Fat Cats, Tiny Babies, and All the Food

Okay another quick break from our vacation and back to everyday life. This past week was #2 for back to school and I can't believe I haven't gotten a call yet to quarantine one or more of my children. It seems inevitable so I'm just bracing myself for impact. Speaking of impact we still don't have a nanny and I feel like I'm just making it day by day. Wednesday is the worst when Landon has swimming at 5, Cora has soccer at 6, and Claire has volleyball at 7 all in different parts of DFW, but thanks to friends and teammates (and a crock pot!) we made it work. One week at a time...

Meanwhile, this was the view behind me late Tuesday night while I was working on a legal memo and every child needed to be near me too. And all the pets, though they scattered themselves about the floor and weren't pictured.

Honestly, I love when we're all in the same space. And while I look forward to having a nanny again one day, I do love it when this girl bursts into the house at 3 p.m. each day and throws open my bedroom office door to tell me how AMAZING her day was. She always grabs at least one animal on the way. She is such a little infusion of joy.

Meanwhile, in another part of the house, while we were all sleeping and/or working on legal memos, a certain extra fluffy cat was sneaking into the pantry and using his tiny vampire teeth to open a whole in a spare bag of food to make himself an all-hours kibble buffet.

We didn't catch him until Wednesday evening when we noticed he wasn't yelling at us when his food bowl was empty and he seemed to be walking into the pantry a lot.

Obviously, he maintained his innocence while keeping a constant vigil by the suddenly always-closed pantry door to catch the thief.

On Thursday afternoon I sent our after-school schedule into complete chaos and drove to Houston to take my mom to her back procedure Friday morning. My mom has been in near-constant back pain since July 4th and finally got into a neurologist for a spinal injection. My dad had a golf tournament and I was able to be there, so off I went to drive my poor broken mama to the hospital where she walked up to the pre-op area at 7:30 a.m. in heels, a long dress, and full makeup, because of course.

The procedure went very well and we're really hoping for some relief for her, particularly after what has been a very rough start to retirement with her broken arm, skin cancer and facial reconstruction surgery, and now her back. Fingers crossed for brighter days ahead.

The visit to Houston also meant I got to meet my brand new niece and nephew!

Are they not the most perfect teeny tiny little babies?

I stayed at my brother's house the next night and just loved snuggling these little nuggets. I made food for the adults, fed milk to tiny babies, said "oh big stretch!" every time they did a big stretch, and tried to take a walk with them only to remember that Houston in August is mosquitos and misery so we turned back around and decided some days it's okay to not take any steps at all. The babies agreed and we all did more stretches.

My mom came over on Saturday and we hung out, exchanging babies and watching Top Chef while we sent my brother and sister-in-law to nap and otherwise get a little break.

I can't believe my baby brother has two tiny babies of his own.

My kids cannot WAIT to meet their cousins and everyone is glad they will be two tiny babies to share because we all know Landon will hog one.

My first nephew! Our family is bookended by boys- Landon born in 2007, then six girls, and then Wade, 4 minutes after Zoe in 2021.

I drove back last night so I could have today to sleep in, be with my family, meal plan, teach barre, and otherwise laze about the house. We watched Cruella, which we thoroughly enjoyed, took Maggie on two family walks, and I recorded a short yoga flow for Gigi to start moving her back a bit more. It was a good Sunday and we're as ready as we can be for the week ahead!

My emotional support bulldog stands ready for snuggles if you need them. Milo will cuddle for kibbles and Moose is ignoring your texts.

And finally, food!

Sun: Tofu and Brown Rice Lettuce Wraps, potstickers (frozen from TJ's). (This was SO GOOD; super fast, filling, and perfect. We skipped the spicy mayo and crispy onion and added shredded carrot and extra sauce. You'll see this in my regular busy midweek dinner rotation for sure)
Mon: Spaghetti with Crispy Zucchini (SO GOOD. We loved it and James and I stood over the stove eating the rest of the zucchini crispies like it was a contest to see who could finish first)
Tues: Crispy Baked Beef and Black Bean Tacos, Mexican Rice
Wed: Crockpot Red Beans and Rice
Thurs: Tuna Melts, Chips, Fruit
Fri: 16th wedding anniversary! James and I are going out for a fancy dinner while the kids eat blue box mac and cheese and consider themselves the fancy ones
Sat: Shrimp Boil at a friend's, I'm bringing Seven Layer Magic Bars and Sopapilla Chesecake for dessert.
Sun: Steak Salad
Mon: Chicken Meatballs with Peppers and Orzo
Tues: Oven Jambalaya (I made this for my brother before I left and now I'm craving it for us!)
Wed: Cozy Autumn Wild Rice Soup, bread
Thurs: Greek Turkey Rice Skillet, Naan, Tzatziki, extra veggies on the side
Fri: Homemade Pizzas