Just go ahead and turn on the music!!! It’s blasting here! I just LOVE patriotic music. We were blasting it in the bakery yesterday! It especially reminds me of my grandfather, who loved to blast it too.
Especially because my mom wrote a picture book about America The Beautiful, so the song has a special meaning for our family. For years whenever the song was played at a big event we’d all get excited and poke, text, call my mom! Go look for her book at your library in honor of the holiday!
Mom is now looking out for me and sent me this flag-inspired backdrop for blogging this weekend : )
My bowl was filled with plain yogurt, banana, ‘loupe, bluebs, raw oats, granola and SUNFLOWER BUTTER! (Thanks Lauren!)
Served with a beautiful glass of iced coffee.
I’ll tell you something. Iced coffee sure is easy to over drink!! I sure hope I’m not downing the caffeine of 2-3 mugs with these. Hopefully the ice helps to fill the volume, but it wouldn’t surprise me.
Matt and I slept for many, many hours. Except for a 5AM thunderstorm that had lightening cracking outside of our window and made me jump up in bed every time. We’re departing on picnic #1 of 2 for the weekend at noon, so I think my window for running has closed. I will have to be active other ways, like doing laundry!!





{ 78 comments… read them below or add one }
Your oats are so festive
Hope you have FUN on your picnic! We are headed to lowe’s to look for a new washer and dryer and then moving a load into our new house. FUN!
Happy Independence Day my American friends! Hope you enjoy it
Your breakfast bowl looks so tasty this morning – I’m glad you’ve got sunflower butter back in your life!
I can drink a lot of iced coffee, too, which is why I go with decaf a lot of the time. Enjoy your picnic
Have a great day and enjoy your two days off. Enjoy some delicious food!!!!
I knew you would put that sunflower butter to good use
Glad you are loving it!! I love that flag background, it is really cute and a nice touch for this weekend! Your mom’s book looks great, I bet there are lots of happy kids reading it this weekend!
I love the patriotic backdrop! Red/white/blue and stars/stripes are so adorable to me — I’d love to have a country style house with those types of decorations all year long. It just makes me think of home!
That backdrop is amazing- love it
.
Our weekend is jam-packed as well, I am pretty sure I am getting my activity through things like walking, laundry, and cleaning house!
Love the patriotic back drop!
I’m making myself run the the race expo – not sure if that’s brilliant or ridiculous.
Doing laundry TOTALLY counts as exercise! So exciting you have picnics to go to – I keep telling my boyfriend we need to do one in Central Park
Enjoy your time off!
Laundry is a legit workout! especially mountains of towels…ugh! We had bad thunderstorms around my area to! although it was around 8pm last night! It was scary!
Cool about your mom’s book. Talent runs in the family.
Have an awesome day!
The cover to your mother’s book is beautiful!
That’s so cool that your mom wrote a book! I will definitely look for it in my library
Let me know if you find it!
Housework defo counts as being active! A few hours can sure poop me out!
I purchased your mom’s book last year to use with my music students (you might remember, Mom!). Now’s a good time to remind me to say thanks again—the kids love the story, it enhances our learning, and I love the illustrations. Thanks, Mom!
Thanks to you and everyone for such kind words about my book!
Barbara
I just read through your mom’s website and didn’t know she was a children’s librarian. That’s great!! I am almost finished with my MLS and want to work as a librarian in an elementary school.
When you get settled, we can do a Skype school library visit. That is, if my blogging daughter will help me learn how to Skype….
That would be great!! I’ve never used Skype myself so it would be a learning process for both of us.
Chores definitely count as exercise, at least that’s what I’m telling myself as I go on day 3 of no formal workout
i love patriotic music too. i went to music camp (not BAND camp, MUSIC camp) and the orchestra always played all the marches for 4th of july
How cute that your mom sent you the table mat! Love how you’ve themed it for the special weekend!
That is SO cool that your Mom wrote a book about America! I might be crazy but I’m pretty sure I saw that book on display at my library yesterday! SO COOL!
ate my oats out of the same bowl this morning
have a great weekend kath!!
When I was in 2nd grade, we always had Patriotic Day on Fridays and the teacher would teach us patriotic songs. I still remember all of them!
I had fireworks going off around 3 am making me jump every. single. time also, and then a thunderstorm at 5am as well! But tis the season I guess. Enjoy your days off!!
I love iced coffee in the summer time. I think I’m going to make some today. Hopefully the weather clears up for your picnics this weekend!
I love thinking of my grandpas, who are veterans, on the 4th. They gave up soooooooo much!
We should start a movement to change the slogan from “American as apple pie” to “American as oats.” I mean, we are living during the obesity epidemic….
yey for a day off you two deserve it!
That drippy sunflower seed butter looks wonderful!
Happy holiday weekend, Kath!
I had no idea that your mother wrote that book! I’ve looked at it before and thought it was beautiful.
Fun! Did you see it in a library? (It’s out of print so not in too many bookstores nowdays.)
