^^ My cleaning lady gave us this cute buffalo onesie (it’s by Carter’s and came with a buffalo check vest!) Thomas calls Birch “Billy boy” sometimes (a nickname he calls lots of people – I can’t explain it) and so when Birch wears this outfit his name is Buffalo Billy!
Happy little Billy!
Eats From This Week
French toast / peanut butter / bourbon syrup / clementines / coffee
Mini chocolate smoothie with granola before a workout. I made it with oats the day before and they soaked up the milk and it was thick like overnight oats! Kind of like a dough boy smoothie.
Caper chicken salad we made from leftover chicken thighs plus kale and greens, broccoli, peppers, cheese, and homemade croutons.
More of the same minus chicken plus avocado. And probably plus pita chips 
We are absolutely obsessed with this avocado song that Mazen learned at school. (There is a dance too!) I am trying to get the hip hop moves right, but am struggling to look cool doing so – ha! We’ve got lots of avocado on the brain as a result! So while humming the song, I thought to make avocado toast for lunch! I melted a little pepper jack cheese on top. On the side: yogurt, mango, and chocolate chips.
We had teriyaki meatballs from Plenty this week. Loved that yummy sauce all over everything!
Multi-Cultural Night
And on Tuesday night Mazen and I had an easy dinner before I took him to his school’s Multi-Cultural Night. Quiche + kale salad for me. Leftover pizza, salad, and red peppers for him.
The event was great, and the kids had little passports (with real Polaroid photos!) to take to each classroom that had a different culture. We learned a lot and got to taste different cuisines too.
Mazen’s Calendar
Mazen is one busy bee! Organic Valley sent me this calendar, which I gave to Mazen because he’d been asking for one. He makes all kinds of little notes about things going on in school or weekend activities. Only he can translate them!
Car Thief
I entered my car to find this the other day. Violated by a crook. Luckily I don’t keep anything valuable in my car. The person did not even steal my quarters or gum though. Strange.
Target Trip
As much as I would love to go to Target alone and slowly browse each aisle, a trip up to our Target (which is a good 15 minute drive) also makes a great activity for me to do with the boys after school. While I don’t believe that Mazen needs a toy with each visit, it does make the trip much more enjoyable for us all if I give him a little budget for a treat. I try to think of it like I’m paying to go to a kids activity center for the afternoon.
I have tried no toy, toy at the beginning, toy at the end, and think I found the best technique: I told him he had a $10 max budget (which rules out most of the big toys and leaves more crafty, useful things like art supplies and silly string) and told him every time he asked when it was time for the toy aisle or whined, I was knocking $2 off of his budget. He didn’t make a peep until all of my shopping was complete!
Which meant I finally got to buy some faux eucalyptus
I also bought this Hearth and Hand candle that smells just like the Rewined candles I love.
CF + Cookie Monster
I recently attended an event at Common House for the Virginia Chapter of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation to celebrate its 2019 Charlottesville’s Finest Honorees. My friends Sarah and Caroline are Honorees this season, and I am glad to continue supporting the CF Foundation. They put on a Brewer’s Ball event every year in June that is a great time and a great fundraiser.
At the event they served these Nightengale Ice Cream Sandwiches out of Richmond. OMG it was sooooo good!! Two chocolate chip cookies + cookies n cream ice cream inside. As far as I can tell, the Hunt Country Market has them here in Cville.
Clothing Swap
As you might have seen on Instagram, I spent some time this week getting my old warm weather wardrobe out of storage. Since I was pregnant last summer, I haven’t seen these clothes in two years! I washed and sorted everything and took a LOT of things out of my closet that I didn’t wear this winter to donate. And I started packing for our trip – I had to make sure what I was packing fit – luckily most of it did! Surprisingly my shorts all fit. What I wasn’t expecting is that my breastfeeding bust is too big for some of my summery tops. Can’t wait for that to shrink back down.
Peyton Hargrove says
Genius idea of knocking off dollars if he keeps asking! I’ve hated to see such waste of little trinkets purchased over the years that end up in the trash but recently came to your way of thinking. It’s an experience as much as an item! The fun of choosing something and the lessons learned along the way are what it’s about. And hey, if they use it for half an hour…even better!
Allison says
I too love a peaceful trip around Target and nothing ruins it more than whiny kids begging for every little piece of junk they see that we all know is going to end up on the floor after an hour. So my brood is very clear on the fact that we’re going to Target, or wherever, for specific things and while they are free to look, YOU’RE NOT GETTING ANYTHING WE / YOU DON’T ACTUALLY NEED SO DON’T ASK. Maybe it’s because they don’t want to hear my speech about kids in Yemen who just want food for the umpteenth time, but they toe the line like little angels.
KathEats says
If I went more often I would have to be strict. We only go once a month (maybe) so I’m a little softer about it. After Mazen has a birthday or earns some money, I have him bring his own wallet and then he can get whatever he can afford so that is a good “I’m not buying it” trick too. If I were organized, I’d give him a host of chores to do before we left so he could earn money to spend!
Allison says
Yes, I absolutely let them use birthday / holiday money if they want to purchase something. Funny how much more stingy they are when it’s their money and not momma’s 🙂
KathEats says
yup!!
Charmaine Ng | Architecture & Lifestyle Blog says
Ooh, you’ve just reminded me, Kath. I need to clean out my winter clothes soon as well. It’s already 20ºC+ in Hong Kong yet I’ve still been too lazy to do that wardrobe swap! Guess that’ll be my activity this weekend, haha. 🙂
Charmaine Ng | Architecture & Lifestyle Blog
http://charmainenyw.com
KathEats says
It will make you feel refreshed!
Melanie says
wow – does mazen really go from one parent to the other every day? seems like a hectic schedule for the little guy! calendar idea is adorable though!
KathEats says
Not always – he just filled in the month like that. But we do both like to see him as much as possible, and neither one of us wanted to do a “week on, week off” schedule – we’d miss him too much. We live 4 blocks apart, so it’s not as much “shuffling” as it seems.
polly says
Kath you and Matt live 4 blocks apart? That is so awesome. I din’t think it seems shuffling at all! As he gets bigger he will love being able to pop in and out of mom and dads anytime. You guys are doing wonderful and it’s clear he is a happy little dude.
I need a Target budget too. 😉 haha XOXO
vicki says
Love the fact That you and Matt live so close. Perfect for Mazen x
Tracie says
Have you tried the multigtrain pita chips? I think they taste even better!
KathEats says
Not yet!
Ttrockwood says
I have been desperately craving summer and was making fatoosh alll last summer with pita chips- this time i used some vine ripened tomatoes and cherry tomatoes which worked well and lots of cilantro. Tasted summery! The pita chips really make it.
I’m a ways from going through summer clothes here still, i’ll get too excited to wear things and then freeze! Haha!
Madelaine says
I live in Richmond and LOVE those ice cream sandwiches! It’s so great to see that their fame is spreading. There’s a peach cinnamon flavor for the spring that I can’t wait to try!
KathEats says
Yummy!!