If my children need proof of my love for them..

Halloween is it. I'm so not a Halloween fan. Or rather, a trick or treating fan. Knocking on doors and sticking your basket out expecting candy? uh. So tacky. But now that my kids are old enough to enjoy it, I suck it up and enjoy it right there with them. The joy Jasper gets out of it makes it so worth it. Tindra doesn't quite get it, but she carried that little pumpkin basket like a champ. And if nothing else, it's a good lesson in eye contact, saying thank you's and patience, so there's that at least!

There will (of course) be more pictures of the ridiculous adorable pirate and his parrot up tomorrow! 

Our day at the pumpkin patch!

I didn't take a ton of pictures (but I did use my video camera which pretty much never happens, now I just need to find the damn cord to upload it) but here are some that I (we) did take! Seeing Tindra run around at the pumpkin patch for the first time (last year she could only sit!) reminded me so much of Jasper at the pumpkin patch when he was her age. He was in Heaven. He thought we had brought him to a field of orange balls, or 'bums' as he called them. 

 ^Jasper most definitely is starting to have his moments where he refuses to look at the camera, so we roll with it^

Last weekend I had some of my best girls over for a long overdue girls night. I can't tell you how amazing these girls are. Living so far away from family, I'm constantly reminded how blessed I am to have such good friends in our lives! Three out of four of these ladies I met when our kids were in gymnastics (back when they were just barley 2!) and here we are with 6 year olds! So insane when I think about it! Half of us have since moved, two of us have added siblings into the mix, our kids have all started school, and our get together are more spaced out now with all of our busy lives, but that just makes our get togethers that much more fun!
Drew was kind enough to cook for us (and even cleaned up the kitchen afterwards!) so I got to sit and enjoy company and do lots of catching up. Can't wait to get together with you ladies again! (I think these are the only ones in my life that actually know about this little blog!) 

Putting it out here to motivate myself.

Because you guys are going to hold me accountable, right? 
I keep falling off the whole couch to 5k bandwagon. I start, I get to where I can semi comfortably run 1.5 miles or so, then for whatever reason I stop. Then start back from square one. 
And the thing is, I pretty much always have legit excuses for stopping too. I was doing good this summer with working out since I had the family Y membership. But then that expired, and Jasper is in school all day, and I have H 3-4 days a week. There isn't time during the day to go to the Y. There just isn't. And going after school isn't an option either. I don't get enough time with Jasper during the day anymore, so hell no am I going to work out during the hours I actually get to spend time with him. 
So that leaves either late at night (8 or later) or super early in the morning. 
I was going for a while right at 7 just for a little jog around the neighborhood. But then, fall hit and now it's pitch black by 7. And while I live in a safe neighborhood, I'm not a fan of running alone in the dark. 
So I switched to early morning, like 6:30. But now it's dark till about 6:50 also, and I have to be back by 7 so that's a no go. Plus it's freaking COLD by 6:30 here, and while I don't mind the cold, running in the cold? Is way harder! And I don't need it to be any harder, as I still suck at running and it's hard enough for me without adding that lovely element. 
So, new plan? I bought a new double stroller/bike trailer. My other double jogging stroller is Really hard to maneuver and push. I could seriously only jog while pushing it for two minutes tops. No bueno.  So I'm going to try to run pushing the girls (T and H(girl I nanny 3-4 days a week) after we drop Jasper off at school 3 days a week at least. And lots of long walks the other days! Also, I've started a little ab challenge for myself as well. 5 minutes of planks a day (not total, yea right.) And, lastly, I bought a fit bit (measures how many steps I walk in a day) and I'm averaging 9-10K a day, but I'd like to make a weekly goal of 75 thousand steps (including my jogs) which is about 37-38 miles. So now you guys have to keep me accountable! I'll update with how it goes! 

Three years ago we said I do.

We had been a family long before we made it 'official', but having that special day with our families and friends (all 300ish that made it, from several countries and many states) was something I'll never forget. I'd get married a hundred times (to the same man) just to be able to spend that day with all of our loved ones. 

It's been almost 9 years together, and I love him something fiercely. We haven't always had an easy 9 years, and I'm not going to gush and pretend that marriage isn't hard, because damn it is FREAKIN HARD, some days/weeks harder than others. It's work. Lots of work. But to quote the great Ben Affleck "There's no one I'd rather work with"

Headband giveaway

Today Holly is offering up one gorgeous baby girl head band of your choice, so make sure you enter! She is also giving 20% off readers right now with the code Sprinkles1013, good time to get started on your Christmas shopping (anyone else get started yet?!?)




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A day for the books.

Or ya know, blog. Same thing.  Jasper had Monday and Tuesday off (thank you Columbus!) and we had the best, jam packed two days. I just miss him so incredibly much with him in school all day, that having an extra two days, just me and my two little ones (because he's still little to me even though he will probably be taller than me before he's 10) was magical. We went to the Children's museum. And to the Denver aquarium. And the library. And lunch. And Ikea. And the mall. And we stayed up late making rainbow loom bracelets (his new obsession) We made dessert (chocolate covered bananas) We read. A lot a lot.  It was just a truly special couple of days. I'm so grateful for this boy. And this girl.

Lighten up.

I'm sure by now most of you have seen the Facebook "Hot Mom' drama. If not, here's a little run down from what I gather. A fitness fanatic mom of three young boys posted this picture and people went nuts. Some, congratulating her, but many freaked out, calling her a bully, 'fake', obnoxious and even going so far as saying her three sons aren't really hers. Implying that she didn't carry and give her birth to her babies because she looks too good? It's disgusting. 

