Morning
My Tuesday began at 5 a.m. as usual when I woke up, read my devotional, made myself a cup of coffee and knocked out about an hour of blog work while I ate an egg muffin.
I then joined Ryan in the garage for a leg workout that looked like the one I did last Thursday.
I completed one round of my mini band booty workout (not the full workout) at the end for a final burn and think I’ll be feeling this one for a few days. I was actually sore for three days after I did this workout last week. Phew!
After my workout, I took a quick shower and then the boys were up and ready for action. We all ate breakfast together and I heated up a mug of oatmeal for myself that I made with ground flaxseeds, chia seeds, almond milk, frozen wild blueberries and a spoonful of cashew butter.
After breakfast, the boys played with trains while I unrolled some white butcher paper and rounded up supplies for a little crafting!
I traced the boys on the paper and then they spent time decorating themselves so we could “mail a hug” to family.
I saw this idea on Lindsay’s blog and thought it was adorable, especially since we were feeling bummed about several family visits we canceled last month and next week.
We then headed outside to take advantage of another beautiful spring day in Charlotte. Chase wanted to ride his “dirt bike” (aka his balance bike) and Ryder was obsessed with having me push him around on the tricycle that my mother-in-law passed down to us. It was actually Ryan’s when he was younger and both boys have loved it!
Afternoon
After a couple of hours in the sun, we headed inside for lunch. My midday meal looked like another grain bowl and it hit the spot. More importantly, it took a hot second to throw together because it was comprised mostly of leftovers. Heck yes!
After lunch, Ryder went down for his nap while Chase and I did some of his school work together. His teacher has been wonderful about sending over daily (optional) assignments and yesterday’s looked like a game featuring three new sight words (big, play, up).
First I wrote each word on three separate pieces of paper and then wrote them again four times on another piece of paper for Chase to cut out.
I then scrambled up the cut out words for him to match to the words on the big pieces of paper. The real fun came when it was time to hide the cut out words all over the house for him to find before he matched them all up a second time!
Anything involving some kind of a seek-and-find game is right up his alley!
Chase and I spent the rest of Ryder’s nap time in the kitchen together whipping up a cookie cake because my obsession with baking all the things right now continues.
Ryder awoke just ask we were putting the cookie cake in the oven and after a little brother “quiet time” we all came together for a snack before playing around the house for the rest of the afternoon.
Evening
Ryan wrapped up his work day upstairs as I put the boys in the bath and we spent the rest of the evening eating dinner and hanging out on our screened in porch which has quickly become our favorite spot in the house this spring!
Dinner looked like taco bowls and included ground turkey cooked in taco seasoning, shredded cabbage, brown rice, quinoa, sweet corn and chopped tomatoes.
The highlight of the evening was the cookie cake Chase and I made together and we ate it a la mode with a little vanilla ice cream.
So good!
Once we got the boys in bed, Ryan and I watch and episode of Tiger King before reading and turning out the lights. Yes, we totally gave into the Tiger King hype! Are any of you guys watching it right now? Thoughts? I think it’s entertaining but I must admit I don’t really understand why so many people think it’s a “must watch” show right now. We’re about halfway through so maybe I’ll change my tune as it progresses? Regardless, it’s entertaining enough for some mindless TV at the end of the day!
And now I’m off to try to sneak in a quick garage workout before the boys wake up and we get this Wednesday rolling. I hope you all have a good day and stay safe and healthy!
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We watched Tiger King last week and I think why it’s a must watch is that it all sounds so ridiculous and outrageous that you can’t stop watching. I do feel awful for those tigers though, in both cases. Animal conservation should be for zoos (if animals are in captivity) and scientists/zoologists who work to save them in the wild.
The thing about any must-(watch/read/see/listen) things is that there are three waves of viewers. The first wave watches and starts talking about it (“Holy crap, have you seen this?!”), which brings in the second wave (jokes, memes, etc), and for a bit everyone is blown away by it and the hype grows and grows and grows. Then comes the third wave, and unfortunately for the third wave, it rarely lives up to the hype. It can’t, at that point, because your expectations have been raised to the point that it’s impossible. This wave also often includes the backlash folks who not only don’t think it’s the best thing since sliced bread, they thing it’s harmful or offensive etc etc.
I’ve been in the third wave many times, and it’s not as fun as being in the first or second wave. Right now I’m seeing a lot of third wave reactions to Tiger King, and they are all very similar to yours.
(Of course, within each wave there’s personal taste, so everyone on the first wave won’t love it, and everyone in the third wave won’t be disappointed. But 25 years on the internet, man, and I’ve seen this pattern a hundred times. Once you notice it, you see it constantly.)
So it could just be it’s not to your taste, but it could also just be the natural reaction to seeing something that’s been over-hyped at this point. It happens!
Totally agree that although interesting, Tiger King is not as amazing as it has been talked of!
Love these posts!
Thanks and hang in there!
While I’m happy you have a helmet on both your boys, please put it down over their foreheads. There should only be one-two finger widths above their eyebrows. Just a friendly reminder as I see them way too often placed incorrectly.
The cookie cake looks so yummy!
Your screened in porch looks beautiful! How do you keep pollen off of it? We have a screened in porch as well but often don’t use it during the beautiful spring time because of all the pollen! It’s also a pain to clean because we can’t just spray it off like a typical deck!
I watched about 15 minutes of Tiger King, but I felt terrible for the Tigers. It is such clear animal abuse and I just couldn’t bear it.
I watched out of boredom & it was so ridiculous that I finished it.
I made it through one episode of Tiger King and had to nope right out of it. I just let my husband give me the highlights. Lol!
Another fun baking project to try with Chase would be Jack Jack’s Num Num cookies. They are basically chocolate chip cookies, but they were so good! And it’s fun for kids who like Pixar’s The Incredibles.
https://www.disneyfoodblog.com/2019/12/05/want-to-make-disneys-jack-jack-num-num-cookies-at-home-weve-got-the-adorable-recipe/
Have a great rest of the week!
So I watched it too. I felt so bad for the animals. But I laughed so hard many times at how ridiculous Joe Exotic would act. Especially his campaign clips.
Hi Julie! I love your porch furniture! Hold you share another pic of your porch and where you bought your furniture from? We are moving into a home with a screened in porch and I can’t decide between a table or couch/chair!
“entertaining enough for mindless TV at the end of the day” sums it up very nicely! I watched it. I felt bad for the tigers, specifically the cubs. I kept watching it because the community of big cat owners was interesting to me. Something I’ve never seen before!
We’re baking muffins over here. So. many. muffins. I had no idea how much my family liked muffins! haha
Thanks for keeping your blog going!
Thanks for the preschool word hunt suggestion – I just did it with my twin 4 year-olds and it was a big hit!
That cookie cake looks divine! I’ve made cherry dump cake twice since quarantine began, mmmm…. so good. I don’t plan on watching Tiger King, I did recently finish Love is Blind, which is my limit for reality TV for the year. I loved it, so crazy.