{Weekending}

we had our last cross country meet this weekend.
it was sad to see the season end.

riley has made such progress and had so much fun with all of her friends...old and new.
the coaches are wonderful and we can't wait till next season.

so hard to get a good picture! most of the time it's just a blurry bouncy ponytail!:)

these two, on the other hand are easy!

 

last stretch.

not really cool finishing up a hill!

 

trying to catch one of her besties.

 

one of my faves the professionals took.:)

 

 

ahh

 

sweet, sweet girls!

 

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the big girls have been sharing a room since....forever it seems.

they have loved it.

most days.:)

 

 

 

janey gets her room redone when she turns 10 this year, and being janey she wanted to spend some time in it before the changes. so we hauled everything out, fluffed and cleaned and got them ready for their first night solo. i could kick myself for not getting a picture of it...but about three hours later, riley had dragged in our extra single mattress and set up a bed for janey on the floor.:) i guess they needed just one. more. night.

 

 

the sleeping room.

 

the study room.

 

sunday night they were both sad and had to sleep with their doors open.

dave quickly replied..."i'm not movin beds at 8:00!:)"

i think i see some trundles in our future.

 

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sunday our weather was simply beautiful. 

we've been waiting for this since fall began.

windows open.

everyone happy with a pep in their step.

and taking full advantage of..."it's coooold...we need hot chocolate!":)

 

 

after a few chores, we made a trip to target for more lego friends.

 

 

then dave loaded up aubrey for a fish feeding/slurpee date.

and the big girls and i grabbed a beverage (they have to share one!) and headed to some cool hip antique and consignment shops. we had so much fun. and didn't even buy a thing. riley said, " i wish this day would never end!"  and now she wants a retro manual typewriter just like the one i had.:)

hope your weekend was a wonderful one,

cindy

{Weekend Glimpses}

hello, hello
how was your weekend?
ours was rather quiet as far as weekends go.
and that's a good thing...cause this week ahead of us is a doozie.

riley had a birthday party/sleepover with one of her sweet friends.
i am so very grateful for the wonderful friends our girls have.
awesome friends are so important.

we took walks and rode our bikes.
did a little yard work and a little cleaning.
spent about three hours in the girls rooms, boxing up clothes that no longer fit and organizing and cleaning and fluffing. love doing that...but it's one of those jobs that gets waaaaay worse before it gets better and seeing everything all over the floor wigs me out there for a bit.:)

bought the paint for that painting project...but that's as far as we got.
thought about hemming those curtains and made a plan...but that's as far as we got.:)
there's always next weekend right?
oh wait...that's mother's day...never mind!:)

we did eat amazingly well.
but that's really nothing new.

dave took a brisket, put his magic dry rub all over it and after it sat over night he ground it up and made it into patties, smoked it, then finished them on the grill.
aaaaaaamazing!

 

we also had these...zucchini slices dipped in an egg wash then rolled in equal parts parmesan and panko bread crumbs.

baked till crispy and yummy.

oh and yummy pizza too.

you see why I can't skip a day on the treadmill right?

ever!:)

hope our weekend was a wonderful one,

cindy

{Weekend Glimpses}

we had a good weekend.

how 'bout you?

our soccer tournament was cancelled at the last moment due to all the rain soaked fields so friday afternoon we were all a flurry inviting friends over, and making plans. i know it was the weather. it was chilly but bea.u.ti.ful out and that energized us all.

some of us had bigger projects then others.

the doors were opening and shutting all weekend and the tv never went on.
the girls spent the majority of their time outside playing with friends, and riding bikes.
it was perfect.

since we had a weekend change of plans and a scheduling conflict pop up later in the month, i headed into the city a few weekends early with my friend for a shopping day in chicago. i call it a shopping day, but it's really more of a looking/chatting/walking/eating day. we always have amazing food on these little excursions . poor dave...he's the foody in the house after all...i'm just along for the ride. i can always find at least 5 things on the menu he would order. at least i take lots of pictures of the food and describe it in great detail. sounds kind of torturous...but he can always  make it better anyways.:)

i never get tired of looking at these buildings.
chicago is such a beautiful place.


i am so grateful for this weekend.
there was so much laughter and smiles and sunshine, and lots of happy girls running around.
including me.:) and we all needed that.

 

hope your weekend was a wonderful one,

cindy

 

ps

as for those goals of mine from last weekend...

one "big camera post" (this one)

and all 300+ photos put away in albums.

yeah me

 

this is where i am in my photo albums...baby steps people...baby steps:)

 

goals this week:

research and possibly print an instagram album

clean up document and picture files on the computer.

