Spring Break, Part Three

Friday was spent at the mall buying some Spring/Summer clothes for Raffi and then the rest of the day at home, playing outside.

Saturday

Saturday morning we stayed at home, did a quick grocery run and made delicious Honey Mustard Baken Chicken Fingers for lunch. After lunch, we packed up for the afternoon at the beach. Around 3, we made it to Cetara, a little city on the Amalfi Coast.

The kids played on the beach for 2 hours until the sun went behind the cliffs and it was too cold to play anymore. Certain cities on the coast loose sun after 3 with the cliffs!

 

We drove home and got there around 6. We quickly got the kids in the bath and made dinner. Saturday evenings we usually go to the 8 o’clock mass. After mass, we went out for gelato. We walked to the church and Raffi fell asleep in the carrier on the way home.

As soon as we got home, I put him in bed (successfully changing him into pajamas without waking him up!).

 

Sunday

We had plans to go to Avellino, an area north of here in the mountains on Sunday to visit an agriturisimo, a type of restaurant  or hotel that grows much of their own food. We called around to a few and most were booked or they asked that even the children pay for a full price “menu”. Our kids don’t eat much so we couldn’t see paying 15 euros each for them. In the end, we decided to try a local agriturisimo that had a playarea and animals for the kids to see.

Sunday lunch at a restaurant in Italy is an all afternoon event. We ordered one “menu” for the kids and I to share and Umberto ordered a mixed grill. We started at 1 and by the time the dessert course came it was 4:30. The food was excellent though and the “menu” included things we normally don’t make at home so the kids tried some new things as well. Between the courses, we took the kids to play in the play area and to visit the animals. It was a really fun afternoon and nice to see how Italians can enjoy a long lunch with their families, there were so many kids at the restaurant!

We left around 5:30 with two exhausted kids. We did the evening routine and both were in bed by 8.

 

Off to a new work week for me that started with me running outside to bring in the drying laundry because of pouring down rain at 6 am!

 

 

Spring Break, Continued

Tuesday

We had some late nights Monday and Tuesday, both kids passed out in the car when we left around 5:30 both evenings. Both times we got stuck in lots of traffic and made it home around 7:30. Of course, they both slept almost the entire drive, so a 2 hour nap that late in the evening definitely calls for some late nights. We had late dinners both evenings and finally both kids were asleep around 10:30/10:45.

Tuesday we went to a restaurant on a buffalo farm in the Paestum/Battipaglia area south of us that is famous for their buffalo mozzarella. The restaurant has a huge playground which was our reason for visiting. The mozzarella there is also amazing. We took home a “burrata”, buffalo mozzarella with a center of heavy cream. It is so good.

When we arrived Felicity was so excited to play on the “big slide” she barely ate lunch. We ate lunch and played on the playground for nearly 2 hours. The kids had so much fun. I hope we can go back soon.

Wednesday and Thursday

Most of Wednesday was spent at the immigration office. We had an appointment for my permit and were there for nearly 5 hours. By the time we got back it was 2pm. Umberto and I quickly ate lunch, he needed to go to work so Felicity and I went to the playground before picking up Raffaello from daycare.

The evening was spent at home doing things around the house before an early bedtime for both of them.

Thursday was spent meeting for a coffee with a friend, running errands, hanging out at home and making cookies and then dance class in the evening for Felicity. At lunch Felicity and I made a red pepper and broccoli salad, I was impressed when she actually ate red pepper and Feta cheese! For dinner we made delicious polenta with roasted tomatoes. Both kids ate the polenta, which made me so happy. We’ve been struggling in getting them to eat anything. I’m trying to make new recipes to see if they will eat better.

Happy Friday!

Spring Break, Part One

We’ve been so lucky with great weather this week so far. We’ve had so much fun and it’s like we’ve gone on a vacation.

