What's Up Wednesday - January 25

1. What we're eating this week

We are still LOVING our meal deliveries from HelloFresh

This week we received:

Shawarma Meatballs with Bulgur and Sumac Veggies

We made this Sunday evening and it was a solid meal. Although I don't really know what "Shawarma" or "Sumac" technically are, I am down with meatballs, veggies and bulgur so I was up for the challenge. All in all it was good, but the meatballs could have used a little more flavor. 

Sweet Apple Pork Chops with Cauliflower Mash and Snap Peas

This was hands-down my favorite meal of the week. Yes, I realize it was only Tuesday when I made it,  but OMG it was so good. Maybe because I was completely surprised by how much I actually liked it - I am typically not a fan of the sweet & savory in one meal. Anyhow, the cauliflower mash was excellent. I realize most people do cauliflower mash to save on carbs from the potatoes BUT this mash was half potato half cauliflower and it was so delish! I also was able to easily make this Whole30 approved by using ghee instead of regular butter!

One-Pot Tortelloni with Kale and Parmesan Bread crumbs

I haven't made this yet because I am not a huge fan of tortelloni - I'll save this for the kids to eat when Kevin and I have a date night.

2. What I'm reminiscing about

I can't believe that Ryan is halfway though Kindergarten. This week I started seeing flyers for Kindergarten Round Up (for kids entering Kinder next fall)! I can't believe it's already that time again!

Sweet boys at their Kinder Round Up

3. What I am loving

BeautyCounter

I stocked up during their winter sale and some of my Must Haves include the Blush/Bronzer Duo, The Love & Luster lipgloss set, the Lip Shine, & the Charcoal Mask - even Kevin loves that!!!

I also bought the kids shampoo & conditioner - we haven't used it yet, but will soon!

4. What we've been up to

Whole30

Well, I finished the Whole20 (I know that's not really a thing) but it's something in my book :)

5. What I'm dreading

Nothing at the moment. Of course that could change...

6. What I'm working on

The Playroom

- Painting the entertainment system 

- Decorating the walls

Ryan's Star Wars Room

- Wall decor

- Maybe painting walls?

7. What I'm excited about

 Our laundry room is finished! I'll do a post on this soon :)

8. What I'm watching/reading

Just finished The Nightingale

Wow. This book is about two sisters living in France during WWII. It's heartbreaking and intense but a beautiful story that follows these ladies on their path of survival in German-occupied, war torn France. 

Now reading Reconstructing Amelia

9. What I'm listening to

We have been getting a lot of requests for "Gummy Bear". I haven't met anyone that is familiar with this song, but it could be because it was released in 2007, so we are about ten years behind.  Oh well, YouTube recommended it and it is a hit for us. 

It's kinda catchy!

And I hear a decent amount of YouTube Kids....my kids are obsessed. Oye.

10. What I'm wearing

Lots of jeans and sweaters. repeat.

I actually made a little goal to not buy any new clothes in the month of January. My plan was to use the month to purge what I don't wear without bringing in anything new....well, I haven't bought anything new, but I haven't technically purged anything either. Oops!

11. What I'm doing this weekend

-Celebrating my father-in-laws birthday with a family brunch at Mudhen. I have never been there and it's down at the Farmers Market - another place I haven't been! 

-a handful of kids birthday parties

- Hayden's swim lessons

- Ryan's basketball game

- Maybe sneaking in a date night 

12. What I'm looking forward to next month

This view

Kevin and I are heading to Mexico for a long weekend with friends! I am so excited! I also cannot wait to go shopping for this :)

13. Who is your favorite bachelor and bachelorette

Kevin and I do love some Bachelor/Bachelorette - a guilty pleasure indeed! I might be partial but my favorites are Sean & Catherine, and JoJo & Jordan. And....maybe they both live down the street from me. ha! Not that I know them by any means, but I do follow them on Instagram so it's kinda like we are friends? right? lol. I have seen Sean and Catherine at Tietze park a few times....a few years ago I actually got a pic with them. 

So fun!

