High Five Friday

There’s been so much going on recently I’ve been planning on doing one of these rambling, catch-up type posts to fill you all in. I figured I would link up with Angela and share all the fun stuff as part of her High Five Friday series – a way to share five good things that have happened or you’ve enjoyed in the last week.

Most of these photos are from my Instagram feed – if you’re not following me, please do! I will follow you back unless you’re trying to sell weight loss wraps, then you’re on your own.

First up – apple picking! We did this for the first time ever last year and it was so much fun I almost couldn’t wait for Autumn to roll back around again this year. And come on – is there any place better than Vermont this time of year? It’s actually taken a while for the foliage to appear, but wow, when we were out driving yesterday to go to the orchard, it is looking gorgeous.

Now, this was a pretty exciting moment…BIG BOY BED!! Back in Brooklyn, Roman had been sleeping in his converted crib to toddler bed, so we ended up just leaving that on the curb and decided to buy a twin bed when we arrived. And of course in my head I was thinking, oh, I’ll just walk into a furniture store and pick one, it’ll only be a couple of nights he’ll be “camping.” Yeah…not so much. They did have beds in stock, but I definitely wasn’t planning on spending $800 on a twin bed (that’s before the mattress), so Roman roughed it for a good two weeks. When the delivery guys came to put the bed together, he announced to them, “Mama built me a bed too!! It was a floor bed! But it kept falling apart every night.” They thought that was hysterical. I was slightly mortified.

And we had such a lovely weekend because I got to see Allie!! Yay! She and the twins were in my neck of the woods on a weekend trip with her brother and his family, so we met up in Burlington for a couple of hours. I love seeing my blogging friends in real life and it was so fun to meet Miles and Vaughn. When we took this photo of the two of us, Tanner was in his stroller starting to cry, while Miles, Vaughn, Roman and a random girl they’d met were all taking it in turns to pile on top of each other and wrestle, yelling at the top of their lungs. Yet another behind-the-scenes Instagram moment!

More exploring is always a good thing and I love living right near a river here. I know I’ve mentioned the air before, but it is just amazing. I feel like I’m breathing deeper because I want it in my lungs!

Roman loves exploring the trails with me and skipping rocks with Daddy (well, more like throwing rocks) into the river. I actually tracked one of our exploring sessions last week and my little 3-year-old man walked over 2 miles one afternoon.

And – knock on wood – I feel like we’re almost past the worst of the threenager attitude from Roman. I’m not going to say there are no tantrums, but they’re not quite so apocalyptic now. Something I’ve also been noticing is that he’s interacting with Tanner more and more lately. This week I was up one morning well before the boys woke up so I could get some stuff done. Just as I was finishing up Roman came out to find me. Then we heard Tanner making little noises. I called out, “Mama’s coming, buddy!” but Roman said, “I’ve got him, Mama.” Knowing he couldn’t reach into his crib to pick him up, I just kind of held back to see what he meant. He took one of his picture books down and was “reading” it from memory to Tanner. I went in and he was sitting over on his own bed, “So I can hold the book up high enough for Tanner to see all the pictures.” I nearly cried.

Honestly, I’m so behind on my blog/novel/non-fiction/anything reading, I didn’t think I could come up with five articles to share with you, but through the magic of scrolling back through social media to see what I’ve been sharing, here are another five fabulous things:

Obviously I won’t be in the city for the NYC Marathon (which is a bummer because I love Marathon Sunday, running it or spectating), but I love reading all the articles and blog posts leading up to the race and the recaps afterward. Eric from Dirty Old Sneakers (he was on Fit Dad Friday this year!) has shared his tips for the 2015 NYC Marathon. He’s done this post for the past few years and he really is a fountain of knowledge on the race, from the expo to every section of the course.

Allie discussed all the crazy comments received on articles she’s written as a freelance writer. There really is a big difference in the comments and feedback on your own personal blog than when you’re out there in freelance land, just a byline name rather than someone the readers have come to know (and love, hopefully, or at least like!). It’s worth a read, especially if you find yourself skimming articles or dismissing them based on the title. Bear in mind, it’s almost always the editors who give the articles their titles, which can make your post sound like it’s about something completely different.

Jessica Phillips Lorenz, who was also my and Baby T’s yoga teacher for our baby yoga class, wrote an article for the Brooklyn publication Park Slope Reader, about the “Mom Bod”, or what she’s noticed from years of being a postnatal yoga teacher. It’s no secret women are often hard on themselves about their bodies, but when we find ourselves inhabiting a body that’s totally foreign after 9 months plus of pregnancy and giving birth, well, we can be brutal to ourselves. Hers is a really interesting perspective.

I also loved this post from Carla, In Praise of Daydreaming. For those of us who recall life without portable entertainment all the time, do you remember being a kid and just kind of being lost in your own thoughts? I have memories of when my family would drive three hours to visit friends for a weekend and I would look forward to the car ride, when I could just gaze out the window and daydream. Carla’s post about it is definitely worth reading.

Morgan from the blog Wildly Fit wrote about what it’s like to be a runner who uses the walk-run method during a race. You may not realize it, but taking short walk breaks (even when racing) can actually make you a faster overall runner. I’ve never thought about what it’s like to walk parts of a race with spectators, but Morgan shared some of the things it’s not helpful for a runner to hear.

So what were five wonderful things about your week?

Any fun plans for the weekend?