Archives for posts with tag: play

Warm Salady Weather

March 14, 2015 //

No new recipe last night! It was make your own meal out of leftovers night. Those are fun too. Spring has been in the air. It was so gorgeous outside yesterday. The warmest it has been lately. All week has been warm but yesterday took the cake.

We have been getting outside every day. Even if it is for a short while.

As I was sitting on that blanket with the baby last night I wanted a salad. I wanted something fresh, cold, crisp, and light for dinner. Spring and summer scream salads. For me at least. I still had my leftover Lemon Thyme Chicken. I even saved the zoodles/yoodles. I threw together some spinach, arugula, and carrots in a bowl. I cut up the cold chicken, threw that in there. Then I poured the reserved sauce and veggies over the salad. It was delish! Two healthy meals just from one night of cooking.

To keep at it with this beautiful weather I am going for a run this morning outside. With a new pair of running shoes. Life is better in pretty weather. At least it is when you have recently had a baby and have been cooped up in sub zero temps! I am so excited about the spring and summer I can barely contain myself. I love to be outside. I love to GO places with my boys. I love to have adventures. This weather makes it so much easier. Alexander is getting older. Jackson is practically self sufficient. I expect a lot of adventure is headed our way.

Do you love easy leftover meals?

Do you love to have adventures in gorgeous weather? What are some of your favorite spring/summertime things to do outside?

Tags baby, chicken, dinner, fitness, kids, leftovers, outdoors, outside, play, preschooler, recipes, running, salad

Categories Jack, Recipes, Running

Rainy Day Remedy

August 21, 2014 //

I have started and failed to finish several posts this week. It has been difficult for me to get into a good writing flow. They were all very long posts but they just didn’t seem right to me. They all were incomplete as well. I have had a lot on my mind but the words just won’t form correctly. Today, though, I am going to try a bit harder.

Yesterday evening I was thinking to myself that I would really enjoy it if I had a rainy day tomorrow. A day to just slow me down a little bit. A reason to stay inside, cuddled up with my sweetheart. A day where I could use the bad weather as an excuse to not run errands, go somewhere fun, walk to the park, or whatever ever else came up.

For over a week I haven’t slept through the night. Last night was no exception. As I lay in bed I considered a walk to the park with Jackson today. No workout, take a rest day because I haven’t taken a rest day in over a week either. But a nice 1.5 mile walk and maybe some swimming. My brain was active as I lay in bed considering all the things I could do today. I finally decided to get myself up for the day, having stayed in bed a bit later knowing I didn’t plan on fitting in a workout. Alexander started slowing moving around, then kicking. It was time to start my day.

Imagine my surprise as I waddled into my kitchen, not greeted by the usual beaming sunlight that radiates through the massive set of windows we have. I was greeted by grey sky, rain, clouds, and utter wetness outside. My heart skipped a beat. My rainy day! I hadn’t even checked the weather forecast yesterday. I had no idea rain was coming. I just wished it would, to force me to slow down a touch. As I sit here and write I am accompanied by the sounds of rain falling on my skylights. Heavy raindrops writing their own song. Jackson is still asleep. He likes to sleep late on rainy mornings. There is no sun radiating around the small space around his blackout blinds.

I am not sure what we will do today. My dishes could be washed. I was too tired last night to wash the ones from dinner. Legos are already spread across my kitchen table. Except for the small area I am afforded for my meals and well my laptop I am typing on now. We have a ton of books we could read. I have a new big Ninja Turtles coloring/activity book we could make our marks on. Maybe we will do all of them. If he keeps sleeping much longer, there won’t be a nap today. Especially on a day where we don’t wear ourselves out playing outside or going on an adventure.

As I sipped my coffee earlier, watching the rainy day, I couldn’t help but thank my Gma (that is what I called her a lot). I can’t help but feel like she may have had a hand in providing me with exactly what I needed this week. Forcing me to slow down a little, her girl who is always on the go. Thanks Gma, you did me a solid.

View from my kitchen

Tags adventure, beach, challenge, children, coping, family, family time, goodbye, happiness, Happy, health, healthy lifestyle, home, indoor play, kids, lake, life, life changes, maternity, momma, mommy, moms, mother, motherhood, nature, parenthood, parenting, parents, park, parks, play, Play time, Playtime, pregnancy, pregnant, prenatal, preschooler, preshcoolers, reading, relax, relaxation, son, sounds, stay at home mom, storms, strength, weather, writing

Categories family, Loss

Much needed family time!

May 28, 2012 //

This weekend, Memorial Day weekend, has been fantastic. The weather has been phenomenal! Yesterday we had a “day off.” No parties, no visitors, no obligations. Just the three of us enjoying a family day together!