A Day in Our Life - Tuesday

5:30am alarm goes off. I usually get up right away but I snoozed until 5:37....oops!

get out of bed. brush teeth. 

dress in workout clothes. 

grab watch and phone without disturbing Kevin. 

head downstairs.

grab water. 

leave.

Pilates. 

I love working out first thing. I feel so much better for the rest of the day and it's so nice to get home and get a head start on the day. Once I get home there is 30 minutes of rushing...but then it calms down again before the crazies wake up!

I typically walk back in at 7am or shortly after. Ryan is downstairs waiting for me on the couch. He has started to complain about being tired and/or cold. I tell him to eat and it will help him wake up and moving will warm him up. Aren't I nice? 

I get his cereal and he eats. 

He gets dressed. 

I unload the dishwasher, pack his lunch for school and make Kevin breakfast to go. Usually an english muffin sandwich type thing with two eggs and sausage...but sometimes I get real fancy and whip something else up. 

When Ryan's lunch is packed and Kevin's breakfast is ready to go, I grab my coffee and sit down at my computer hoping that I can get 30 minutes of uninterrupted time. That really never happens. Today Grayson wakes up early and is already downstairs before these two are out the door...

I took a quick picture before they left...so handsome!

Grayson decided he wanted a picture- and he needed his backpack too.

This guy is very specific about what he wants for breakfast. 

A bowl of cheerios (picks out a specific bowl)

A yogurt that he HAS to open (don't you dare take the top off)

And COLD milk. (because have I ever given him warm milk?)

Sometimes he wants sausage, or a pancake...but don't worry, he will let you know!

He likes to put his yogurt on top of his cheerios - as opposed to the other way around. Whatever floats your boat dude. 

And this little hot mess is up too. She takes a little bit longer to get going...but when she is ready she also starts demanding things. I guess I created these monsters. 

We use to leave the house at 9am for Hayden's swim lessons, but that is on Saturday now, so we have some more downtime before the day gets started. Our house keepers come around 9am so I try and pick some things up and tend to these guys when they get noisy. 

Grayson wanted to do the wooden marble run, so we did. I love this, but it topples over so easily....I really have to set their expectations so that they don't cry every time that happens...cause it will inevitably happen. Somehow we manage to keep this one up...and both kids play with it...for a good 30 minutes. Score!

I sneak in some breakfast while they are playing. This is chicken sausage from Trader Joes and it's my favorite! And bonus - it's Whole30 approved...if that's your thing.

Then I tend to my newly discovered bump on my shoulder. 

                                      bump                                                         no bump         

I felt it on my drive to pilates this morning...so I texted some friends to ask what they thought. 

And then we play with a box. 

Until a fight breaks out....

Good thing it's time for dance!

At 10:15 we headed out the door for Hayden's dance class. They really encourage you to drop your child off - they even have a carpool line and will get your child from your car, but I am still obsessed with watching her so we have been going in. I love that she is carrying her backpack like a purse. 

Headed in to her dance class. 

Parents can watch through a one-way mirror in the hallway. I can't decide if Hayden would participate more or less if she knew I was watching...

After dance class we usually run home but today we went to Snip-Its. Grayson desperately needed a haircut....he was getting quite poofy. 

Easy peasy.

Next up - Little Gym for Hayden. 

Grayson sat and watched us the entire time. Since there were only two other kids in the class today I invited him to come in and join us but he said he just wanted to watch. Usually his friend Hayes is there with him and they play legos and color....

Since our house was clean I didn't want to eat lunch at home - We headed to Subway for lunch and ice cream at TCBY after!  

Hayden is in that stage where she is starting to drop her nap. She has always been a great napper, but more and more she fights it AND when she does take it, she takes forever to go to sleep at night. Since she is in a crib it's not a huge deal - she just talks to herself for a while...and bangs around. Anyhow, since she didn't seem very tired after dance and Little Gym I decided to skip her nap in *hopes* that she would be more tired at bedtime.

Grayson did a good job with his sandwich - Hayden, not so much. 

She doesn't like the bread - not sure if she is my child. 

