Middle of the week party time

We had a birthday party yesterday - my mom's - and she always wants nothing more than to ALL get together.  It was a success, except we missed one of my brothers(overseas still) and sis-in-law(working).  It was somewhat impromptu and my mom loves to do food for groups, so we let her take care of whatever food she thought would be perfect.  She had pulled pork sandwiches, cabbage salad, every kind of berry, and potato salad.  Plus this beautiful dessert of a birthday cake:



Max and Jason are obsessed with the ice cream cake.  My mom used strawberry ice cream in the middle, which is Jason's fave.  I brought a sourdough loaf to share, so that was my small contribution.

Since we are still in the time of Covid, we celebrated primarily outdoors.  And it was a TOASTY 92 degrees here.  My dad set up the pool and Max had a great time swimming in his underwear.  Because for some reason I thought he would not be interested in going IN it fully, with so many other fun things to do.  I was totally wrong - he loved it!  Good thing undies as a swimsuit is totally acceptable for a 3 year old!



The kids did eventually go inside to play with a few things before we got all set to go, pajamas and all.  I have found it helps with the bedtime transition to get into jammies before leaving - when I skip this step, they think it's time to PLAY when we get to our house.  Even though it is 7:30pm.



Eleanor took good care of the doll at Grandma and Grandpa's before we left.


The birthday dessert got me thinking about Max's and Eleanor's birthdays which are not all that far off...

Tuesday heat.. braids are required

It's hot outside, even after the kids are in bed, which is when I go for a run.  Last night, as I was running, my pony binder fell out of my hair and so my braid came undone.  Fortunately I had a binder at the top of the braid too so my hair didn't fall completely loose.  There is nothing worse than the feeling of hair sticking to your sweaty skin, in my opinion!



In other news, my children hate washing cars.  When I was little, it was the funnest thing ever to wash cars in the summertime.  Eleanor cried because she thought Daddy was going to spray her with the hose that was running a lot, and Max had a little fun until he got wet & then sat in the grass and pouted until we helped him get into a dry shirt.  I think they will like it eventually - but we might give it some time before trying again!  Hey, at least my car is somewhat cleaner...



We made everyone happy with a short (HOT) little walk down the block to the get the mail.




Maybe next time we will try swimsuits and some fun sponges?  I will do some thinking...

Cinnamon problems & peaceful porch cooldowns

Right at the very end of my workday, I tossed together a quick batch of blueberry muffins before getting the kiddos (have I mentioned how much I love working from home?!?).  It allowed me to use some of my excess sourdough starter, and I thought Jason would appreciate these yummy muffins.  It took me exactly 5 minutes to mix up, 20 minutes to bake (while wrapping up work things), and I only left the house 2 minutes late.

Unfortunately I later learned that my husband has a problem with cinnamon exceeding an unknown threshold in baked treats.  Sadly, these muffins had too much.  Oh well, more for me and Max!  Eleanor preferred smooshing them.  They are SO GOOD.

Workout of the day was running again!  I need to start getting my strength workouts back in the mix, but I am just loving my OUTSIDE TIME so much lately.  I think it's alright to be a little obsessed with this for a while.  There was breeze to cool me off, while sitting on the porch for a few minutes afterwards.  Peaceful!

Wonder what my next workout mix should be... I never did finish 80 Day Obsession.  Maybe restart that?  Hmm.

A Lovely Uneventful Weekend

We did have an uneventful weekend, but I do not mean that in a bad sense!  Plenty was accomplished, and the rest of the time we enjoyed ourselves.  Jason was busy with meetings and yardwork all weekend, so the kiddos and I played outside a LOT.  Saturday we also got out for another bike ride - slightly shorter than last weekend; about 9 miles.

Late Saturday evening, as we were heading inside for supper (grilled flatbread + black-bean corn salsa), I discovered this new artwork on our siding.  Beautiful, but not exactly great for our house.  After acknowledging her artistic skills, I promptly cleaned it all up!



Saturday night Jason and I had a mini date with incense on the porch.  It was so nice out that we were almost cold!  We will need to put in a fire ring in the backyard soon.



Sunday morning before church, we were hoping to get out for a walk outside, but we slept in instead.  Eleanor took her own little walk around the house.



