Everyday life.

I decided I needed to catch up on some pictures and what our everyday life has looked like these past few weeks.  So in no particular order...here we go!

 Piper has been loving her new skates, she zooms around the house as well as outside...complete with all her gear.  She has become the road warrior around here.

And speaking of skates...

 ...I was cleaning up the basement and came across my old inlines!  I couldn't help it, I had to strap them on and take them out for a little spin.  It's been over 20 years since I skated on them and boy, I could tell!!  I was pretty rusty, but it gave me the itch to start skating again.  We'll see.

The other day our neighbor came to our door...she was out walking with her kids...and asked us if we were aware that Rory was asleep in the middle of the sidewalk.  Ha!  No we weren't as a matter of fact...we decided we should probably move her since she was creating quite the road block.  But Rory is still going strong with her naps in random places.

 And speaking of Rory...her favorite pastime this time of year is collecting rolly pollies.  She can do this for hours and at one point must have had about 30 in that little plastic pan.

 Piper experienced her first ride on the tandem!!

She had so much fun and begs to go everyday.

So, as of the last several months we have cut back our meat consumption in this house.  When I met Ryan he was a full on vegetarian...but living in the dorms in college the cafeteria wasn't cutting it (salads and tomato soup was about all they offered...oh and grilled cheese).  And lets be honest, it's tough to be an athlete on a poor diet!  His health was kinda suffering because of it so he went back to eating meat.  I think he has always wanted to be a vegetarian again, but cooking for a family I'm just not prepared to make that commitment.  I enjoy the flexibility when we're out and about or eating at other people's houses and eating what they serve and having no restrictions.  But I would say I cook meatless 90% of time (having chicken and fish on occasion).  I've actually really enjoyed the challenge and we have upped our veggie/fruit consumption which is always a good thing!  

 So anyway...the other week I experimented with tofu.  First let me back up...in college (when Ryan was a vegetarian) we ate at this cheap Chinese buffet (hey, we were poor college students, what do you expect?)...but, they had pretty good tofu!  And that says a lot because I wasn't even a vegetarian!!  So, I thought I'd give it a go.  Mine, however, was a complete failure!!  I went a little heavy on the soy sauce, and they turned into little salt squares...yuck!  I'll have to try again sometime.

I love our mornings.  Seriously, they're the best.

After the school rush (getting the kids up, fed, dressed, lunches made and then out the door) all is calm.  This is the time I usually have my own breakfast and then Ryan and I will usually sit for a minute or two before he heads out to work.  The little ones will usually be playing outside with their neighbor friends or watching tv.  But anyway, this is the time of day Ryan and I get to just sit and chat over a cup of coffee.  Yep, I said coffee.  Maybe I'll do a coffee post, maybe I won't.  But, after over two years without it, I drink coffee again and I'm fine with it.

 And it never fails...every morning Misty (the cat) comes downstairs (leaving her little hidy hole in Haley's room) and joins us...and she always sits right by me.  It's pretty sweet, really.

 I've put the girls in swim lessons again, and they love it. 

 Haley loves playing basketball, or as she likes to say, "Shootin' Hoops!".

One afternoon Ryan went out to play with her and he started trying to block her shots into the basket.  She immediately says, "Why are you doing that?!!"  He explains that's how you play, and then she answers, "Well, that is just MEAN!"  Ha!  So, perhaps the actual game isn't for her, but the girl loves a good game of HORSE.

And since my folks have been in town Morgan has really enjoyed shooting with her grandpa.  In fact, that's my .22 rifle she's shooting in the picture.  I've had that gun since I was 12, so it's fun to see her shooting it!  We're still not sure with her technique...she's a lefty so she holds the gun on her left shoulder but she likes to pull the trigger with her right...interesting.  Grandpa's working on it...he's pretty much a pro when it comes to shooting, so I'll let him handle it.

So that's what's going on around here.

Happy Thursday ya'll!!