Trick or Treat...

I had a fantastic run this afternoon. The weather was perfect. The music was perfect and I made it extra long too. I was gone for a little over an hour and it felt good AMAZING!

I came home to this guy sitting on my front porch...

Jason and Linsey did a great job on our Vomitting Pumpkin!

After my run I needed a shower and a snack so I made myself a yogurt bowl.

(so much for World Vegan Day)

I have realized today that I could NEVER be a vegan. It is too hard for me because I love yogurt, cheese, honey and sometimes need some cows milk in my cereal. I have been a strict vegetarian for almost 7 years, but being vegan will never be something I completely convert to. I have the utmost respect for those people who can. I think it's great and I appreciate what they're doing.

Anyway, off that tangent, we got some house work done and Jason was able to study a little bit, but Trick or Treating time was soon approaching and we needed to have dinner before Jason and Linsey could leave. I've had some coupons from Chipotle lying around forever so Jason took one of them and off he went to grab us some tacos and burritos.

These were phenomenal! I had two of the vegetarian tacos (put the last one in the fridge) with cilantro-lime rice, black beans, pico de gallo, corn salsa and (my fav) guacamole. My second vegan meal of the day. I guess I'm doing pretty good after all!

Once everyone had full tummies I got Linsey in her costume and helped her with her make up. She didn't want to be a scary witch, but I thought she needed some color. So I took some of my different colored eye shadows and covered her face with them giving her a grayish, silverish, greenish tint and then colored her lips a pretty bright pink color. She looked so cute and the hat just put it over the top.

I hope she has a great time and doesn't forget to find me a Reeses Peanut Butter Cup!

I'm off to watch something with Regan because she is very upset she couldn't go with Sissy and Daddy and so far we haven't had 1 trick or treater...

Countdown to Trick or Treating...

The girls have spent the better part of the morning playing with a box.

:))

Regan turned it into a bed to take a nap in.

She wanted Linsey to pat her back 'like at school'

Linsey was asking er if she had a good nap and needed a diaper change.

(which she did and Linsey changed it!)

Jason got back from his coffee meeting and I made us all lunch. It's a must that Regan has lunch and takes a nap so that Jason and Linsey can get this pumpkin carved and I can go running. So, lunch was a yummy salad with Morning star Veggie Patties on top.

The southwestern style flavor mixed really well with the sweetness of the raspberry vinaigrette and candied pecans.

It was a nice light lunch and everyone seemed to like it. Linsey even ate every bit of her salad!

Regan's down for her nap and Jason and Linsey are in the kitchen preparing to hack into our pumpkin. They have opted for the 'Pumpkin Vomitting Up Pumpkin Guts' idea.

Here's the BEFORE shot...

I'll let you know how the AFTER turns out.

I'm off for a run...

HAPPY HALLOWEEN & WORLD VEGAN DAY!!!

WOW! Today is doing double duty as an amazing day.

1) It's Halloween...probably the BEST holiday on the planet! I love EVERYTHING about Halloween. I love the costumes! I love the scary movies! I love the trick or treating! I love it all! This year I will be handing out candy at home with Regan (the world's cutest 2 year old) while Jason (Michael Meyers) and Linsey (the tye-dyed witch) go trick or treating. It should be a great evening for everyone and when they get home we will watch Coraline. CAN'T WAIT!

2) It's also World Vegan Day. So be nice to the animals and go one entire day without consuming ANY animal/animal by products. YOU CAN DO IT! Sadly, I forgot when I first got up this morning and used my coffeemate creamer in my coffee instead of Silk Light Vanilla Soymilk like I planned. DAMN! Oh well...nothing before coffee counts right?!

I was awakened this morning by Regan yelling from her bedroom, "Mommy I need a diaper change. I poopy!" :D Talk about a way to wake up. Once I got that situation taken care of I headed off to the kitchen to get the morning going. Jason made coffee and I got the oats cooking on the stove. It's pretty chilly outside this morning so I figured there wasn't much better than fresh oats for breakfast.

While the oats were cooking I got down to business...

(the perfect combo for Halloween morning...coffee & Paranormal Activity)

FINALLY the oats were done! Jason, the girls and I SAT down to CHOW down. I hadn't had fresh from the stovetop oats for quite awhile and they were sooo good.

