Things I’m Loving Friday #336

Sadie says “Happy Friday” to you! 

Love that sweet lil’ sugar face! Sadie is 12.5 years young and still has no problem keeping up with all of the activity we throw her way. She just seems to want a little more down time and cuddles these days… but don’t we all? Haha! 

So, tell me friends, what’s new with you? Anything fun to report over the course of the past week? Anything exciting coming up for you this weekend? Our calendar is relatively clear but with temperatures climbing into the 90s yet again, I’m sure you’ll find us swimming in the lake a bunch. Get this baby belly in water as much as possible, please! 

As for today, I have my 33 week prenatal appointment and am looking forward to another check-in with my doctor. I’m going biweekly now (and also have a maternal and fetal medicine appointment on the agenda next week to check baby’s growth since Chase was a small little guy) but thankfully the increased amount of movement I’m able to feel from our little one is doing a lot for the ongoing pregnancy anxiety that follows me around. Keep those rolls and kicks coming, baby! 

Before unplugging a bit for the next few days, I wanted to keep things consistent on the blog and share my usual roundup of Friday favorites with all of you. See below for some of the things that made me smile this week and, as always, feel free to chime in and tell me about some of your favs, too!  

Things I’m Loving Friday

• Burton Utility Pouch for On-The-Go Kid Snacks

Oh happy day! I finally found the perfect replacement reusable bag for the boys’ on-the-go snacks. In the past I’ve used a large Stasher Bag and even a clear plastic bag that came with an old diaper bag but the plastic bag ripped and I found myself preferring Stasher bags for food storage versus carting a bunch of snacks around. Once the plastic bag ripped, I went on an internet search and ordered a couple of different options but was unimpressed with all of them until I found this Burton Utility Pouch.

My main requirements were that the new bag be clear (it makes it easier for the boys to see and select their snacks) and large enough to hold a lot of snacks (pouches, apples, nut butter, raisins, bars, nuts, turkey sticks, etc.) as well as hand sanitizer and a sunscreen stick. I also wanted the bag to have a zipper versus slide shut so everything would be secure and wanted the material to feel sturdy enough to be thrown into bags, the backs of our boys’ various on-the-go toys, etc. The Burton Utility Pouch ended up being a slam dunk! The material is thick and durable and it easily and securely holds all of our snacks. I refill this bag every day with new snacks and so far it’s holding up very well to our go-go-go style of life with two (almost three!) kids! 

• New $5 Kitchen Succulent 

I’ve told you guys for years that I do not have even the slightest green thumb and everything that is living and green that comes into our house is sure to meet its doom. Well, magically, I’ve kept a plant alive for nearly three years by only watering it whenever I randomly remembered but sadly when we arrived home from Florida, it was all brown and crunchy. Womp, womp. (The plant was actually a gift from a friend after our first miscarriage so I am not sure what kind of plant it was but I loved it.) Fast forward a week or so and when I was browsing the aisles at ALDI on Wednesday (which, honestly, felt like a treat since I’ve been Instacarting up a storm over here), I saw succulents for less than $5 and nabbed one to fill my deceased plant’s place. Aren’t succulents supposed to be easy to keep alive? Time will tell, but I’m happy to have a little pop of green back on our kitchen counters. 

• Celebrating 5 

Though Chase’s fifth birthday isn’t until Wednesday, we got together with a couple of Chase’s friends who also have July birthdays for a little pool party afternoon play date yesterday and it was SO ridiculously wonderful. Chase understands that many of our usual activities are on hold because of “germs” and the fact that we need to make sure to keep other people and our family healthy but thankfully he has made it really easy on us by not complaining and just rolling with the punches. While Chase still asks about when things will open and whether or not we can do x, y, z again, he and Ryder are pretty darn content with so much outside play as their primary fun every day. I say all this to say that the moment I told him we were going to a friend’s pool for a July birthday party for him and a couple of his buddies, he absolutely lit up at the idea of REAL plans that involved friends, cupcakes, a small-scale “party” and a POOL. Clearly the idea of a party, even a very, very small one, caught him off guard and had him so pumped! He was in heaven doing cannonballs off the side of the pool and splashing around with his friends and it was just so nice to see him doing something that felt even slightly normal around his birthday during this crazy time. 

• Almond Flour Blueberry Muffins 

You guys know by now that we are muffin making machines in this house. Our boys are muffin-obsessed so we always have a batch on hand and often one in the freezer as well. (You may see their favorite muffin recipes in this post: Favorite Toddler Muffin Recipes) Well, we recently made a new-to-us recipe that got two thumbs up from our entire family. Wholesome Yum’s almond flour blueberry muffins knocked the ball out of the park and tasted more like blueberry cake than a muffin! So delicious! One important note: I’ve only ever used cane sugar in the recipe versus the sweetener the recipes calls for (we are not Keto/Paleo in our house and, as written the recipe checks both of those boxes) so I can’t speak to how the recipe is as-written but we’ve loved it with our one simple sugar swap! Oh, I also use frozen wild blueberries versus fresh blueberries which may account for the slightly grayish color of our muffins but the taste is fabulous even if the appearance isn’t gorgeous. Yum! 

• iMark Interactive WordPress Support

Hallelujah for FAST and effective WordPress support! This next TILF highlight will likely be of no interest to most of you out there but if you happen to be a blogger or website owner who uses WordPress as your publishing platform, iMark Interactive might be a huge help for you like it has been for me. When I was facing a ton of behind-the-scenes blog issues two weeks ago and wanted to throw my computer in the trash, my long-time blogging friend Anne recommended iMark Interactive to me and they have been incredible. I’m talking FAST, effective and incredibly responsive to any issues I’ve sent their way. (When I say fast, I mean it. Response time have been within 10 minutes!)

I signed up for a monthly plan and am so incredibly impressed with them so far. They also tackle smaller projects (like finally adding the “Jump to Recipe” button at the top of my recipe posts!) so I’ve been taking a big sigh of relief to have this resource available to me because I know it will save me a lot of time and headaches. I just wanted to share this here in case you need a go-to team to help with WordPress issues to save yourself some stress! 

• Friday Flashbacks

Easy Black Bean Dip (This recipe is super simple and can easily be prepped ahead for your next cookout!) 

10 to 100 Driveway Workout (For this workout, you’ll use your bodyweight to work your lower body, upper body and core and short bursts of cardio will elevate your heart rate in no time at all.)

Question of the Day

What is one thing you’re loving this week?