This week on Catching up with the Kelnhofers, I am recapping all of the fun we had on the kids birthday’s last week, sharing my new favorite shoes with you and talking about some tasty cherry recipes.
My friend sent me this funny image about shoes and shoe type you wear based on stage in life. I laughed so hard, I always said I would never be a Crocs person but alas, Nick got them for me, and I love them. I’m on pair two.
I told my friend since I had two births (Ben and the twins) I considered it like I was “with 2 children”
I showed Nick because he was the one who had originally bought Crocs for me for Christmas.
We were sitting outside and he got a notification of a delivery, he went to the front door and came back outside grinning and showed me he had gotten me a present – SLIDES!
I now have the appropriate shoes for the number of kids I have, LOL.
They are really easy to slip on and go and comfy and waterproof, so wins all around.
In case you’ve missed it, I have mentioned my love for Crocs a few other times:
- In my Mom Attire – Spring Edition post.
- In this past Catching up with the Kelnhofers.
But onto another parenting note – want to know what hurts MORE than stepping on a Lego? Stepping on a Fisher Price little person! I swear it’s 3 days later and my foot STILL hurts. At least legos are small. And this little cowboy blended in with the carpet. So bad!!
Giveaway:
For the entire month of June, I stopped giveaways and, instead, opted to do matching donations. I wanted to share a few updates on how it went.
- I had said I was going to match donations up to a total of $2500 through 7/1/2020
- We got so very close to that goal, with a total of $2210 of matching donations! That’s a total of $4420 of donations for pandemic or injustice organizations – amazing!
- Someone reached out and asked if I was still doing the donation matching. I was going to make 2, $145 donations, 1 to the Hunger Task Force and 1 to the Milwaukee Rescue Mission to get to the $2500 – those are organizations close to me, but there are so many amazing one’s I’ve discovered and donated to over the past month, thank you.
- In case you are still interested in making a final donation to help us get to that final goal, I will extend the matching donations through this week (7/10).
This month, I am back to my regular giveaway of a $25 gift card to Amazon or Starbucks – winners choice! Leave a comment on this post and let me know how you what toppings you love on your burgers!
New On The Blog:
I am super excited to introduce a new series to the blog that came out this week! Read on to find out more.
- Catching up with the Kelnhofers – our weekly family update
- The Best Summer Recipes – a perfect list to refer to all summer long
- Blueberry Cherry Muffins – THE BEST muffins and a recipe redo from years ago.
- Pizza Burgers – can you say yum!? And perfect for families!
- Love List – this is a new blog series that I am a big fan of!
What to Make:
It’s time to make all things cherry! We’re coming into cherry season and I love it. A few of my favorite recipes are below:
- Sour Cherry Muffins
- Blueberry Cherry Muffins
- Cherry Berry Chocolate Smoothie
- Cherry Chocolate Chip No Bake Energy Bites
- And, of course, add a few into your favorite Old Fashioned!
I also introduced Freddie and Frankie to cherries and they were big fans.
My mom always shares the story that when I was a baby I refused to eat apples, but loved cherries!!
What I Made:
My mother in law made some white chocolate peanut grape bites, I’m going to make a batch for the weekend because they’re such a great snack/treat.
We made banana pancakes from one of my favorite cookbooks, Cooking That Counts. Recipe is 1 ripe banana, 2 tablespoons whole wheat flour, 1 egg. It saved me from making/eating a whole loaf of banana bread, because I was definitely in the mood to eat some comforting baked goods (it’s just been a long week!)
Take a peak at this post to see a list of my favorite cookbooks.
Reader Comments:
I love keeping this dressing on hand all of the time. Check out this comment on my recipe for the best vinaigrette:
- “Such a simple & delicious dressing! I love swapping out a different vinegar to switch up this recipe and it turns out perfect every time . I have shared this recipe with family and friends many times.”
Reader ReCreations:
I am loving this series of photos from @tinyhouseproblems showing the tasty cherry muffins.