 

I  had my usual combination for the most part. 1 cereal spoon full of almond butter, 2 cereal spoons full of pumpkin butter, dried cherries sprinkled in and about 2 tablespoons of Silk Light Vanilla Soymilk for a little added creaminess. Regan and Jason loved them too. Linsey (who doesn't like anything) wasn't as thrilled. I attempted to make her PB&J oats with grape jelly, peanut butter (made myself at Whole Foods) and a tablespoon of Silk Light Vanilla Soymilk. She took two teeny, tiny bites and said was done. I guess she will be starving come lunch time.

Jason has since left us to have coffee with a friend and will be hurrying home soon after because there are two little girls here DYING to carve their pumpkin and a wife who's DYING to go for a run while it's NOT raining. I hope that everyone has a GREAT day and will be posting pics tomorrow.

It's The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown.

Jason decided that going out for dinner sounded much better than cooking it at home tonight. Fine by me. I'll cook somthing amazing tomorrow night and give you the recipe later. The funny thing is he wanted to go to...

Red Robin - YUM!

It actually isn't too bad. It has been so long since we've been there and I had forgotten that you can substitute a Boca Burger for ANY of there burgers. I'm normally boring and get the burger with lettuce, tomato, cheese, pickles, blah, blah, blah. Tonight I upped the ante.

WOW! It's called the Banzi Burger. It's normally a burger marinated in a teriyaki sauce, but (obviously) I got the Boca Burger in place of the 'regular' burger. Instead of being marinated the sauce was just used as a condiment and then there was a slice of sharp cheddar, mayo, lettuce, tomato and A GRILLED PINEAPPLE! I was shocked at how good it was. Messy, but good. I was only able to eat a little over half of it and roughly 5 or 6 fries, and I am STUFFED.

We rented some movies, came home and then (as in the Sparks' Family Tradition) watched The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown. The girls are now off to bed and Jason and I are getting ready to get scared by watching Drag Me To Hell.

I'll let you know if it's really scary...

The End Has Come...

The day started off with pouring rain...as usual. So, sadly, I didn't get to run, but once I got to work it didn't much matter. It was such a crazy day today! We had a Halloween Parade for the kids. It had to take place inside the building due to the weather so that made it even crazier! The kids all looked so cute in their costumes.

Breakfast was a nice, warm bowl of Sunday oats (shocker I know).

Linsey was out of school today due to teacher in session meetings so she was my side kick. I had her pouring milk, scooping grape jelly and pretty much helping with everything I could think of to keep her busy. She did really well and the day went smoothly.  I realized this afternoon just how much she likes honeydew melon!

It was burrito day today so that's what I had for lunch. The burrito's are kid sized (made on soft taco flours) so I had two and they were yummy.

They don't really look all that pretty, but they sure tasted good. They were filled with refried beans, spanish rice, corn, taco sauce and a little bit of shredded cheddar cheese. To balance the spicy I had a Halloween treat after...

My snack is one of my new favorite things...

Mixing those two in a water bottle is so rich, creamy AND a little pick me up in the late afternoon!

Today is a bitter sweet day. You know that Regan has been transitioning all week into her new classroom. Well, today was her very last day in the Milkyways and it was definitely sad to sign her out for the last time, talk to her teachers about her day for the last time and have to see her stuff all packed up and ready to be moved on to the new room. I took some pictures and hope I don't bore you, but they are just too cute to pass up. Something must have been wrong with the flash because there is some weird haze in each and every one of the photos (which makes me mad!) but they are great anyway...

Good Bye Milkyways...We love you and will miss you greatly.

Hello Comets...We look forward to a great year!

And the rain just keeps on comin...

I got in a run this morning, but had to cut it short because the wind was picking up and it started sprinkling. I was scared I would end up getting caught in a down pour if I didn't make the turn off and head home so...I got in a little over 2 miles. Nothing to write home about, but got me going for the day none the less.

Got to work, reheated my Startbucks from lastnight and made a HUGE bowl of Sunday oats. HEY...it's National Oatmeal Day!

I was STARVING (or felt like I was) and this really did the trick. It's the same combo as usual...what can I say, I LOVE it!

I rushed through work today because I had a ton of stuff to do AND had to leave early to make it to Linsey's Halloween party at school. I got everything done that I needed to, had some lunch...

