Moroccan Chicken Salad Pitas

I haven't been making a ton of new recipes lately but I got a new issue of Cooking Light and I think I marked about half of the pages to try. Every recipe in it takes under 25 minutes and I'm way more willing to try new stuff when there isn't such a big time commitment. First up was the Moroccan Chicken Salad Pitas. Pat and I liked them but the kids thought they were too "spicy." If I had realized the shallot it called for had such a strong flavor I would have just used onion! Owen ate his either way but I had to scrape off the yogurt/spinach/shallot/mint mixture for Paige to eat it. 

Park!

The kids had school off the Monday after Easter so we made plans to hang out with some good friends. The weather was beautiful so we headed to a park and played and had lunch. We followed it up with a surprise trip to an ice cream shop! The kids were worn out by the time we left and it left me looking forward to more days like this over the summer!

(I didn't take any of these pictures, thanks Sarah! The kids took the last one themselves!)

Easter!

Owen woke up first on Easter morning and scouted out a basket before he came upstairs to wake us up. We read a book while we waited for Paige to wake up but eventually Owen snuck downstairs and woke her up by whispering a reminder that it was Easter and there were baskets to be found! They were both very excited to dig into some candy so early in the morning but Owen was also very excited to play the Wii because he had given it up for Lent! We ate some scones for breakfast, walked to church and then headed to my parents house to celebrate some birthdays. The kids got to hunt for some more Easter baskets too!

Waiting for the go-ahead to head downstairs! (Remember the morning pictures from last year? Ha ha!)

Finally! Wii time!

A little Lego building before church...

...and some bubbles!

My favorite picture of the day!

Outtakes!

Paige did catch onto bike riding incredibly quickly but not before I got a couple crashes on video:)

Biking!

Paige is now riding on two wheels! Last weekend I asked if she wanted to try taking her training wheels off and she got really excited so we gave it a try and in about 10 minutes she was good! We gave it a couple tries in our driveway and when we saw it was going to happen we headed over to the church parking lot for some more space. We got a little worried when we saw someone was also there learning to drive...but there was enough space for everyone:) Paige can even get herself started which makes a huge difference.

Happy Easter!

Sporting

Soccer season has officially begun! Owen's travel team had their first game last Sunday afternoon and Pat played later that night. Owen's team did what they could but weren't quite a match for the other team. Maybe because they've had zero practices so far? It was fun to watch Owen play again though, and I'm excited to see how they improve. 

Pat's game was fun to watch too, I tried to keep the kids home because Owen was still feeling iffy but they got pretty bent out of shape when I suggested it. They wanted to see their friends and their dad play and I couldn't really argue against it.

Team meeting after the game!

Watching Pat play (well, one of them was...for a minute or two.)

Action shot! 

Earlier in the weekend I was getting ready to go out for a run and came upon the kids having races! Even better, they were timing themselves individually which meant no one was getting discouraged or being beaten by people who were older and faster. They were just trying to improve on their own times.

Look at that determination!

Configuring the watch.

Like a pro.

Gardening

We were waiting for nice weather to go to the Botanical Gardens and thought we had it last weekend! It ended up being a little chillier than we thought and Owen wasn't feeling very good so we didn't stay long. But still, we had fun! I'm always surprised by how much the kids can be entertained at places like this but anywhere that has room to run will work for them.

Owen agreed to be in this picture but on his own terms.

No one fell in!

Paige agreed to be in this picture too...but on her own terms.

Cornbread Waffles

This might not seem exciting to some but it feels monumental to me. Crunchy Cornbread Waffles. Instead of cornbread. More fun to make, more fun to eat, sturdy enough for dipping and good for multiple meals! We used ours initially with some chili but then Paige and I made some sandwiches with them another day too. The recipe gives optional instructions for spicing it up but we kept ours simple.

Family Pictures!

My goal is to get family pictures taken every April around Paige's birthday. The kids got some cute school pictures taken earlier in the year but even between then and now they look different. Owen was most definitely not in the mood to get them done the morning we went but he rallied and the pictures came out looking very cute. Paige, on the other hand, was super excited to get her picture taken and loved every moment even though she found some of the photographer's directions confusing.

Party Details

The decorations for Paige's party cost about 25 cents. I bought a 2011 college guide at a library book sale and used the pages. I barely made a dent in it even after making a bunch of stuff! One of my favorite and easiest things I made was the table runner which was a bunch of pages glued together. I mixed in some pink elements because it's Paige's favorite color but I do want to note that Paige actually said awhile back that black and grey would be good for the decorations.

The banner! (Paige's reaction to seeing the banner-"It doesn't say 'Paige is 4'." Oops...)

You can see the table runner here! We also tied the food in with the theme by printing out some children's book covers. Food not pictured was the pizza and the make your own salad/pasta salad. I felt bad about people having to assemble their own but wanted to make things more comfortable for anyone who had diet restrictions. It ended up being a big hit with everybody anyway!

I tried a couple different ways of using the paper but paper chains were the best/sturdiest way to hang it.

Paige's Party!

Paige's party theme this year was books (or "Turn the Paige," get it?). I don't really know any kids that don't like books but with as much time as we spend reading together it seemed especially appropriate! The kids provided a  lot of their own entertainment, as usual, but we also planned a couple things. We planned on reading I am Invited to a Party by Mo Willems but did not anticipate the kids wanting to read it themselves. We divided the book up and everyone who wanted a turn got one! We also did some Mad Libs which was a big hit, especially with the older kids.

I don't remember playing with my friends' hair when I was little but apparently this happens.

Owen and Hazel reading to the adoring crowd.

The adoring crowd.

The party wasn't noisy enough so we got out Hungry Hungry Hippos.

Birthday Girl!

My favorite picture!

Paige's Birthday!

Paige woke up on her birthday to a giant 4 balloon and a birthday crown waiting for her in the kitchen. She pretty much wore the crown all day so she got lots of birthday greetings from everyone that noticed. She turned 4 on a Wednesday which meant she got to do some celebrating with her dance class! We brought some Rice Krispie treats and Paige seemed very proud to hand them out to her friends. She chose Pizza Hut for her birthday dinner (guess who suggested that one...) and then we headed home for cake and presents. Paige very specifically requested vanilla CAKE and not CUPCAKES. So I found a recipe for a small cake (it was meh but with frosting most things are good enough).

Birthday girl!

Mixing up the pancakes

Pizza Hut!

We pretty much have to do one funny face picture for each smiling picture

Paige's funny face

Yay! Cake!

Paint and Pancakes

Before we get back to Paige's birthday celebrations, there were just a few more pictures from March I wanted to put up.  First up are paint bags. I can't remember where I saw this idea but you take Ziploc bags, pour paint in, tape them to your table and then let the kids squish them around. Sounds pretty straightforward and not too entertaining but the kids played with these for a very long time and even requested them again the next day! After they had fun combining the colors we would play tic tac toe, Pictionary or hangman on them.

Pancakes-I'm always trying to make pancakes healthier (because basically you're pouring sugar on top so they need a little help if you want to have them regularly. And the kids do.) but that usually results in a flat/non fluffy pancake. This recipe was for Light and Fluffy Pancakes and it called for four eggs to one cup of flour. It made for an eggier pancake but also a tasty one (Pat was the only one who didn't like them). You also beat the egg yolks and whites separately which is supposed to help the fluff factor.