Week In Review - Ten Things Of Thankful (37)

And just like that, half my weekend is over. I found a time machine called "sleep"!  I always thought the fatigue would be over after the first trimester (at least it used to be like that); right now I feel as if it's hitting in full force now. But at least I managed to be somewhat productive, preparing the house for a visit from the parents tomorrow. 

The ten things I'm incredible thankful for this week:

1. The birthday breakfast out I shared with hubby. We don't get too much couple-time any more these days, and once baby joins us, these moments will become even more scarce, so we enjoy them as they come.

2. Having a fairly easy time back at work. There are times after some time off when I spent days to work through my emails. This time, I managed to sorth through them within a few hours and could go right to my actual work.

3. The kind welcome my colleagues gave me on my first day back. They had decorated my desk for my birthday and besides two gorgeous orchids gave me a bunch of gift cards that will come in very handy once we move.

4. Me not being the only one who was absolutely annoyed by the host guy from the meeting on Wednesday. Obvioulsy, everyone was, and we had quite some conversations about that meeting later.

5. Watching Violet play with Lily's FurReal cat today. She was so adorable with it, and I really can't wait having real cats now  :-)

6. All the cuddles I shared with Lily the past couple of days. I promise, one night I will fall asleep in her bed and wake up the next morning  :-)

7. Seeing the first strawberries at the store. I didn't buy any because I know they only taste like water, but they smell yummie, and their color just makes me happy.

8. The crunchie cereal I used to get as a child. I found it at the store the other day, and it still tastes like it did when I was little. It has happened a lot that things I remember from my childhood are simply not the same any more now. But this cereal is still the same.

9. Hubby baking me apple pie for my birthday. He's the best!!

10. Expecting my parents for a late birthday lunch tomorrow. We're going to try a new restaurant, and hope it's going to be good  :-)


Have a great weekend, everyone, and thank you for hosting, Lizzi!!

Tasty Tuesday: Fruit Salad

On today's menu is a yummy fruit salad; not too much about it, but the perfect treat in the heat. Last weekend, we were all kind of out of it still. Richard was just slowly recovering from his stomach bug, and 2 days are just not enough time to get over a week of literally no sleep, especially since I didn't get much more sleep on the weekends either. Saturday was stressful as well, toting a toddler and a baby through furniture stores, so we determined this Sunday to be our day to relax. The weather was beautiful, so we decided on a nice doener for lunch on my parents' patio. The afternoon we spent at the playground, watching Lily getting rid of some of her endless supply of energy that only young children seem to have (I even have a theory that they feed on our energy, or so it seems). After about 3 hours Lily slowed down, and we took on the journey homeward with a baby and a toddler stroller; our way led us by the local gelato place, which seemed to be just the perfect thing for a sunny, warm Sunday afternoon. Instead of stopping right there we decided to get the kids home first and opt for a German-style "ice cream coffee" (coffee with vanilla ice cream instead of ice cubes!!). Home we arrived, Violet was asleep in her stroller, and Lily went down in her room, grown-up time!!! I headed over to my parents house to ask them for some cold coffee, but for once, there wasn't any.. So what to do? Waiting for a freshly-brewed coffee to cool? That would be too late. So we went for the next best thing, fresh fruit salad and ice cream. Even as a grown-up I still enjoy dessert before dinner every once in a while!! Here's my recipe (as easy as it gets):

Cut up fresh fruit; I used
1 banana
2 small apples
2 nectarines
1 pear
a handful of strawberries

Divide the fruit among 2 bowls, sprinkle with lemon juice, and top with 1-2 scoops of vanilla ice cream. Dust with cinnamon for the special something and enjoy!

Sharing such a treat just the two of us after an active day outside with the kids was the perfect finish of our weekend!