool this morning and he was SO excited to put on his pirate costume!

He even sat REALLY still so I could paint his face! He is becoming such a big boy.

I still don’t have a costume for Everett. I guess that means no mother of the year award for me!  I am planning on going to the Halloween store before I pickup Dax from preschool to find something for poor little Ev! He got neglected because he doesn’t care/know about Halloween yet!

Everett and I are going to attempt to go for a run. It has been 6 days since I’ve gone running and I’m starting to get anxious. I’m still pretty congested but I’m just going to take it easy and go super slow.  If it ends up being too much I will walk but I really NEED to get outside for some exercise and fresh air! Not to mention, I really miss those endorphins that come after a great run!

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Even though I haven’t posted everything I ate today, I’m going to use this as my What I ate Wed. post hosted by Jenn from Peas and Crayons. Check back later and I’ll show you what else I eat today!

Crazy Day!

It has been a crazy day! We had tons of fun playing with our neighbors. The play kitchen was the favorite toy of the day.

I made some Spanish style black beans with cilantro lime rice for lunch. I doubled the recipe thinking I would have enough for lunch tomorrow, but this dish was such a hit we gobbled it all up!

I topped mine with avocado and after this picture was taken I doused it in hot sauce. This kids got a little shredded cheese with theirs.

During nap time I made the cookies for Dax to bring to preschool tomorrow.

As I was assembling these bags I kept wondering why I didn’t just go to Wal-Mart and buy some prepackaged candy to give the kids!?!? I should get mother of the year award for brining something homemade, right?

After our neighbors went home we got busy carving more pumpkins. We didn’t get a chance to carve all 4 pumpkins at the party on Sunday so Dax and I did one this afternoon.

We also took the opportunity to roast some pumpkin seeds.  I rinsed them and then tossed them in a little melted butter and salt. They went into a 300* oven for 45 min. They were delicious!

Don’t worry. Everett only had a couple and I watched him the whole time, making sure he wouldn’t choke!

Kelly is going to play basketball with some friends tonight. I am looking forward to watching the latest episode of Nashville while I eat dinner BY MYSELF.  I love having fun filled days with the kids, but boy do they wear me out! I better start getting my kids ready for bed so I can enjoy some peace and quiet!

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Sick-Day Workout

We got another round of sickness in our house.  This time it includes a heavy chest and a lot of coughing. I’m expecting a lot of illness this fall/winter since it’s Dax’s first year in school.  We all need to build up some immunity.

I set my alarm for 5:15AM this morning; I was planning on going to an early morning spin class. That did not happen.  My chest is so tight that I didn’t think it would be a good idea to do so much cardio.  Instead I stayed home and did an easy body-weight workout at home.

This routine was much lower intensity that my typical circuits but I still felt like I got a workout in. Perfect for this sicky today! After my workout I made a hot bowl of chocolate oatmeal. I left out the whey powder today because I didn’t feel like I needed the extra protein since I will not be as active as normal today.

The neighbor boys are spending the day at our house while their mommy is at the doctor. The boys are SO well behaved and they give me a break by entertaining my kids which allows me to do other things. I still need to get Everett a costume for tomorrow and make some pumpkin chocolate chip cookies for Dax to bring to preschool tomorrow!

Party Hard

This weekend was full of parties. Surprisingly none of the parties we attended involved costumes so you will have to wait till Wednesday to see what the boys are wearing!

I started Saturday morning by taking the boys with me to the gym so I could take a yoga class and Kelly could stay home and get some work done. The Saturday yoga class is 90 minutes long so he was able to get a lot done and makeup for some of the study time he missed while helping me on Friday!

Saturday afternoon we walked next door to attend a birthday party. Our neighbors have 3 boys and their middle son, Ezra, turned 5!

The kids played lots of games including running around and trying to pop balloons that were tied to their feet and building a HUGE spider web with yarn.

Ezra’s Aunt is a cake decorator and made an incredible cake!  It was a big huge snake and it looked SO realistic.

The cake was strawberry with chocolate frosting!  I ate the chocolate frosting and Kelly ate the strawberry cake. Both were delicious.

After the party we walked home and made some delicious tacos. I topped mine with lots of tomatoes, avocado, and hot sauce. I ate the oranges for dessert. This is such a quick and easy dinner and is relatively healthy if you skip the sour cream and cheese. We used ground beef on Saturday but we often use ground turkey and it tastes great too!

