No Name Post because I can't think of anything clever

We played tennis with the Cricchio's last Friday night.  It worked out well - the guys played while the girls watched the kids and then we switched.  And, the walker was a big hit for both the babies.  We've been taking it everywhere lately.

Makes me laugh for so many reasons: McKay's mischievous grin (he had just escaped and Ben brought him back), Jax hitting Ben in the head, and Ben's picked up the tennis racket that McKay had been dragging behind him when he escaped.

Sadie was a little emotional that night.  I think she's so cute, even crying.

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Ward temple trip last Saturday.  My parents were kind enough to watch the kids so Ben and I could go in together.  Thanks Mom and Dad!  The kids had a BLAST, as always.

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I was in charge of Joy School on Monday.  The lesson was a little light on substance so I improvised and took them on a field trip to the Suncoast Seabird Sanctuary.  It was a great hit, educational, only 5 minutes away, and free!  I love it when things work out so nicely.

Notice the collection of bird feathers - Isaac's are tucked in his pants, Sadie's holding up her hand instead of her feathers, and Dylan is right on target.

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We've been going on lots of walks to the park.  

McKay - lounging and looking on.

Jax is old enough and coordinated enough now that we let him go up by himself.  He's so happy!

We'd been coloring with markers all day so that's why she's covered in ink.

How's this work again?

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We went to Green Key Park last night for Sunset.  It was cloudy and overcast so we didn't actually see the sunset but it was nice to be outside and let the kids be kids.

She always wants to take something along with her - a purse, pretend phone, bike, doll, camera....something. 

I really do TRY to keep her hair out of her face.  I'm not good at the girly mom stuff.

The menfolk.

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One of Sadie's ultimate happy things is to play with the neighbor girls next door.  The older girl, Amelia, is the sweetest and nicest 8 year old I've ever met.  She's also super smart and very talented at gymnastics - at her last state meet she earned second place.  Sadie thinks the world of her!

They were making 'dresses' out of their blankets.

I gave Jax a haircut that night, too.  It wasn't my finest moment!  Where's Grandma Cliffie when I need her :)

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This morning we went with the Cricchios to open gym at a Gymnastics location.  My kids had a fabulous time!  Jax especially loved the freedom and thrill of it all.  It's $6 a child, so it's not something we'll do every week but we'll definitely add it to our rotation of activities.  It's a big hit!

Wrong way, buddy!

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Things we did that I didn't take pictures of:

• Sadie fed carrots to Zebras last Sunday on our drive home from church.  There is couple who privately own retired zoo animals on some land by our church building.  We drove by and people were feeding them and let Sadie join in.  Jax was scared as could be so he kept McKay company in the car :)
• We went to feed the ducks bread last Sunday night at Crews Lake Park but an alligator came up and ate the crackers instead.  We were high above him so he couldn't get to us but the kids got a kick out of seeing him.  We stopped throwing crackers as soon as he swam up.  
• Story time at the library Wednesday morning
• Sarah, Ethan, and Charlie came over for a playdate on Wednesday afternoon
• Thursday morning we had a playdate with the Nates at the Cricchios

Tis all.

A Month of Dinners

I don't know why but I decided to document a month's worth of dinners.  It was a helpful to see the broad picture and think about where we need to improve.  I did miss a few meals including Easter and I left out the food from the Orlando trip and there were two nights when we just had cereal and fruit and I didn't bother to take a picture those evenings.  These are not in chronological order.  So, here we go....

Crockpot Ranch Chicken with carrots and corn with green beans.

French toast (made by Ben) with homemade oatmeal bread (made by me).

Strawberry, peach, banana smoothies.  McKay LOVES smoothies.

Ranch chicken with peas and corn.  We ate this during conference.

Chicken tortilla soup (eaten two nights in a row).

Breakfast burritos.  Made quickly on a Wednesday night.

Green smoothie eaten with the breakfast burritos.

Thai chicken noodle salad (eaten two nights).

Lasagna (eaten two nights) with salad (not shown). 

Chicken Cesar salad and homemade white bread.

Thai chicken pizza, made with the leftover dressing from the Thai noddle salad.

Baked potato soup (there was salad and bread, too).

Chicken pillows with corn and green beans.

Chicken panang - a Thai dish.

$5 pizza, eaten 3 times *gasp*.  It's just so convenient, cheap, and creates so few dishes.

Pulled pork tacos with the pico de gallo (shown below and eaten twice).

Lemon butter chicken - one of my favorites, but not very healthy.

Indian Butter Chicken to celebrate the formation of the first Stake in India.

For the record, our dishwasher has not worked for the last two or three months and I think Ben has done the dishes maybe 5 times this year because he's always on the go and when's he's home we always say, "Oh forget the dishes and let's have family time."  So, we throw everything in the sink, and then I end up doing them the next morning.  Perhaps it's time to call a repair man?!?!  I enjoy cooking the meals but I hate to clean up afterwards.

Also, for the record, Jax enjoys most of the meals; but Sadie only ate the French Toast, pizza, bread, corn, and pasta.  Her dinners are almost always fruit, yogurt, cheese, or bread.