Week in photos

DEEP into Wall-E.

Yoga at school.

A cute pic, but this day was really quite scary...

 

 
It all started when Ben woke up and the first thing he asked me was, "Mom, will you carry me to my toys"?

My first response was, "Uh, NO - you can walk to your toys...."...but when I actually made him do it, I saw that he was LIMPING.  And it wasn't just a slight limp - it looked serious.

He pointed to the spot where it hurt (his hip flexor) but couldn't tell me much else.  Watching him get up from a seated position looked painful.

After monitoring him most of the day, (and bringing this pillow from his tent to his truck area so he could still play), I finally called his doctor to see what they suggested.  They wanted to see him immediately, which I should have assumed.  

After a physical exam, they had him do an X-Ray.  After the X-Ray revealed nothing, they suggested a blood test.  When I asked them what they would be testing his blood for, the doctor (hesitantly) told me the (extremely scary) things they would want to rule out.

I decided to give him a day or two to see if it would improve because while my mind had already gone to a DARK place, I also didn't want to unnecessarily traumatize him with a blood draw until I knew it wasn't an injury.

Luckily, the next day he was a little better, and the next day he was nearly 100% better, and now he is completely fine.  No further testing necessary. Must have either been a scooter injury, or possibly this, and we are all very relieved.

Laryd turned 7!

Ben enjoyed playing with Cora!

Silly faces before work :)

Fabkids, a division of Fabletics, offered a free first outfit for the cost of shipping (4.95).  I got Ben a plaid flannel shirt and a pair of cute sweatpants (5T...!) and when we opened the package, Ben hugged them to him and said "I LOVE my clothes!  They are so comfy cozy"!  Adorable.  I've never seen him enthused about his clothing like that before. #mamasboy

Meal Planning: Week of August 30th

Review from last week:

I failed to get a picture of the Jambalaya Greg made, but we had it for 2 nights and it was great :)

Leftover pasta (frozen from last week) and salad:

 

Carnitas for 2 nights:

 

Plan for next week:

Saturday: Burgers and salad.

Sunday: Tandoori chicken and Salad.

Monday: Chicken Lettuce Wraps

Tuesday: Leftovers

Wednesday: Tomato Basil Soup and Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

And this concludes my meal planning for the next month!  My MIL Marcia Ingle (will be) in the HOUSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSE, so I'm happily turning my kitchen over to her.  I will be her sous chef ;)  Time to kick our workouts up a notch to accommodate all the treats we will be consuming during the month of September :)

Meal Planning: Week of August 24th

Review from last week:

Japanese Pancakes.  I made these for us on a night where I wasn't feeling all that great, which was a mistake.  You know how you can ruin food when you eat it when you already feel ill?  I hope I didn't temporarily ruin this dish for myself!

Baked pasta with sausage and spinach.  Love this dish. It freezes really well, too.  I portioned it out into zip lock bags and then put them all into a freezer bag.

Flank steak, slow roasted cherry tomatoes and a margarita.

3 really good and healthy Blue Apron meals this week:

Cod and Fregola Sarda with braised summer vegetables.

Tandoori-Spiced Chicken with lentils and eggplant with a cucumber-mint yogurt sauce.

Ben helped me make the salsa for this one.  Seared pork chops and kamut (a rice/grain) with corn, spinach and stone fruit-cherry tomato salsa.  

Plan for next week:


Saturday: No plans.  Will likely just throw something together (like burgers...).

Sunday: Jambalaya

Monday: Leftover pasta from last week (I froze half of it because it makes so much)!

Tuesday: Leftover Jambalaya

Wednesday: Mexican Slow cooked pork carnita tacos

Thursday: Leftovers

Friday:  Going out to eat and then to music in the park in Bothell!

Week in photos

Spent a lazy morning drinking coffee and building towers and cars with Ben.

As of late, we have been going through a transition from nap to no nap.  We are currently at the point where Ben can easily go without a nap.....until about 4:30 or 5pm, when he often hits a wall and just.cannot.deal. with life's harsh realities (like me or anyone else telling him no).  On the days where I can convince him to nap, he will often sleep for 2-3 hours, waking up at 5pm, being delightful for the remainder of the evening, but isn't interested in sleeping until after 10pm.