 

{Weekend Glimpses}

we had a great weekend.
our weather was rather wacky...we went from freezing our pants off huddled together at the soccer game saturday morning to wearing shorts and riding bikes sunday afternoon. but that's our spring time weather in a nutshell i guess.

riley's team won their game...2-0.
wish i had least gotten one pic of my mighty little defender but my main goal that morning was making sure two spectators stayed fully covered by blankets. that's no easy task mind you since they were sharing the blankets and one kept pulling this way and one kept pulling that way...you get the picture.:) but it was a good game and i was proud of her.

we spent a lot of our time this weekend knee deep in harry potter.
janey's last book report is due this week and she wants to go out with a bang.
she envisions this full court quidittich field with flying brooms...oh my!:)
she works hard and has big dreams...perfect combination in my book.

we had some old friends over for a play date sunday.
we love getting together with these guys.
we are in different school districts and life just plain gets in the way, but the kids always seem to pick up right where they left off.
those are the best kind of friends aren't they?
all these pics are pre-aubrey...but look how little!!!:)

still no curtains hemmed and  hanging...maybe this summer??

goals this week:
pick up my real camera...and take a real picture!:)
get the 300+ photos stashed in the cabinet into the photo albums stashed in the dining room
that's it...

hope your weekend was a wonderful one,

cindy

{Weekend Glimpses}

so happy to have this long weekend.
i think we all really needed it.

riley had a sleepover friday evening. not really sure how i feel about all this sleepover business (this is only her third...but still). i remember sleepovers when i was a kid and they were always so much fun. i don't remember being quite the grouchy zombie the next day, but maybe my mom would say otherwise!:) i just miss her when she's gone. and i don't sleep well. and the house feels empty-ish. so i guess basically all these negative feeling are all about me and i should get over myself.:)

janey was so sad to see her leave.
i mean really sad.
real tears, and real sobs and lots of hugs...and then more hugs.

it was so cute, riley and dave had soccer practice first, so riley and jane texted each other the whole way there. funny how they can't even stand to be in the same room with each other one minute....then head over heels in love and desperate to be together the next.....girls!:)

janey and aubrey decided they needed a "sleepover" too.
which was really quite adorable.

janey stayed up late with us watching silly tv till about 10:30.  when we were getting ready for bed and brushing our teeth janey jumped up on the sink and said "what were your favorite things to play with when you were young"?  i proceeded to tell her about my love for my cash register and my clock radio and she said "when my kids ask me what my favorite thing to play with was...i'm gonna say you!"
...sigh...melt...
janey brooke you have my heart forever!

i snapped this picture right after she said that to remember that moment.
always.

the sleepover must have been a success because when i came to pick riley up in the morning they begged to play some more, so they came over to have lunch and jump on the tramp. our weather was just beautiful. i think we even saw the 50's!!!

girls are so cute.
they vegged a bit and played tangled on the wii.
instead of really playing they just "played house" in the forest and rearranged all the flowers into little rooms. so sweet.


we had some friends over for dinner saturday night and dave made the most amazing pizza!!!
seriously our all time favorite.

and that is saying a lot...cause we are kind of crazy about pizza over here.

he started with this pesto recipe:

Katsinas Restaurant Spinach PestoCourtesy of John Katsinas

30 ounces fresh spinach (3 10-ounce bags, or slightly less than 2 pounds), washed and dried
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese (or to taste)
1/2 cup pine nuts
3 tablespoons fresh garlic, peeled and chopped (or to taste)
1/2 cup best-quality olive oil, or to taste—enough to smooth out the pesto

Place all ingredients in a food processor and process until the pesto is the consistency you like. Mix with hot cooked pasta, spread on pizza, use as a base for appetizers or a dip for vegetables—whatever makes you happy!

{he has been looking for a pesto recipe that uses spinach instead of basil and finally found one.

can't wait to try it later this week on pasta!}

...and made this pizza.
he used tomato instead of red pepper and i think that made it better.
crazy, crazy, crazy good!!!!!
the flavors were amazing.
please try this one.:)

sunday we added some love day goodies, relaxed and chilled.
riley had a late afternoon soccer game and the poor thing ended up hurting her foot.
i'm thinking a trip to the dr might be in our future.
dave made this soup to have warming in the crock pot when we got home.
homemade bread sticks from left over pizza dough and we are set.

monday the big girls slept in, so aubrey and i got to baking.
we made these which are one of our go-to muffin recipes.
i love it because it calls for melted butter which is great for a quick school morning recipe.
and of course we can't bake without a little pandora on.
james morrison station.
first three songs had us movin and groovin.
one
two
three
kind of hard to bake when you keep running to the computer to see the next song and turn the volume up.

shakin and bakin.
perfect monday morning in my book.
{see that red heart on the wall...aubrey taped doilies all over the place...!}

hope your long weekend was a wonderful one!have a happy day,

cindy

PS
well, we were right, riley needed a doctors visit and a set of xrays.
we go back today to see what's up.
for now we are hobbling around on crutches.

{thankful for}
1. crutches
2. yummy food made by a hubby who loves to make yummy food!
3. special moments with jane
4. our fireplace (it's 4 out right now!!!)
5. sunshine