Friday Things
1. My gosh, Joseph has become absolutely hysterical lately… especially when we’re sitting down and eating our meals, he tells us the funniest stories! Sometimes he recounts things that have happened, and sometimes he makes up stories. I just adore his imagination and love seeing and hearing what a little boy he’s becoming. His sing-a-long spring program at school was ADORABLE – he was smiling the whole time, singing and doing the little hand motions. I’m so proud of the little person he’s becoming.
I’ve loved seeing Dominic’s personality really shine and blossom over the last few weeks. It’s been so interesting for me to see how different he is from Joseph (and similar in many ways – they both love routine and order!) and learn how to cater to his individual tastes. While Joseph was always very serious and liked quiet activities (reading books, building towers with blocks, etc.), Dominic much prefers to be active, silly and laugh. He LOVES to be chased and giggles non-stop, and thinks that scaring us with toy dinosaurs is the funniest thing ever. I’m so looking forward to getting back to swim class with him and also seeing how he likes music class this summer!
2. Isabelle is four weeks old today, and she’ll be one month on Sunday! She’s growing so nicely, is so sweet, and such a wonderful baby. I know I say this all the time, but she is truly an almost perfect baby! Yesterday was really the first day that she had some fussy fits, but I was able to calm her fairly easily. I love looking into those little blue eyes now that they’re open and so much more alert more often! Her looks keep changing; for awhile I thought she looked just like Joseph as a baby, and then Dominic, and now I feel like she’s just a mix or, more accurately, just Isabelle :)
3. Let’s talk laundry. For the longest time, I’ve done laundry twice a week, however since Isabelle joined our brood I feel like our laundry situation has exploded. Now there is an insane amount when I do it, so I’m thinking I need to switch to doing it more often. If you have multiple littles, how often do you do laundry?
4. Earlier this week I went on to Amazon and saw a huge ad for their deal of the day – boxes of Lindt truffles. They totally trolled me… I added them to my cart and then eventually “saved for later”. So tempting!
5. My Facebook feed has been full of Mother’s Day themed posts and videos (like this one and this one and this one), that I inevitably read while I’m feeding Isabelle in the middle of the night and, without fail, make me ridiculously emotional and teary-eyed. Whyyyyyyy do they have to grow up?!
6. Are you celebrating Cinco de Mayo this weekend? If so, check out some of my favorite Mexican recipes! –>
The Best Guacamole / Margarita Cupcakes / Tres Leches Cake / Copycat Chipotle Chicken / Copycat Chipotle Cilantro-Lime Rice / Restaurant-Style Salsa / Taco Dip / Beef Enchiladas
7. Okay, I tried drinking coffee… first, I tried black (bleh!)… then, I tried it with the Dunkin Donuts Extra Extra creamer (still just eh)… I couldn’t finish the cup, I just didn’t like it. Next I’m going to try the cold brew since so many of you have said that it’s much less bitter. Fingers crossed!
8. The NHL playoffs are taking years off of my life, per usual. Rooting for my Penguins, of course, and for Vegas in the west!
9. New show we started watching – Bosch on Amazon Prime. It’s a bit of a dark detective show (do we watch any other kind? ha!) set in LA, based on crime novels by Michael Connelly. We’re a handful of episodes into the first season and enjoying it so far.
10. TGIF! I hope you have an incredibly happy weekend with people you love!
Joseph and Dominic are just too cute. It’s hard to believe Isabelle will be a month old already…it seems like you just brought her home. She’s definitely changing and growing quickly. I do laundry for 3 adults and do it 3 times a week…2 loades each time…occassionally more…lol
I feel you on the laundry!! I have 3 littles – oldest just turned three and baby is 3 months now. If I don’t put in a load a day I am way behind. I try to put it in first thing in the morning so I have the rest of the day to worry about drying it and maybe potentially folding. It can take a whole day to take care of one load, and even that just sometimes sits in the dryer for a day! As I’m sure you feel – with 3 children, the most basic tasks become a huge deal :)
Cool pics, cool boys… next year hopefully we’ll be having a baby… cheers!
Hi Michelle,
I’m from Sydney, Australia. We are serious coffee drinkers here.
Try and get your hands on a Latte. In Australia, the coffee is served with frothed milk and you can also get flavoured varieties like Vanilla (my favourite), caramel or even Hazelnut.
Good Luck!
Caramel Dunkin’ Donuts coffee and 1-2 tbsp each of of ovaltine and natural bliss salted caramel creamer makes my coffee delicious!!!
3 kids. Laundry. Every. Day. Sorry!
