Things I’m Loving Friday #600

Peanut Butter Fingers · 2 days ago · 32 views

Our final full week of summer break is coming to a close today and I’m unsure how I feel about it. The work side of me is looking forward to a routine, more regular blogging (I’ve missed this space so much!) and more time to focus on parts of PBF I’ve neglected for months. But the more prominent side of me is wishing for more time. More schedule-free days. More afternoons at the pool, more sunshine and more chances to simply soak up time with the boys. Their ages have made this summer my favorite yet — a sentiment I hope I feel for every single summer to come — but right now the boys are in this beautiful stage of still being very much kids but also so clearly their own people without some of the hands-on neediness that comes along with toddlers and babies. (I loved those years so much, too, but this is a sweet spot I could truly live in forever.) We filled our final full week of summer break with so much summer fun. It was a good one from start to finish and included a handful of sleepovers at our house with the boys’ friends, lots of fishing, play dates, pool time and KITTENS! (More on the cats below!) The one bummer is that Ryan was in India all week for work but he arrives home this evening and we’re so ready for him!! (Ryan flew to India the day we got back from Key West like such a freaking trooper.) As for this weekend, we have a few things on the agenda but we’re also hoping for some chill time as we prep for back-to-school madness next week. Keep on scrolling if you’d like to catch up on a few things we’re loving around here this week! Things I’m Loving Friday Our Foster Kittens: Maple and Waffles! Wanna know what happens when you show up at the pet store to buy crickets for your leopard gecko and find out a local animal shelter has a influx of cats and is in desperate need of fosters through the weekend? You end up leaving with two 3-month-old kittens. Meet Maple and Waffles, two of the sweetest kittens on the planet. We absolutely adore this brother-sister duo and they’ve been such a spunky, cuddly, fun addition to our household this week. Long story short, we went to the pet store for crickets for our leopard gecko and found out that the animal shelter they partner with was in desperate need for more room for their cats, as they were getting an influx of rescues on Thursday. There is a cricket shortage in the area (yes, really), so we ended up leaving the pet store with zero crickets and two cats (yes, really). We brought Maple and Waffles home on Monday with the understanding our home is not the right fit for a longterm home for the kittens for a myriad of reasons. Of course now we adore these little babies and would love, love, love to help them find a perfect home. We’ve had them in our house for five days now and they’ve been absolutely fantastic with the boys. They’re playful and hilarious together but also do so well when the boys hold them and pet them. They’re a blast and a half to watch together and have all of us laughing as they pounce, climb, jump and spook each other. I am MORE than happy to help fascilitate an adoption for these kittens because they are so wonderful and deserve to live in a loving forever home. We are hoping and praying they find a loving family to give them the best life… and if they could be adopted together, our hearts would soar because they’re such a sweet duo. Biscuit Donut Holes When I was a kid, and even into my teenage years, my mom used to make homemade donut holes using canned biscuit dough for breakfast in the morning after I’d have friends sleepover. They’re one of those special core memory breakfasts I associate with childhood, the excitement of sleepovers with close friends and, now that I’m older, a mom who loved me so much that she wanted to sprinkle extra special experiences into everyday life. Fast forward to being a mother myself, I cannot resist making fun breakfasts for the boys and their friends when they have sleepovers at our house. Sometimes this looks like cinnamon rolls (the viral cinnamon rolls with heavy cream we love) or, if we’re feeling extra fun, my mom’s biscuit donut holes! These donut holes are really easy to make. First you just need a can or two of biscuits. Cut the biscuits into quarters and then roll the pieces between your hands to form them into a circular donut hole shape. Then you’ll just fry them up in oil (vegetable or canola oil work well) in a skillet, turning them as they start to brown which happens FAST! From there, the fun really begins as you can then dip your donut holes into a variety of toppings. We love glaze (just powdered sugar mixed with a splash of milk), cinnamon-sugar, sprinkles and icing. Glaze and powdered sugar are always the most popular and tastiest, especially when you roll one in the glaze and then toss it in the powdered sugar. A double whammy of deliciousness! Glass Tumbler While my unicorn mug has yet to exist, I am seeing some progress on the non-silicone/plastic tumbler front! There are more and more ceramic and glass options out there these days and while they do feel a little bit like a disaster/crash waiting to happen when I try to juggle too many things in my hands at once, I cannot deny I’m loving them! Since I am very much one of those people who like to have multiple different beverages going at all times, I am embracing my glass tumblers for my “special” beverages — aka my iced matcha lattes and...