It was much needed. We are always so busy we rarely have time for days like yesterday. Sometimes I really hate that. I mean Jack is barely 16 months old (he is officially 16 months in a week from today). It is kind of insane how busy we get with obligations and activities. It will only get worse the older he gets.

So sometimes it is nice to just take some time to spend together and ignore the rest of the world. We had a very outside day!

The morning and early after noon consisted of a trip the the spray park/beach down the street.

woo hoo spray park!

We took him a bit last year. He was still a little blob though. Mostly not even able to sit up on his own. He liked sitting in the water but couldn’t do much. I don’t think he remembered this place. It took him a second to warm up. It was kind of funny watching him walk around looking like he was thinking what the heck is this place! Then he had a blast!

We haven’t had time to do one of these pics in a while!

We used to always take photos like this. It seemed to have stopped after Jack was born. Too busy taking care of him or taking photos of him! But I made us stop for 2 seconds yesterday and take one. Ahhh the good old days!

Dad this is so fun

My boys were soaked! We were all having a blast. Jack is squealing with joy in this photo, not crying. He would just run around squealing. It was adorable. He cracks me up!

We hung out there for a quite a while. Then Jack spotted the beach….and pointed to it…..soooo….

first bikini photo of the year….

sand!

He thought the lake was TOO cold! But he loved the sand! I am hoping he likes the water a bit more as it warms up over the summer. But he really enjoyed the sand. We have a small beach in our backyard but I think it is a bit dirty. I don’t know who of our neighbors thinks it is ok to smoke there and toss their cigarettes but if I ever see them they will hear it from me. I think I have to get him a sandbox. This beach was pristine, it is paid to get in to. Mostly families. I didn’t notice any trash on the beach. But sometimes it would be easier to just walk out our door and play in a sandbox. Instead of hiking it up to the park.

dinner on the boat

After a very very very long nap on Jack’s part, we decided to have dinner on our boat. He LOVED the boat!He even kept pointing to other boats exclaiming “boat!!!!!”

no big deal just eating on the boat

It was like he was born and raised on the boat. No big deal to him. Walking around perfectly. Just eating the whole time. Playing with some toys. His hat even blew off and one point. Into the water. We had to turn around and Jason was able to grab it. Didn’t even phase him when I put the wet hat back on his head. This kid is a little boy through and through.

After our boat dinner we headed BACK to the spray park! I didn’t take any pics there because at that point I mean, they would look about the same as the morning. But we went and it was fun. We have a season pass. That is nice because we can come and go if we please. Without a season pass it is a bit expensive every day for adults. 8 dollars an adult each day! After a handful of visits the pass will have paid for itself.

Then Jackman stayed up until a bit after 9pm! We played in the living room. At one point all 3 of us started doing our own thing. Jack was in some other world playing with and arranging his toys. Happily playing on his own. Jason was on the floor playing a video game, and I was relaxing on the couch reading. So we ended the day of togetherness each doing an activity of our own choosing.

All in all it was a great family day. Today we have a birthday party to attend. Later this afternoon. I am going for a run after this. Gotta keep that bikini body looking acceptable! 🙂

Happy Memorial Day and thank you to all our troops past and present!

Tags beach, family, family time, lake, memorial day, park, play, sand, spray park, summer, weekend

Categories Exercise, fitness, Healthy Living, Jack, Momommahood, motherhood, parenthood, parenting, Running, toddler, toddlerhood, weather, working out

Beach in March? You betcha!

March 7, 2012 //

First thing is first. I love having a 13 month old during warmer weather! Love it. Last year at this time Jack was barely a month old, not doing much, and it was still pretty awful outside. Everyone was exhausted and overall, it wasn’t fun like it is now. Let’s face it, having a newborn in winter weather isn’t exactly fun. You are pretty much stuck inside.

Yesterday we went outside 3 different times. We went to the store, I made Jack walk holding my hands, through the parking lot. When we got home we played in our back yard.

He loved walking around outside

making his way through the grass

I truly believe you haven't had a full childhood until you have pressed your face to a screen. He did this all on his own 🙂 Clearly my child

We had a blast. It was still morning time. We had a long and warmer day ahead of us. Nap time came after this trip outside. I have to say I found nap time particularly boring yesterday. I just kept hoping he would wake up soon so we could head to the park. It just looked too pretty outside to be stuck inside!

After he rested he agreed, a trip to the park was definitely needed.

This boy loves nothing more in life than being on a swing

Yay for Spring!