Links from Around the Web:
- How to make produce last longer from Sweet Potato Soul I have carrots and celery stored like this in the fridge right now, and it worked!
- This interview with Chamath Palihapitiya on Money as an Instrument of Change was really interesting. Right at the beginning he talks about being a big tipper, and it was so spot on and just beautiful! My parents were/are big tippers, one of the many things I love about my husband is that whenever we go out, he’s a big tipper. The interview itself was just really nice and different from the normal things I normally listen to, and very informative. I found it via Noah Kagan’s newsletter. His newsletters are short bullet lists and he talks about all sorts of things – marketing, starting businesses, growth strategies, and a million other neat things.
- How to pick a watermelon – with your perfect watermelon, might I suggest this watermelon salsa? Totally craving it!
What I’m Reading:
- Finished reading Get a Life Chole Brown, very cute and steamy – 5/5 stars, I’d say 5/5 flames too.
- I’m reading a book right now that will be on my favorites list for sure – it’s called Beach Read (by Emily Henry). Another summery one (I mean, the title says it all) and steamy one and the story is so good! The main character is an author and there were some really and relatable parts about the writing process as a (cookbook) author myself. 5/5 stars, 2/5 flames!
What I’m Watching:
- I love Steve Carrell, but we watched the movie Irresistible and wow, was it bad. Steve’s character is just too likable for that role. And the end was just so bad. We both (Nick and I) respectively hated it.
- What restored our faith in movies? Netflix’s Eurovision with Will Ferrell, Rachel McAdams, and Dan Stevens (plus a ton of cameos). The music was good and it was just all all around fun movie!
Personal Stories:
- The kids birthday was the major event at the end of last week.
- A tradition my parents always did was wake us up on our birthdays with a candle and singing happy birthday. We’ve been doing that too since Ben was born.
- They then came downstairs and got to open presents. Ben got a stuffed dog and a robot tool box and the twins got a Cuddle and Kind doll and then all three got a splash pad.
- We then made pancakes for the kids.
- Then the doorbell rang, and the kids were treated to the most beautiful banner display from their aunt (she also made them ‘birthday milestone boards’).
- Freddie loves mac n cheese, Frankie loves an ice cream scoop toy, and Ben loves trucks.
- Another one of their aunts made them a beautiful birthday cake (they sure are lucky kids).
- We had a virtual party – I made everyone pizzas (sheet pan pizza) and a dozen cookies that they could bake at their houses.
- We opened presents, and ate together, it was so nice!!
- During the call I went through the birthday milestone boards saying what all their weights/fave things/etc. The milestone boards are super neat and special, I shared Ben’s 1st birthday one.
- They sure are lucky kids. And the aftermath, oh my goodness, it was nuts. I’m exhausted just looking at the picture, lol.
- We spent lots of outside time too.
- We get take out from a local restaurant once a week. This week was from Odd Duck. We got the kids soup and they crushed it, I mean Ben literally drank it out of the container. I guess my kids like soup? lol. The food was all presented very beautifully.
- Frankie is walking more and more, and I’ll call these ‘uh-oh’ moments lol, we now have to be careful, she is into everything lol, and her accomplice Freddie is near by.
- I had office visitors (as always) – please note that Frankie just walked in at one point.
Did you know?
On the homepage of SweetPhi.com, there is a menu drop down for ‘life’. In that drop down, I include posts like the Catching Up with the Kelnhofer series and the new series of Love Lists! I also include all sorts of fun parenting and traveling posts too!
Popular This Week:
- Most liked Instagram post: this adorable picture of Frankie!
- Most pinned image: a tasty summer lunch of pesto chicken salad sandwich.
- Most viewed YouTube video: eggless waffles continue to be most popular!
- Most purchased item: so excited to see my 5 Ingredient cookbook was the most purchased item this week.
What are you up to this weekend? Anything extra fun? I’d love to hear, so just leave a comment below and let me know!
Leave a Reply