ballet under the stars

i've always wanted to go to the 'Ballet Under the Stars' performance that Ballet Arizona puts on at some of the local parks. we finally made it this year to the show they had at Indian Steele Park. Brian and Lizzy from across the street joined us.

ella and i made rice crispy treats and put them on popsicle sticks so we wouldn't all have sticky fingers...

the kids were so excited to lay on the big comforter we brought - there is something about being at the park at night that's so relaxing, especially since its finally been cooling off at night. they all enjoyed watching the ballet show...

John was especially intrigued...

by the end of the performance, the girls and john were up dancing and having a great time on the cement slab next to where we were sitting...

Sunday Sliders

i've been meaning to make sliders for awhile now, and since I had just bought that big bag of rolls from costco i decided it was time.

so we had them for dinner sunday night along with homemade french fries (always an exciting treat) and salad - to off set the fries.

they cooked so quickly on the grill, dinner was ready in a flash. and we were able to make so many of them that we had them again tonight - always a plus to be able to just reheat a meal, especially on a busy school night.

so another quick and easy meal idea, i'll have to post some actual recipes soon with some actual ingredients and instructions!

chicken teriyaki on stick

those skewers we found in the drawer have sure come in handy....
Chris grilled chicken tenders (we like the all natural ones from Sprouts - which go on sale regularly) on a stick for dinner and they were a big hit. He brushed some good teriyaki sauce on them and we poured extra on each plate to dip into. We served them with rice (and curry - I'll post that recipe soon) and they were easy and delicious!

Happy Friday!

still waiting...

for pictures from the Halloween parade at school, that is. I took my brother's camera and he hasn't had the chance to get them to me yet - busy college freshman that he is. mine broke right as i was starting this blog, so i've only been using Chris' iphone:( (and he couldn't make it to the parade!)

but i do have a few from Halloween...

At first John did not want to be in the picture....

then we realized that he was scared of baby Ava's duck hood piece of her costume, and once we pulled it off he was all smiles....

The big thrill this year was going trick-or-treating at both Christopher's 4th grade teachers' houses who gave out full size candy bars, homework passes, and gold dollar coins.

the sun had gotten to this pumpkin by the time i took this picture...it did look cool when it was lit up, too bad i wasn't able to get a picture of that - iphones don't have flashes!!

oh, and we did have a last minute costume change as john john refused to wear his lion costume (it too had a hood) and since he had been wearing that football jersey shirt we just threw some pants on him and lines under his eyes and he was all set - easiest costume ever!