The Hot Dog Crew

The kids and I met up with my really good friend and her son at the mall this morning. The kids of course found the motorized money pits at the end of our shopping trip. They looked so cute driving the Hot Dog truck - and I didn't have my hefty camera with me so I settled with the camera on my cell phone. It's a little blurry, but it turned out better than I had hoped.

Jocelyn took a turn at the wheel...

And then her buddy took a turn. Andrew hopped on and enjoyed the ride too. It was fun to watch them as the Hot Dog truck rattled back and forth with the horn honking and them giggling.

2 rounds of coins later and it was time to hit the road. They of course ALL melted as we were leaving the mall. Hallmark was just going to have to wait another day. It was quite the excitement! We got some stares in while Jocelyn went limp and had me dragging her along at some parts! It clearly was approaching their lunch and nap times! And it's no wonder I barely ever go to the mall - or take them with me for that matter. But it was fun while it lasted! :)

All the while, I was repeating in my head "motherhood is great, motherhood is great, motherhood is great!" And you know what?

It REALLY is!

Challenges and all!

Time Out For Women 2010

Months ago, when the Time Out For Women 2010 tour schedule came out, I bought a ticket to go. I've been to two Time Out's already (Portland, OR & Richmond, VA). This time, the closest one to me was in Pittsburgh, PA. Original plans fell through with who was going and I was very close to giving up my own ticket as well - but last minute, some friends of mine from church were driving up on Friday and coming back late Saturday and I took the roadtrip along with them. I can't tell you how much fun we had! I had been looking forward to this break for a long time and I am so glad I was able to go!

The morning was pretty crazy. It was a school day - I was helping to get Aubrey out the door for school and we quickly ate breakfast as a family. It was so busy in fact, that Aubrey ran for the bus before I could get a picture with all of my kids. So this one will have to do.

With it being a Friday, we were smart and took the back highways to Pittsburgh instead of torturing ourselves to go through DC traffic. We left around 9am and got into the city around 3:30 pm - stopping for lunch and a bathroom break along the way. We checked into the Marriott Courtyard where we had reservations (luckily I hadn't cancelled mine) and it was a nice stay! Here are some pictures of the hotel and our room:

After checking in and getting our things settled into our rooms, we still had a good two hours before the event even started. The convention center that was hosting the event wasn't more than 500 yards away from where we were staying. So we took a little walking tour of the city of Pittsburgh.

{This is the front of the convention center}

{And this is the back of the convention center}

{A statue we walked past}

And here we started over the river. This city has three rivers that join together. And LOTS of yellow bridges!!! You couldn't even really tell them apart. But I really liked their detail and style. Here are some pictures from our sight-seeing adventure:

{My roadtrip buddies!}

{My friend Heather and I}

{The city of Pittsburgh}

{A cobblestone street we walked down}

{PNC Park - baseball stadium}

{Liked that they won the year I was born!}

{PNC Park}

That concludes our tour of the city. :) We then headed back to our rooms to freshen up and then walked over to the convention center to enjoy what we went there for: Time Out For Women! It was amazing! The speakers, the music, time spent with friends! I took a ton of notes to remember what was said. This Time Out was the best one I've gone to yet! And I can't WAIT to go again next year!

**A special thanks to my wonderful husband for letting me have this time to myself and for getting a much deserved mommy break - and for being an awesome dad to our kids! I love you!!**

{All of us friends from church who attended Time Out in Pittsburgh}

{A goofy picture of us - we're all calling on our break to see how everyone's doing back at home! I almost choked up. Jocelyn said sobbing on the phone: "Momma...you're gonna be gone forEVER!!!" Guess I need to leave the house more often to get appreciated and missed - but not for two days at a time! :)}

{Lunch break with amazing friends!}

Soccer Game #3

Aubrey was sick but still played defense for the first half and sat out for the remainder of the game. They tied 1 to 1. So far, they are still undefeated. I was out of town with some friends so no pictures were taken during today's game. But John said it was a really competitive game and the girls played great!

Family Walk

As most Sundays would have it, we take a walk in the evenings after dinner. It was a beautiful sunny day today but looks can be quite deceiving as it was FREEZING cold and windy. Noses and fingers were cold and red when returning home. Not enough to keep us locked up inside though. Here are some fun pictures I took on our walk - and I love how a lot of them turned out with the sun setting. :)

April Menu #2

Sunday (18) ~ grilled chicken and pasta with homemade cheese sauce, salad, bread
Monday (19) ~ taco salad
Tuesday (20) ~ *bean & cheese enchiladas, tortilla chips, spanish rice
Wednesday (21) ~ homemade fried rice, ham, rolls
Thursday (22) ~ homemade pizza, salad
Friday (23) ~ I'm out of town - meals made by husband
Saturday (24) ~ I'm out of town - meals made by husband

*Bean-cheese enchiladas
by: Rosarita Mexican Foods

1 dozen flour tortillas
2 cans vegetarian refried beans
1 cup shredded Monterray Jack cheese
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
1 can olives, sliced
1 can chopped green chiles
1 can enchilada sauce
1/2 cup chopped green onion
1/2 cup chopped onion
sour cream, guacamole and salsa to taste

Heat refried beans. Mix cheeses, olives, onions and chiles together. Pour some enchilada sauce on a plate, coat both sides of tortilla with sauce and place on empty plate. Put large spoonfuls of refried beans on tortilla forming a line 1/3 from edge. Add same amount of cheese mixture and fold, first up from bottom, then sideways across. Place in row in baking dish. Pour remaining sauce over enchiladas. Sprinkle with reserved cheese mixture. Bake in oven at 350 degrees for 30 minutes, or until cheese melts.

Soccer Game #2

Game number two finally produced a win game for Aubrey's soccer team this morning. They won 3 to zero! She played a few positions again on the field, but her strong point has always been playing forward so that's where she stayed most of the time. She's become a lot more aggressive with the ball in the last few seasons so she was out there running her heart out and kicking the ball hard and across the field. It happened to be a pretty windy morning, but luckily the sun was out and made it bearable. And of course, Jocelyn and Andrew had fun playing and watching next to the sidelines - without injury this time! Thankfully!!

Here are some pictures from the game:

{Aubrey (second in from the left) just kicked the ball}