We had a blast. He played with some of his toys. Another boy came up and snatched one of his toys without asking. His face was priceless. He definitely does not like it when people act unfairly. He was not happy. He did something similar at the Children’s Museum last weekend when a 5 or 6 year old started shouting at him and messing with him and what he was playing with. He smacked the kid’s hand and stared him down. Yesterday he just gave the kid a dirty look because that kid’s mom intervened. I don’t want him hitting, however, at the Museum this kid that messed with him was in the wrong and Jack was only standing up for himself. We were in a baby/toddler area and this kid did not belong there. His mom actually picked him up and PUT him in the baby/toddler area! She was in the wrong and so I let my child handle himself. I was proud. We were right there if we needed to step in. I definitely want him to know that it is ok to stand up for yourself if someone is treating you wrong. Once he has more of a vocabulary we will work on using his words. For now the only way he could express those feelings was to swat the kids hand away from him.

On to the afternoon. We came home and had some down time and a snack. We watched some Toy Story 2 together. I had apples and peanut butter. Jack had his favorite movie snack, cheerios! We both started to get antsy before the movie was even over so back outside is where we went. We even walked down to the beach behind our house. I made him walk all the way there, holding my hands. He was interested in walking very close to the water. He loves swimming, but I explained to him that it was still way too cold for that. I know this summer we will be in this lake a lot. He was already itching to check it out. My little fishy!

He was interested in what was on his hand. He likes sand more than grass though

We spent a nice amount of time just playing in the grass. He was filling his buckets with toys, dumping them out, and filling them back up. Wait until he realizes you can do this with sand and dirt! I will admit, I was anxious over how dirty he was getting. Crawling on the ground and his new shoes were filthy (as you can see above) but I let it go. I have to get used to that, he is a little boy after all. I remember how filthy I got playing outside as a child and I am a girl! Granted I have two brothers, so my playmates were boys. I still have to get past my current “no don’t touch that” instinct. I think I did well yesterday. I didn’t stop him from doing anything that wasn’t dangerous! Phewf, I survived! He had a blast. And it felt good to get out of the stuffy indoor scene.

Today is supposed to be even warmer. We have swim in a little while. But I expect we will spend a good amount of time outside again. Maybe we will go to the other park that is a little farther of walk but smaller and more geared towards the littler ones.

Happy Spring!

Tags beach, fun, outside, park, play, playing outside, spring, toys, warm weather

Categories Healthy Living, Jack, Momommahood, motherhood, parenthood, parenting, toddler, toddlerhood, weather

Photoshoot and gymboree!

July 1, 2011 //

This week has been so busy. I have been doing a million things. We got a job for a photoshoot though Medela. They selected two mom/baby models to come that day. They made their final decision about who to shoot the day of. They went with the other pair (we still got paid!) because I am blonde and the last momma they used was blonde and we resembled one another. The other girl that came down that day had dark hair and her son had a lot of very dark hair. Little Jack has such light blonde hair that he looks bald. It is ok though. I was super disappointed but my hubby pointed out, we got paid and didn’t have to work. That is smart!

Walking around downtown

We had to go downtown, where we used to live. So we showed Jack the city and our old neighborhood. He seemed to love all the sights to see. We stopped at our old condo. Well we still own it but we obviously do not live there anymore. I think we had a blast showing him around. He even got to see what would have been his bedroom.

in our condo...want to buy it???

It turned out to be such a fun day together. He was so wonderful too. He was going with the flow. He was happy after catnaps. He never got a luxurious nap in like he normally does at least once a day. He didn’t seem to mind not being in familiar surroundings. He will be 5 months on Monday. He is really starting to grow up. I am enjoying it but I am also sad about it.

On the balcony with Dada

Yesterday we had a vet appointment for the kitties. This meant Jason stayed home again. We also had another fun day together. It was Gymboree day as well. Jason got to come with us for the first time. Jackson seemed to enjoy having us both there. It was wonderful for Jason to get to be involved in some of this fun stuff instead of always being at work while we run around doing activities. I also enjoyed watching him interact his own way.

Parachute time

I even stepped back and let them play without saying “no do it this way or no the song goes like this” GASP!!!! I know, I actually relaxed and let him take total control. Ok, so I didn’t do it RIGHT away but after a few minutes into class I did. That is a huge step for me. I am kind of a control freak, especially when it comes to my only son/child. I like things done a certain way. I know I need to give up some control, but not right now.

So happy to play with Dada

I have a million things to do today. Our house is a disaster since we really weren’t around much. I probably shouldn’t even be writing, but I decided to take a few moments to unwind this morning. I have been getting all of my exercise in despite being so busy. I haven’t missed a day! Today will probably be a pilates day, unless the temps stay under control then I will go running. I treated myself to some more new running gear yesterday. It is incredibly motivational to have new things to wear. I just want to put them on and use them right away!

This weekend is going to be even busier than the past couple of days. We have company coming over tomorrow and Sunday. Monday I have my 5k! AHH I DO need to get cleaning! YIKES! See you all next week!

Tags breastfeeding, Chicago, condo, downtown, family, family time, fitness, for sale, gymboree, motivation, pilates, play, real estate, running, working out

Categories Exercise, Healthy Living, Jack, Momommahood, Running