Treat Yourself Tuesday

Linking up with my advo-buddy Becky over at Olives 'n' Wine for a Treat Yourself Tuesday post.

This past week has been a busy one (just like every other one). Being a mom it's hard to treat yourself but I managed to get a little of that in this week. Since it was my birthday a couple weeks ago, I had some extra spending money and where did I go??? LuLu of course =) I got myself a cute pair of shorts for this hot weather. Check them out. AND, they are reversible!

Along with my shorts, I also painted my toes (I know, boring) and treated myself to some york peppermint patties! =)

Five on Friday # 9

Hi Friends!! Linking up with Natasha over at Hello!Happiness and the ladies, for a 5 on Friday.

Here is our week in review. 

[one] Monday: I took Mason to his speech therapy class. As we pulled into the driveway he started to whine a bit because he didn't want to go but once we walked in the door he was all smiles and eager to see his teacher and go in the playroom. After speech class, I took the boys on a Costco run. Owen was a little under the weather on Mother's Day so he didn't feel 100% on Monday either. After our naps, we played outside and had popsickles - my kids favorite snack now! They definitely aren't my favorite because they are SOOO messy! 

[two] Tuesday: Normally I work on Tuesdays but this week I had the day off. The boys and I went to the local splash pad in our neighborhood since it was SCORCHING hot.... What is with this weather?! Ugh, it's draining me!! I love watching my boys play because they are at the age where Owen wants to do EVERYTHING that Mason is doing. It melts me. 

[three] Wednesday: On Wednesdays, Mason has his skating/hockey lessons in the morning. This was his second class and he actually did improve quite a bit since last weeks class... Mom was impressed! He still hasn't completely figured out the skating on his own yet, but he's close..... He has some hockey skates of his own but this week, they advised us to switch him to the regular figure skates to learn on. Apparently the hockey skates are like learning to skate on bananas.....Whoops! Daddy got in trouble for this one =) After skating and naps, we played outside and Owen got stung by a bee =( It was so sad.... Mason had just started to "squirt water" as he refers to it (playing with the hose) and about 3 bees came out. Owen was playing at the water table and suddenly came crying to me with his finger pointing out.... I automatically assumed he got stung and looked at his finger. Sure enough, there was an entire stinger and the butt of the bee in his middle finger, poor little Owen! He was such a trooper and let me pull it out and put some baking soda paste on it. If one good thing came from this, it was that we now know Owen is not allergic to bees! Lastly, after dinner, we watched the Kings game with daddy. Victory!!! GKG! 

 

[four] Thursday: On Thursday we had a big morning. I took the boys to Scooter's Jungle and we met some friends there. They had a toddler time which was basically just an open play. Scooter's Jungle is an indoor inflatable jumper place. They have THE BEST and biggest inflatable slide that both of my boys love. After Scooter's Jungle, we all went to Wahoo's for lunch. The boys were pooped after this! After our LONG naps, we went to Home Depot and I picked out some sample paints/stainers for our next DIY project - painting our backyard fence!! We put the samples on the fence and made our selection so we are hoping to get this done over the weekend.... Wish us luck!! 

[five] Friday: Today, I had my first ever chiro appointment this morning. It was an examination appointment and the chiro did find some trigger (?) spots on my back and a couple areas on my spine that are out of alignment..... I don't think it's a huge deal but at my next appointment I will find out how we will go about fixing my back pain! Any other moms out there have some crazy back pain from lugging their kids around & breastfeeding?! It's horrible!!! My husband finally told me I need to stop relying on him for back massages and go get checked out! After my appointment, we went with my mom to the mall (since it's about 100 degrees here & smokey) and had lunch at Ruby's... my boys LOVE Ruby's. They are now napping and after naps, they get to go to grandma & grandpa's house to hang out for the night while mommy and daddy head down to a bar in Newport to watch the Kings game..... GKG!!!! 

That's it for now.... Here are some pictures from our Mother's Day last Sunday! Hope everyone enjoys there weekend!! <3

Five on Friday # 5

I'm linking up with Natasha over at Hello! Happiness for a Five on Friday post. Can't believe this will be my fifth FOF link-up! Seems like I JUST started doing these. Alright, let's get to it!

[one] Have you heard the remix of John Legend's, All of Me, featuring Tiesto? If not, I suggest you go download from iTunes right now! It's such a good jam and I am loving it right now. Here's another great song for all my country listeners - Thomas Rhett, Get Me Some of That! You better bet it's on my playlist already!!!!

[two] I made some clean banana pancakes TWICE this week. These are amazing. The only downside is they were a little hard to flip. Also, I tried my NutriBullet the second time to mix the bananas & eggs together and it worked really good.

To feed my two young [hungry] boys: 1 ripe banana, 2 eggs, cinnamon & vanilla to taste.

[three] Watch out everyone, Mason has officially begun his road to the Stanley Cup! At least that's what his dad thinks. ;) Andrew (hubby) tries to take Mason ice skating once a week and this past time was his first time with all his gear. He is still learning how to skate on his own but is loving it! Here are some pictures from this past week when he went. The free skate times are awful - during naps - so I usually stay home with Owen so he can take a nap. =( I get to pretend I'm there though because my family usually goes and they all send me pictures! GO KINGS GO!

 


As you can tell, Mason was DUNZO after his skating and took a nap on the couch with daddy (he NEVER sleeps on the couch).