Sunday we went to church in the afternoon and came home to the smell of pulled pork warming in the crock pot.

I made a side of green beans and some cheesy garlic toast on a whole wheat bun to go with the pork.

For the garlic toast I spread a little bit of coconut butter on the bun and then sprinkled it with garlic salt and finally topped it with parmesan cheese. The whole thing went under the broiler for 3-5 minutes. Watch them carefully because they burn quickly!

After dinner we went to a pumpkin carving party with some of Kelly’s fellow grad students.

Gutting the pumpkins is the worst part!

Dax started the evening on the couch watching Hocus Pocus with this cute girl!

Everett spend most of the night in this chair working himself into a deep sugar coma. I don’t blame him, the pumpkin chocolate chip cookies were really good.

I had a bite of everything!

I carved Dax’s little pumpkin and spend the rest of my time chasing the kids around.

The boys spent a lot of time with Jack, who was the most well behaved dog I’ve ever seen! Jack let the kids climb all over him and gave them quite a few kisses. Jacks tongue was bigger than Everett’s face so the kisses were pretty hilarious. On our way home from the party Dax said, “I just want to get one dog like Jack. Okay Daddy?!?!”

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What are your plans for Halloween?

It’s Finally Here!

I got a VERY exciting package in the mail this afternoon!

I’ve mentioned a few time that my iPhone broke about a month ago. It was beyond repair and I lost everything on it. All my phone numbers, calendar, pictures, everything was gone. Needless to say, it was a very sad day and I have learned my lesson and will back everything up in the future!

We are poor grad students and a new iPhone just wasn’t in the budget. Luckily for me, my Dad was looking forward to upgrading to the iPhone5 and I asked if I could have his iPhone4. He agreed but his new phone was on backorder till mid October. In the meantime I’ve been using a crappy craperson dumb phone. It didn’t even have a camera (gasp!).

This is my dad!!  He is the coolest guy ever!

You can imagine my excitement when the nice mail lady knocked on my door and asked for my signature. I ripped that package open and let out a little giggle of happiness when I saw the iPhone box! The package also included a “light saber” for Dax. Dad, you should know by now sending 1 of something causes problems! Everett Michael was not happy.

Next order of business; head over to the At&t store to activate my new-to-me phone. I cannot wait to have my apps back: mapmyrun, instagram, twitter, nikeworkouts, etc. Not to mention taking pictures and video on the go. It’s like Christmas morning up in here!

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What are some of your favorite fitness apps?

Water and the Happenings!

My brother Chad has Down Syndrome and whenever he recovers from an illness or injury he exclaims, “I’m Back!” So in the words of Chad, “I’m Back!”

I made a big bowl of oatmeal with almond butter, a splash of maple syrup, and lots of peaches.  I used a can of peaches packed in 100% juice. This bowl was delicious and I really enjoyed to change of flavor from the peach.

Kelly and Dax had an awesome time at the basketball game last night. A few stories: After Dax finished his dinner he looked up at Kelly and said, “Okay Daddy, now it’s time for ice cream!” He takes after me when it comes to his sweet tooth.  

During half time Kelly’s friend, Sam came over and brought Dax a small ball he caught from one of the cheerleaders during the game.  Dax was SO excited about this ball and when Sam left Dax said, “I LIKE SAM!”

Every health professional in the world talks about how important it is to drink water. I’ve heard everything from drink 64 ounces a day to drink an ounce for every pound of body weight to just drink to thirst. Regardless of the different amounts we are told to drink, we know we need to drink water, and we need to drink A LOT of it. I have not been great about getting my water in lately. I’ve found that by late afternoon/evening I’m feeling REALLY thirsty and that is when I realize I didn’t drink enough throughout the day. My new plan of attack is to drink a full water bottle during/after my morning workout. Drink another water bottle during each meal and take sips between meals if I’m feeling thirsty. This will be 64-70 ounces of water a day. I like drinking during my meals so this plan will work great for me. If you prefer to get your water in between meals, great! Just make sure you are refilling that water bottle 3 or 4 times everyday and you’ll be golden.

Basketball and Alone Time

I rested a lot today and took a nice nap with my kids this afternoon.  I’m slowly starting to feel better.

