It’s almost that time of the spring when you can’t sit down outside wearing black. Or a gust of wind leaves you feeling like you have sand in your eyes. Virginia is turning pollen grellow! (I hope the wind is not also carrying virus particles…)
Speaking of grellow, Mazen, Thomas and I all have very green eyes. And Birchie is all blue! Thomas and I both have specks of gold in our eyes too (I promise it’s not pollen….) and when I met him I told him I had never met anyone else with a golden streak in their eye!
Up and at ’em!
Who is this excited to get up!? Also note the 100 books he read in there. When he wakes up in the morning, or from nap, he asks for book after book, refusing to get out of his crib. It’s nice because he’s happy in there for a while even after his nap is over. We usually just sit on the bed and hand in books to read while relaxing ourselves.
unless there’s oatmeal to be enjoyed!
Oatgurt
You know how I have gone through 1,000 oatmeal trends in 12.5 years? My latest one is mixing yogurt and Greek yogurt together. It’s a warm weather thing. I made a big batch of steel cut oats in the rice cooker and they were only prepared with water. So the protein needed a boost. Greek yogurt is the quick answer to that. I heat the oats only enough to get them warm, not hot, and then spoon on yogurt and other toppings. I love the blend!
Another version with blueberries:
You Tube + Walking
As I mentioned I’m alternating between indoor workouts and outdoor ones. It’s nice when I can just run/walk with the stroller or play with the kids, killing two birds with one stone.
Gone Fishin’
As promised, Thomas took Mazen back to the pond one afternoon last week.
They caught one!!
Lunch from Roots
I got a takeout Roots bowl for lunch last week and enjoyed every bite. As much as I love dining out, dining in has actually been so nice. I haven’t really missed actually going to restaurants. I’m sure I will soon. Head’s up I have a blog post on Cville Restaurants coming soon for when you guys can all travel to Cville again!
Mom vs. Toys
Birch discovered Mazen’s playdoh basket. These boys together can destroy a room quite fast! I’m trying to balance needing lots of at-home entertainment and also doing some work around the house to simplify things so that they can’t tear a room apart by default. The answer to that is closed doors (for Birch) and toy rotation. More on that soon too!
The most common item you’ll find all around the house though is books. And I’m OK with that!
Recent Dinners
Pesto, ricotta and roasted veggies from Plenty.
This one got four thumbs up!
Leftover BBQ, leftover Roots salad, and boxed mac and cheese! One of those nights…!
My inlaws dropped off a bag of fresh garden greens (we think it was kale!) and I made bacon-maple greens. Cook bacon in a big pot, remove it to crumble. Add greens and sautee for 3-5 minutes, until wilted. Drizzle with maple and crumble bacon on top!
Served with a pot pie from The Pie Chest.
Hope you are having a good week!
Julie says
My son is the same way with not wanting to get out of the crib right away. It’s nice to just sit in the rocker and relax!
Teresa says
My circle doesn’t feel like takeout is safe to order anymore, between possibly getting exposed during pickup, or not knowing the health or trusting others to wear masks and gloves preparing food. I miss restaurant food so much! Going on week 5 of cooking 3 meals a day for all of us and no alone time breaks. I’m so worn out and it’s so weird to see families having totally different experiences across our huge country. Do you go inside restaurants for picking up all the food you guys are ordering? Do you worry about exposure from not cooking everything yourself? Maybe I’m just being paranoid but we are taking a lot of precautions.
Kath Younger says
All of the restaurant encounters we have had have been the strictest precautions. No contact, masks, no going inside. Zocalo and Lampo, for example, put your food on a table (by a masked person) and you wait until they clear out to go retrieve it. The only contact is the bag handle and you can wipe down the containers and then wash hands before eating. Plenty, for examples, drops the food on your porch from a masked driver. We then take the food out of the bag, recycle the bag, wash our hands, and then wipe the containers before putting in the fridge. Yes there is a little bit of a risk that someone who prepared the food coughed on it, but also remember that the GI tract is (hopefully) lined with good bacteria as a defense to viruses (as opposed to breathing it in right after someone in a grocery store coughs or touching something and then touching your face.) I think the risk is about the same as going to the grocery store where hundreds of people have gone through, maybe just slightly higher. You can always call a restaurant you trust and ask them about their food safety and kitchen procedures. But of course it’s a personal decision for each family.
Ellen says
Love a baby who likes to hang out in his crib with books! My oldest was like that!
We live in PA and have determined that takeout once a week feels reasonable. Because it is literally the only meal I’m not preparing, it feels like a total vacation!
Charmaine Ng | Architecture & Lifestyle Blog says
Love the last photo – so cute! 🙂
Charmaine Ng | Architecture & Lifestyle Blog
http://charmainenyw.com
Kelly says
Why have I never thought of making bacon maple greens?!?!?! So clever! Thanks Kath!
megan says
Maybe a little longer on the eye color thing. I have yellow-green eyes, but they were completely blue until I was 3! His definitely look like a lighter blue than when he was a baby. Maybe he’s not done changing it up 🙂
Kath Younger says
Maybe not!! Good to know 🙂
cathy says
Hi Kath, I’n really enjoying these posts, especially the meal ideas.
Milli Vincent says
LOVED the sweet ad video of Mazen trying cheese…especially that end. Had me laughing out loud and reminds me so much of my little guy (who’s 4).
Kath Younger says
🙂