Week(s) in Review - 9.10.16

I missed posting last week so this is a two week wrap-up! I'm at Whistler today for Mountain Bike Camp and I can't wait to report back about it. I'm doing a story for Seattle Refined and I'm honestly wondering what I got myself into! 

Exercise

Scott was out of town two weeks ago so my workouts were a bit different I still got in three boot camps but on different days and I did barre3 on two other days. 

This week was more my usual routine but I only did two boot camps instead of three due to labor day laziness. I also did two pilates classes for another article I'm writing for Seattle Refined. I really enjoyed the pilates workouts. They are tough!

Food

I discovered this new salad mix that has been the base of all my lunch salads. I am in lust with it! It's the Taylor Farms Greens & Sunshine salad and it is perfect for adding other yummy tidbits too. 

My Organics box has been packed with tomatoes. I actually skipped this week's box because my counter was bursting with fresh apples, tomatoes and leafy greens. 

The Girls

Molly had her last day in the Kangaroo room at her preschool and moved into the Discovery Room. Maggie moved into the Kangaroo room and while we are only two days in, things seem to be going great! 

Molly went to Charity Boot Camp with me and a few friends last Saturday which was so much fun. Well I had fun. Molly said it sucked but she was laughing and giggling so I think she had fun. 

Molly's last day of Summer Swim was this week but she starts swim class with her preschool next week so swimming continues! Mags and Molly both started gymnastics class and love it. They also start ballet on Monday. Such busy kids! 

Other Goings On

My nephew was born on Labor Day! He looks so much like my brother and is a chunk. The girls keep asking to see him again which we will do again soon. Right now my brother and his family need time to bond and recover. 

Stories Published

I had a bunch of stories published in the last two weeks. It's funny too because some of these were written months and months ago. 

ParentMap - Make a Memory Box (Or, What to Do With All Those Trinkets and Papers

Seattle Refined - 5 great snacks for after school (or working out)

My September SHOP column in Seattle's Child came out. 
http://www.seattleschild.com/Shop-Local/

Image: Seattle's Child

My story on Global Lunches came out in September's ParentMap. 

  

Project 52 - Week 26

Maggie started preschool this week and it has wiped her out! She came home from school on Thursday and ate three lara bars, a slice of bread and an applesauce pouch before passing out on the couch.

She's proven elusive for her teachers too. Her main teacher was in the classroom while the children and other teachers were outside. She looked up to find Maggie walking into the classroom having escaped from the playground. Her teacher said she is keeping a super close eye on her now. Maggie is a tricky child!

Seattle Sunnies

Seattle is often a dark, cloudy place but Seattlites buy more sunglasses per capita than place. It's actually due to the gray gloom which causes a lot of glare so you'll find us wearing sunglasses on gray but sunny days. I however consistently break or lose my sunglasses so I'm often found wearing cheap glasses from Target or H&M.

Recently the GlassesShop.com reached out to me about their online glasses shop. After browsing their selection, I began to wish that I needed glasses. I eventually settled on some great sunglasses which I have been working not to lose for the last few weeks. The Glasses Shop also offers prescription sunglasses for those that need them.

The best part about using the GlassesShop.com was how easy their site was to use. They even have a feature which allows you to try glasses on virtually. The GlassesShop.com is offering ReeBeckiSuperGirl readers a special coupon code for 50% off when you shop their site. Use GSHOT50 to receive 50% off at the GlassesShop.com. This code gives you 50% off eyeglasses and sunglasses with free lenses (sale frames excluded). 

Disclosure: This is post is proudly sponsored by the GlassesShop.com . I have been given free product in exchange for my recipe and thoughts. All opinions are my own. Thank you for your support!

Getting to School on Time, Lunches and Teaching Kids to Read Are This Week's Links From Around the Web

The girls started back at school today and I have four hours to myself, three times a week. I'm flailing a bit today with the extra time but I know I'll find my groove soon enough. Today's links are ALLLL about school so let's dive in!

15 Clever Ways To Actually Get Your Kids To School On Time My kids don't have to be at school until 9 a.m. but I can drop them off as early as 7 a.m. In order to get four hours to myself instead of 3.5, I drop them off at 8:30 a.m which gives them time to play on the playground. This means I need some of these tips to get us out the door and to school on time! 

Barre3 School Lunches Our preschool provides lunch for the kids but not for me so I'm loving these school lunch ideas! 

Teaching Your Kids How to Read Molly is on the cusp of reading so I was super interested in this article.

On Finding Your Purpose While my kids have years to discover their purpose, I now have time to refocus on my purpose so this was a great read. 

8 Ways to Teach Your Kids to Love their Bodies Yes! Yes! Yes! I have been working hard on this since my kids were born. I talk about how strong our bodies are. I do not talk about how squishy my stomach is or how I need to lose weight. I talk about how I weigh the right amount now and that I need to fuel my body with healthy food. We talk all the time about how our bodies are great. 

It's almost Fall and time to get back to The New Comfort Food. Find some great chicken recipes on Foster Farm's site.

Back to the Routine

 

Summer was a blast! We had a great summer, jam packed full of sun, fun and lots of trips. Last week when the weather abruptly changed to fall, I got excited. Not because the rains started or because the sun went away but because the start of school was near!



Molly has been going to school all summer but it had a different feel, a camp-like feel. And Maggie has been home with me all summer except for a few hours on Thursday mornings when she went to daycare.



But tomorrow morning, both girls will be in school! Maggie will be going three mornings a week while Molly will go two long days and two short days. I'm excited for their year of preschool and all the growth that will come with it BUT I'm really excited about having three mornings a week to myself. I'll hopefully fill them with paid work but I'm also looking forward to getting a few long neglected things taken care of around the house and maybe doing a few things for myself.

