first friday in june links

i'm on day 2 of solo parenting with jamie in mbale until monday. it's going pretty well so far.
i think it helps that the boys {and i!} have been sleeping well. thank you, Jesus!
this morning noah was up early and shortly thereafter jude was, too. they played for a bit and then we all got dressed and i made those banana muffins i've been craving while the boys watched noah's birthday videos {i asked friends and family to send videos to noah wishing him a happy birthday last october and he still loves watching them. so thank you to those who sent them!} and ate yogurt while they waited for the muffins to finish baking.
then noah proceeded to eat three muffins.
seriously. he's already eating me out of house and home. it's a good thing i doubled the batch.

potty training with jude is going so well! we go on outings with him in underpants and he lets me know when he needs to go. if we're at home, he'll run to the bathroom and go on his own. yesterday he peed standing up. i'm one proud mama. thankful this has been a low-stress undertaking.

jude had a blast wearing water wings while we were in jinja. my little water babies.

here are your weekend links!

recently i have a love-hate relationship with LEGO. noah loves to dump it out, but getting him to clean it up is sometimes like torture. this morning it wasn't so bad, but last night? brutal. and the teensy, tiny, itty bitty pieces? that's going to be trouble when baby b is born and crawling around. anyway, i have a feeling it's just going to be part of our lives for the next oh, 10 years or so. more? yikes. anyway, i love this LEGO birthday party for a 6 year old. 

and i am so making this popcorn. sweet and salty? you had me at hello.

and it's june 1st! crazy how fast time is just flying by. i love this website. there are "ways to play" for each month of the year. this is from last june, but it's a great list and you can download the list from each month.

i'm totally crushing on chevrons. and picnics? who doesn't love a picnic? combine the two and it's a beautiful thing.

101 spring freezer meals. 'nuff said. {this list is AWESOME.}

this blog post. it's so tragic that things like this happen all the time here in uganda and in other countries in africa. i am facebook friends with keren and she is fighting for justice for women and families here in uganda and for cihldren to stop being taken from families and placed up for adoption or other heart-breaking situations. please check it out. let's all get educated about what's really happening behind the scenes of adoption.

Cappuccino Muffins

is it just me or does anyone else consistently forget how to spell "cappuccino"?
anyway, my friend kelly gave me this recipe and oh! they are delicious!
they have all kinds of different flavours of milk here in uganda - banana, chocolate, strawberry, vanilla and...coffee! so of course when i saw this coffee-flavoured milk i had to buy it. whether i would drink it as is, or make something with it, i did not know, but somehow, i would ingest said coffee milk.
so {after the tail end of my migraine faded into oblivion} i made the muffins this afternoon with noah.
the recipe doesn't call for coffee-flavoured milk, but i used it and they.were.amazing.

cappuccino muffins

combine
2 cups flour
3/4 cup sugar {i know. it's a lot. but dang, these are good.}
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp instant coffee {every baker should have a small tin of instant coffee for baking needs. just a personal opinion.}
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon

in a separate bowl combine
1 cup {coffee flavoured} milk
1/2 cup melted butter, cooled
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp vanilla

you can even add 3/4 cup chocolate chips for an extra special treat {sadly, chocolate chips do not exist in uganda.}

combine the dry and wet ingredients. stir until just combined.
bake at 375F for 15-20 minutes in greased or paper-lined tins.
makes 18 muffins exactly.

whatever you do, do not drink a cup of tea with these muffins. coffee, milk , water or even juice, but not tea. it is forbidden.

you're welcome.

saturday morning

starbucks coffee and strawberry jam muffins.

my first experience with my gas oven was a bit scary, but i figured out how to light it.

these muffins turned out pretty good.

there's definitely room for improvement, but good for a first attempt {and with no measuring cups}. 

it was certainly nice to enjoy coffee and muffins for breakfast.

i've been listening to page cxvi's version of 'tis so sweet to trust in Jesus on repeat the last few days.

'tis so sweet to trust in Jesus

just to take him at his word

just to rest upon his promise

and to know, "thus saith the Lord"

Jesus, Jesus, how i trust him

how i've proved him o'er and o'er

Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus

oh, for grace to trust him more!

zucchini

today the boys are at my parents while i take some time to do "moving" type things like work on sorting through and organizing our garage (what to keep and bring, what to keep and store, what to throw out and what to sell). 

i took a break this afternoon to do some baking because, truly, i love to bake but it is difficult sometimes with my sweet boys running around needing and wanting my attention. 

so i baked joy the baker's zucchini sweet potato bread and i had left over grated zucchini so i made zucchini muffins. i also got to use my agave nectar for the first time in these muffins.

the first batch is out and i already ate one two.

YUM.

nothing beats a homemade baked good. (the bread smells AMAZING by the way. it's got 15 more minutes so the jury is still out on how it turns out, but come on...joy the baker? i bet it's ridonculously delicious.)

 edited the next morning: ps the bread? utter deliciousness. i want to eat it all.

you can find joy the baker's bread here.

and the weelicious zucchini muffins here.