Family dinner - I'd like to have it more often.  I remember the old days - you either show up on time for dinner, or you're excommunicated.  These days, it's more like "why are all these plates and glasses on the dining room table?"  and "what's going on, is company coming?"  Here you can see Sunni hoping for a few leftovers.

Bone Breaker

Mike and Roman built this ramp a week ago - and the first day Roman busted his left foot on it.  The Daves work hard, play hard, and break easily - at least, Roman does.  Roman: Less chocolate, more milk.

This handsome devil is Cameron - he's wearing his father's sweater today.  I'm so grateful we found it - we were on the cusp of deciding between the Mario Brothers t-shirt or the Mariners for church.  We ran out of laundry detergent this week and I kept forgetting to pick some up, so options were limited.   These days Cam and I have been playing a lot of piano - Mario Brothers music, to be exact .  His preferred style of learning is by ear - he's got skills.   4th grade this year - the ladies had better watch out.  This is one smooth operator.

Meet Roman - he's the dark haired one with the "Really, Mom, another photo" look on his face....This was during a walk to the park so the dogs could run, we could throw frisbee, and I could practice some shots with the new very complicated camera.  Mike did some yoga stretches in the side yard today - he looked pretty zen out there with the fountain spewing and sun peeking out.  He says he's going to do it every morning - he forgets we're going into winter and it will be raining for the next 9 months.

Today was a typical Sunday - church all morning - home and scatter for the next few hours - a walk with the dogs and a movie to end the day.

Today was a crabby day for me.  No particular reason - I just didn't feel like getting along with too many folks.   The best remedy for such occasions is usually a walk and a fattening indulgence - like Indian Fry Bread.

Recipe:

3 T yeast -

4 C warm water

1 T salt

3 T oil

12 T sugar

Let it sit around until yeast starts to work.  Then add somewhere around 10 C flour- or however much until it is knead-able.  If you don't have one of those fancy heavy duty mixers, call your kids in to do the dirty work.  Tell them it's fun, and they will believe you.

After it's kneeded, let it rise for about an hour.  Then, heat some oil in a pan and heat it up to medium/ medium high heat.  Stretch some dough out into pancake sizes, nice and thin - fry it up and serve with honey butter.

Yum.  Suddenly I"m not so crabby after all.

Meet Scooby, and Scooby's Tongue which apparently has it's own zip code.  This dog is the sweetest thing, but he's just sooo big and nasty.  The drool! The gas!  The skin disease odor!  The barf!  The shedding! And he refuses to brush his teeth or cut his nails.  Ugh!  But he's GREAT for a few things, namely as a jogging partner and also as a hugger.  Need a hug?  or a jog?  Come on over and borrow Scooby for a while.  Any time.  Really.

We hit Wild Waves this year - for the first time, the kids were BORED.  That should save me about $200 bucks next year, and over time probably a few thousand bucks.  The way I see it, with all that I'm going to save, I can buy some new shoes.