On these nights, when he is wide awake when Greg and I are ready for bed, we have been bringing him into bed with us.  (Okay, FINE - he has been starting the night off with us for the past month or two at least).  It's great, because extra snuggles are always welcome, but it is also strange - because Ben has always been such a happy, independent sleeper.

On this particular night, I was up late watching housewives with these two passed out HARD next to me.  

PS carrying Ben's 40 pound body back to bed is probably why my back has been hurting me the past few weeks!

In the back corner of our yard is Ben's "construction site".  After our weekend away, he was really excited to get back to his digging. 

I stripped him down outside after playing trucks, but he insisted on "helping" me with dishes before getting into his bath.

While Rachel and Peter were in Cabo, I had the pleasure of spending an evening with Raleigh!  We had less than 2 hours together before he was ready for bed, but we made the most of them :)

Met Callie and the girls at the park to ride bikes/scooters and play!  A blast as always :)

This past week I've been on vacation, which has been so nice!  (Vacations at home are excellent).  We kicked it off with at date night out!  After our dinner with Denali, Kyle and Oliver a couple weeks ago, they offered to take Ben for an evening while we went out on our own! (THANK YOU, again)!!

Meanwhile, Ben was having a blast with Oliver!

Spraying Greg with his firetruck!

A little alone, together time.

Play date at the park with Steph, Mason and Kylie! (Selfies while we waited).

My (new ish) boss, Loren, and I had been talking a couple weeks ago about the big hedge he had on his property that he had trimmed that past weekend.  When I asked him what equipment he used, he starting asking if we had a hedge too, and asked if we wanted to borrow his stuff.  Then out of the blue, he called to offer to come over with the equipment and assist Greg with getting the job done.  HOW NICE.   (He really is the best).

Shauna, Bronson and Alivia came over for dinner and a play date.  These two took every single toy out and covered the bathroom floor with water from their bath, but had a BLAST.  Ben is still talking about it.

We spent Thursday relaxing at home.  Ben is coming down with a cold, which I think he might be giving to me, but maybe that is to be expected after such a fun week :)

 

Just a random picture capturing part of our bedtime routine :)  (Brushing teeth).  Also, big boy underwear is adorable.

Meal Planning: Week of August 17th

Review from last week:

I have to say, this past week has been a phenomenal week of eating :) 

On Saturday, Greg grilled up some tandoori chicken to go with the butter tomato sauce, thus giving us our Butter Chicken.

 

Sunday, Greg did something new with these burgers (or perhaps, went back to his old recipe), but either way we agreed that THESE were the best.

Possibly my favorite meal EVER now.  Flank steak (courtesy of Greg), slow roasted cherry tomatoes, avocado slices, sauteed onions, and a sprinkle of ranchero cheese.  

 

An old favorite recipe, chicken stuffed with prosciutto, red peppers, cheese and spinach.  That morning, Skinnytaste posted this carrot w/ truffle oil and feta recipe that was calling out to me - so I made that, too - along with a salad.

 

Last night was chili.  I also felt that last minute we needed corn bread, and I had everything (but the jalapenos) to make this cheddar cornbread with maple syrup drizzle recipe.  Yum.

 

Tonight is leftovers :)

Plan for next week:

Saturday: Going to check out Celebrate Woodinville - a festival near home and eat at the food trucks for dinner.

Sunday: Japanese Pancakes

Monday: Baked Pasta with Sausage and Spinach

Tuesday: Leftovers

Wednesday: Blue Apron Meal: Seared Cod & Fregola Sarda with Braised Summer Vegetables

Thursday: Blue Apron Meal: Seared Pork Chops with Corn, Spinach & Stone Fruit-Cherry Tomato Salsa

Friday: Blue Apron Meal: Tandoori-Spiced Chicken with Green Lentils, Eggplant & Cucumber-Mint Yogurt