(tofurky, muenster cheese, romaine lettuce, red onion, honey dijon and mayo on sprouted 7 grain with a honey crisp sliced on the side) and then ran out the door (IN THE POURING RAIN!) drove down to her school, met Jason, (who brought the goodies) and we made it just in time.

The kids had a really good time and the Monster Bites and Cheesy Fingers were a big hit!

(this is just a small sample)

Everyone LOVED Jason's Halloween Ice Cream (cookies n cream tinted orange with crushed oreo's), but it missed the camera's eye. Sadly, my chowing down on an eyeball cupcake and Jason's ice cream DIDN'T!

(don't I look lovely?)

The ice cream was KILLER though! Jason did a great job on that AND the party treats. I could have never done it without him. He was definitely my HERO!!!

I got Linsey and her friend (Nicole) to dance, drove back to pick Regan up from school (another great transition day) drove BACK to get the girls, got Nicole home and then we made it home
AND...we've had dinner. WOW!

I made a caeser salad with Morningstar Farms Buffalo Wings for me.

And gave the girls Morningstar Farms Veggie Nuggets, salad and Trader Joe's shells & white cheddar cheese. The three of us snuck in 2 Joe Joe's (Trader Joe's version of Oreo's) each and now the kitchen is closed! Jason should be home from work shortly and his dinner is wrapped and waiting in the fridge.

I'm done blogging for the night because the girls and I are getting ready to climb up on the couch and watch 'It's The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown'. Doesn't get better than that.
(wait...Jason could be home to watch it with us)

Until tomorrow.
Pray for the rain to stop...

Let the Madness Continue...or not!

The girls and I made it to Target and got a replacement wallet (that I have to return because it's too small) and as we pulled into the driveway I saw the lady who lives next door standing beside her yard with a cane all alone. As I got out of the car she was yelling for me and when I got closer to her she was crying and screaming that her leg and foot hurt and she couldn't get into her house and PLEASE call 911! (PANIC)

So I had Linsey run into the house and grab my phone so I could call 911 because I could not have been able to help her and I was terrified she would fall and then I would really be stuck. So I've got Regan in the car still in her car seat, Linsey bringing me a chair from inside our house so the neighbor lady could at least sit down and then an ambulance on the way. She cried and moaned the whole time we waited and I felt so terrible, but I didn't really know what to do. I don't even know her name! Finally the paramedics got there and took over and called her husband home from work. They told me she was ok, but found out she's a diabetic and having serious trouble with her health.

So, we got that situation under control (I guess) and go inside to have dinner...

(leftover roasted vegetable pasta with sea salt)

The girls are going CRAZY! Regan's screaming that she wants chips for dinner and doesn't like taking a bath. Linsey is freaking out because all her stuff isn't ready yet for the Halloween party tomorrow and Jason is texting me NONSTOP to find out what's going on with the lady next door. My nerves can't take all that at once! Then to top off my crazy evening...I FORGOT THE CREAM CHEESE FOR THE 'CHEESY MONSTER FINGERS'!!! Can this night get any worse?

I tell Jason that I am freaking out and he offers to come home from class and help me.

(which is code for do it himself...he is a chef after all)

Isn't he sweet?

While I waited for my knight in shining armor...

 (in honor of National Chocolate Day)

An almond windmill with Trader Joe's Fair Trade Chocolate! Can't beat that!

Finally I was able to get the girls bathed, in jammies and in bed. PRAISE THE LORD!

Now Jason's doing the Halloween Party treats

(here he's making Monster Mouths out of apples)

And I am on the kitchen floor watching him while I work on this post. Isn't my life grand?

Maybe I should finish this, get up and actually help. Or maybe I'll just finish my starbucks I bought while having a minor meltdown at Target and then go to bed (sadly I can do that).

Either way...goodnight sweet readers.

Another Day...

I got up this morning with the intentions of running (like I always do) but Regan had other plans. She started coughing and coughing and so I stayed behind because that's what mothers do (or so I'm told). So instead of a morning run I had a morning coffee...

(this basically COMPLETELY sums up my life)

Then (after realizing that Regan wasn't waking up) I got my breakfast together. I went with something different today.

A yogurt bowl sounded so much better to me for some reason this morning.

So after getting myself totally ready for the day I made a travel mug of coffee and hit the road.

(leaving Jason to deal with the 2 girls all on his own)

I ended up not feeling too bad about the run once I got to work and remembered that it was inventory day and putting away about 500lbs of frozen food is a decent work out all by itself!

