Let’s Get Physical Link Up– Part 1

 

Monday, June 3rd:

I am starting this post on the first day of this workout, Monday, June 3rd.  I figured if I didn’t start it I’d forget all of the nitty gritty good stuff come next Monday when it’s time for the actual link up.  So my first thoughts about doing this Yoga workout were “Cool! Yoga!!!  I’ve always wanted to do Yoga (and be good at it).”  Cut ahead to me actually doing it.  I actually pulled a muscle in my neck!!!  Ha ha, yea, not so sure that’s supposed to happen in Yoga!  It was during the first ‘”Harrrr!”, get mad, let it all out’ exhale.  I didn’t yell or make any noise, was just breathing, but I must have thrown my upper body down too fast or hard or something soooo yea, that wasn’t cool. And it didn’t feel good. And it wasn’t relaxing.  But I sucked it up, rubbed my neck for a bit and got back in it.  I only ran through it once, mainly because of my neck and the fact that I was sweating a little and my muscles felt like jelly.  I think if I can get the hang of it I’ll really like it!  Looking forward to Day 2 of this Yoga thing!

Monday, June 10th: 

I haven’t done the workout since last Monday.  Lame.  Life got in the way (and I was lazy).  Boo.  But I have it saved to my favorites so I can try it again sometime. 

Wrap Up:

I failed. Boo! 

Have a good week!

Erin

Book Review

Good Thursday morning to you! 

Finally, today is SUNNY!!!  We are getting ready to head to the park to try out the new equipment they put in last weekend!  I thought I’d get a quick post up.

I just finished reading ‘Beautiful Stranger’ by Christina Lauren (the second in their ‘Beautiful’ series) and it was AWESOME!  The love story in this book was maybe better than the love story in their first one.  I think I rate this one higher than the last one, and I really liked the last one!  It is on my ‘Books’ tab at the top (go check that out for some other suggestions), I added it before I was even half-way through reading it, it was that good!

Oh, and did I mention the lead guy has a British accent??? Yum!

This morning Brennan was asking me how to spell our names so he could write them down in his little notepad.  Then he asked me “How do you make love?”  Say what?!?  I made him repeat it 3 times, and yes, that’s exactly what he said!!!  Luckily he meant “How do you SPELL love” or we’d have really been in a pickle!

Speaking of pickles, when I was pregnant this last time I was addicted to my mom’s home canned dill pickles.  Her’s are the best!  No weird, extra, floaty stuff in her’s, just straight up pickles.  Yum!  Anyway, between Aiden and me we went through quite a few pint jars of her pickles.  I haven’t kicked the pickle habit, although I don’t have them as side to spaghetti anymore, so I emailed her yesterday asking how many jars she had left.  She’s down to only 12 pints!!!  On a normal year, that would be a plenty, but now?  No way!  Especially if I get pregnant again and am still craving them (watch, I’ll despise pickles when I get pregnant!).  So now we are scrambling to find seeds AND space in our gardens to plant them!  Thank goodness the only thing I have to worry about is running out of pickles!  Ha ha!

Have a great day!

Erin

Healthy Recipe Link Up

Hey there, friends!  It’s Wednesday!  And I’m exhausted.  I have been walking around for the last few weeks feeling like I’m drugged.  I think part of it is because I have been staying up past 10:00 watching TV with Andy.  I need to hit the hay at 9:00 and see if that helps.

I am linking up with Jodi and Sami today for their Healthy Recipe link up. 

My go-to lunch is what I call Quinoa Salad. You can make it ahead so you can take it with you to work, it still tastes just as good.

Quinoa Salad

1/4 C dry Quinoa (made according to package directions)

1/2 Avocado, sliced and diced

1/4 Red Bell Pepper, diced

1/2 Roma tomato (or whatever tomato, about 1/4 C)

1/4 C grilled chicken breast, diced (I used Oscar Meyer’s, found in the deli section)

While your quinoa is cooking cut up the rest of the ingredients, throw them in a bowl.  Dump in the fully cooked quinoa, mix up and enjoy! So super easy!  It is so delicious, very flavorful.  And those are my go-to veggies to add, you can switch them up however you like.  I’ve used yellow and green Bell Peppers, if you like onions, throw those in there.  Mix and match to your hearts content!

(This pic doesn’t have the quinoa added to it yet, FYI.)

I figured up the calorie content one time and it was under 300 calories for that big ol’ bowl full!  I hope you like it!

I also wanted to share this little gem I pinned on Pinterest.

Now go link up with Jodi and Sami so I can get more healthy recipes!

