Morning! I recently went over to Great Harvest for some bread, walked by the shelf of Naturally Nuttys and realized I hadn’t had one in ages! I bought a jar of the Cinnamon Vanilla Almond Butter and omg – so good!!! I love their new labels too.
I’m checking in with some real meals we had lately. Blueberry Swirl bread for Mazen and me (plus apples with peanut butter for him and a fried egg for her.) Apples and pears are just about the only fruit Mazen will eat these days! He takes after his grandma KK who thinks all fruit is too tart and has to force herself to eat it! 
I’ve been eating leftovers for lunch this week, getting creative with the meats we grilled over the weekend. This was a box of tomato soup with chicken and leftover Brussels sprouts, and crackers on the side!
Spotted on the school bulletin board: silly Mazen the Snowman
KK sent Mazen this Mine For Fossils set for Christmas, and it made for a lovely TWO HOUR afternoon activity.
While it was quite messy, and we had to turn the brick to mud by dumping lots of water on top, he eventually uncovered all 10 fossils and then played with them for a while afterwards. I just bought him some of these eggs that might make a great shorter activity, and this dino poop kit is sure to get some laughs.
I have never really been wild about getting on the floor to play Batman or Legos or trains or trucks, but mommy LOVES playing games! I’ll happily sit on the floor and play Candyland or Shopping List or Connect Four for hours. I just bought Guess Who to break out on a slow afternoon – one of my favorite games from my childhood.
Games are also extra fun if I have a little vino to sip! ; )
Dinner this week was brought to you by Miss Peanut Butter Fingers! I made Julie’s Sheet Pan Salmon and it was a hit. I used butter instead of ghee, but otherwise followed the recipe fairly closely.
Had the leftovers for lunch the next day!
We also had Mona Lisa Pasta lasagna night! Served with a side of Brussels and peppers that were sautéed in bacon grease.
What was your favorite game growing up? I also loved Clue and Dream Phone (“He likes most sports….but not surfing!”) Clearly I loved ‘figuring it out’ style games the most!
And lastly – check out me talking about the benefits of peanut butter v. almond butter on Monica’s podcast this week!
Charmaine Ng | Architecture & Lifestyle Blog says
The little fossil set looks so fun. I would’ve loved that as a kid, but I know my Dad would’ve objected because he hates getting the house all messy (he’s a cleanaholic!). My favourite game would have to be Chinese Animal Checkers (Dou Shou Qi), which is apparently called “Jungle” in English, at least according to Google, haha! 😀
Charmaine Ng | Architecture & Lifestyle Blog
http://charmainenyw.com
Jen says
My daughter is 4 and always want me to play dolls/pretend/etc and I can’t stand it :(. I feel so bad about it. How do you handle it when your only child just want you to play but it’s not your thing. I do my best but I don’t last long. I also love playing games and doing experiments and crafts, and try to steer her that way as an alternative!
KathEats says
Yes, I usually just suggest something else that I like. (I love playing with Play Doh for example!) Sometimes he just wants to do that one thing and I do play. I feel guilty about it too! Part of the problem is when we play specific games with figurines I am not allowed creative freedom. Instead my character has to do/say everything Mazen tells me so it’s not as fun to just repeat after him for an hour. LOL.
Jen says
Yesssss. My daughter does the same. And when I tell her that’s not playing together, that’s being bossy, she gets all pouty and mad, lol. I know pretend play is so important to them, and that’s how she works out some of her questions/concerns, and I’m all for that. But yes, an hour of “mom, no, she needs to say this, mom, she needs to do that” makes me want to scream, lol. I’m glad I’m not the only one!!
KathEats says
Haha me too!
Mom says
I liked Chinese checkers and Sorry (which I recently enjoyed playing with Maze), and my beat friend and I played a game called Rich Uncle. Must check and see if it’s still around.
Jessica says
I am the SAME way with playing games like that. I finally stopped feeling guilty about it and focused on what I did like to do/was good at. I may not love to play the imaginative games, but I do love to play structured games (We are loving Jenga and Guess Who lately). I also love to color, read books, bake, make collages, play outside/garden, and have dance parties. I think its so helpful to stop wishing we were a certain kind of mom and jut embrace being the moms we ARE. 🙂 Especially now that my so is 5 and my daughter is 3, I can just honestly say to them that I am not good at playing pretend, lol. Luckily they have each other for that. <3
Jessica says
son*
KathEats says
Love this!
Sam @ Grapefruit & Granola says
I love your wine glass!
Denise Vermillion says
My daughter had a dollhouse when she was little, and she wouldn’t let me organize or change anything. Not fun at all! However, she learned how to play well on her own because I’d give up pretty quickly. Her older brother and I love games, and she recently told her boyfriend she has PTSD from game night because we were (and are) so competitive!!
Linds says
Oh my ghosh, Dream Phone flashback!! In my head I read that line in the EXACT VOICE <3
KathEats says
Hahahaha yes!!
Colleen says
Haha!!! OMG Dream Phone was the best!!!
Tonya says
Guess Who was my favorite board game, too! and I also loved Clue! But I loved making up stories for my Barbies to act out more than anything LOL!!
Linda @ the Fitty says
Kath! I heard you on the Run eat repeat podcast the other day talking about almond butter versus peanut butter 🙂 would you be doing more podcast from now on?
KathEats says
Yep! Not a regular, just a guest!
Kate G says
Random question – but how do you clean your rug in your living room from Pottery Barn? I have the same one (4 years old now) and we also have a yellow lab and it just seems so worn down!
KathEats says
Just vacuuming. It is looking a bit worn. Mine is 3 years old. But only up close and by me because I am its worst critic. I think overall it’s still good. Luckily it hides dirt (and dog throw up!) very well!
Katie D. says
We play a lot of Zingo – it has different card/tile sets so you can make it more challenging based on the age/skill level.
Tracy says
We loved Clue, too. Other faves were Life, Monopoly & Sorry!
I heard you on the podcast. Well done!!
Michelle says
My son is five and we love playing Snowstorm, Roundup, Kid’s Carcassonne, and a kid’s labyrinth game. I love these because they are not mind-numbingly boring. You can play them while thinking about winning strategies, or you can be really tired and not think much at all.
Tina S. says
A very fun game that my youngest daughter loved is Hullabaloo by Cranium. The beauty of that game is that it can also be played alone. With almost 11 years between my girls my energy wasn’t what it used to be with my youngest 🙂
I just checked and Amazon has it.
KathEats says
Awesome!
vicki says
I’m with you on the character/small world play. So mindnumbing. However, I love a bit of rough and tumble! One of our favourites is to all bundle on my bed and wrestle each other. It’s a surprisingly good workout with a four and six year old.
I also like card games, jigsaw puzzles, play doh and anything outdoorsy like cycling or swimming.
KathEats says
Haha! We love to snuggle which can involve some tickle wrestling!
Maren says
I’m reading this way late, but your mention of Dream Phone brings me back! I don’t know if I had played that one, but it made me think of another one I loved, which was Heartthrob! And Mall Madness! My daughter recently got into Guess Who? and Connect Four. We also really like any memory type games.