I started getting back into the routine last week. I finalized my monthly meal plan which had fallen by the wayside. I marked my planner with house deep cleaning plans. I finalized all the things the girls needed to start school from new rain boots to coats and their first day of school outfits.



Tonight as we slid back into our school routine, we refocused on the family meal and getting back to The New Comfort Food. I made one of our favorite dishes inspired by Family Fresh Meals - Cool Ranch Chicken Tostadas. Molly loves what she calls, Pass Meals where I set all the ingredients on the table and we pass the food around. It doesn't always work to do meals this way so when I do, she gets super excited. Taco Tuesday is always a "Pass Meal".



I love this recipe because it is so easy. You literally take 4 chicken breasts (or thighs as I prefer), 1 packet of taco seasoning, 1 packet of ranch dressing mix and 20 oz of chicken broth. Toss them in the slow cooker and walk away for 5 hours. If you want to make this quicker, bring the broth to a boil in a saucepan. Coat the chicken in the taco seasoning and the ranch dressing mix. Add to the broth and cook for approximately 20 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through. Shred before serving with all the taco fixins'. My family loves the taste and I love that I can sneak extra veggies onto their plates under the guise of chicken tacos.

This is my definition of The New Comfort Food - A modern interpretation of a classic comfort food dish, implying “comfort,” but with a modern, healthy twist. It’s about balance rather than indulgence.

I also love that I can serve my family Foster Farms Simply Raised fresh chicken which is locally grown in California and the Pacific Northwest with no antibiotics ever. It’s fresh, all natural chicken that is American Humane Certified and fed a 100% vegetarian diet, without any added hormones or steroids. Foster Farms has been family-owned since its founding 1939, Foster Farms has been committed to producing only the highest-quality poultry for you and your family.

It’s also local, partnering with local family farms in the Pacific Northwest (depending on consumer location) so you can be rest assured the chicken you’re buying is delivered fresh within 48 hours or less.

I'm excited to get back to making healthy comfort food for my family and sharing it with all of you. I'll have a delicious and original Foster Farms chicken recipe for you early next week. Let me know if you have any requests! Until then, check out The New Comfort Food and some great recipes on Foster Farm's site.

Foster Farms is offering a $1.00 off coupon to ReeBeckiSupergirl Readers! I hope you can use it for some delicious chicken.

Project 52 - Week 25

Last Friday, I took my girls and their cousin to Discovery Park to take some photos. Two of the three children were lovely as you can tell from this photo. One was a bit more difficult! 

Life Skills, Simple Learning and Books Are This Week's Links From Around the Web

5 Vital Life Skills  I'm happy to say that I've been slowly teaching all of my family these important skills.

How Poverty Affects Brains This intense and fascinating article from Newsweek has me thinking. How do we work to make things more equal for all children? It is even possible?

Simply Learning I discovered this site yesterday and am so intrigued with it. I think it might be fun to supplement the girl's preschool education with extra stuff like this at home.

5-Ingredient Dinners I'm monthly meal planning again and I love the simplicity of these dinners!

21 New Books to Read this Fall I'm getting excited for all the Fall releases even though I have a pile of books in my to be read stack. I've been reading so much this year and loving it.

DiTL (Day in The Life) - August 22th

Over the past month, I've been taking Jessica Thomason's "The Documentary Approach" on Clickin' Moms. As the family historian and a journalist, I am really interested in documentary photography. My poor family this month has had to bear the brunt of my photography. Maggie is now shouting, NO PHOTOS when she sees me but I have to say that Jessica's class has really grown my photography.

Our most recent assignment was to do a Day in The Life. First we had to do a Mobile DiTL which you can see on Flickr. Then we had to dive into one using our DSLRs. I admit to being EXHAUSTED at the end of the day. It's a lot to document your entire day while also living your day.

 

My day started with me trying to load photos onto my work site. I couldn't get them to load the night before so I tried again before I headed to Sync Fitness for 6 a.m. boot camp.

After boot camp, I headed home where I found my family still asleep. I grabbed my overnight oats and started working again. I had deadline to meet and my internet was giving me fits. I did get everything uploaded but it was a pain in the arse. 

Once everyone was up, I headed to the shower while they all got dressed for the day and Daddy left for work. We then headed out to take Molly to school. Maggie and I ran some necessary errands. 

Maggie and I hung out on the playground at Molly's school for a bit before heading out to do our errands. Maggie will be going to school there in about a week so I've been letting her hang out a bit in the morning when Molly's class is playing. 

Maggie and I went to the chicken store. Maggie loves chickens but is scared of the big, white one at the store. It cracks me up. 

We then headed home to drop off the chicken feed. I got more work done while Maggie watched a tv show and played in her play kitchen. 

We then headed back to Molly's school to pick her up and go to the library for some new books. Molly wanted books on spiders, her new obsession. 

We also stopped at the grocery store for a few items before stopping at the ravine near our house to try to capture a loose chicken (not ours). We never did catch her and hopefully she wasn't eaten by the coyotes or raccoons. 

We came home to some deliveries. I did more work while the girls watched another tv show before tackling dinner and checking on our chickens. 

We dropped dinner off for a friend who recently had a baby before coming home to eat dinner ourselves. We had chicken tacos which everyone loved. Molly was excited to pass the food around the table. She prefers it when I let them serve themselves rather than dishing up their plates in the kitchen. 

After dinner, we headed to the living room to play legos before starting the bedtime routine. I cleaned up dinner while Scott got the girls ready for bed.  

Once they were in bed, I did *surprise* more work. One of them took longer to go to sleep than the other. 

I worked on a Test Knit Sweater and did some reading once my work was done before heading to bed myself.