Monday

We spent “Pasquetta” or Little Easter in Italian at the beach in Vietri-sul-Mare. Pasquetta is almost as important as Easter here. It’s meant to be a picnic out with your family the day after Easter. Everyone in this area heads to the beaches. We attempted to leave by 11:30 but got delayed with getting ready. We finally got out the door at 12. Instead of packing a picnic, we picked up McDonald’s for the kids as a treat (I packed a salad for me). Luckily, Raffaello fell asleep in the car.

Felicity ate most of her Happy Meal in the car because we got stuck in a lot of traffic near the Amalfi Coast (Pasquetta is famous for it’s traffic jams). When we finally arrived at Vietri, Raffi woke up, and we set up a little picnic in front of the playground. We ate, the kids played on the playground and we went to get ice cream for them. After ice cream, we headed out to the beach.

The kids played for over an hour on the beach, it was a little windy and cool but they had so much fun!

 

Easter Preparations

 

Friday

Our first day of Spring Break was so nice. We didn’t do anything special but staying at home and hanging out with my kids, was so nice. We spent the morning at home, Umberto and Felicity helped movers that came to set up furniture in our apartment. Felicity found lots of “new” toys that had been hiding downstairs. Raffaello and I took a little walk to the grocery store.

When we got back, I made lunch for the kids and us. The kids had Annie’s Vegan Mac and Cheese with peas and yogurts. I made salad bowls for us with roasted sweet potatoes, pumpkin, zucchini, chickpeas and macademia nuts. I’m so into salad bowls with roasted veggies!

After lunch, Raffi took a nap. I tried to have Felicity take a “quiet time” by watching a movie on Netflix, but she wasn’t having it. In the end I made myself a cup of green tea and we went to play downstairs at the “new” slide, swing, and seesaw my sister-in-law gave us since her kids have outgrown it. She played on that, we went on a little walk in the garden next to our house than my in-laws take care of. There’s pumpkins, lettuce, and escarole in season right now. There’s also lemon, orange and mandarin trees. We talked about what was growing and looked at some of the vegetables growing. We made it back upstairs a little before 3 because Umberto had to leave to teach private lessons.

After Umberto left, Raffaello woke up and we set up the egg dying kit my mom sent. The kids had a lot of fun doing but I think next year will be easier. Felicity didn’t quite understand waiting for the eggs to dye, but she loved how they looked when they finished.

After egg dying we went outside to play on the terrace until Umberto came home. Once he was home we decided to go to a bar/restaurant that has a great little kid’s area for them to play. I had envisioned us getting a cocktail while the kids played but when we arrived, the garden area was being set up for a party that night and all the outdoor seating was gone. The kids still played for half an hour or so while we shared a Spritz. After that, we headed home.

I made a simple dinner for the kids (pasta with tomato sauce) and we had leftovers (leftover mac and cheese for me, Umberto had a veggie soup we made the night before).

 

 

 

 

Saturday

We had great weather Friday, but Saturday was back to the cold, windy, rainy weather we’ve had since January. Felicity slept in until nearly 10 so Raffaello and I left around 9:30 to run some errands. We needed some ingredients for the cookies and carrot cake I wanted to make (in the end, we will have way too many sweets at Easter, so F and I will make the carrot cake later this week as an activity). I have seriously been missing Aldi and LIDL that we had in Switzerland. A friend from work suggested to try MD, a similar store but Italian. I found one about 10 minutes away in another town so Raffi and I headed there to buy the ingredients for the sweets. I was very happy, very similar to Aldi! After the grocery store we needed to hit up the “Chinese” store for the Easter baskets. The “Chinese” store is a type of store you can find in any town in Southern Illinois. It’s owned by Chinese immigrants and sells everything under the sun, almost like a dollar store.

We got what we needed and headed home. The kids took advantage of it not raining and played outside while I made their lunches. Pasta with broccoli, mozzarella and cut up kiwi for them. We had a lot of leftovers, so Umberto had meatballs in sauce we made on Thursday. I had another big salad bowl- roasted pumpkin, broccoli, zucchini, chickpeas, nuts and a tiny bit of leftover pasta the kids had.

