We’ve had some beautiful weather this week, so the girls and I have really tried to get to the parks around here as much as possible. It’s been absolutely gorgeous. It’s been on the chilly side but still, very nice. We’ve gone to the park almost everyday, and have run lots of other errands which have been both successful and super epic fails. These two troublemakers are just not good grocery store buddies.

I had started a habit of going in the evening after Chris gets home from work. It just works better for me, especially since I generally have need to hit 3 different stores (Whole Foods, Trader Joes and Safeway). I just can’t drag them to 3 different stores. This week though, I only need to go to Safeway so I thought I would take them to the park first and tire them out and then ply them with a snack while I was shopping.

Unfortunately the snack distraction lasted all of about 5 minutes. One thing I’ve noticed about my shopping habits with and without the girls is my willpower for avoiding junk food and things I just don’t need. When I shop without the girls I manage to steer clear of things I shouldn’t be getting. Sometimes, I’ll even put something in my cart, but I’ll change my mind and put it back before I get to the check stand. But when I am with the girls, that willpower just goes out the window and I end up bringing home things that I really don’t need and that don’t make a big positive addition to my life. Like something from the bakery, etc.

Plus, Grace went wild when she saw some kind of easter candy that she wanted and even though I NEVER just buy her candy and give it to her like that, she went totally exorcist on me when I said no. I was in the check stand paying and so it wasn’t like I could just say “okay, we’re going” but I swear as we left the building behind to walk to our car I heard a collective sigh of relief from inside. It’s not like she never gets candy but she NEVER gets to just pick out a candy, have me buy it and then she gets to eat it.. you know? Sometimes, I let her pick out 3-4 bulk pieces (like candy corn or gummy bears) but it’s been months and months, mostly since I just stopped shopping with her. When she does get ’sweets’ it’s generally something like 60% cocao chocolate chips or something (which she really likes). Or if we go somewhere that has cotton candy, she’ll have some of that. But never do we buy candy at the grocery store like that.. so the whole thing was just bizarre.

Anyway, it looks like the forecast is just going to continue to be awesome and I’m just drooling over all the sun we’re supposed to get.

In other news, our washing machine is going all Psycho on us again. So a few months ago our washing machine just started doing the scary bounce around during the spin cycle thing.. so I called the leasing/management office and they brought a new machine. Then, about a week ago.. it started doing it again. Chris keeps saying “you have to center the stuff inside”.. and I’m like “gee, remember when we had a washing machine that you didn’t have to stop 3 times during each washing cycle to ‘re-center’ the clothes?”

Of course I’m not sure if we should call the mgmt office again, because at some point they’re going to wonder just what we’re doing to these machines (though I swear we’re not doing anything weird). But I’m seriously just not sure I can deal with that for another 8 months.. On the flip side, only 8 months to go!!! At least until our lease is  up.. whether we’ll be ‘ready’ to move at that point is another story..

So enjoy the spring weather!

Other than us still feeling like we’re going to BUST AT THE mother-f***ing seams in this CLOSET I am pretty darned happy lately. So let’s go ahead and go through the list of goings-on and I’ll update y’all.

Chris: He’s good. He’s flatlined weight-wise and has added some weight training and gym work to his routine. He traveled to Kansas and had an increase in blood-pressure from a combo of medicine changes, a stressful trip, and dietery issues that week. We’re hoping it’s back down now. Otherwise he’s doing pretty good. If you haven’t seen his pic lately check out our flickr account and see how freakin’ skinny he’s getting.

Girls: Driving us nuts. As usual. Graces’ imagination is just at this all-time high. She is obsessed with Harry Potter (and yes, if you ask her she will actually tell you “I’m obsessed with Harry Potter”).. so we spend our days being various characters and pretending that our apartment is a castle (of course our individual apartment is more like a dungeon in the castle but oh well) and that our car is the flying car from Chamber of Secrets. It honestly.. really wears us down. But, it’s great that her imagination is so awesome.

