MamaManagement

Don't forget to lay in the grass and just look at the clouds It's Top Ten Tuesday , folks. Woot! And it's summer in our house...I know this because the kids are both out of school and I got a sunburn on my back doing yard work yesterday. Yep. Definitely summer. By August I will probably be complaining about mowing the lawn, but right now, I'm loving it. Believe it or not, mowing the lawn gives me a little time to myself...and an opportunity to listen to music other than the Frozen soundtrack. Plus, it comes with exercise and fresh air built right in. I always get 15-16,000 steps on my Fitbit on lawn mowing days. Score! Anyway, now that we've made it through preschool graduation and teacher gifts, and 3rd birthday celebrations for my littlest, I've put "Summer Planning" on my to-do list. First I want to map out all of our summer trips--I'm spending a weekend in NYC with my sister-in-law and niece, we'll be road tripping to visit family an...

Spring had finally sprung! Hurrah! Time to move more and eat lighter. Which means...it's SALAD TIME! Soooooo..... Here's a yummy salad recipe. It's my new Southwestern Chopped Salad with Cilantro-Yogurt Dressing. And it would be fantastic enjoyed as a nice, light dinner on a warm evening while relaxing on your back patio. It's pretty simple, maybe 15-20 minutes to prep. Feel free to tweak your salad ingredients with what you like-- though I really recommend the creaminess (and healthfulness) of the avocado, if you like them. You could certainly add chopped tomato, just get rid of the watery insides so it doesn't get soupy (or use grape tomatoes). Also, tweak the dressing as you like it. The way I've written the recipe, you'll end up with something slightly sweet (because of the honey) and with a little southwestern flair (because of the cumin and cilantro). If you like more bite to your dressing, decrease the honey and up the cumin and maybe throw in som...

On yet another snowy day, another day of school delays and messed up schedules, another day of indoor play, another day of February blues…I find myself sitting in my office looking out on the tremendous piles of snow and trying to remember the feeling of summer. You remember summer, right? The time of long days and warm nights. The time of playing outside until darkness begins to fall. The time of sitting on the back porch after the kids are in bed enjoying a glass of wine, some adult conversation and the chirp of the crickets. The time of long walks through the neighborhood. The time of grubby hands and dirty feet. The time of lax schedules and impromptu…whatever! Ahhh, summer. And all that thinking of summer reminded me of this poem. So I thought I'd share it with you, in hopes that maybe you could close your eyes and remember the feeling of summer on yet another cold February day. It will be here be before we know it. Or at least that's what I keep telling myself...