My favorite foods of the summer

Since Rai is gone all summer, I have done absolutely NO menu-planning or cooking family meals.  The kids are content with quick foods, and I practically live on Chocolate Mini-Wheats, turkey sandwiches...and these two AMAZING dishes...I am in LOVE with both...and eat them constantly!

Spinach with grilled chicken, strawberries, and sliced almonds...YUM!  And it's pretty, too!

Moroccan couscous with grilled chicken, butternut squash, onion, zucchini and carrots...YUM!!  I make this, and eat on it for a week! : )

Washington, DC!!

R turned 40 in June, and I was able to fly in for the weekend and spend a few days with him to celebrate his birthday!  My parents watched the kids for the 3 days that I was gone, and then another 6 days after I got home!  Thanks MiMi & PaPa!!

I had never been to DC before, so it was a great experience for me!  We spent the whole day Saturday walking to all the monuments...whew!!  We were HOT and TIRED when we were done!  But it was great to see our nation's capitol and all that goes along with it!

We also got to see old friends from Texas, who have just relocated to the DC area.  It was great to see them after 6 years away from each other!!

R and I had a great weekend together, just doing what we wanted to do, when we wanted to do it! 

Washington Monument 

Some hot guy next to a HUGE column! : ) 

I was simply amazed by how many people were EVERYWHERE!! 

The White House...not as impressive as you would think...but still amazing!

Security everywhere...on the roof, on the balconies, on the grounds...made me feel unsafe being out there! : ) 

Arlington Cemetary, Tomb of the Unknown Soldier...AMAZING!!  Brought tears to my eyes! 

The Big 4-0...and proud of it!! 

At the airport before I headed home...it was a short visit, but GREAT nonetheless! 

The Prowell family, our sweet, dear friends!! We love these guys!  If I have my way, these will be A's in-laws someday!   This is a plan that has been in the works for many, many years...we just have to get our A and their Jonathan to go along with it! ; )

Pirate & Princess Party!

We got a new Chick-Fil-A on our side of town last year, and they pretty much know us by name now!  R and I went to their premiere night (we felt very special..it was invitation only, and very restricted), and we have been their more regularly than I would like to admit since then.  When I saw that they were having a Pirate & Princess Party, I knew we had to go!  Little R is VERY into pirates right now, and A is still our little princess, so it was the perfect combination!  They had real pirates, and Cinderella was there with a horse-drawn carriage.  It was a free event, and we had a blast!  Just one more reason we LOVE our Chick-Fil-A!!!

 Our pirate and our princess at home before the party.  (This was the ONLY time R would wear the pirate hat!)

 The cupcakes were a big hit!



A was a happy girl! 

Mommy had to try out the pirate patch before R would... 

Cutest pirate ever??  Oh yes, I think so!!!! 

And I just threw this one in for good measure...she just looked so beautiful!!