[four] I tried a new clean recipe this week and I would say it was a success. Lol. My only hesitation with saying it was a success was the fact that it was way to spicy! I tried this buffalo chicken quinoa salad recipe. It was so yummy but we literally had to drink a glass of water after each bite (no joke)! After we finished, I even checked the recipe again to see if I put the wrong amount of hot sauce in the dressing, but nope, I got the right amount. I should probably email the chick who wrote this recipe and let her know she is a little insane with her hot sauce (or maybe she had a typo?)! When I told my husband that the dressing called for 1/2 cup of hot sauce, he told me I was an idiot and should have realized that was way too much hot sauce.... Whoops! All in all, try the recipe, but I would recommend cutting the hot sauce, at least in half (you can always add more if needed). Let me know how it turns out. For my 24 day challenger friends, make it without the blue cheese crumbles and you are good to go!!

[five] Fruit Punch Friday anyone? As all of you know, I am on the AdvoCare train and my favorite product is their SPARK. So I've decided that it's time I share my favorite spark flavor with some of my blog readers! I will send a sample of my favorite flavor to the first 14 people to leave their email address in the comments below!

Tired moms, get on this! It's nicknamed "mommy juice" for a reason and saves my sanity every morning (and then again at 3 pm if needed ;))!!! Ready...set...go!

Also - for anyone interested, we are having another group challenge that begins on April 7th. It's not too late to join in on the fun! Contact me for details!

Thanks for stopping by, Happy Friday Friends!!

Treat Yourself Tuesday # 3

Hi Friends! Linking up with Becky at Olives 'n' Wine for a Treat Yourself Tuesday post. This past week was a treat in itself because my husband was between jobs so we got to have him home!!!! Of course, he had plenty of tax returns that he had to get out the door so he was stuck on his laptop most of the time, but it was still nice to have lunch with him and just see him, lol! On Thursday of last week, we got to go to lunch with some of his colleagues to one of my favorite places, Agora!!!!! It is a Brazilian Steakhouse.... Have you ever been to one?? This place is so good and soo nice. I got to eat everything from sausage to bacon wrapped filet, to chicken hearts (except I didn't eat these!). And did I mention they have the BEST cheese filled rolls? Oh man, I'm drooling just thinking about it. We had the buffet which includes all the side dishes/salads/extras that you want, and then men dressed as gauchos come around to your table with skewers of meat for you to try! It is quite the experience. I HIGHLY recommend this place to anyone who enjoys eating meat (or anyone who has a husband that enjoys meat). Go try it and thank me later. =)

The hubby and I got to go shopping together WITHOUT the kids on Sunday.... this was a treat in itself! Since my hubby started a new job yesterday, he wanted to buy a new wardrobe, literally! So I helped him buy new dress shirts & new work shoes. Can I just say that I thought I had expensive taste until he tried on two different styled Hugo Boss shirts and told me one of them was "cheap feeling"!!!! We both laughed at how ridiculous of a statement that was. When we were at the mall, I made a lot of returns (one of my new hobbies, sorry Nordstrom & Macy's) & treated myself to a new shirt! Here is a picture of what the back look likes and here is a picture of the front on me. Love this shirt!

Lastly, I treated myself to another 24-Day Challenge!!! I am going to be starting on April 7th with a bunch of mommy friends (and tons of others) in a group challenge. I'm so excited!! I did my first challenge back in January and had some great results that I wanted to do another one to get back in the swing of things 100%. Currently, I try and eat clean about 80% of my time, but I can't wait to be back on a challenge. It is so much fun for some reason.... sticking to a plan and CHALLENGING MYSELF to prove I do have will-power and I can eat healthy (and see results!). If you are interested in learning about the challenge, send me an email or you can click here to purchase your 24 day challenge bundle! I will be notified of your purchase and send you an invite to join our Facebook group which is the only way I'm able to stay on track! We all share clean recipes, meal plans, workouts and just a whole bunch of support and encouragement! Here is a picture of my AdvoCare products.

Five on Friday # 3

Happy Friday!! I am linking up with April over at A. Liz Adventures today for a Five on Friday post! This is going to be totally random but here we go!!

[one] 
Earlier this week I took my kiddos to the park and had so much fun. Sometimes I forget how lucky I am to get to stay home with my boys and just enjoy them. We had so much fun - Mason and Owen loved running in circles up and down the gazebo ramp & chasing each other. It was also the first time I successfully got Owen to keep his hat on!!! I give kudos to Mason for this because he sets such a good example for his little brother and always wears his. =)

[two] 
It was my birthday on Wednesday and of course, I over-indulged. Here is a picture of the most amazing cake ever!!! Have any of you tried Nothing Bundt Cakes? They are AMAZING! The one I got was red velvet .... yummm! They are also decorated so cute. A must try if you have one located near you.

[three] 
I was in search of an easy crockpot chicken recipe that was Advocare friendly so I threw something together and it turned out good! I was so proud of myself. I butterflied my chicken breasts (they cook better this way, in my opinion), cut up some garlic cloves, and threw both in the crockpot. Then I top them with a clean marinara sauce & some fresh mushrooms, and cooked them on low. After they were done, I piled the chicken ontop of some mung bean noodles. It was super easy & healthy. I will be posting the recipe once I get it down on paper so stay tuned. Here is a picture of the final product! (BTW - if you like to eat clean and haven't tried these yet, I suggest you go buy them now!!!)

[four] 
This week was the first week I successfully got cute shoes on Owen. I was so happy! That kid has such chunky ankles and feet that, up until this point, has been so difficult to find shoes that fit him right. I thought this was worthy enough to celebrate, haha!

[five]
I found out that my parents' fruit trees have filled with tons and tons of fruit so I snagged some lemons, grapefruits, tangelos, oh, and some roses, from their house. =)

Well, there you have it. My Five on Friday. Thanks for the link up ladies. Have a great weekend everyone!!