The Perfect Ending

Two awesome weekends in a row - how lucky are we? Halloween was super fun. My furry mouse and puppy went trick-or-treating with my hubby and my dad, along with the rest of our cul-de-sac kids and parents. My mom and Baby Grant and I stayed home, marvelling at Grant's good spirits, considering his 5 new teeth this past week. We only had two trick-or-treaters who
were non-cul-de-sac kids, so of course, we have waaaaay more candy than we'd figured we'd have. (Sneak in a suble hooray here!)

We stayed up for a while visiting, and then early Saturday morning, my mom and I road-tripped to Albertville to a giganto outlet mall. We shopped for 11 hours, with only one .5-hour deli break at around 2. I scored huge on career clothes and clothes for Grant. (We have no hand-me-downs for him, so I'm always scrounging, it seems). I also jump-started my holiday shopping. We wrapped up the night with an authentic Mexican meal, including a margarita. It was a relaxing, wonderful day to bond with my mamacita. We never seem to get time together without the kids, and this was a great time to just visit.

Sunday, we all went to church and enjoyed the service. My folks left town from there, and our family of five came home and played outside for quite some time. It was gorgeous out, and I think the kids and DH didn't come in for lunch until around 2. That's when my cousin, Unc'a Billy showed up. He and DH worked on some building project in the basement with the windows and door open, while the kids and I did our thing upstairs. Even though Lillian and Grant didn't nap in the afternoon, I still had some time to fold some laundry. I gave up on napping them and then took them to the grocery store, with Breanna still sound asleep in her crib. Lillian chatted non-stop, perhaps as much as my sister. It was shocking and wonderful all at once. Twin-free, Lilli is quite the talker!

We came home and I immediately began supper prep, and the meal turned out fantastic! We had pepper-jelly-and-dijon marinated chicken and red peppers on the grill, along with balsamic asparagus and garlic bread and the best dessert I've had in ages. Here's the recipe in case you'd like to try it. Everyone here went crazy for it.

Grilled Pineapple
1/2 cup coconut milk
1/2 cup cinnamon/sugar
1 fresh pineapple

Cut the pineapple into rings or wedges and then soak them in the coconut milk for a few minutes. Let some of the milk drip off and then dredge each piece through the cinnamon/sugar. Grill on low until tender.

So simple, but so delictable. Next time, I might try topping the slices with toasted coconut. I read a review of the recipe that said this is great served warm over vanilla ice cream. I might try that too.

I love ending a weekend with a highlight like this!