I've decided to re-title these posts "week in review" because that's pretty much what they are and I'm always posting them on Friday anyways, this will just save me a little guilt mmmkay?

...

Friday night was the women's night of prayer at church. This was my first year going, and frankly I was a little nervous we'd literally be praying all night long, and we did pray in our small groups (we also snacked all night and ate "breakfast" at 3am), but it mostly was about hearing women's stories, friends who I see all the time and don't really know anything about. It was awesome, and somehow I stayed awake the entire time (11:59pm-6am)! The catching up on sleep part wasn't as bad as I thought it would be either.

We've had a few really beautiful in Portland lately. We were able to actually play on the deck for the first time this year. It was lovely, except now I have a baby who tries to put every little leaf and piece of moss in his mouth. I think I need a carpet for my whole deck.

This week we made playdough monsters:

Buckley gave Rody some lovin:

Not sure where we were going, but he's so cute with his new haircut:

Yesterday I spent nap time on this:

I love chalkboard art, and ever since I saw these videos I've been facinated by the process of creating it.

We made banana cookies:

(healthy and only 4 ingredients!)

These cookies might sound weird but they are pretty tasty and I love that Bennett was able to help with everything.

Ingredients:

  (this is what we used but you could really do anything you want. Check out other versions here and here.)

(makes 12)

2 bananas

1/3 cup chocolate chips

1/3 cup oats

7 graham crackers

Preheat oven to 350. In a bowl smash 2 ripe bananas (B was chief banana smasher).

In a food processor or a big ziploc bag, crush graham crackers until you get small crumbs.

Pour graham cracker crumbs into the banana bowl, and also the oats and chocolate chips.

On a silpat (or parchment) lined cookie sheet, scoop out dough and flatten a bit (they don't spread while baking). Cook for 13-15 minutes. Let rest for 10 minutes before transfering. We have been storing them in the freezer so I'm not sure how they keep at room temp, but they are quite tasty cold! 

Oh and Bennett totally thinks these are legit cookies.

Happy Friday Friends!

We had the most beautiful weather on Friday.

After nap time, 

I took the boys up to the park for some swinging time:

Instead of date night, we all went over to the Hartmann's for Chipolte and play time:

(Lauren, I decided that we look identical from that angle...weird!) 

While we were changing diapers and getting the kid's pjs on, Fern and Buckley held hands for a bit. 

It was so sweet, but I didn't catch it in time.

This is Lauren trying to get them to do it again:

(of course they didn't...little stinkers)

Saturday was pretty low key.

We snuggled on the couch:

We tackled a lot of tasks on our to-do list like hanging these in the living room:

and putting up our cute little catch-all basket in the laundry room:

(no more pile sitting on the counter!)

Sunday morning my mom came over to play with the boys while Chris and I grabbed a quick breakfast at New Seasons before heading to Home Depot to price out stuff for our upcoming bathroom remodel (!!!).

Handsome hubby waiting for food:

Sunday evening while we were at church,  Ember relaxed with a nice latte and peanut butter cookies: 

Happy Friday Friends!

It's that time of year again, when I figure out which delicious treats to make for the guys in our family.

My dessert board on Pinterest is overflowing with ideas (774 of them) and it's always difficult for me to choose just what to make. I think the next two weeks will make up for my lack of baking this year!

Here's what I'm thinking...
(it still needs to be narrowed down a bit...which ones would you choose?)

chocolate fudge peanut butter cookie stuffed cookies

We love it so much!

 This makes our door look orange but it's definitley red.

 I just wanted to show you guys our awesome exterior fixture:

(Our fancy new light up doorbell is awesome too but you can barely see it.)

 While they were painting, the boys and I went to the zoo with Chris' mom.

Bennett decided that instead of stopping to look at each animal, he'd like to just run past them all.

This was our view the entire time:

 Except that he stopped to sit on the animal statues:

 and to watch the tractor bring sand into the elephant area:

(Buck wasn't too into it either)

 Saturday afternoon we went to Bennett's friend Lucy's 3rd birthday party.

He had never seen one of these cars before and he thought that it was broken because it wouldn't go.

He kept getting out to push it then quickly hopped back in as if he were giving it a push start.

"This car doesn't work guys":

 I tried recreating Portobello's Beet Tartare:

(We agreed that I got pretty close! I made the whole thing in my vitamix...it was fun seeing what it could do. It's a vegan recipe but is so full of flavor. It's cashew cheese on the bottom with chopped beets mixed with a carrot aioli. It's incredibly filling, we both split this for a late dinner.)

 mmm smoothies:

Love the details:

On the wall:

Little details made the restaraunt feel cozy and interesting:

The food was so good. 

We wanted to try a bunch of things and everything we tasted was great and was full of flavor. I'm sure the menu changes with the season so if any of these appeal to you, you might want to go check it out sooner than later...

The menu consists of small plates, soups, salads and sandwiches, desserts and libations.

This is what we ordered:

Roasted turkey sandwich with blueberry glaze, aged white cheddar, apple and arugula.

Fresh berry mixed green salad with toasted cinnamon honey almonds and house made ricotta with a pickled blueberry vinaigrette.

Grilled watermelon drizzled with blueberry glaze and fresh ricotta.

Roasted corn (freaking good!) tossed in cilantro lime aioli and ricotta salata.

Crostini with fresh ricotta drizzled with rosemary honey.

Bavette skewers with blueberry balsalmic glaze with arugula and avocadoes.

And of course we ordered dessert:

Chocolate sour cream bundt cake with chocolate ganache (totally amazing!).

Browned butter chocolate chip cookies.

The restaurant sits in the lobby of the old Heathman Hotel...how cool is that?!

looking up:

Out front:

Love the sign:

Everything is so darn cute. 

This is the sandwich board outside the entrance:

 There is a special grab and go menu that you can order from online or call ahead so you can just stop in and pick up a boxed lunch on your lunch break.

You can also rent a picnic basket filled with food, drinks and a blanket...wouldn't that make such a cute date?! 

I made our favorite carnitas tacos:

we had a mini date to the waffle window:

 Buckley slept a lot:

and we were finally able to take him to church:

 the boys fell asleep together on a long walk:

 Buckley had his first nap in his crib:

 and he took a nap while we had a backyard picnic:

 I made these cookies:

 and these muffins:

 I learned how to be efficient while feeding The Buck:

 our indoor-but-seeing-if-she-can-be-outdoors cat got stuck in our apple tree:

Happy Friday Friends!