{Long Weekending}

it was good.
it was hot.
but it was good!

funny how with fall approaching the temperatures are soaring.
funny how i'm waiting till wednesday to get my weekend posts done...and there's not many photos to speak of.
funny how there are not many photos to speak of and there are three, yes three photography books sitting here on my desk to read!:)

but let's get back to the hot photo-less weekend shall we!?:)

our neighborhood besties got a pool!
we had a pool when we lived in fl.  (we only lived there till riley was about a year and a half...and i would never get in unless it was 90 as dave likes to remind me...so i don't know if that even counts as having a pool!:))
but this kind of "having" a pool i rather like.

the girls did spend hours staring longingly across the street waiting to be invited waaaaaay to much...but that will pass i guess!:)
but remember i didn't take any photos this weekend so this is all you get!:)

it is still under construction as you can see but as soon as it was filled with water they were in!:)

sunday i got together with my girl friend to work on a reading incentive bulletin board for the kindergarten building. this is a big deal people! why is this such a big deal people? cause it's the first bulletin board i've made in yeeeeears! AND i'm trying to impress...i won't be shy about it...i want to work there someday! someday!!:)

so we crafted, the kiddos played and dave made veggie lasagna.
it was amazing!!

he also canned a ton of san marzano tomatoes he got from a friend. we are set with homemade sauce i think. but wait...homemade sauce turns into homemade pizza so maybe not!:)

::other random weekend moments::

family trip to target for new goggles and floaties

racing around town with jane for last minute craft supplies

all us girlies at the library

singing aubrey to sleep while her little legs kicking from what i'm sure was a swimming dream

homemade oatmeal cookies

hope your weekend was a wonderful one,

cindy

{Weekending}

happy monday.

how was your weekend?

ours was good.

just the right mix of going places and stayin put.

girl scout thinking day.

jane and her best scout bud catie.

after a family lunch date, riley and i went searching for new glasses.

we always have so much fun when we go out together.

and isn't this ipod case just the cutest?

one our favorite dinners.

 nothing like a good round of telephone after dinner.

funny.

silly.

but not nearly as funny as the 20 minutes+ we spent playing heads up 7up a few weekends ago! 

yep, just the 5 of us.

dave and i kept looking at each other saying...."why on earth is this so fun?!":)

"read my mind...channel my thoughts..."

what???

blueberry pancakes

night time routines with big sis

aubrey and i made banana bread.

we used whole wheat flour but then added mini chocolate chips of course.:)

it stuck to the pan, but it still rocked.

doesn't that look amazing?

it is!!!!

i will never eat tuna any other way again.

just tuna, hummus and a little salmon magic.

mix em up and dig in!

dave saw the idea on line somewhere but of course added his own special touches. if you like tuna and hummus...please mix them together...you'll love it!

(and yes, this is dave's lunch...i don't do tomatoes...mine was almost as pretty but still super yummy!)

another cold week ahead of us.

but at least we are above zero for all of it.

and the sun will be shining!

have a happy day,

cindy

{Monday Morning, A Photo Shoot, Yummy Soup and a Night Out with Aubrey}

dave and i delivered all the food to the food bank this morning after drop off, and had a few moments to chat about Christmas gifts while enjoying our bagel. the older the girls get the trickier those lists get that's for sure. we spent some time wandering around target and kohls getting some ideas and grabbing a tiny gift or three. i have a feeling this is gonna be our new monday morning routine for awhile. no complaints from me that's for sure.

once again i kind of dropped the Christmas card photo ball and i am scrambling a bit to get those done. ugh  why do i do that? i thought i was doing well...getting the outfits super early and all...oh well...live and learn and try better next year...that's my moto.

we got a few good ones but not quite super happy with enough of them. we are planning a redo for tuesday after school and then whatever we get we get and it's a done deal.

 

dave made the most amazing soup for dinner today. (sorry for all the crazy ads in the middle of that link)

it was so creamy and delicious.

perfect ending to a full day.

 

well..almost the ending.

aubrey had a little open house at school this evening.

a time to play together and do some crafts and even get a free book for popping in.

she loved showing us all her favorite things again.

so hard to believe this little one is almost half way through preschool.

...sigh...

 

excuse the creepy flash induced nighttime eyes:)

 



yummy car dessert on the ride home and everyone in bed by 8:30

whew.

is it friday yet??:)

 

have a happy day,

cindy



{Long Weekending}

this weekend was the best.
really awesome.
blue skies and windows open kind of awesome.

bummed i didn't pick up my camera more...for the practice, for the memories....but that's ok.

 

saturday picnic with daddy while i was away

had a great time in chicago with my bud.
we hit world market, land of nod, and ikea!
three of my faves.

i have only been to ikea one other time and holy smokes that place is cool.
funny...when dave picked up our new stools he was in and out in about 15 minutes.
we were there about 3 hours! and if it had been earlier in the day it might have been longer.:)
i only bought two little things, it's just so fun to look around there.

didn't make it into the lego store...hopefully next time.

