Some Things About the Weekend

I remember another mom saying or maybe I read it, who knows, that she likes to get all her chores done during the week so she can relax with her family on the weekends.  I think that is a great idea too and I want to do that, yet every Saturday I'm cleaning, folding laundry and saying things like "Let's mop the floor as a family!" 

 So my floors are clean.

Today we had a get together for my very dear friend who is expecting a little girl in a few short weeks.  It's nice to get together and watch the kids play, even if they get super dirty and crazy.  I indulged in some salted caramel brownies and I'm looking forward to getting back on track tomorrow.  I have been sore all weekend from my lifting session Friday but have managed to keep up with all my Insanity workouts.  Is that balance? 

So about these borax crystal sea shells.  I wouldn't call them a fail exactly, they just didn't turn out the way I was expecting based on what I saw on Pinterest.  (Does it ever turn out the way it did on Pinterest?)  I read the instructions and followed them, but I didn't read the whole blog post, sometimes I don't want to read all of someone's jibber jabber just to finally get to the instructions or the recipe. 

 

So here's the plate of them.  

This is a seashell that turned out OK. 

I can't remember what this rock was, but it did better that most. 

Pumice with a few little crystals, I think this one is cool.  

And lastly.  

The nice thing about this project was it came together quickly.  My 4 year old and I did this together and it only took a couple minutes, which is great for a busy preschooler.  He was able to stir the solution and gently place the rocks and shells in.  He enjoyed examining them thru the glass with a flashlight every couple days as the crystals grew.  I want to try this experiment again, maybe with a deeper dish, see if we can get some better crystal saturation.  

If you've got any cool experiments to try with the kids, I would love to know about them! 

Lord Have Mercy

I was not prepared at all for today's work out.  Not mentally, not physically.  I didn't look at my program beforehand and when I opened my book and saw it was the same work out as the last one, only 4 sets of 4 reps, my first thought was: "I should have eaten my sweet potato."  For the record, I put some butter on my sweet potato and the butter had come out of the freezer and tasted like, well, freezer.  Old freezer.  Gross.  So I was wishing for more carbs.  Look at my book.  I am destroying this poor thing. 

Writing all over the place, writing in the wrong places, scratching stuff out.  Man.  I think I pulled my left butt cheek bone while dead lifting, however I think we can expect some gains.  I do really enjoy this kind of work out, heavy weights and low reps and I don't think I've done anything like it since getting back into the gym after baby.  I also had my Insanity workout scheduled for this evening so I was VERY HAPPY to learn that tonight's Insanity was "Cardio Recovery."  Thank goodness. 

In other news, my oldest son Silas and my baby Dahlia had check ups at the doctor this week.  They both needed shots and my poor boy was so scared.  He got his first and I held him and he cried and cried.  Then the nurse held Dahlia while I tried to comfort Silas but he cried even harder watching his baby sister get her shots.  I did that laugh/cry thing that moms do.  It was nice to see Silas show his empathetic side for a change.  

We've got 3 days left of July and I haven't made our July bucket list yet.  I'll throw these out here now then: 

1. Eat corn on the cob
2. Eat watermelon

Any surprise it's all about food? 

My Happy Place

I'm betting I've blogged about this forest preserve before.  It's my happy place and I've been bringing my kids here since there was only the one.  I love it because it's open prairie and wetland with lots of beautiful flowers and well maintained trails.  They have a really nice visitors center too.  I took the kids today and they love walking on the trails, throwing sticks into the creek and climbing on all the rocks and landscaping.  I love that we're not confined by the rules of home. 

 Throwing sticks in the water. I call it "Pooh Sticks" like from Winnie the Pooh, I don't think the boys get it yet.  

 

 Go right ahead and take all the sticks, Silas.  

 

 It really is the simple things that bring the most joy.  

So, update!  Nothing is new here.  Hahaha.  I don't even know what to blog about sometimes so I haven't been, despite the best intentions to get back into it.  July was a bit of a doozy for us, between the holiday and trying to potty train the two year old and everyone got chest colds mid-month?  As far as fitness, the beginning of the month knocked us out for a bit but I'm bouncing back now.  I bought a set of Insanity DVDs at a garage sale for $10 and I've been doing that now for a week.  I LOVE IT.  It is as fun as cardio can get.  I'll keep posting about that as I get further into it but so far it's crazy fun.  I don't keep up 100% but I know I'll get better.  I'm still lifting at the gym 3 times a week too, of course.  We've hit a good stride at the moment (knock on wood) and I'm wanting to make a July Bucket List to close out the month.  Said list will probably consist of "eat watermelon" and "run thru a sprinkler."  

How about you all?  Anything exciting happening?  Anything you think I should add to my bucket list?  Do you have a bucket list?