The Week After Thanksgiving

I saw this scene on our kitchen table and smiled because it sums up our week pretty well. Uneaten bowls of soggy cereal and syringes with residue from dye-laden medicine. 

It was supposed to be a productive, errand-running week with Christmas baking and decorating. Henrik was going to be with Devin's parents all week and Ira was going to be an easy little tag-a-long to my agenda. But then, I got a cold. And Ira got a cold which turned into his first ear infection. And halfway into Henrik's stay at the grandparents he developed croup. So instead of my nicely planned week I've been cooped up at home with sick kids, unsure of the last time my hair was washed.

I was definitely loving that Ira had gone nine months without a single dose of any kind of medicine, so shoving a syringe of pink antibiotic in his mouth was really hard for me, but I knew it needed to be done. The doctor warned me that Henrik's medicine might turn him into a little monster. Then the pharmacist told Devin the same thing. Great. Thankfully they're both recovering quickly and it's almost the weekend.

These week just have to be expected with the season and having young kids. I know that now, so it was easier for me to adjust then it would have been a couple years ago. But I'm suddenly reminded of why I dislike winter and lamenting the days of eating dinner outside and 10 PM sunsets. Let's just say I've spent a decent amount of time lately looking at resorts and plane tickets to somewhere sunny and warm. But the end of March is feeling pretty far away at this point.

A few things that have brightened my week...

These two albums: 

Levv is Audrey Assad's new band. I'm a big, big fan. It's different than her solo stuff but just as good, maybe better.

And then in the evenings I've been looking forward to West Wing episodes during hot baths with lots of lavender oil. I could devote an entire post to the wonder of The West Wing, but I'll spare you.

And I've been enjoying lots of coffee and chocolate and chicken quinoa soup.

I'm learning to keep ingredients for this on hand all the time, it's the perfect sick soup:

Chop up a couple carrots, a couple celery stalks, and a pepper of some sort and saute in 2 T of butter or oil with a couple minced garlic cloves. After it cooks for a few minutes over medium heat, add in salt, pepper, turmeric, fresh or dried oregano and basil, and a little red pepper or smoked paprika if you like. Once fragrant, add 4-6 cups of broth depending on how 'soupy' you like it and a half cup of dry quinoa, rinsed. Simmer until quinoa is cooked. And towards the end, add 1-2 cups of cooked, shredded chicken (I always use Costco rotisserie chickens because its so easy and so tasty).