Raffi had nap time and Felicity played by herself until around 3:30 when we started making cookies. She loved it! I haven’t baked with her in a while but it’s definitely a great rainy day activity, she entertained herself for a long time with a small piece of cookie dough that was “hers”. She rolled it out, put flour on it, cut it with a plastic knife, etc. Later this week we’ll make the cake and I’d like to make a homemade pizza that she can help with. After the cookies baked, we iced them and decorated them with whopper eggs, which she also had such a great time putting the eggs on the cookies.

Later in the evening we hung out at Umberto’s parents just to get a change of scenery and headed home around 8. The kids had dinner there and we had grilled cheese when we got home.

Today is Easter, can’t wait to see the kids with their baskets and cute clothes! Happy Easter!

 

 

Spring Break and Friday Favorites

We are on Spring Break! 6 school days off! I haven’t had a longer period of time off that we’ve stayed at home since we’ve moved here. I’m looking forward to it. Sleeping in, kids playing outside on the terrace, Easter baskets, etc.

It’s Friday though and for the first time in a while, I’d like to do Friday Favorites, Easter- edition.

Healthier Carrot Cake

I think I’m going to make this carrot cake for Easter, but cut the recipe in half. We will already have the traditional Pastiera cake. I want something of America at our Easter. I like that this recipe is healthIER not healthy. A half way point!

Sugar Cookies

The weather doesn’t look good for Saturday, so I want to make these cute sugar cookies with Felicity. Hopefully, she doesn’t eat all the decorations before we get them on the cookies!

Easter Photo Ideas

I love these cute ideas for Easter photos of the kids, hopefully I can actually get some cute photos of the kids this year.

 

 

Getting caught up

Last week seemed to fly by and I didn’t even update! We had rain literally every day until Saturday. Our week was busy with work, work meetings, dance classes, muffin baking (so into muffins right now!) and playing with the kids when we got the chance.

Saturday was such a great day, we finally had sun so I took the kids out on a long way around town, we hit up a few shops for some spring and Easter clothes and played at the playground before coming home for lunch, nap/quiet time. In the afternoon, Felicity and I took another long walk to meet a friend for coffee. Saturday evening, Umberto and I went to a “paninoteca” while the kids went to nonna’s for a little. I had a delicious “saltimbocca” with grilled veggies and Umberto had a huge burger, sadly I forgot to take pictures!

We hung out with my in-laws for a bit when we went to pick up the kids then we stopped by my brother-in-laws for a little to say “Auguri” since it was his saint day (Santo Gabriele).  Needless to say, we got home late and the kids weren’t in bed early! We changed time Sunday night, but I woke up around 9 with Raffi. Felicity was up about an hour later.

We spent the morning at home, cleaning and then left to meet friends at Japanese/Thai restaurant in Naples. It was so good, I needed a change from all the Italian food! After lunch we went for gelato and mass in Pompei.

Saturday Recap

We had such a nice, relaxing Saturday. I left in the morning to get my hair colored (darker!) and got home around 11:30, Felicity went to eat lunch at her grandparents so Raffi and I left to quickly run an errand. We got back, had a quick lunch of leftovers and I put him down for a nap.

In the afternoon, Felicity came back around 3:30 and we went to do some grocery shopping together. In the evening we went to one of our favorite pizzerias, La Locanda degli Amici for pizza before evening mass. It’s nice to go early before the crowds (early here is 7pm). The kids had their typical french fry/hot dog pizza (I know its weird but totally normal here), I got the “cacio & pepe” (buffalo mozzarella, pepper, and pecorino cheese), Umberto had “Marinara”.

After mass, Felicity said she wanted an ice cream so we went to the gelateria across the street from the church for a late-night ice cream. I had maybe 3 bites of mine because Raffi ate all of it! Next time I’ll be ordering him his own!

Today’s Sunday and our plans are lunch at the in-laws and since the weather is still rainy an indoor bouncy house this afternoon.

Have a great Sunday!

Week one of WW

How did my first week go? All in all, good, I dropped some pesky pounds, which is the goal. I was hungry, but the unlimited fruits and veggies help, I just need to buy some variety with my fruit..apples and bananas all the time is boring.

