Jog-a-thon

Ella participated in her first jog-a-thon today, and it was so much fun!  She really hustled.  Thank you grandma & grandpa and grammy & pop pop for your donations!!!!  She definitely earned it. :)

Everett even ran a little bit with his sissy!

After the run, it was Otter Pop time!

First Lost Tooth!

Ella finally lost her first tooth today!  She is SO excited...so if you run into us this weekend, be prepared for a big smile from Ella...she wants to make sure EVERYONE sees it. :)

It has been loose forever, and Gary has been trying to pull it out, but she wouldn't let him.  Which is hilarious because the only reason it came out today is that one of her friend's dad's pulled it out in front of her classroom at school!!!  All the kids ask him to pull their teeth out!

He pulled another one of Ella's friend's teeth out today too (her second)!

Recommendations!

I haven't done this in forever, but I'm slightly obsessed with a few items lately and thought I'd share.  As usual, it's almost all Trader Joes!

(1) Broccoli Slaw Kale Salad from Trader Joes- oh my gosh- best.salad.ever.  It is NOT the lowest calorie because of the [absolutely delicious] dressing, but it's still healthy and my absolute favorite salad right now!

(2) Marcona almonds with rosemary from Trader Joes.  These are expensive ($6.99 for that tiny bag!), but so good.  They have these at Whole Foods and other stores, but I rarely go to WF so I was excited to see them at TJs.

(3) Iberico cheese from Trader Joes.  I've never even bought it, but they were sampling it, and I loved it!  So did the kids.  I will definitely buy this the next time we have friends over.

(4) Caprese salad from Costco.  This comes in a pack of two, and I really love it.  Mostly because of the dressing- it's just a balsamic vinaigrette, but it taste like they used balsamic glaze- yummy!

(5) This.  We were at a friend's house, and she grilled baguette pieces with olive oil and garlic on them.  Then she had a spread of ricotta, lemon pepper, salt and basil.  Then a bowl of heirloom tomatoes with olive oil.  I could NOT get enough.  I have a hard time eating breakfast so I thought this might incentivize me to eat it- it's not much different from cottage cheese with tomatoes, right?  My version is not as tasty because I use gluten free bread toasted with a bit of olive oil and garlic instead of delicious french bread, but it's still pretty yummy.  I've been eating it every morning! [I get TJs whole milk ricotta and TJs little heirloom tomatoes].

(6) This Bootcamp Calorie Burn workout video.  I really love it!  It's a good workout, but it's only 32 minutes so you can do it real quick in the morning.  I like the guy that teaches it too.  I'm not a huge fan of videos so it's great when I find one I like! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QtYgmDEddug

Oh Everett

This kid.  It's still crazy to me everyday that your kids, raised exactly the same, can have such opposite personalities!  He still hates soccer (well, he loves soccer and is really good at it- he hates his soccer CLASS), but Julie somehow managed to get a super cute photo of him and Sydney...

He just started swimming lessons with Coach Mike, a former Olympic swimmer.  It's an intensive 9 day class that guarantees the child will learn how to swim.  But of course, Everett hates it.  I'm debating uploading the video, but it's pretty hilarious.  Everett is SCREAMING the entire time, and the coach just ignores him and makes him swim to the side or whatever.  The coach claims that within 2 or 3 classes (he's only had 1 so far), he will be fine, but I'm fairly convinced that Everett will be his first child EVER to be unbreakable.  If it works, he'll be able to swim before his 5 year old sister because we couldn't get them in the same class so Ella's class doesn't start for two weeks.

And finally, Everett is becoming a total sassy pants!  We aren't used to this because although I know this is rare, Ella does not have the sassy bone.  She is just not sassy.  Never has been.  She is literally the only 5 year old girl I know that isn't sassy, but it's just not her personality.  Everett has never been very sassy either.  Difficult, yes.  Sassy, no.  That is changing my friends!  The other day, Gary says, "Everett, you need to stop."  Everett responds, "No, YOU need to stop."  oh.my.gosh.  I kind of think it's funny.  Gary, not so much! 

I've said it before, and I'll say it again, that kid is lucky he's so darn cute! ;)

Happy Mother's Day to Me!

The kids couldn't wait to give me their Mother's Day presents so I got them on Friday...best.gifts.ever.

Ella made me a flower and vase...

And gave me the best book...

My mom's favorite food is chocolate [haha!] but she doesn't like coffee [true- I only drink tea!].

The thing my mom likes to do for fun is shopping [this girl knows me!].

When my mom daydreams she thinks about playing with me.

She spends most of her time playing with me outside.
If mom could have one wish come true, she would wish for getting a new car [sure, why not?].

Mom helps our family by cleaning our house [you got that right sister!].

Everett made me this adorable picture of his hand prints!

Orange Rug?

I've purchased many rugs online.  Tons.  And they are often slightly different color than the photo- I understand computer monitors distort color.  I just ordered this rug for Everett's new big boy room...aren't the colors vibrant and pretty??

But what I got was this:

Um, does that look anything like the website picture??  Where is the orange and bright navy??  I'm so sad because I was so excited about that rug!  I think my days of buying rugs online are numbered.

But, it was probably meant to be because the southwestern pattern was pushing it for a nautical room.  I think I'll stick with my old favorite and get a sisal or jute rug. :)

Chicken update

One of the hens (either buffy or buttercup) became broody lately, which means she was sitting on the eggs trying to hatch them.  Which is fine if you have fertilized eggs and need a broody hen, but is very bad if you don't because the hen won't leave the coop until the eggs hatch (and they will never hatch because they are not fertilized) and can stop eating/drinking, get mites, they don't lay eggs, etc.  So you have to break her by doing things like putting ice packs in the nesting boxes, physically removing her and locking her out of the nesting boxes.  She was determined!  I would lock her out of the coop/run, and she would just circle it over and over and over trying to get back in the nesting boxes.  Any time I left it open, she would go back and lay on the eggs.  But we got lucky because it only took about a day to break her for good!  I was worried at first because apparently, you can't break some hens, and you have to give them away to someone that needs a broody hen.

The hens have become so domesticated that they now will sit by the French doors and peck on the glass to be let inside!  Any time we leave the doors open they run inside.  It's pretty funny.

And they got a new sign for their coop/run! :)