 

we had amazing food, great tunes in the car and good conversation.
oh...and very few raindrops to dodge!

sunday we got some things done around the house and pretty much stayed put.
that felt good, especially after my day in the big city.:)
dancing
rainbow looming
playing
dressing up
making food
cleaning up food
mowing the lawn
cleaning the garage
doing laundry
you know the drill....

dave cooked and baked so much this weekend.
oatmeal cinnamon cookies
banana chocolate chip muffins
baked chicken and mashed potatoes (he seriously rocks this meal and everyone loves it!)
pizza...need i say more.
candied tomatoes for later in the week
smoked some salmon then dehydrated it
homemade marinara sauce and grilled sausage
wow!

janey finished book four so we watched the movie sunday evening.
then the girls had a sister sleepover.
of course.

monday aubrey had school again and the big girls didn't.
she handled it all so well and was so glad to see them at pick-up.
daddy had aubrey time and i took the girls to the music store and the book store.
oh how i love the book store.
put me in that children's section and i never want to leave.
then we headed to the library to check out all the amazing new books we saw.
we are sooooo sneaky that way!:)
it was such a wonderful three hours.

then i got home and felt guilty and terrible for how little time i spent with aubrey this weekend.
and i could tell from her clinginess and whininess that she missed me.
we snuggled at night and talked about what tuesday would be like and all the things we would do together...just me and her. we always whisper to each other..." it's just you and me!' and giggle like it's our secret. is that wrong? to make one child feel like they are your favorite??? can't decide there. i think i read it in a book somewhere about all the siblings talking when they were older how mom loved them best!:) i guess that's what i was goin for! if they all have the feeling i guess it's ok right?:)
anyway.....

hope your weekend was wonderful!

have a happy day,

cindy

{The Last Few Days}

hope y'all had a great long weekend.
we did.
we got some little things done around the house.
the girls got to chill (which was sooo needed in my opinion) until they even used that phrase...."i'm bored!":)
we had sleepovers, dates, and meets.
it was action packed but really, really good!

picture day already.
yep, they do it early around here.
and actually i like that.
done
over
let's get down to schoolin!:)

this morning was a bit hectic.
making sure those outfits and hair were just so.
lots of smiles though and for that i am so grateful.
smoothest one yet i think.

riley was an absolute sweetheart. when janey's hair was giving us issues that i had no clue how to fix, our hair expert jumped right in to wet, spray smooth and pin. she was the sweetest big sister ever. she basically did every ones hair. and she did it with a smile. i just love that girl.

aubrey had a big day too.
her first "bring the teacher a birthday gift" day.

she made a card, helped wrap up some chocolates and painted her a picture.

 

 

 

she was so proud and so excited to share her goodies.

friday felt like such a happy day to me. these girls are filling my heart with so much joy and i miss them bunches when they are away. i ran a few errands while aubrey was at school (still seems so weird to say!) picked up some things at hobby lobby to create with...i am craving that and it makes me so happy...then raced back to get her.

my sweetie was a sweaty red faced little preschooler when i walked in.
she played hard!:)

i just love the way she greets me and i wish i could have THAT on film. i kneel down to say hello and she runs into my arms, leg locks me and just about knocks me over. now that's love!

it was friday so we went to panera for a frozen drink and a cinnamon crunch bagel. cause that's what you do on a hot sweaty friday right? right!:)

it was sooo crowded and not our usual panera which felt odd but good.
new routines and schedules call for new panera's too right?
we sat next to the sweetest older ladies. they kept looking at us and smiling. finally they said, "you have got the sweetest most well behaved little girl. she is just a doll!" of course my heart melted and i said thank you...then proceeded to show them the picture day shot on my phone so they could see the big sweet ones too. it made me feel so good inside. we moms get very few opportunities for praise for our "jobs" so it always feels good when someone notices us and says "you did good!" i try to do that as much as i can to other moms, cause i know how much it means to me...and hopefully i'll still be doing it when i'm the sweet old lady in panera!:)

later that evening janey and her best friend had a sleepover/movie night.
those two were so funny planning out this big day down to the minute.
her mom and i laughed about them on the phone all week.

percy jackson 2, steak and shake, games, giggles, and nail painting.
it was a good night.

saturday morning riley had her second cross country meet. this was the first meet i have ever been to and all i can say is wow! so many people! so disorganized yet organized. hard for me to wrap my orderly mind around all the controlled chaos.:)  how do they even know where the course is? and there are all these people walking all over the place. ha! definitely NOT a soccer game!!:) but it was so much fun!! and it made me want to run or work out or buy cute running clothes at least!:)  she did so good in spite of the 110 heat index (!) and we were so proud of her.

 

 

this of course was my favorite shot of the day!

 

 

dave, the sweetie that he is, helped me take everything out of the pantry to reorganize it.

someday we would love to repaint the inside to get rid of the last traces of "we used to live with waaay too much of this red" left in the house, but for now this will more then do.

he said we need to have the "ahhhhh" sound effects play every time we open the doors! just love it.

terrible pics i know...couldn't get far away enough in the hallway to get it all in.

 

 

dave made some amazing food this weekend, as always, but he was lovin these pork filled cupcakes!

 

and you can make these equally yummy though off center little mini pork-less muffins with your left over batter.

 

i must say that my mind is overflowing these days. i'm sure it's just getting adjusted to the new schedule and all the things that are starting back up, like dance, tumbling and soccer along with all the new things like preschool, clarinet lessons and cross country. i feel like i am running a marathon most days and when dave and i plop down on that sofa at 8:45...if we're lucky...we are beat! beat i tell ya!! but it's all good!

hope your long weekend was lovely,

have a happy day,

cindy

{thankful for}
1. new things to love
2. sweet teachers
3. quiet mornings
4. cooler temps are here
5. food to eat

{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