Image

Yes, she looks amazing. She works her ass of for that body though. Literally. So what is it to anyone else? She works out hard an hour every day and eats healthy. Yes I get the 'What's your excuse' comment might be offensive to some, but honestly? Get over it. I see is saying, hey look moms, I have three young kids too, if I can do this, so can you. And she's right. Most of us could have some version of that body if we cared enough to do something about it. Do my abs/legs/arms look like that? Not even close. Could I put in the effort if it was something I really wanted to get to look like that? Okay maybe not Exactly like that as genetics do play a part plus I've had a c-section (maybe she has to?) but yes I could be a LOT more satisfied with my body if it was important enough to me to put in that kind of effort. But it's not. And I like my donuts and mcdonalds french fries too much. And yes I even complain that I don't have the time to work out because I'm at home with kids all day, but all that really means is I don't want to sacrifice my time. I don't Want to wake up at 5 AM and go to the gym. Nor do I Want to go to the gym at 9 at night. I just don't care enough. And I think most people are like me. We complain about not having enough time, but really we do have the time. We just choose to spend that time sleeping/eating/cleaning/blogging/stalking facebook/watching TV. Etc. 
I know this is just a long rant, but it's a slow blogging week over here and I'm just sort of frustrated with these kinds of attacks on (usually successful) people. If you feel so threatened by someone else's success maybe do something about it? But don't resort to bashing those that do put the work in.
The end of my rant. For now :) 

Clean Eating Recipe: Chicken Sliders with Parmesan Fries

I'm obviously not a food blogger, since I'm going to post a recipe without (gasp) a whole bunch of pictures. My excuse, one Drew made dinner (following, mostly the recipe I had set out for him) and two, I had no clue it would be That good. But I'm sort of pissed (not really, but sort of) that Drew's always hungry friend stopped over because he ate the last 4 sliders and those would have been SO GOOD today for lunch! Oh wells. We (Drew) will be making it again soon!
The recipe is one from emeals and it's a good one, we made a few changes so this is what we (again, Drew) did
Ingredients 1 1/2 pound boneless skinless chicken breast diced 1 pear 1 cup minced yellow onion 12 mini whole wheat buns 3/4 cup plain greek yoghurt 1/2 cup peeled chopped cucumber 2 tablespoons lemon juice 1 tablespoon dill weed 2 sliced tomatoes lettuce leaves salt pepper olive oil

for the fries 2/3 c shredded fresh parmesan 3 garlic cloves minced salt paprika cayenne pepper any type of organic potatoes cut into wedges olive oil
For the chicken, pulse chicken, pear and 3/4 of your onion in a food processor until ground, then form into 12 small patties then sprinkle with a bit of pepper and salt, coat with a bit of olive oil. Throw them on the grill till done- about 4-5 minutes on each side.
In a bowl combine, the rest of the onion, your greek yoghurt, cucumber, dill week lemon juice and a little bit of salt. This will go on top of your chicken when it's done. Also with a slice of tomato and lettuce. 
Stick your buns on the grill for a minute also to get them nice and crunch!
For your parmesan fries (might want to prep these first!) on a baking sheet drizzle olive oil over the potatoes, and top with your garlic, parmesan, salt, paprika and cayenne pepper. Pop them in the oven at 475 until they are gold brown, flipping once. Ours took about 40 minutes. 
That's it! Seriously one of the best meals Drew's ever made (and he makes a MEAN broccoli cheddar soup) and it's nice and healthy also (which his soup is Not!)

Food,family, photography and friends! Some of my very favorite things.

We had one of those simply amazing weekends, you know, where Sunday comes around and you get sort of depressed because you really really REALLY don't want it to be over? Yeah that amazing. But luckily, I sort of feel like our weekend isn't ending, since Jasper has tomorrow AND Tuesday off. I don't know who is more excited about that, me or him. Probably me. 

Lunch date with this little lady that now picks out her own outfits

Sometime decided they didn't like the Halloween story. She Freaked out randomly when Jasper picked up a scary mask. Poor girl. Mean parents for subjecting her to that. But we did succeed in getting some Adorable costumes for the kiddos!

She recovered enough to eat all of the black beans, salsa, and guacamole from Chipotle

And then I went and got my hair done! I haven't had it colored since high school..

After! Looks a lot more reddish in the sun!

After my haircut (where I got to read an entire magazine front to back, or actually back to front, which is the only way I can read a magazine, weird fact) I had a photo shoot in Wash Park for this gorgeous family! I'm super pleased with how they turned out!

And then this same beautiful family came for dinner! It ended up being a late night but so much fun. The kids get along great, the moms get along great, the dads get along great, it's a perfect combination! Plus, the mom is Swedish so ya know I love her!

 Playing outside after dark! 

I rediscovered my love of apple cider!

Today was more low key, hanging out, editing pictures, sipping on coffee while drew and the kiddos played right next to the office. Favorite thing about my new office (even more than my fabulous new iMac) is that it's right off the family room/play room so even in the office I can see/be apart of what's going on. 

I came home from Swedish school with the kiddos to Drew making another clean eating meal recipe. And this one guys, is Fantastic. Definitely going to become a regular here. Chicken sliders with parmesan french fries. Yep, delicious. 

Hope your fall weekend was just as fantastic as mine!