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!
Save This Recipe
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!




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.
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!!!!
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!
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 !!
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 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.
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!)
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?!
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”!!
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 !
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 :)
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.
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.
I love reading Michael Connelly’s book series of Harry Bosch! I’m curious about the show but don’t subscribe to Amazon.
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 coffee. I drink Tim Horton’s which I buy at Sam’s. I add 1/2 and 1/2.
Go Pens!