Check out this weekend's 30 Days of Self Love posts!! Stop Fat Talk (including my personal experience from yesterday) and Loving Others.

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To say yesterday was a busy day would be quite the understatement. By 2 pm, I had been through two kiddie birthday parties, leaving me stealing catnaps in the car that afternoon.

That morning was all about the playground, bugs, and friends. We visited a local park for little man E’s birthday fun. I think M enjoyed herself, don’t you?

You should see the smiles they had plastered on their faces! We’ve set the wedding date for May 14, 2035. That is if Peter doesn’t get to him first for stealing his baby.

In between all the hand holding and puppy love, we enjoyed some food. I just munched a small sandwich since I had a late breakfast and wasn’t too hungry.

We also played on the playground and picked up buggies for prizes. Or attempted to pick up buggies for prizes.

Little Miss Priss didn’t want to touch the things. She is all girl. Does that mean baby B will be all boy? I don’t know if I can play with bugs. I hope he’s like his daddy. Ouch. What does that say about Peter?

I kid! Peter – I mean that I hope he is calm like you. You’re a man’s man with your love of cars and tools. And your need to learn football from your wife. Er, sorry. That slipped out.

Annnyyyywaaayyysss. After the boyfriend’s birthday, we met up with the family for my nephew’s party. It was nice to visit for a couple hours and celebrate yet another year for one of the many kiddos in the clan.

I seriously cannot believe he is already one! Which reminds me…M’s birthday is in a month. I need to send out invitations soon. And see if my daughter’s future mother-in-law minds me stealing her location for a party. I prefer the thought of 15 kids running around at a park over my house. But back to the party. More specifically, the cake. My sister-in-law made this apple spice cake for the party. It was from scratch, naturally sweetened, low-fat/low-sugar..and incredible!!

I told her she needs to start a food blog. Everyone, say “Hello Marie! Please start a food blog!” 😉 If that doesn’t work, maybe she will let me “borrow” the recipe to share with you all. And to supply dessert for my sweet tooth when the candy corn pumpkins go bye-bye. Wait. That’s getting depressing. Although not as depressing as Peter possibly leaving me when he sees that picture. I think its time to bring this post to a close. Look for the rest of the weekend’s recap tomorrow. “Can we pretend that airplanes in the night sky are like shooting stars (shooting stars)…I could really use a wish right now (wish right now, wish right now)” ……… Please don’t hate me for that.

• What was your favorite childhood birthday party? Mine was my 4th birthday. It was a My Little Pony theme and we even had a pony come for a little while for the kids to ride in the backyard. I felt like such a princess!
• What bug freaks you out the most? I cannot and will not deal with cockroaches! At a sleepover in 4th grade one crawled in my hair while I was sleeping on the floor. It woke me up and when I scratched at my head from the tickling, that nasty bug fell on my pillow. Eeeeek!!!! Plus, they don’t die! And there’s something just wrong about that.

I know this comes as my third post of the day, but I really enjoy this manner of posting! It’s actually less time consuming than you would think. Especially since the times I get to write come in short bursts. So this works perfectly for me and goes well with my schedule and writing style. I do what suits me. Not because someone else does it or prefers it…but because I like it. 🙂 Enough about all that now…

I had such a fantastic day! I knocked my to-do list out of the park and accomplished so much more than anticipated. I managed to catch up on emails/blogs, ship some goodies out for a friend (Hi Lindsay!), and fit in a top to bottom scrub down of the house.

All of that, plus some fun! This morning M & I visited the local fire station for a field trip with the mom’s group.

The kids all got to see a fireman dressed up and pretend to go on a rescue.

They were even able to touch the fire truck. Although I think M was more into getting close to her little boyfriend. They are so smitten with each other. Not even 2 and already has her first crush. We’re in trouble!

As a thank you, a lot of the moms contributed baked goods to the firemen’s lounge. I whipped up some of Meg’s Pumpkin Crumble Bars to share. Easy and delicious. I know because I had to do the obligatory taste test. 😉

I ended the day on a high note as well. Since I didn’t get in my morning workout with the fire station tour, I wanted to do something active together as a family. So we took a nice walk together before dinner. Low-key moments like these make for the best nights.

I used to think that multi-tasking made my days so productive. Over the past few weeks, however, I’ve tried something a little different. Each morning I write out a list of things that I need to get done as well as hopefuls.

I focus on one task at a time and give myself a time guide to help me stay focused. It has increased my productivity more than I could imagine! I get so much finished now and have more time to work on the things I really love. Like #1 - my family and #2 - the blog. I think you should give it a shot if you tend to believe the only way you have time to accomplish anything is through multi-tasking. You  might just surprise yourself.

• What time management tips do you use? Do lists help or hurt you?
• How old were you when you had your first crush? I was in 2nd grade. I remember his name was Chuck and he was a football player on the rec team I cheered for. Then, it was Mike in 5th grade. Which, funnily enough, he is a very close friend of my friend who is getting married. Beth (his mom), if you’re reading this you can laugh at me at the rehearsal dinner! 😉