{Brody's 4th Birthday Party}

can't believe this kid turned 4 last month.

 he asked for a minion party.  so a minion party he had.  

 we had it at our local playground, which we love to visit in the summer.  

it was a little chilly, but we survived.   

bow on the head.  tradition. 

 b and emma.  so cute.

*****************

now, the details...

I made a pinterest board a month or two before the party of all the DIY things i was going to make.  then, 3 or 4  days before the party i figured i had better get started. yep, i through it all together in a few days.  I wish i would have given myself more time, but... can't do anything about it now!

my friend Alyssa made me these adorable fondant minions for the cupcakes.

goody bags... 

they included a minion cup, a freeze ray (water gun), lipstick taser (chapstick), anti-gravity serum (bubbles), a minion bouncy ball, and banana shaped erasers.

 minion twinkies

 apple sauce

 our food spread.  

we had minion graham crackers, bananas, cookie robots, minion twinkies, cupcakes, applesauce, hotdogs, chips and salsa, apple juice and chili! the food all went pretty fast.

(i'm not sure why i don't have a photo of the other food table...)

presents!

i can't believe my little boy is 4.  

aren't we cute?!

 (ps. i am back-posting this so that it falls in order whenever i go back looking through our posts!)

{meal prep}

after reading The Lean Green Bean's blog for a few weeks, i finally did it. i meal prepped. thank you lindsay for your motivation!  i am convinced that having healthy food ready is going to be a big help in continuing to eat clean.  

i had completed 14 days of the advocare 24 day challenge before our family came down with what could have only been the bubonic plaque… now that we are {gradually} feeling a little better, i want to make sure we get back to putting good food in our bodies. 

that said… i wanted something sweet…. 

i made lindsay's quinoa breakfast bars.  and they were good. really good.  recipe here.

i am eager to get back into my marathon training, as soon as i can stop coughing long enough.  but lets not get ahead of ourselves, right?!  my longest run was two weeks ago, 14 miles.  it coincided with my highest milage week for awhile as well (25 miles).  we had a warm day a week ago where i completed 11 miles.  i somehow had myself off on my training, and was a few weeks ahead of where i needed to be.  i am hoping that will help me make up my lost time this last week.  

this is the best i can do for a move it monday, since there hasn't been much moving this week!

{wild harvest test kitchen}

friday morning, as a part of the healthy living summit, i had the opportunity to visit the wild harvest organics test kitchen in eden prairie, minnesota.  wild harvest is a branch of supervalu grocers, and their products are featured right here in st. louis at shop n save stores.  wild harvest strives to provide "organic food that's priced for families: real families with real budgets".  i really like that this is part of their mission, as i personally know how difficult it is to want to provide organic or natural foods for my family while trying to stick to a budget.  

we were divided into three groups for the tour.  the first stop was a session discussing the difference between natural and organic products, along with some more information about the company. 

we were able to taste test a variety of chips and salsa.  the mango salsa was the clear winner!

next, we moved to the recipe design station.  we met with genie, who demonstrated a recipe for turkey burgers with cucumber dill sauce.  holy yum.  this will be making its way into our meal planning soon!

our final step was a stop in the sensory lab.  this is where product testing and comparison are completed.  we participated in a mini survey of their new cherry vanilla granola. 

after completing the test kitchen tour, they had a very nice spread of wild harvest foods for us to sample, along with some yummy mock mojitos from our talented 'bartender' brian.  

lunch was really good and we had a great time learning about wild harvest and their products.  we received lots of samples from the actual conference, so i am looking forward to trying more new products and to start picking up some more new items at my local shop in save.  

have you tried wild harvest before?  what things do you love that i should try?

{healthy living summit}

back when i posted my 33 things to do before I turn 33, i included travel to a new city, meet new friends, revamp my blog/post more constantly, and attend a blog conference. 

well, this week I am crossing those things off my list! 

*********

via

you guys, yesterday was awesome. i was terribly nervous about meeting tons of new people (hard to believe, right?!) but then i got here and realized everyone here has so many similar interests as me. we easily found things to talk about, and I can tell there are going to be many new friendships made. 

i started my day off with my first pumpkin spice latte from starbucks, and a flight into minneapolis. i enjoyed a lovely flight with some quiet resting & some time to map out what I want to talk about in my roundtable discussion for friday "making your health/fitness a priority".  after getting to the hotel, i dropped off my bags and headed out for a twins game at target field. 

there, i met becki and diana. After a few hours of socializing (and not much baseball watching) I met up with kristen and we went out to lunch and did some sightseeing and shopping.

dinner was tapas style at Solera Cocina de Espana.   the food was so good, and i was excited to try some unusual to me foods. (except the beef heart. yuck.) we dined with katie, allie, kristen and ashley. each one of these girls have their own amazing way of living a healthy lifestyle and I looking so forward to all the new people I am going to meet and everything that I am going to learn throughout the rest of the weekend!

{how does our garden grow}

after talking about starting a garden for a few years...my hubby set out and built it. and what a good job he did.  

we decided on a raised bed type and mapped out a nice bright spot on the side of our house for it. 

we had a little helper. every step of the way. 

 

we started out with a few tomato and pepper plants that hubby had brought home from work, and added in some starter veggie/fruit plants, herbs and seeds. and also a little fence to keep critters (and little boys) out. 

we are having some pretty good success so far.  This is impressive because I usually kill everything! 

of course I love that I have a little helper that wants to water the garden every three minutes. 

first thing out of his mouth in the morning... momma, we need to water the garden!  I hope this makes b want to eat his veggies!!

i need to do some reading, pronto. there is a lot to learn, and i would love to start a compost pile. anyone else doing any gardening?