I love the Fourth of July—even sat down to have a patriotic breakfast of cottage cheese, blubes, and strawberries this morning! A day early, I know, but still got me in the mood ; )
I love the placemat! So patriotic
I lahhhhhve the 4th of Joooooly
Love the oats! I’m craving some ‘lope now that its the season!
Happy 4th– love the patriotic backdrop and oats
Have a good day:)
Oh I have seen that book! I didn’t realize your mom wrote that! Tell her my kids like it too!
Oh neat! How old are your kids?
5 and 12! I am pretty sure we got it at the library but it may have been through the school library also.
I could be wrong but I think they often sell it in the Scholastic flyers that come home from school to buy books as well!
Gosh I wonder if it’s still in the Scholastic flyer. Let me know if you see it next year. Thanks!
Will do!
I LOVE the backdrop. I swear I should be an American because I absolutely love stars so much, so the flag pretty much sums up my love for them lol. I could drink a lot of iced coffee too, which is why I try to put tons of ice in the cup so it looks like I’m drinking a lot! Trick the brain!
I just ordered some sunflower butter and can’t WAIT to get it!!! And yeah, iced coffee (especially with milk) is easy to over indulge in… I keep myself away from caffeine for that reason!
HAPPY EARLY 4TH KATH!!! YOU ARE INSPIRING
Sunflower butter = my latest addiction. All thanks to you, I might add. You’re an enabler
I LOVE iced coffee – but you are right – it goes down really easy! Have a great 4th!
Just had my 1st iced coffee this morning and thought the same too, can drink 3 glasses at one time. Its so delicious with almond milk.
I’m reading and walking at the same time, reminded me of you
I agree, Ice coffee is easy to gulp down! I feel like I’ve been doing the same lately.
‘loupe is SO GOOD right now! I think I’ve been averaging about a melon per day. It’s safe to say we’ve been spending a lot of money on fruit lately,LOL.
that breakfast is divine! i can imagine every bite was superb! have a great 4th! i will be pumping up the music over here too!
I felt bad for not running this morning, but then I chased 3 kids around at the beach for several hours. I’d say that works. Enjoy your picnic!
Sunflower butter is my favourite nut(ish) butter. It’s so delicious…and it’s perfect for places with lots of kids, since there might be some kids with nut allergies.
Just put a reserve on your mom’s book from our library. I love children’s literature and should have majored in it. Found that out a bit late but I got to be a mom three times over so had the chance to read lots of it. Looking forward to the next season of reading to grandchildren. Yay!
Let me know what you think! I lot of the story is based on Katherine Bates’ journal, which you can see on the cover.
yum! it’s the perfect weather for iced coffee!
oh pretty placement!! Happy 4th Weekend
Yay for patriotic music!! Love the patriotic place setting, too.
Those songs remind me of elementry school since we had to sing them everyday during assembly
I think I still remember them?
Your oats look GOOOOD!
Hope that you’re off having fun at the picnic! Running can wait when there’s fun picnics to attend (or laundry to do…haha!)
Love the patriotic linen under your food this morning!
Lately iced coffee is all I can drink in the mornings – hot coffee makes me feel sick!
Have fun at the picnic today!
Looks perfectly patriotic…enjoy your picnic(s) and time off!!!
Loving your holiday oats!
Love Love Love your mom’s book….who knew?! Will have to check that out!
Happy fourth of july! Loving the oats.. and I couldn’t agree more, iced coffee is so easy to over-drink.
Love the backdrop, so fun! Breakfast looks wonderful and the iced coffee sounds perfect in our heat today!
I love how you’ve really taken advantage of all the wonderful produce this time of year with your lovely bowl of yogurt. That’s so nice to know that your mom wrote a book about America the Beautiful. It’s one of my favorite songs! What’s your favorite patriotic song, Kath?
You know it’s A the B!
A the B was the nickname Katherine Lee Bates’ family called the song. They had fun teasing her about it after she became famous.
I am going to have to order the book right away, And a copy for my sister who lives in Colorado Springs! This has special meaning for us… Last fall, I joined her for a charity event that included a hike to the summit of Pikes Peak. It’s an absolutely breathtaking mountain, and I kept thinking of ‘A the B’ for the duration of the hike.
Barbara, did you take a trip to Pikes Peak as part of your process for writing this book?
So glad you got to go to the top. I didn’t go when I was researching the book-kids were small and money was tight. I did go to the archives at Wellesley College though, which was an amazing experience–going through all of Katherine Lee Bates’ papers. Her journal (which I used extensively) is on the cover of the book. Cliff and I went to Pikes Peak a few years after the book came out and standing on the top was one of the most exciting moments of my life. KLB only got to stand there a few minutes before they hurried everyone back into the wagons. Several in their party were fainting due to the thin air. And that’s what’s so cool–such a lovely poem came from what she called just a “moment’s glimpse.”
What a colourful breakfast! And very patriotic!
Look at that drizzly sunflower seed butter! Just perfect
I miss tusker. Have a happy July 4th!
Very festive backdrop
http://faithfulsolutions.blogspot.com/
Such a great background!