You are definitely blessed! Too lighten the laundry load… Which is crazy when a large family… Some things, hand wash …you won’t believe the difference in your hamper load! Your kids are adorable! Thanx for keeping on with your posts. I know, it’s not easy. Bucoo props girl! 💯☺
I love the Lindt chocolates. Just let then melt in your mouth for an explosion of chocolate goodness. B4 u give up on HOT coffee, please try flavored. My go to has been cinnamon hazelnut or I sometimes mix different ones.
I have 3 children all in the span of 4 1/2 years. The laundry situation just grew right along with them. There was always a load or 2 that could be done each day between clothes for 5 people, bath towels, kitchen towels . . . And when they were in high school, the laundry situation exploded with 6 soccer games & 6 practices a week adding uniforms and practice clothes, lax uniforms & practice clothes, & swim team added lots of wet towels to the laundry chore. Laundry was truly a labor of love for my family. Truthfully, I miss all of that now . . . .
Gah!! I’m having a hard time telling if Duke or Judith is in the picture. Both are gorgeous Goldens. I’m still debating on getting a second Golden – talk about chores exploding – the amount of fur from 1 Golden and then adding another . . . . oy vey! Vacuuming would need to be done a couple of times a day!
GO PENS! We’ll be in Caps territory for Game 5, so that will be interesting. We have a wedding in VA and they’re renting TVs for the reception to catch the game. Die hard Caps fans.
I’ve been following your blog for close to ten years now. It seems you have an extremely similar taste in your tv shows that we do. We watch all of the same shows, down to the British crime dramas! We can’t wait for the next season of Bosch! Might I suggest a show called Patriot? It’s dry and darkly humorous and streams on Amazon Prime and is about to enter into its second season.
I’ll definitely check out Patriot, thanks for the recommendation!
Originally I thought Isabelle looked like Dominic, then Joseph, and today I’m back to Dominic. But you’re right — she looks like Isabelle.
Coffee. I suggest you use cold brew coffee to make café con leche/café au lait. The cold brew is smoother and more mellow. I use Mark Bittman’s recipe to make the coffee concentrate (https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1017355-cold-brewed-iced-coffee). Use at least a medium roast coffee. Typically it’s mixed with an equal part of water for hot coffee, but for café con leche/café au lait I’d suggest 1/4-1/3 coffee concentrate with the remainder being milk and sweeten to taste with sugar. Then you can adjust it to use more coffee if you like. Though I doubt you’re likely to do this, when I use cold brew for iced coffee, I don’t dilute it at all. The ice will melt and dilute it. My own preference is to add no flavorings.
For Cinco de Mayo I’m thinking fish tacos..
Don’t forget to thank the nurses in your life.
Hi! Beautiful family! How did you feel about the direction Homeland took? I for one am angry the big Russian is still alive. I know if my fave Quinn were still on the show he would not be! Hahaha Jave a wonderful weekend.
I was stunned by the end of Homeland! We were like, whaaaaaaaaaaat in the world???!
Hello, Michelle! What a beautiful family you have! When my husband and changed espresso machines, we found that all of our beans tasted burned and bitter. My quest for a smooth cup of coffee led me to Lavazza Super Crema Whole Bean coffee (we buy it on Amazon Prime). It’s our go-to for espresso, but it is delicious as a cup from the drip coffee maker, too. Nice and smooth, and definitely not overly bitter.
two things,
Thanks for your recipe for ice cream cake, was an awesome way to celebrate my son’s birthday (just must be sure to have a freezer large enough to accommodate a plate bigger than the cake to sit it flat in the freezer :/ )
Other thing…. don’t fill your coffee cup up too much. Fill your cup a quarter of the way full with coffee or so -go with a hazelnut or vanilla flavor to help with taste. Then put a few scoops of sugar and the rest of the space with milk, half-half or cream. You could steam the milk so that it doesn’t cool your coffee too much. Coffee is too bitter for me, too, so that is how I drink it… if I want to
Love Bosch! Great show!
Oh my goodness! I’ve just been dealing with this same laundry situation. Ultimately I’ve decided Monday is washday! I do all things laundry on Monday. Wash fold iron put away. Socks. Perhaps I’ll put bedding going during the weeks. But clothes only once a week. Otherwise laundry ends up ruling your days!
I have a huge issue with bitter foods and flavors and absolutely hated the taste of coffee (loved the smell though!), but then I started baking with instant coffee in the occasional baked goods and a small amount in a white hot chocolate recipe so I think that slowly reduced my distaste for the flavor in general. Recently I started mixing about half warm milk and half regular coffee with a couple tablespoons of English toffee syrup and I am actually starting to kind of like it and adapt to the bitterness. Just thought I would throw this out there in case it is helpful.
