Hi, friends!
It’s been a busy week over here. Mal is back to school, and Quinn starts Kindergarten on TOMORROW. Quinn’s had all sorts of orientation-type activities leading up to the big day, including a playdate, open house where he met his teacher and saw his classroom, and a practice bus ride home. I love that the school really helps the kids prepare, but remember the days when our parents just threw us on the bus and we went to school? Even Quinn said he wanted to “get the show on the road” as far as starting school. Haha!
For the record, I’m glad Quinn’s classroom starts the alphabet with the letter “A.” In my Kindergarten classroom, we learned the letter “M” first, and it still bothers me 34 years later. I mean, WHY would you start with “M”?! I also remember that the second letter was “T” and all of the vowels were saved for the end. My 5-year-old brain did not like this! Haha!
I also wanted to tell you guys that I’m hosting a giveaway to win 3 meal plan downloads over on the CNC Nutrition & Accountability group on Facebook. These meal plans are a great way to jumpstart your healthy eating motivation at a very affordable price – most are just $9.99. Plus, not everyone wants to work with a coach, and I totally get that! If you’re not yet a member of the group, just request to join. I’ll pick 3 winners on Friday afternoon!
After a nearly 3-month CrossFit hiatus, I’m back at it. My YMCA membership + driveway workouts were okay, but I felt like my fitness was really starting to wane. I just don’t push myself the same way when I work out by myself, so I signed up for an unlimited membership with the hope of becoming a regular at Salt Shack again. So far, so good, and I’m really happy to be back! 🙂
We made this High-Protein Instant Pot Chicken Pasta last week, and I forgot how delicious (and easy!) it is. The recipe is made with high-protein Banza pasta – definitely add it to your meal plan next week! 🙂
Quinn has made great strides with his picky eating in recent weeks. We started to use a “reward jar” to encourage bites of new foods, and it’s working quite well. He now eats (on the regular) roasted potatoes, rice, cucumber slices with salt, and guacamole! We’re so proud of him and meal times have become a lot more enjoyable!
How the reward jar works: Every time Quinn tries a new food, he gets to add a marble to the jar. Once the jar is full, he gets to pick a prize of his choice. The first prize he picked was a Pokemon Trainer! 🙂
Speaking of new foods… I’m loving the Whenever Bars from Pamela’s. The brand sent me a few different flavors to try, and they are THE BEST single-serving (and satisfying) dessert I’ve tried in awhile. They’re basically a soft, chewy oatmeal cookie, and I love that they’re gluten-free and don’t have a bunch of crazy ingredients in them. I highly recommend the Oat Blueberry Lemon and Oat Cranberry Almond flavors!
We had the exterior of our house painted, and we are so happy with the results!
BEFORE (without the dark green shutters):
AFTER:
With Quinn off to school tomorrow, we’re winding down our “Quinn and Mumma” days, and I’m really trying to soak it all in. Yesterday afternoon, we made rice crispy treats with sprinkles just because! 🙂
That’s it for now. I hope you guys have a wonderful Thursday!