She keeps talking about wanting to stop sucking her thumb. We’ve told her that she can do that if she wants but it has to be what she wants. We’ve given her the facts: that it can hurt her teeth and her jaw if she does it too much longer, but that she’ll stop when she’s ready and we’ll support her on that… but she does keep talking about it. So I’ve told her when she stops for good I’ll take her to Disneyland. Is that bad? Eh.

Cate is just pushing everyone’s buttons. But is so damned cute about it. She’s very much a hugger and a cuddler. Yesterday I was about at my limit and she could tell because she kept coming up to me and hugging my legs. But she is also the worlds’ biggest troublemaker. I challenge anyone to dispute that! Yesterday I went into the kitchen to see her ON the door of the dishwasher, NO diaper.. and she’d pooped on the door. Yes, that happened. And it was the GROSSEST thing ever! I had to re-wash all those dishes and mop her down too. She’s also not slowed down on the tantrum thing at all. At Borders today she FA-LIPPED out and by the end of it I’m surprised no one called CPS.. or a Priest. Whatever. But, man is she freakin’ cute.

I’m back into a workout routine and I’m loving it. I’ve discovered this wonderful machine in our gym and it’s called an elliptical. Why has no one told me about this before? I LOVE IT. I love the treadmill, don’t get me wrong.. but the other night I went in there and both were occupied so I grudgingly went on the elliptical. 30 minutes later I climbed off a changed woman. I find it so much easier to groove to my music, get sweaty and get my heartrate up and barely notice the time flying by. Of course, I’m WAITING for the rain to stop here so I can jump on my  bike a coupe times a week.. because..

(segue into my next update)

I planned a trip for Chris and I to go up north for a couple days for his birthday next month! AAAAHHH!! SO excited! So, it started as a surprise! And I planned the whole damned thing before he found out (I told him because he was feeling particularly down one day and I knew it would cheer him up). I emailed his boss to get time off, arranged with my mom to fly up to stay with the girls, made reservations at a hotel in Ferndale, Ca so we can visit some of those famous redwoods.. we’re taking the bikes so we can go on a couple rides together. We’ll be going for 3 days and coming back on Easter Sunday, which also happens to be Chris’ birthday this year. My mom is excited to spend some time with the girls and Grace is super excited to see grandma. Cate doesn’t understand yet. hehe. It’s about a 5 hour drive but it’s really going to give us a chance to see a part of the state we haven’t seen yet.

We’ve started incorporating some new things into our diets. Some new grains like quinoa, bulgar, wheatberries, wheat germ.. We’ve been adding wheatberries and wheat germ to our oatmeal, bulger to soups, chilis and pasta sauces (it acts as a thickener, it’s awesome!). We’ve been doing more meat-free meals as well. Quinoa is (in my opinion) a mix taste-wise between brown rice and couscous. It’s high in fiber and protein. It’s actually a source of complete protein. It’s not really a grain at all either, it’s a seed. Interestingly enough.. also it’s FUN to say! Quinoa = Keen Wah. Come on, say it. You know you want to!

I’m still in the midst of my love affair with oatmeal. It’s just so YUMMY! We’ve gone through a HUGE box of it in the past 3 weeks or so. That’s a lot of oatmeal! I’m starting to incorporate some Soy milk into my diet too. I am making our oatmeal with half-water and half soy milk. I’m also making iced coffees (with the help of my new cool french press) with soy milk. It’s pretty good! Very creamy. I don’t think I’m ready to give up my moo juice for cereal yet or to go with cookies.. but I’ll glady swap for some other things. We’re also going through a ton of spinach. Like two big boxes a week. Amazing the things you can add it to. I have to admit that I like baby spinach better than regular spinach and I like it cooked and IN things better than raw in salads. I do like it in sandwiches though.
Anyway, maybe it’s the working out.. but I’m just feeling so good lately! I’m not losing any weight (bleh.. ) but I just seem to be more patient and less sensitive about things, more positive.. etc. I think I’ll keep this. hehe.  Plus, since Chris has been coming home at lunch to eat, giving me a chance to go work out.. it’s a nice break in the middle of my day. I love it!