Kelly took Dax out to dinner and then to the first USU basketball game of the season tonight which left Everett and I to fend for ourselves.

We headed to the library and got there right as it was closing. Bummer for us. We made a plan B and headed to the Dollar Store. We perused the isles looking at Christmas decorations and cheep toys. We left the store with a dish scrubber, spearmint gum, and peanut butter m&m’s.

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I called ahead and ordered a Sweet Pork Salad from Cafe Rio to take home for dinner. I put Everett to bed early and parked myself on the couch with my salad and an episode of Glee. It was heavenly and I enjoyed every moment of alone time. As a stay-at-home mom, it doesn’t happen very often!

I’m really hoping to be able to go for a run tomorrow so I’m headed to bed early. Good night!

Tis the Season

Cold and flu season, that is!  That’s right I got hit hard last night with a nasty bug. I got everything from a sore throat to body aches. I’m taking a sick day today and in the meantime I’m doing everything I can to get better.

I believe in conventional medicine and antibiotics but I do my best to use them as a last resort. When I get sick I have a few tricks up my sleeve to get back to normal quickly and naturally. I thought I would take this opportunity to share of my tips and tricks with you.

1. REST and SLEEP. This is number one on the list for a great reason. In my experience the best way to come back from sickness is to rest as much as possible and get lots of extra sleep. Whatever you do, DO NOT try to workout if you have a fever or body aches. Take a day off and rest up so you can make up for lost time the next day.

 

2.   Ask for help. Don’t be afraid to call on friends and family to pick up the slack so you can rest up. This is one thing I’m not great at. We are completely out of food and if I want to feed my kids I must get some groceries. I was gearing up to go grocery shopping when my husband demanded I lay down and rest. He offered to do the shopping for me. I tend to feel guilty about asking people to do things I’m perfectly capable of doing. I really didn’t want to let my husband take time from studying to do something I would normally do. I had to make the choice to allow him to help me. I made a very detailed shopping list, putting the items in order according to the isles at the grocery store, so Kelly could get the shopping done as quickly as possible.

3.   I mentioned yesterday that I’ve been drinking herbal tea with honey. I also like hot water with lemon and honey. These things are soothing and help alleviate some of the pain that comes with a sore throat.

4.   Essential Oils. I have the Doterra Family Physician Kit and I’ve been using some of the oils to help with some of my symptoms. The peppermint and lavender oils help with headaches and I’ve also been gargling Melaluca and On-Guard to help cure my throat.

 

5.   Mindless Entertainment. When I can’t do anything but lay on the couch I need some good entertainment to keep my mind off the fever and chills. Blog reading on a laptop is a great way to entertain yourself. This morning I’ve been catching up with The Real Housewives of NYC. This show is perfect because I can fall asleep while watching and I won’t be upset that I missed something important because it’s all trash anyway!

  

What are some tricks you use when your feeling under the weather?

Random Thoughts Thursday

• I had a wonderful time at yoga with my friend today. It was her first time at yoga and she totally rocked it! It was fun to experience something new with her. She said she felt like she was shaking through every pose but she looked awesome.  I hope she comes back with me again! We wish we looked like the girls in the picture below.

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• I’m not sure but I think I’m about to come down with with a cold or bug of some sort. I’ve been tired all day and I’ve got a mild headache and a little tickle in the back of my throat. I’m drinking herbal tea with honey like a mad man hoping to nip this in the bud!

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• I’ve been thinking A LOT about breast cancer awareness this month. I’ve also been reading and doing some research on things I can start doing now to avoid getting cancer. I’m already doing a few of them including daily exercise and eating healthy, nutrient dense foods. I try to buy as much organic food as possible but my choices are limited and it’s so expensive.

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• I rediscovered the public library today. I’ve been really missing a good book in my life. I went to the Logan Public Library website and put 4 or 5 books on hold. I chose a few fiction books and a few running books. I’ve never read any books on running technique or ways to increase efficiency and speed so I’m especially eager to do a bit of reading on the topic. I’m excited to go pick them up tomorrow and start reading again.
• We haven’t gone grocery shopping in over a week and I officially ate the last of the fruits and veggies at lunch today. I had a side salad and also a few baby carrots with hummus. I MUST get to the grocery store tomorrow!

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What are your opinions on organic vs. non-organic foods?

Do you ever use your public library?