I kept my breakfast simple, overnight oats with (made with plain full fat yogurt, 1/4 cups oats) and a banana. Snacks were always a combo of apples or oranges. Lunch was cooked veg (varied from pumpkin, broccoli, bell peppers), whole wheat carb (slice of bread of 1/2 cup brown rice) and a “zero point” protein (hard boiled eggs or tofu). This equation left me a decent amount of points for the evening, which honestly gave me motivation. Dinner was a Skinny Taste or “Mangia Senza Pancia” recipe, I made pasta with artichokes (ate for two nights), Roasted Cauliflower soup (2 dinners) and the best recipe I made, pasta with eggplant and provolone (did not taste light at all!). I’d finish the night with some yogurt and 2 little squares of dark chocolate.

What have I missed? WINE. LOL. I know my downfall is wine, I usually have a glass in the evening and this is more calories than I need. My other downfall, sweets.

I’ve decided to save my “weekly” extra points for a splurge meal, tonight… pizza and a glass of wine!

Felicity’s 3rd Birthday

I can’t believe I am so behind on posting about Felicity’s birthday! Better late than never? Her birthday was February 24.

If I were to write a letter to my sweet girl about her on her 3rd birthday:

Dear Felicity,

You are three! You are the sweetest little girl and we love you to pieces. These past three year have changed my life completely and I am so thankful for you. You have showed me a love I never knew existed.

You love to watch the movie Frozen and sing the songs. You know all the characters. You also like watching Curious George, PJ Masks, Mickey and Minnie Mouse and Masha and The Bear. You love to dance, run, go on slides, ride your scooter and bike. You started dance class this week. You like to read books. You love coloring pictures and playing with play-doh. Your favorite toys now are your bike and play-doh.

Your favorite food is pasta with olive oil or “pasta in bianco”. You also love apples, applesauce, yogurt, cereal, bread, crackers, and CANDY. You had a cake with Minnie Mouse for your birthday at school and a cake with Frozen for your birthday at home. On your third birthday we went to McDonalds and a movie. In the evening we ordered pizza and had cake at Nonna’s. You love going to Nonna’s and talking to “Grandma” on skype.

You love going to school and playing with your friends. At home, you play with you brother most of the time :-).

 

We love you sweetie!

Pictures from her special day:

The Scale

Our scale has been AWOL for awhile because the battery was dead. Yesterday I finally decided to buy a new battery and when I stopped on the scale the number was..a little (much?) higher than I was expecting. It wasn’t a shock though, I know my eating habits have changed here, how could they not? The food is so good. That being said I haven’t been feeling great about my eating habits/body for awhile but having been lacking the motivation to do much. Also seeing that number on the scale verified what I’ve been thinking myself, running isn’t doing much. I think I’m in a grey area of running that I’m running just enough to make myself starving all day long but I’m obviously taking in way more calories than I need.

So instead of feeling angry about my weight gain, I’m going to make it my motivation to get back to my normal weight. Also, I’m taking a running hiatus to see if it helps the hunger. I’m going to stick to walking, playing with the kids more and maybe feeling more awake with less coffee since I’ll get to sleep in an extra hour!

That being said I want to lose about 10 lbs to get back to my normal weight and I’m going to use Weight Watchers instead of trying to do it myself. Today starts day one!

Besides buying a new battery yesterday, we had such a nice day. We did nothing in particular. We had plans to go to the sea but Umberto had a bad headache and low fever so we stayed home. The kids were up around 8 with me, we ate breakfast, played, went into town to exchange a jacket I bought Felicity and then we came home for lunch. Raffi slept while Felicity had “quiet time” watching Frozen. Later, we made paintings, played outside on the terrace for a long time until the weather got too windy and cold. Felicity went to her grandparents around 5 for 2 hours so we had some good one-on-one time with just Raffi. When she got home, we quickly got the kids in pajamas and both were asleep by 7:45!! Umberto and I stayed up watching TV together which we haven’t done in who knows how long!