Here they are, my favorites of the week!  Knowing that I’m writing this post each week, I’m trying to be (and succeeding at being) aware of the good things each day.  I feel like this is a little “gratitude journal,” which is always a good thing!

Favorite Parenting Moment of the Week:

Grocery shopping with Bryson – for an hour – with no fits or frustrations from either of us!  Check this out!

I usually put him in my cart, but that just isn’t working out these days.  He screams, fusses, tries (and succeeds) to climb out, and then I lose my shit.  I had a TON of groceries to buy for the week (it’s fall, remember?  Soup, Pies, squash, BULK COOKING!) and I just didn’t want to deal with his temper so I let him shop behind me with a kid cart.  And it was… HEAVEN!  Yes, I said HEAVEN!  We shopped together, for an entire hour, and he stayed behind me the entire time and only ran into my ankles twice (and promptly, without solicitation, said a very sincere, “oh, sorry Mommy!”).  He was the star of the store – lots of senior citizens shopping at 9:30 AM on a Tuesday – and I was so proud of him!  Yes, he fooled everyone into thinking he’s this well-behaved most of the time (believe me, I assured them that this was NOT the norm – keeping it real!), but that’s OK if it means our little charade brings me a peaceful shopping experience with kids!

Favorite Outfit of the Week:

Yeah yeah, so this is very similar to last week’s favorite outfit, but I just love these camo pants!  I got compliments everywhere I went, and I did on the GnR shirt as well (which I totally understand, because it is awesome!).  The shoes, pants, and graphic tee are different from last week, so cut me some slack.  A close second this week, though, was an outfit you’ll see below because of the shoes.  I nailed it with the red shoes.

Carry on!

Favorite Meal of the Week:

Oh good lord, we made one of our favorite, FAVORITE paleo recipe this week.  Pork and pear stuffed acorn squash.  YUMM!  I have the recipe pictured in this post.  We have a quarter hog in our freezer, all free-range, lean hog (she processes them at 200 pounds when the big farms wait until 300 pounds) and it tastes way better than the other pork out there.  I think I touched on this last week.  Anyway, this meal hit a warm spot in my heart, being fall and all!

Favorite Purchase of the Week:

As the world knows, I’ve been obsessed with updating our home with photos.  While on Shutt.erfl.y the other day, their banner splashed this beautiful holiday dinner table with a table runner with photos.  COULD IT BE?  Well YES, it was!  I got to shopping right away and found this very cute Christmas themed one that goes with my “winter” snowflake dishes so you know, I just had to have it.  They were running a 40% off special so YES PLEASE!  It came today, it is beautiful, and I’m making one for Hottie’s parents for their housewarming gift (with pics of the entire family – not just us – in case you were wondering!).  It is going to kill me not to buy a more “general” themed one for us… but I can control myself.  I mean, the boys will destroy this in a New York minute  😉

Favorite Project of the Week:

Pumpkin painting!  Yes, I said it – pumpkin painting!  I do enjoy carving pumpkins, but honestly… it’s a pain in the butt.  I’m so glad that this is a trend right now because my kids do not have the attention span to carve pumpkins and Hottie doesn’t like doing it and I’d get stuck with 3 to carve once they all dropped off like flies.  So painting (and foam stickers) it is this year and we were all very happy!  Bryson didn’t do one, so I did his and it was awful, as expected.  But they’re on the porch, and it looks like we are fun, crafty, involved parents.  The pumpkins joined a collection of pumpkins and gourds on our porch which is a first for me… EVER.  See, I told you all I’m feeling way better being off the pill!

Favorite Fashion “Lesson Learned” of the Week:

I was a project manager of multi-million dollar technology and security projects prior to deciding to stay home with the kids.  I tend to run things in my life like I run projects when I’m working.  If I don’t have a project I’m working on, I’m not happy.  My obsession with data, metrics, budgets, etc. is probably understandable now that I’ve mentioned my past “working” life.  (I don’t think I’ve ever mentioned it before… weird.)  So when I’m working on a project in my life, I do manage it iteratively like my IT projects, which means constant review and feedback, even if only for myself.  HA HA!  This fashion “project” has been fun, and involves weekly reviews.  I still take daily photos of my outfits and look at them (hell, who am I kidding?  I scrutinize them!) each week.  The “lesson learned” this week?

I don’t like “boyfriend jeans.”  I do not like them at all.  They look cute in these photos, but they don’t in person.  And I can honestly say that when I see people wearing them in public, I think the same thing.  My local fashion guru wears them once in a blue moon and she is thin, thin, thin and they make her look sloppy and not toned.  I know they make me look that way too.  I’ll still wear them on “off” days when I don’t care too much, but I’m writing them off.

(But look at those red shoes!  And the top, that’s in honor of my late grandpa who referred to himself as “the old rooster”)

Favorite Realization of the Week:

Matthew loves his dad, needs his dad, all of the time.  Bryson loves his dad too, but Matthew is happiest when his dad is with him.  I love watching this, and I love hearing about their adventures when I’m not with them.  Hottie took Matthew to a small pumpkin patch on Sunday while Bryson and I ran (to induce his nap).  They’d planned to go out to a smaller town, look at some building lots and homes, and come home – but they passed a little pumpkin patch along the way and decided to stop.  They had a great time, and I loved looking at their photos!  I didn’t feel left out at all – even though we still have to get the boys to the orchard or our local pumpkin patch together.  This was their special time, and I love it!

 

Favorite Photos of the Boys This Week:

Favorite Thing I Heard This Week:

So I’ve been in a workout funk, and I know it irritates people when I say that because I’m still working out more than most people… but it’s been hard to do it.  It’s been hard to get out there and run, or run on the treadmill while I get my ONE quiet hour of the day.  We’ve had absolutely beautiful weather and on Wednesday evening, I took Bryson for a neighborhood run in the dark with me for what I thought would be 3 miles and ended up being over 5 miles (because, you know, it was just so nice outside!).  The next morning was just gorgeous, and both kids were in school, and I just knew I had to run because it was so nice out and we’re on borrowed time in regards to the weather.  But I didn’t want to.  I drove to a good starting point about 2 miles from their school and decided to run “South of Grand,” an area of old majestic homes and, wait for it… lots of hills.  What was I thinking?  The entire time, I thought to myself, “I hate this.  This was stupid.”  My muscles ached after the 5 miles not even 15 hours earlier and it was windy, and hilly.  I couldn’t catch my stride, I walked up a hill (so embarrassing), my breathing was off.  I was shooting for 3 miles, but felt like a wimp so went 4.5.  I angrily got in the car and saw a message from Hottie to meet him for coffee if I wanted.

I wanted.

I picked him up, still grumpy.  I apologized for my attitude and said, “that was a hard run, not fun.  You know, I did it because I had to, because I felt it was a missed opportunity if I didn’t.”

And he said, “No, you did it because you’re disciplined.”

And I smiled.