An AMAzing aMEREKin Life

Ama has been so good, but noticeably disappointed to leave for school everyday while Meme and Merek get to be together during the day. So as a little treat for her, I took her out to breakfast before school. We did a crossword puzzle together, chatted, shared eggs Benedict and a Mickey Mouse pancake with extra crispy bacon!! A perfect morning...and some much needed one on one time. 😁 My girl...

It was a chilly night, I had some sadly overcooked (originally beautiful Fresh Market ribeyes), and a need to make room in my fridge. I love how a stew is on a chilly night, plus the bonus of being one of the best meals to clear out a fridge.....making use of the carrots, celery, and half-cut onion in my veggie drawer, plus move out that container that holds the leftover bone-in ribeyes. And for me, the bag of veggie scraps I keep for stock.  Skins of onions and garlic, tops of carrots, random pieces of celery; all placed in a pot with water for beautiful, nutrient rich broth- it’s so worth the veggie drawer storage space!  And oh, how that stock revitalizes those overdone ribeyes! But on to the Naan! Since I knew I was going to end up with this rich stew, I also soon realized I would need a bread- and really only something fresh baked would hold up to something so rich. We were just home from school....and while I had done some prepping for the stew, I hadn’t though...

Oh how I wish I could view the world through my children’s’ eyes more often!! Ama conquered ‘no training’ wheels last summer thanks to my brother’s great (and patient) teachings. Since Ama is my little cautious one, her bike riding progress was definitely at a snail’s pace. But once she turned that corner of feeling comfortable getting on/off her bike and starting/stopping her bike on her own, it’s been hard to get her off of her bike! And of course, as with most children, she wanted desperately to ride her bike out of the neighborhood to an actual destination. The protective mom in me initially said no. But her adorable, adventurous spirit and unwavering persistence finally got me to ‘notice’ that we do have sidewalks from our neighborhood to the stores nearby. So with Merek and Dad following in the golf cart as protectors, we set off to hit the sidewalks and break free of the neighborhood! What’s beautiful about a child, is that she was noticing everything the...