After church, the kids helped me make crockpot granola for the week.  They tasted it when it was ready for me too. Crockpot granola is perfect for nice days where we do not want to heat up the house with the oven.



We also started "building" our weekly sourdough.  I am shifting bread-making to the weekend so the bulk of the time commitment is on Sunday when we are almost always home & the easy toss-in-the-oven baking day is Tuesday.  The kids woke up just as I was finishing up the last step of the bread, so I set them up with some treats at the counter while I finished.



Then we were back outside for a bit, my parents came over to visit, and I made a BOAT-load of this amazing black bean chili for supper.  Max and I loved it and it will definitely be made again.



Onto the work week!

Time well spent at 'Grandma and Grandpa's playground'

We stopped by my parents' after school so that the kids could play outside, and particularly on the swing-set since we are still not visiting playgrounds these days.  They had a great time, as always, and we went home happy and tired.



I ran over to Elm Creek this evening, and later learned there have been bear sightings in the park.  Not sure how I feel about that... I am fine with bears living in the park (must mean it is large enough!), but it does make me want to consider when I run.  And also not sure if I should get a whistle to make noise if I ever see one.  I would expect they are scared of people and loud noises...right?


Side note: these tiles came in the mail a few days back and nearly all of the sheets had at least one tile cracked!  I took pictures to ask Wayfair to resend new ones as I am sure they would, and they are now out of the tiles temporarily.  I spent soooo long picking these & I like them, but now that they're unavailable I am second guessing whether I want 3x6 tiles.  These are 2x4 tiles, on mosaic sheets for easier install.




Argh, back to the drawing board!  2x3 or 3x6 ?? Kitchen backsplash problems.

Jason says "it's Africa HOT outside"

I assume it is actually hotter in many places in Africa, but it was also quite hot here in Minne yesterday.  At midnight before I went to bed it was still 82 degrees.



My run was super hot even at 9pm at night.  I ran on my brand new path again, and discovered they have covered it in lovely greenish-blueish snow.  Not sure what this is, but I was a little nervous to run through it, for fear of breathing it in.  Maybe I should have gone a different way?



I guess it hasn't affected me yet!



Little E and all of her humidity curls... I have these too, when my hair isn't so long.



We did a little mid-week porch dropoff after school. Fresh sourdough delivered!

My new outdoor kitchen & BIKING this weekend

Check it out - I have a new outdoor kitchen.  It is the back of my car and it allows me to do meal prep OUTSIDE with the kiddos.  I have been doing this for the last two weeks - I recommend it.



We did outside lunch on both Saturday and Sunday because, why not!



Our two favorite things to do lately:  Max and the tricycle and Eleanor and the water table.  We went to visit with Jason's parents at the park and Max wanted to bring his trike instead of his bike.  The bike won out & he was happy he brought it since his big cousin was there to bike with.



And what I was actually prepping in the first photo is this salad that is my absolute favorite.  It has everything I love in it (tomatoes, black beans, cilantro, garlic, red onion, lime juice...) & tastes like salsa.  I think I ate half of it myself.



I found our new garden plans! Well, for when I actually get around to digging some dirt for a garden.  So...maybe next year?



Then for the highlight of the weekend.  We went for a family bike ride!  Eleanor has had a tough time with the bike trailer since she was little, but we knew she would come around to it eventually.  I think she was pretty little for a helmet to fit comfortably before - she'd always end up crying after two blocks.  We rode 13 MILES on Saturday and both kids loved it.  I think Jason's legs were effectively worn out too...

Water fun, granola prep, and other Friday night fun

Max was waiting alllll week for this day.  Water day!


*Note: I see the unfortunate camera angle here!:) I laughed when I saw it. It really says Shore Watch, I promise!

After school we went straight to my parents' house to play on "Grandpa's playground" as Max calls it.  There was also some chalk, balls, and running around involved + snacks like hummus and pretzels and fruit for supper.

After bedtime I successfully got in another quick run.  Love running at this time of day.  I went across the street to the school and did some loops around those neighborhoods before heading back home.



Back at home, Jason and I watched some random cooking show. Cooking shows are always entertaining no matter what they are making.  And then, because I am a night owl and stay up til midnight, I prepped some granola so the kids could help me bake it in the morning.