menu

Menu

close

Close

5 thoughts

If you are a consistent blog reader, my goal is to have a new post live by 9am CST every Wednesday. Just wanted to share in case you appreciate knowing when new content comes out in the places you choose to spend your time, as I do!

1. This week I had a craving for banana bread after my mother-in-law made us a zucchini bread and I was reminded what a great snack it makes. So I googled “best banana bread” and this recipe came up so I made it. My favorite way to have it is topped with nut butter and chocolate chips + served with chocolate milk.

Made with a fussy Ella on my hip.

2. Another food related thing from my in-laws, Andrew’s dad made us these really great mint juleps last weekend. I thought the only cocktail I really liked was a margarita, but I loved how minty this was. The key is mint infused simple syrup…we let our mint sit in the simple syrup for 3 days and it came out so good. For the drink, the ratio I like is 1 part of all the following…simple syrup:bourbon:water. We liked it so much we planted ourselves a mint plant in the backyard. TBD on how long the mint plant will stay alive.

3. Andrew and I have decided (if we can, and depending on life changing in unexpected ways) we’d like to raise our family in our house, which was something we didn’t know when we moved in. When we moved in we thought we might just do a slow flip, like we did with our first house (flip it over the 2-5 years we lived in it and then get the homestead tax exemption when we moved), but we really enjoy our neighbors and I’m actually about to have the girls switch daycares so they can be closer to this house. I’ll talk about that decision more in a motherhood post and some other Covid reflections on parenting that have been useful.

After the initial remodel, we’ve been slowly but surely making additions to our house. There’s been a lot of delayed gratification with purchases. We’re in no rush to finish the house, because it’s fine as is and it’s fun to just kinda dream on things for us. We have big dreams of adding a 1/2 story on top and smaller dreams like the couch I’m eyeing for quiet time (since of course if I have the perfect couch I’ll read my bible every morning and I’ll just bounce outta bed every morning lol). Another thing I’d like to add at some point is pendant lights in the kitchen. These are the ones we like:

4. Our neighbors gave us this portable playyard, which we lovingly refer to as the baby cage. It has a mat on the bottom so it’s better than a typical baby gate. If you’re in the market for baby products, this is a great one. I wish we would’ve had it for Jo.

5. Soft + Strong Market is reopened until we sell out. A few more girls head shirts will be added next week.

19 comments

  1. Your girls are so precious! Always enjoy reading your posts. :)

  2. The banana bread looks so good! I love mine with cream cheese + chocolate chips!

  3. I just came into a large quantity of nearly-done bananas … and made banana bread! I also made hazelnut butter. Can’t wait to try the bread with these toppings (nut butter and cream cheese) plus choc chips! Thanks for the ideas.

    • Lol about the wording of “I just came into a large quantity of nearly-done bananas”…like it’s an inheritance haha. Love it!

  4. Mint plants are very hearty! They also like to spread and will send out runners/shoots… don’t plant them near anything you want in the next 6ish months because mint will take over! ;) 

    • This is what I’ve heard and I’m hoping for this. The plant bed we put the mint pot in I really don’t care for much so am hoping it takes over!

  5. I read this post yesterday afternoon and you made banana bread sound so good that I actually made that recipe you linked. Wow. I’ve made a lot of banana bread but this one is exceptional. Thanks for sharing :)

  6. One snack I forgot about until last week was puppy chow and it’s been so yummy to enjoy that right now! That’s amazing news about deciding to keep the house. I have 3 littles and we’ve lived in 5 homes so far- all by our choosing and taking fun positions for my husband. But I do dream of having a forever home sometime soon because I love a homey feeling like you’ll be there long term. 

    • I haven’t thought about puppy chow in a bit either, but I love it for a snack. Gonna keep that in mind for sometime soon! And that sounds like a lot of moving, which can be fun. I feel like I could get behind either (moving often or staying put) as long as it made sense for our family!

  7. Hey Annie F. Downs says “place + a plan” for quiet time, I respect you lol. But totally feel ya on the “if the aesthetic is perfect, it’ll be the perfect quiet time” haha. Love the blog + so thankful for your work!

  8. We have that exact baby playpen and also call it a baby cage!! :) :)
    My 3 year old will often say “Mom, can you put sister in her cage?!?” when he wants me to play with him without a baby crawling around his toys.

  9. I’ll have to try this recipe. I have also heard of roasting the bananas in banana bread to give a more banana-y-flavor. Always love reading your posts. Thanks for letting us readers know when to expect new content. :)

    • Yes! I’ve heard about roasting bananas too, but haven’t done it anytime recently! Would be fun to try. Thanks for reading and commenting, Whitney!

  10. There’s nothing quite like homemade banana bread. Love reading these little thoughts :) 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *