Snails, Spaghetti, and Shades

We had a fairly eventful (for us) weekend. We started it off right with a long playtime out in our yard on Friday. A snail shell in the grass caught the kids' attention, but we weren't patient enough to see the snail emerge. =)

"The snail is over there!"

Toby is showing Pooh the snail. =)

Friday night Jonathan treated us to a spaghetti dinner. In honor of the occasion--and the messy meal--I declared it a "nakey supper" (for kids only, of course). lol. Side note: I hadn't realized how much I use the word "nakey" until Toby started talking. When he started gleefully referring to himself and Abbie as "nakey children" and took off his stuffed gorilla's clothes so he could be "nakey," I figured I must use the word more often than I had thought. What's even more fun is that he pronounces it "achey"-- which always makes me laugh.

The "nakey supper" was a big hit!

Our little "lefty" cleaning her plate

Saturday morning we tried something different for breakfast. As is often the case, our kids were exceedingly hungry and grumpy, so we fixed them a quick breakfast. Only this time we fed them and sat them down to a movie (hey, it's the next best thing to Saturday morning cartoons!) while we enjoyed a delicious black olive and feta omelet with toast. The peaceful breakfast was a great treat, and I'm thinking we might turn it into a Saturday morning tradition.

The community put on a classical concert up at the school Saturday night. This was a subject of much debate in our household. Jonathan and I have many happy memories of going to classical concerts during our dating months, and it's something we have missed. However, we still do not have a good babysitting option (but we're getting there!), so I finally decided that Jonathan should go to the concert while I stayed home with the kids. I took the opportunity to invite my friend Rachel to join me for Downton Abbey after the kids went to bed. (Yes, I really love that show. There's a small bit of objectionable content, but I appreciate the way it's treated, i.e. you don't get the feeling that it's perfectly acceptable to do things that are morally wrong.) It was a winner of an evening all around.

We had a busy day Sunday. We went to church in the morning and were pleasantly surprised when our kids behaved well enough that we could actually listen to the sermon. Toby was well-entertained with a toy my dad fixed up before we left. It's a long screw with several nuts on it. Toby can screw and un-screw those nuts to his heart's content. What a beautiful thing! Abbie has become fascinated with zippers and doing the put-things-in-and-take-them-out process, so I put a few little toys in my small zippered change purse for her. It's amazing how long that occupies her!

Our afternoon was short but relaxing (meaning the kids took long naps, which left us free to nap or play computer games--you can guess who did what--ha!). We headed up the hill again at 4 for an org meeting where we had childcare duty. Incidentally, we visited with a new couple and learned that the husband is from Myersdale, PA, and knows my aunt and uncle who live near there. It was just a bit weird to make that connection in this faraway place. We ended the day with popcorn, Dr. Pepper (my first in over a YEAR), and an episode of Law and Order UK.

Monday Jonathan graciously watched the kids, allowing me to do a bit of work on the computer. In the evening we joined some friends for pizza at the mall--a rare treat and one we really enjoy! We were also able to stock up on groceries since our friends were giving us a ride home (as opposed to our lugging the groceries home via backpack and stroller). =) Thanks, guys!

If you made it all the way through this post, you deserve some more pics. Here are my cool kids with their shades. =)