 Strawberry sorbet for the win! Oh and with Nerds on top. I am not sure what is going on with Grayson's face - he looks sad but I can assure he was not. 

Her cheese face is getting a little silly. 

Sharing hers with Grayson

Once we got home the kids wanted to play up in the playroom...so I threw together a quick lunch for myself and we headed up. 

I sat the art table while the two of them played. Well Hayden played and Grayson asked me to help him find things every. five. seconds. 

Busy bees....

Around 2:30 Gigi came over so I could pick Ryan up from school without these two crazies. (I also had his parent teacher conference at 3:20) I picked him up and since he didn't mention wanting to play on the playground I quickly ran him home. I dropped him off and headed back up to school - thankfully it is very close. While I was waiting I saw some of his work in the hallway - I love seeing what he does at school. 

No surprise there!

And they made some New Year Resolutions...

I loved reading all the other kids "goals" too, and I love that Thomas (Ryan's best friend) wrote that he will "help Ryan on the monkey bars" as his first goal. 

Such sweet friends. 

When I got home Gigi was on the trampoline with Grayson! These other two were scavenging for snacks....

The kids had some snacks and then we played some more on the trampoline. Zombie Zombie come alive is their favorite game....One person lays in the middle with their eyes closed while the others chat "Zombie Zombie come alive, when I count to Five."

One.

Two.

Three.

Four.

Five. 

Then the Zombie gets up and tries to tag someone, but your eyes are closed. It's pretty funny. And fun.  Hayden loves playing it too...and she is a pretty cute zombie. 

Around 5pm I was done with the trampoline and ready to start working on dinner. We came inside and I let them play on their ipads while I prepped dinner. 

Of course my little sous-chef didn't want his ipad - he wanted to help!

He loves standing on this step ladder like this...

We made Sweet Apple Pork Chops with Cauliflower Mash and Snap peas. It was delish...although the kids really only ate the pork and snap peas. I even added cheese to their mash, but they weren't having it.  Oh well. 

After dinner there was a request for the "Gummy Bear" song...which then turned into a request for the Crab Moana song...and then a specific request for the "Real" Single Ladies (Beyonce as opposed to the chipmunks) from Grayson. That boy cracks me up. 

After a little dancing we headed upstairs for baths and reading. I read Oceans Alive to Grayson and Hayden - which is a book about terrifying sea creatures...which they think is amazing. I guess we will see how the beach goes this year...

And Kevin and Ryan read in his room. Once we were done it was light out (usually around 8pm). 

Kevin and I watched a little bit of The Bachelor from Monday night...It cut off near the end, so we gave up and just turned it off. I headed upstairs to read a little before turing the lights off.  

I know. Exciting stuff. 

And that is a typical Tuesday for the McDonough house. 

Ryan's First Sleepover

This past weekend Ryan had his first official sleepover! I say"official" because it was his first time to have a friend spend the night vs. a cousin or all of us staying at a friends house. Anyhow, he was sooooooo excited! He had been asking to have his best friend Thomas spend the night for a while so we finally did it!

The boys went to a friends birthday party that evening, so they didn't get home until 8:30pm. They had been dancing and running around so I assumed they would be pretty tired but I think the excitement of having a sleepover set in and they were not ready for bed.  We let them stay up until about 10pm then got them ready for bed.

Ryan has bunk beds but no one ever wants to sleep on the top bunk - so we always move it down to the ground. I am started to rethink this whole bunk bed situation. 

Sweet happy boys!

I heard them talking until about 10:30 and then finally silence....

Ryan woke up at 6:30am and was ready to play. OMG....and that is why sleepovers are difficult. There is no sleep! And when my kids don't get sleep they are BEARS! I knew we were in for a long day with Ryan...

Anyhow, we embraced the no sleep and filled them with sugar. Good idea, right? lol

They played in the game room and then when they found Hayden watching Peppa Pig they decided to join her. Have I mentioned how much Thomas wants a baby sister??? He was so happy that she let him hold her while they watched tv. so cute!!

They played for a bit longer and then Thomas headed home. Ryan said he had so much fun and can't wait to do it again!