Despite busy schedules, a lot of rambling thoughts, exhaustion, and cranky toddlers to manage, we have still had plenty of good times this week. Including our Thursday ritual of picnic lunch with daddy!

The past couple of weeks we haven’t been able to have our regular Thursday lunch meet-ups because of radio shows and dermatologist appointments (in the clear! yay!!), so I couldn’t wait for today.

Like I said – things have been slightly hectic around here lately, so I had to toss together the quickest things possible for our picnic lunch. PBJ sandwiches for them…

And a hummus, tomato, and sharp cheddar cheese sandwich for myself.

For the record – that combo is immensely better grilled with some butter. Stacy’s pita chips by the handful help make it more satisfying though.

After lunch, came play time. Prepare for picture overload. You simply can’t help yourself but to snap pictures when you have the two cutest kids alive.

Told ya. Cutest kids alive.

I also had some fun learning that kids are strong little creatures and would own me at their games. I tried out this funky sliding monkey bar thing…and could only ever get halfway across. How do kids have endless energy for this stuff?!

And we can’t forget Peter’s “Me Tarzan. You Baby B.” moment either.

Classic. And now, bring on the “I can’t believe you would do that with your 9 month old baby you horrible, horrible parents” comments. I can take ‘em.

It was the perfect little afternoon.

“Must-Dos” or “To-Dos” to Make The Day Count

Lately, I have thought a lot about how I fill my time. You know I am a doer. I incessantly have to-do lists running through my mind. Yet, I know that in order to live a fulfilling life I have to take the time to focus on what truly matters.

Then one day it hit me. I have to shift my focus from my “to-dos” of laundry, dishes, organizing, emails, etc to the “must-dos” of loving others, taking a breather, caring for the health of my body, my mind, and my relationships.

Now, I have my to-do lists, but more importantly I have my “must do” list that trumps anything else for the day. I tell myself that if my "must-dos” happen, I accomplished all I needed to for that day. Sometimes things like laundry and emails can wait if you don’t get to them. Your children, your body, and your spirit can’t. Give it a try sometime. It’s pretty freeing.

• What is the last thing you did outdoors?
• What would be on your “must-do” list for a day?

Thank you for the feedback in the anonymous 3 Question FFF Survey I posted. It has really been eye-opening and helpful. I will leave the survey open for responses through tomorrow and would still love for you to respond if you can.

Okay…now we shall move on from all the blogging talk. Let’s talk impulse shopping!

I am a planner. Plan plan plan. We budget like crazy in this household. I meal plan. I love to-do lists and knowing what to expect in my days. Yet, impulse buys still get to me. Especially when it comes to food!

Grocery shopping budget = very important for me. Otherwise, I could easily browse the aisles of my favorite Kroger or Trader Joes and load up the cart with a bunch of things not really needed. However, if I find something that catches my eye and it’s on sale?

I take it as an omen that it must go in the cart. Wouldn’t you?

When at the store, I came across this spinach salad on manager’s special. With our recent snap back to warmer temperatures, nothing sounded better than a salad for lunch. Plus, it had all of my favorite salad components – fruit, cheese, and nuts plus balsamic dressing.

The spinach ended up being a little wilty from reaching it’s sell-by date, so I subbed out some of the less than stellar greens with ones we had on hand. Then I loaded up the rest of the salad with the spicy pecans, feta, dried apricots and cranberries, and dressing.

The salad tasted fantastic. I loved the touch of spice from the pecans. That was my first time having spiced pecans in a salad of that nature, but I loved it. What I didn’t love? The size. Only half a plate? Nuh-uh. Not happening. So I had a totally random peanut butter and banana on the side.

Not the best flavor combos, but whatever. I had a happy lunch. Thank you, impulses!

I find it interesting because for as much of a planner as I am, a lot of my final decisions are pretty impulsive. I will think things over, analyze pros-cons lists, and pray about particular decisions but when it comes down to it, many times my choices feel like game time decisions.

Deciding to start a family? One month I just knew and quite suddenly threw my pills out. Don’t worry – Peter was on board!

Deciding to finally enter a fitness competition? Did a Google search one morning and signed up immediately after.

Deciding to get certified in personal training? Planned in a car ride home from Peter’s parents house one afternoon.

Facilitating an adult study group at church? Said I would take it over before I knew the words were coming out of my mouth.

The list could go on and on…but I won’t bore you. I guess what I am trying to say is that I can only plan so much, then it gets to the point of overanalyzing things. Sometimes going on impulse can be a good thing because it’s our gut, our instincts, our conscience speaking. Sometimes I also believe it’s allowing God to do the guiding and forcing me to simply trust the path and stop trying to have the control. Whatever it is, it’s brought good to my life on the whole. Just like some other impulses that can happen…

Ahem. No clue where that came from.  

• On a scale of 1 (give me time to consider my answer) to 10 (spontaneous to the max) how impulsive are you in your decision making?
• What was your last impulse buy?