Hi Friends,
Happy Friday! Does anyone else feel a little hungover? Haha, I only had two drinks, but ya know, it’s the planning, extra Halloween classroom parties, executing, and late-night sugar-filled children. Plus, I “threw out my back” this morning, bending over to get KJ’s shoes on, so #thisis30. It was tight before that; I should have stretched/done some exercises this morning when I felt all the tightness; my bad. Luckily, this is one of those been there, done that type of injuries, so I know in a few days or a week I’ll be good. It’s still annoying, and I wish it wasn’t so, but it is what it is.
Also, we forgot to take pictures of the kids last night, so that was a fail. Here is a screenshot picture of a video from when they first tried on their costumes. It kind of looks like it’s really spiderman and spin lol
The boys wore their Wild Kratt costumes to the fall festival, so they opted for Spider-man and Spin last night (thank you Costco). NJ stayed with the nanny who gave out candy to the three trick-or-treaters we had, then shut off the lights and put the kids to bed. We took the boys to the neighborhood next door to us to meet up with some of KJ’s friends from school, who had a ton of scary decorations, games, pizza, juice, soda, and beer/wine. KJ got to trick-or-treat with his bestie from school, and KK had a great time, too, once he warmed up to the scary decorations!
PS We did have kind of a weird situation where a car stopped to give the group of kids we were with candy. At first, I thought the other parents knew the people but quickly realized they didn’t. We had to stop the kids, talk to them about strangers’ cars, and check the candy really well (which we do anyway). One of the other parents wrote down the license plate. I think it was probably in good faith. Oh, let’s give these kids some of this candy.
Around the Blog This Week:
I published a couple of gift guides! I work really hard to put together lists of things that we’ve loved and that didn’t work as well, hopefully it helps with shopping for the kids in your life!
Around the Gram:
Weinberger Deli
Mr. Hungry’s parents came in for KJ’s birthday last weekend and we tried Weinbergers Deli in Grapevine! It did not disappoint! It was really really good, they have about 8 thousand versions of Reubens which is my favorite sandwich of all time.
KJ’s 6th Birthday Party Cheeky Monkey’s
I opted for an all inclusive party at Cheeky Monkey’s, all I had to do was bring the cake (which I got at Costco), they did everything else!
I’m limited in the photos I can share because there were a lot of school friends in the photos, and obviously, I don’t have permission to share those! But it was a great time! Open play for about an hour and a slime station (the choice was slime station, face painting, or balloons.)
The kids ate pizza and chicken nuggets and had a dance party, cake, and a pinata! Honestly, it was well worth every dime. I was really looking for a place that would be great for KJ and his friends as well as for younger siblings. We went to Cheeky Monkey’s on a play date earlier this year, and I knew it would be perfect! I think the most special thing to me was the party but also having all the cousins together during the party and after. Afterward, we went home and opened presents surrounded by lots of family. Feeling very blessed for making those core memories!
Fishing Club
KJ’s school has a fishing club, and he’s been talking about wanting to go fishing, so at the beginning of the year, we signed him up. The club organizes the day and time for everyone to come, and there is equipment available for rent. This was just at a bass pro shop, but he had so much fun! The perfect intro to fishing!
Video Lighting
The Texas rental house has been super frustrating because it’s SOOOOOO dark, especially in the kitchen. I finally broke down and ordered some Youtuber style lighting. It’s not as good as natural light, but I feel like it looks better, except when I’m dragging the lights all over the house. My sitter said they remind her of school photo lighting lol I know like a quarter of you care about lighting, but lots of people post social videos even if they have full time jobs, I thought I’d pass on that these lights are great!
Alarm Clock
I ordered a traditional non-Buetooth, not fancy, real alarm clock, so I had to get up and cross the room to turn off the alarm, so I’m less likely to snooze. Also, I can be one of those people who removes their phone from the bedroom at night or, at the very least, turns off the Bluetooth and wifi.
DUTCH TEST Results
Every month, right before my period, I’ve been dealing with some sort of injury. Finally, I recognized the cyclical injury pattern and decided to run a Dutch test.
I’ve been reviewing DUTCH tests with clients for the last couple of years, and for a second, I was still like, WTF? As a practitioner, I can utilize the clinical consult team, so I did that. Essentially, yes, the low estrogen and testosterone do line up with my joint issues and other symptoms. However, my progesterone levels are reassuring, so this is one of those cases where I will likely want to double-check estrogen in a serum sample with a high-sensitivity estrogen test. On the consult, I learned that occasionally (not very common at all), some women will have a temporary dip in estrogen when their progesterone is at its peak post-ovulation, and when you catch that, it looks like estrogen is lower than it is during the rest of the luteal phase. She said it doesn’t happen often, and most practitioners don’t know about it unless they see a lot of cycle maps. But given my amenorrhea history, we will want to verify that the estrogen truly is higher with either a cycle map or blood samples. I’ve never had a client where verifying in the blood was necessary, but it can happen, like in my case. In the meantime, I’ll be implementing Maca to help support estrogen and testosterone levels and probably follow up with a few blood screens. Slow cortisol clearance also showed up and it can be a sign of thyroid dysfunction or anemia, and post-partum, those would be good things to look at as they are common post-partum.
Fitness
I think I got three workouts in this last week. One random HIIT workout I made up and did Saturday morning before the birthday party festivities. One leg day and one upper body day yesterday. My plan is to focus on lifting, building up my core, etc. I’m just not where I want to be strength-wise, and I haven’t been doing anything consistently to build that up. I purchased a new program, and despite the workouts being very basic (no crazy moves), the fact my back is pissed after two workouts, I think, is evidence that my core strength and stability need to be worked on ASAP. So that’s the focus. I want to get strong in 2025, and I’m starting now.
Friday Flashback
The group chat with the in-laws this morning was popping up about our Thanksgiving menu.
Planning your Thanksgiving menu? Check out these posts with my favorite recipes from the blog!
- Thanksgiving Appetizer Ideas
- Thanksgiving Side Dish Ideas
- Thanksgiving Dessert Ideas
- Leftover Turkey Recipes
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