Erin

Our Summer Plan

I don’t know about you, but summer vacation with the kids scares the heck out of me!  I don’t want the boys to just be laying around the house watching TV and playing video games.  I want them to be active and to use their brains. 

I have enlisted the help of Pinterest to help me plan some activities for us to do this summer to keep us from being bored and restless.  Some I have come up with on my own.

• Read books together
  • on our list: The Boxcar Children series, Adventures of Little Bear, The Adventures of Frog and Toad, The Magic Tree House series, Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Farmer Boy, Charlotte’s Web
• Go to the nearby lake/State Park and go on a nature hike
• Try different Pinterest science experiments, such as this:
  • I have many of these pinned, a few of them are:
    • Tea Bag Rocket
    • Rainbow slime
    • Or these 25 experiments to try
• Take a trip to the Mississippi River Museum
• Spend a day at the Children’s Museum
• Take a bike ride down the old railroad trail
• Go on a picnic

• Lots of park play dates
• Run through the sprinkler

• School work – Yes, I’m the mom that makes them do school work in the summer!  I don’t want them to forget all they’ve learned!  Aiden will re-do all of his spelling words and sight words, he will read books to Brennan, and will do Rocket Math all summer. Brennan will practice writing his letters and learning their sounds, and will learn to write his numbers and to count to 25 (he does good to about 15, skips a few #’s, then finishes strong!).
• Mark off as many of these items as possible
• Go to the ball field to play ball
• Harvest our veggies and berries from the garden

This is a very short list compared to the length of the summer, but I think it’s a good start.  Aiden has a few day camps this month and next, plus swimming lessons, so those will help fill a few days.  We will also be doing a few ‘day vacations’, like going to the State Fair in August, and Adventureland next month.  There are a few town festivals this month and next that we will go to, also.  Town festivals are a kids dream, between the parades, the food and the carnival rides.

I’m hoping to make this a fun summer for the boys.  Lots of pictures to come!

Erin

Wow Wow Weekend!

Wow, another great weekend!!  Why do they ever have to end?  A few highlights…

*  Saturday evening my cousin was married and it was a beautiful event.  Everything from the decorations to the food to the setting (in a shelter by the lake at a state park here in Iowa).  They made individual desserts in half-pint canning jars (brownie, strawberry shortcake, apple crisp, and the one I had – Peanut Butter Mousse, O!M!G!). I was a dummy and left my phone in the car so didn’t get a single picture!  Ugh!  I wish I could have shared some of it with you!  Such a neat wedding!

*  Sunday we went and visited the cemeteries where Andy’s ancestors are buried.  Here are a few pictures I snapped.

Andy’s dad.

Andy, his dad and his brother.

This one is not ours, I just thought it was a neat, old stone.

This is the view from one of the old cemeteries.  I wouldn’t mind spending eternity here!

We also went and saw the very first piece of land a McGuire owned in Iowa.  It was a beautiful area, a lot of timber and open pasture – perfect place to build a house!  It was purchased back in the late 1800’s!  Andy has come across a news article from way back in the day and it tells the story about the first McGuire who came to Iowa and how he encountered Indians here in the newly ratified state.  It’s really neat to know that little piece of his family’s history!

*  Aiden had his first Pee Wee ball game last night.  Because it’s Pee Wee they don’t keep score, everyone hits and runs all the bases.  Aiden did awesome, he caught the ball and threw it to the base to get players out twice!  I need to learn ball lingo so I can tell you what happened easier.  When he was up at bat he cranked one way out into the outfield, it was pretty fun to watch!

And one of these two good lookin’ guys!

*  One more highlight from my weekend – I got my new camera!!! It’s a Canon Rebel EOS T3. I’ve been taking all kinds of pictures with it, getting used to it and learning a few features.  I’m hoping by summer’s end I’ll know all the bells and whistles and really get to take some neat pictures!  Here’s my favorite one I’ve snapped so far.

One more picture, the card I made for the wedding. 

I used black card stock, then sprayed it with a Pearl Shimmer mist, which gave it that silver appearance. Then I cut a piece of the decorative stuff to go over it (it is clear plastic with the design in velvet on top so you can see through it).  Last I added a black, sheer ribbon bow.  Easy!!  I was very happy with how it turned out!

Two of my favorite bloggers, Jodi and Sami, are co-hosting a workout linkup for the month of June.  Every Monday they are posting a new workout to do for a week, then the following Monday you linkup and tell how it went (with pictures, of course!).  They are also throwing in a Wednesday linkup with healthy snack ideas.  Love this idea!  And their button is a hoot!  Makes a person want to join in on the fun even more! LOL!  I hope you go check them out and link up!

I wish you all a wonderful week!

Erin