I opted to eat my yogurt bowl BEFORE getting to that task.

Doesn't it look yummy!?

I used one serving of Stoneyfield Farms non fat plain greek style yogurt, somewhere between 1/2 and 1 cup of cinnamon puffins, a swirl of honey and 2 tablespoons of Trader Joe's SuperFruit spread.

(a mixture of Morello Cherry, grape, blueberry and pomegranate)

Work was a fairly easy day (once I got my portion of the delivery put away). Things went smoothly and Regan had another good transition day. She played in her new classroom for the morning and then even ate lunch with her new friends. I really think she will enjoy being a Comet, but it will definitely be bitter sweet saying good bye to the Milkyways.

I had to scarf down my lunch today becuase Linsey had a half day and I had to pick her up and get back to work.

I took the Mildly Spiced Vegetable Burrito from (you guessed it) Trader Joe's and put a little bit of the 3 bean chili that the kids at work had for lunch on top, spinkled about 2 tablespoons of shredded cheddar cheese on top of that and then about a tablespoon of fat free sour cream completeld the meal! It doesn't really look all that appealing looking at the photo now, but let me tell you...

IT WAS GOOD!

I did get a little bit of a cardio work out this afternoon because I decided to walk to pick up Linsey instead of driving the 1.5 miles to her school. So all in all I got in 3 miles of good walking. I was running late getting back to work so I walked Linsey's butt off on the way home!

She didn't complain once, but I could tell she wasn't too happy!

Now that we're home and have had snacks...

(I had a Cherry Pie LARABAR that missed the camera)

The girls and I have to head to Target (AGAIN) because I forgot to get apples for the party tomorrow and I need a new wallet. I actually do NEED this wallet because mine was falling apart and Linsey put the nail in it's coffin by dumping the remaining 1/4 of coffee from my travel mug into my purse! So off to Target we go and then I get to make 24 'Cheesy Monster Fingers' and 'Monster Apple Bites'...we'll see how this turns out.

Until next time...

and now for the recap...

Today has been rough tough BUSY!

Amazingly it WASN'T raining at 5:45 this morning when I woke up to go running, so that started my day off great. Then I was actually on time to work (which almost NEVER happens) I perpetually run about 5-10 minutes late EVERYWHERE I go. I guess that's the life of a mom!

Anyway! When I got to work I had my usual...travel mug of coffee and Sunday oats.

(made just the way I like them).

Then I had a 'runnin my butt' day, but I don't mind because it gives me a little extra workout.

I switched up lunch a little bit today. I had a honey crisp apple and then I took my sprouted 7 grain bread from Trader Joe's and put roasted garlic hummus (also from Trader Joe's) on both slices with tofurky, romaine and sliced red onion in the middle. Can I just say that it was G-R-E-A-T!

(ok, ok I also snuck in a diet dr pepper, but I didn't drink the entire thing!)

I played with babies for the rest of the afternoon (not mine, but they're still cute) and then picked up Regan from her class. She had her second day of transitioning into the 2 year old room (the Comets) and her teacher (Kayla) told me that she had a great time in the new classroom, but opted not to have lunch with them today. Tomorrow she doesn't get the option, but I'm pretty sure she'll be just fine.

Regan and I took a trip to Target (my second favorite place to shop) for a stock pile of diapers, wipes, bum cream (isn't that soooo cute) dog food, a card and YUMMY mini cupcakes (one snuck past the camera and right into my mouth) for her class as a farewell treat. I also found a really cute black & pink track suit super cheap.

(but don't tell Jason cause he'll be mad I didn't get him somethng)

When we were heading back to the car it was pouring and I ran into a parent from UCCC

(my work & Regan's school)

who was soooo nice that he followed us to my car holding an umberella over us the whole way.

THANK YOU KEENAN'S DAD!

Then we picked Linsey up from dance and had our snack.

(the peanut butter cookie one is so good!)

Tuesday's are rough for cooking dinner (I've mentioned this before I'm sure) so the girls and I had left over tomato soup and grilled cheese.

I also snuck in one last windmill cookie before closing the kitchen for the night!

Now it's off to watch a spooky show with Linsey and Regan until Jason gets home from work and then NIGHT NIGHT girls...time for bed.

I have a really good book waiting for me on my bedside table...