Laundry: Since I work from home, I’ve always had this rule. It feels deliciously indulgent, but it also really works well for me. I do one load a day. If there’s no full load, I get a day off. Which load do I do? The biggest dirty pile. If two piles are roughly equal, I take the one that regenerates the fastest. For me, it’s simple and it’s part of the rhythm of my day.
Good luck finding your own rhythm!
I work full time outside the house so laundry usually gets done once a week on Saturday (about 8 loads or so). What I do throughout the day is take each load from the drier and move the basket to the TV room and stack them up.
Saturday is always a bath night in our house so my husband bathes the kids after dinner and does the whole bedtime routine. I get to then watch MY show (usually about 2), sit on my bum for those TWO WHOLE HOURS!! and fold laundry & put the kids’ outfits on hangers right away. It’s permission to sit…yes I’m doing a chore. But two hours with no one interrupting me while I can concentrate on a show or two that no one else enjoys but me is such a wonderful luxury.
I have 3 kids and when they were little it was a load every day. It was easier to maintain and then I didn’t feel so overwhelmed by the piles of laundry.
Isabelle is such a beautiful baby, and I love the pictures of the boys. They are adorable and growing so fast. Happy Mother’s Day to you and your wonderful family! I am so excited myself…this August I’m going to be a grandma with my first grandbaby, a boy, and I absolutely can’t wait!
Congratulations to you Carol! Prayers for a safe delivery and healthy baby in August!
Can I just say how much I appreciate your TV show comments? I’m a mom of littles, too, and we both work full time outside the home. So our time to just be two grown-ups vegging on the couch with the TV is like, an 1-1/2 hours at best most days. I hate wasting that time watching a program that ends up being boring.
Have you started watching the Terror? I’m not into the sailing/seaman culture…but the drama in the show is really gripping so far.
Hi Jill, I haven’t seen Terror, but will check it out! Thanks for the rec! On that note, have you ever watched Black Sails? We finished the series… about old world sailing and pirates.
Cute pics of the kiddos!
It has been a while since I read your blog. Congratulations to your family on the birth of your daughter. I am sure that the boys were excited to meet her.
Thank you so much Jan! :)
Do you like tea? There are some hi-caf versions that might be an alternative to coffee for you.
The Republic of Tea has a really good coconut version.
Ugh, I don’t like tea either!
Your kids are all so cute! I am not a coffee drinker. Can’t stand the taste of coffee no matter what is added or done to it. Don’t force yourself to like/drink it. I drink tea – hot and iced. They have many different flavors of tea and some of the tropical ones are great. Good luck on finding your caffeine fix.
I buy Starbucks’ blonde roast iced coffee and have it with a scoop of Caramel Latte flavored protein powder I buy online with about a tablespoon or two of plain creamer or half and half added in (mostly for texture). Drink it over ice and it’s perfect. My mom drinks her coffee black and I’ve never understood it.
I have a large family and work long hours. It is easier to do smaller loads a few times a week. This makes sure there are always clean clothes/towels/etc. and helps things dry faster. Also having a smaller amount of clothes to put away and makes it more likely to happen for me. Hope this helps ! I have been reading your blog for years and it’s been fun sharing all your life adventures with food and your growing family.
Omg Michelle! I still feel your pain on laundry. I have a four-year-old and 20 month old and the laundry used to be daunting at times. I swear with each child, the dirty clothes triples.
I read a book about six months ago called A Simplified Life by Emily Ley. She has a chapter about chores/laundry. Her recommendation is to do one load a day-just one! I thought I’d give it a shot.
It has been REVOLUTIONARY! I sort all the dirty laundry each day and the basket that is the fullest gets washed, dried, folded and put away (I do take a break on the weekends and don’t do any unless
absolutely necessary). This way, it’s not daunting and I keep up with it. I used to spend a good two days a week doing a mountain of laundry and spending my nights folding after the kids went to bed. Now, it’s manageable and not overwhelming.
Laundry-ugh. 3 kids= so much laundry!! We do 1 load of towels & 1 clothes every single day
There are hundreds of types of coffee beans and roasts; you’ll find a blonde or light roast is less bitter. And if all else fails, add a healthy spoonful of sweetened condensed milk!
I love coffee. I drink Tim Horton’s which I buy at Sam’s. I add 1/2 and 1/2.
Go Pens!
The boys are adorable! And growing up sooo fast! Isabelle looks just like you! What anprecious little one!
If you will put a pinch of salt in the coffee grounds before brewing, , it will take away the bitterness.
We only drink Dalmyr Promodo coffee. We got hooked on it while traveling and order off Amazon. Full flavored but not bitter. (Hubs still adds a pinch of salt! ) https://www.amazon.com/Dallmayr-Prodomo-Ground-Coffee-17-6/dp/B001GVISZG
I love reading Michael Connelly’s book series of Harry Bosch! I’m curious about the show but don’t subscribe to Amazon.
