I Love...

Having two of Carter's uncies so close!  Jeremy watches Carter when I tutor and Thomas typically comes over to hang out on those days as well.  One day when Jeremy came over to watch Carter I was getting my stuff ready and picked up my keys.  Carter was sitting on the floor with Jeremy, heard my keys, looked up and said, "Bye, bye, mommy!"  It was so cute and I love that he doesn't get upset when I leave.  He knows his uncies will be just as much fun.

Fall.  The weather is truly my favorite.  I just wish it would last longer!  Even though we are still reaching temps into the low 90's the air is so much cooler and in the morning when we run it's typically in the 60's, win!  When September rolls around I start wanting to bake pumpkin everything and drink my favorite orange spice hot tea.  Fall flavors are so delicious.  I have always loved fall, but I'm loving it more than ever this year.  Normally fall means a lot of stress for me as a teacher.  It means getting into the swing of things with school and gearing up for parent-teacher conferences which was always the most stressful part of my job!  Now fall means leaf hunts and special crafts with Carter.  It doesn't get better than that!

Yummy orange spice tea with honey and pumpkin muffins!

Bonaing the kitchen floor.  My mom bought us a Bona to use on our laminate floors.  Previously we used a Swiffer and I hated it.  I hated being wasteful and throwing away so many wet mop refills.  I hated how many I had to use to get our kitchen clean.  It bugged me that when I got out a fresh wet mop the floor was super soaked and by the end I was barely getting the floor clean.  I wished there was something better, but I am not good with a traditional mop and the floor always looks dirtier after I'm finished than it did before I started.  My mom gave us the Bona and I was pretty much instantly in love.  There wasn't the waste because the mop part is re-usable and just needs washed between uses.  It dries super fast and the floor looks so much better than when we used the Swiffer.  It is so much fun to spray out the cleaner as needed and I love doing it!  I thought the Swiffer was the main reason why I loathed cleaning the kitchen.  I love to vacuum and for a while was even vacuuming every other day.  I've toned that down to 2-3 times a week now.  One day as I was vacuuming I wondered to myself why I loved doing it so much more than Swiffering and it came to me.  When I vacuum I go from room to room.  Therefore my vacuuming is chunked up into sections.  I love chunking things in my head.  A 20 mile run isn't 20 miles, it's 5 different 4 mile runs.  12 miles becomes 4 different 3 mile sections.  Things are just easier when you break them into smaller segments.  So I started segmenting the kitchen.  I sweep and Bona one part of the kitchen before moving onto the next rather than trying to do it all at once and voila, now I love doing it!  Instead of the full kitchen I have the entryway by the fireplace, the bookshelf area/Skippy's beach (where he kicks kitty litter all over the place!), the table area, and the cooking area.  It is so much more manageable and I'm only moving a little bit of furniture at a time.  I'm so glad I figured that one out!

Watering our plants.  My parents got us a couple of mum plants and they are so pretty.  My mom told me she fills a pitcher with water as she warms up the water for her shower and then uses that water on her plants.  It's such a good idea because not only does it reduce the usage and waste of water, but it helps me remember to water.  Before my plants would always die or come extremely close because I had the hardest time getting into a routine and remembering to water daily.  Now I have the pitcher in the bathroom and always remember to water the plants.  Once I'm dressed after my shower I tell Carter it's time to water the plants.  He excitedly runs to get his cup we keep in the bottom of the bench for watering.  We head outside and I fill his cup from the pitcher and show him which plants to water.  He loves doing it.

 

Running with Harper.  Along with cooler weather Harper has gotten back into the groove of running with us.  I think the addition of some extra pounds along with the warmer weather was what was slowing her down this summer.  I started taking her on runs again last week and she actually keeps up to where Carter can see her running alongside the stroller which causes him to laugh and is so adorable.  It is so much fun to take her and I'm relieved to know her slow down wasn't completely due to her weight gain!

Encouragement on runs.  Carter has become quite the cheerleader on our runs.  One day we were running downhill and he was excitedly yelling "weeeeee!" the whole way down.  It made it so much fun even though it's a very steep hill and I felt like I was going to lose control of the stroller.  I was coming back up that hill on our way home and I was struggling.  I was puffing and wishing I could walk.  It is a rough hill and even tougher when you are pushing a stroller!  When we crested the top of the hill Carter cheered me with "yay!"  Nothing beats that after reaching an accomplishment!

My assistant chef.  Every night as I'm making dinner I find some way for Carter to assist me.  It is so much fun to slide a chair over for him to stand on and let him wash his hands, add ingredients, and stir.  Normally he follows me around fussing as I cook.  Now he happily helps cook and when there's nothing else he can do, I turn the faucet on as low as it goes and let him play in the water for a little bit or I give him a little snack to eat as he walks around.  It takes me a little longer to cook this way, but it is so much more fun for both of us!

Carter's imitations.  It is hilarious how Carter imitates us so much now and always wants to do what we're doing.  We were grocery shopping and I called Ty to ask him a question about something I needed to buy.  I was talking on the phone and looking at the products on the shelf.  When I got off the phone I realized Carter had his hand to his ear as though he was talking on a fake phone.  He was saying, "yeah, yeah, yeah" and then started laughing while pointing at the shelves.  I tried to take a video but of course he turned and saw me so he stopped!