Laundry-I only do for one person but seem. Be doing more since I retired! Maybe because now I have more time. I used to do multiple loads on the weekend. I do not envy you.
I used,to read all the Bosch books but went off him awhile back and have not tried the series. I love British crime…try Line of Duty, it’s amazing.
Coffee-as a child, I could not conceive of drinking it while my younger sister drank it from an early age. I developed a taste for it in high school. I don’t think you should need to add all sorts of flavourings to it. A blend that is not strong or darkly roasted appeals to me otherwise it is bitter. Can you get Melitta in the US? The German style is not at all bitter. Kirkland coffee is very good but you wouldn’t want to buy a large quantity on spec. I put some full cream (homogenized) milk into it and 1 tsp equivalent of sweetener. I use a plunger (Bodum style) or coffee maker. Good luck with pursuing this. I used to say I was a coffee snob because I don’t do instant anymore but there are many more ways to be one like having to have Starbucks, a cappuccino or a latte etc. Love your updates on the kids and dogs as always.
You have such a nice family and the boys change and seem to be growing as does the baby.
No pictures of the hyper dog and hope she is not gone now. Might have missed a post about her.
Hi Linda, Do you mean Judith, the young dog we recently got? She’s here! That’s her in the picture at the bottom with Joseph.
Just noticed #2 states Isabel is four weeks old today and is going to be one month on Sunday !
Is she one month today or Sunday ? You have a beautiful family !
Hi Liz, Well, both :) Four weeks ago today, she was born… the date was April 6th, so Sunday being May 6th will be 1 month :)
Oh ! I forgot to add ! I am not a huge fan of coffee either but I will drink Folgers instant French vanilla flavored Cappuccino in the canister. I Microwave my cup of water for one and a half minutes and add the powder ! Sooo good ! Fast and satisfying ! I don’t have the time or the patience to brew coffee or the taste buds for it ! Let me know if you try it !
Hi! I try to throw at least one load of laundry in each day – I know that seems like a lot, but that is how I keep it from becoming “Mt Washmore”!!
What a sweet family! I hope you have a wonderful weekend with them. Oh laundry…. I have three little ones under 6 and my husband is in the military and works out every morning. We have a lot of dirty laundry. I do laundry pretty much every day and as soon as I think it’s under control, we have more! If I had to do it all in one or two days each week, I think I would go crazy. There is just too much, I would spend all day folding. If you find some super awesome schedule, please share! It’s hard to stick to any schedule with the unpredictability of the littles. Playing outside really adds to our laundry as well. Random question — which car did you end up getting?!
Most coffee for me is too bitter. The only coffee I’ve had that’s not is freshly roasted. If you can find an independent coffee house that does its own roasting you should try theirs before investing in a bag. Good luck and there’s nothing wrong with tea or hot chocolate (whatever your jam is!)
I love Cold Brew! I make it myself using one cup of beans that I grind on a course setting. I then put them in a French press with 4 cups cold water and cover press with Press ‘n Seal. Refrigerate for 12 – 20 hours. When ready to drink use top of press to depress grounds and pour into pitcher. Add 3 cups cold water and stir. Really easy and I use more Press’n Seal on the pitcher. Also, I like glass pitchers for coffee. Fill a glass with ice and pour your delicious coffee in. I like Coffee Mate Natural Bliss in Sweet Cream flavor. Try it!! Hope you like it.
A pinch of salt will cut the bitterness if you don’t want to add sugar (sugar really helps though). Coffee is an acquired taste and I have no idea how people drink it black!
Also, just so your expectations aren’t too high, cold brew still tastes like coffee unless you add a lot of stuff to it!
I wish i could make you a cup of coffee you deserve it mama.. ok i havent seen anyone suggest the way i make my coffee.. brown sugar and heavy whipping cream! I think the most important thing is to get quality coffee beans i have been spoiled and cannot turn back. I like light or medium roast if you have a dunn brothers in town love their beans. Small batch roasted anyway. I like to grind my beans fresh and i have a chemex with a hemp filter. Omg! I look forward to every am!!!! You daughter is so beautiful !!
laundry: I have come to accept it is a losing battle; therefore I wash one load a day in the morning and fold the previous days’ from the dryer.
On weekends I wash all the linens, so obviously this means more, but it has worked beautifully with having little ones and maintains the never ending cycle! Enjoy that precious baby!
Large iced coffee, with cream, vanilla, not SF, and extra ice, Dunkin donuts…… I like my cream coffee flavored…..so this is perfect and the extra ice is key!!!!
Mom of three here.. I try to do a load of laundry each day. Otherwise it gets out of control very quickly! Plus one load is never daunting to fold, when the loads stack up it seems to take all day.