I'm ready for breakfast

This is Tyler waiting for his breakfast. He pulls the big chair out by himself and then climbs into his booster seat and sits...not very...patiently for me to fix his breakfast. He had chocolate Chex cereal which he called "chocolate milk." Plus he had a banana and a slice of toast. Both kids were great eaters today. Since we didn't really do anything else today I'll just focus on the food.

For lunch the kids had 1/2 a peanut butter and honey sandwich, strawberry yogurt, grapes, strawberries and another 1/2 banana each. (I think this was all...both seemed to by hungry to no end today.)

For dinner we had Dana and kids over again. My recipe was for "Two Pea Pasta with Ricotta and Tarragon" from my Everyday Food magazine. Dana brought over some cubed chicken, salad and garlic bread to go with it. It was a good dinner. The chicken really carried it through though. Not sure how good the recipe would have been without the added meat. Dana also brought over the fixings for a Lemon Cake. (which called for Lemon Jello, which I thought was weird, which Dana thought was weird that I didn't have any lemon jello just sitting in my pantry????) Regardless, it was deliciously dense and very good. At first Tyler didn't want any but once he took that first bite he was hooked and ate even more than I did.

And that pretty much sums up our day. I'm off to try and make a dent in the Tivo'd shows I need to watch before they get deleted. G'night to all.

is everyone smiling?!

This morning started off as a typical Tuesday. Lauren had school so we had to be on the ball this morning. After we dropped Lauren off Tyler and I came home and went into the basement. He watched a Thomas the Train movie while I worked out on the treadmill. Then we came upstairs and he watched Mickey Mouse Clubhouse while I took a shower. I'm sure it sounds like it was all about me but I assure you, Tyler was quite happy watching all that TV. After my shower I prepared the necessary "juice-water" it takes for Tyler to be happy in a shopping cart (buggy for all you southerners) and we headed to Wal-mart to find a strawberry planter and a beverage holder both for bunko next month. I found neither and am pretty bummed. I'll keep looking though. I'm already stressing about impressing the bunko ladies when I host.

After our naps we had Dana and the kids over for dinner. Once again our men are both out of town. We had a chicken sausage saute with asparagus and thyme over goat cheese grits and some salad and fruit on the side. It was very yummy. Here is a picture of the chicken sausage saute and grits. (we added some green bell pepper which added some texture and taste.)

After dinner the kids played in the sandbox and then played some Clickstart computer games while us mom's cleaned up and chatted about anything and everything. Dana is a great listener and I'm happy to have a friend to hang out with when Matt is out of town.

While they were watching Shep play the computer game I asked them all to smile at the camera. I'm sad to say that Shep is the only one to receive the "big blue ribbon" on that one. No one else seems to get the smiley idea... Oh well, it reflects their personalities at least a little bit.

Camo Cuties

This morning we had to drop Matt off on the Interstate so he could get a ride from his co-worker to their business development meetings in Jacksonville and St. Augustine, Florida this week. Since I got to pick the exit where they would meet I decided to pick an exit with an outlet mall. I didn't need much for me but Lauren got a white sweater and I got Matt a couple of birthday presents. We stopped at Chik-fil-A for lunch and then headed home in time for a good nap.

It was a pretty routine day after that. At dinner Lauren accidentally? spilled her milk. I asked her what happened as I was cleaning it up with paper towels and she said, "my cup didn't want to stay on the table. I didn't do it though, my cup did." She didn't seem any concerned so I stayed calm and there was no crying over this spilled milk.

After dinner the kids brought as many toys as they could haul from their playroom into the kitchen. I'm beginning to think the playroom is just a giant toy box. When they want to play with something they bring it either into the kitchen or the living room. Why won't they play in the playroom?!

The evening was finished off with a big hug, requested by me, so I could show their camo pants they both wore today.

singing in the rain

Well our tickets to the game last night weren't quite as "prime" as I thought they'd be but who am I to complain. I got to see the Celtics play (as well as the Hawks) and got a free drink and pretzel thrown in. All thanks to Mr. Nelson. Here's our view:

and here's what Bibby and Allen, Pierce & Garnett saw when they looked up at us!
Today Mr. Jasen left for his flight back to St. Louis. Before he left the kids went out to play in the sandbox. They were out there for awhile and we were inside watching them through the kitchen windows. They were out there for quite awhile before I noticed that it was raining! bad mom I know but the kids weren't complaining...they were loving it. Matt didn't want them to have all the fun so we went and grabbed the hose pipe (southern for hose) and sprayed them down.


It was a fun start to their day!


After Jasen left we did our weekly grocery shopping. Lauren wrote her own grocery list as usual. (she writes random letters and calls them words...cereal was one of the "items" on her list.) For dinner we had yummy spicy sloppy joes and partially home-made coleslaw and steak fries. Yummy...especially the steak fries according to the kids.

Later Matt started preparing for his trip next week to South Georgia and Florida. Lauren's still in school so we won't be going with him. While he was getting ready for the trip I watched the finale of Big Brother. What will I do now that it's over?!

Enjoy your evening y'all.

"He scratcheded Me.....with his teeth"

This happened while I was getting Tyler dressed Friday morning. Lauren and I went into his room and she immediately went berserk and jumped all over his bed yelling and shrieking at the poor drowsy boy who just woke up. A second later she screamed and was crying. She said he had scratched her. I looked at her arm and I saw an indention of Tyler's teeth (this indention didn't go away until late in the evening!) She then repeated that "he scratcheded me, with his teeth." Too funny. Since I didn't know he had bitten her right away, when I scolded him he didn't have a clue what he had done. We'll get it next time.

Yesterday we had playgroup at Miss Cynthia's house. She has two boys probably 3 and 5. Abigail and Isabella were there too. Us mom's had strawberries and muffins on the back porch while the kids played in their beautiful, flat fenced-in backyard. Lauren loved the little playhouse they had so we might have to get one for her this summer.

When we got home I made some serious pizza dough. I did one batch in the bread machine and 2 others from scratch. It was the final night of our pizza week. I made 2 different veggie pizzas. Greek-Style with Ricotta and Feta and Goat Cheese Pizza with Spring Veggies.
And because of the company we had, the very southern taste-buds of the Hancocks, and our very own picky eater guest Jasen, I decided to only do half pizza's with the veggie toppings and two whole pizzas with pepperoni. (well one was turkey pepperoni so I did sneak something healthier by them.) Buddy just got a big green egg smoker so he cooked one that turned out awesome while I did the other two in the oven. It was a fun night for all. After Tyler went to bed the rest of us headed down to the basement. Lauren and Emma played very well together and I think both girls had a lot of fun. Meanwhile, us adults enjoyed a game of Apples to Apples...won by yours truly.

Today we had Casey come over to watch the kids while we went to a car show at the Georgia World Congress Center (this building sustained lots of damage from the tornado and had many many windows still boarded up.) While we were at the show Mr. Nelson from across the street called and said he had 3 extra tickets to the Hawks v. Boston Celtics game tonight!! Whoo hoo. We're having Morgan and Shana (next door on the other side) come over to watch the kids tonight. I'm so excited. This should be a great game and knowing Nelson these tickets are prime. More to come but gotta run and get myself ready.

Anyone up for a grass fight?

Today was another beautiful day. I hear the rain is coming though. This morning Matt got to sleep in since he had a day trip planned to Coosa Pines, Alabama. He cooked us breakfast...2 fried eggs each for the kids and they were still hungry so had a bowl of cereal and a 1/2 banana each. Crazy kids. Lauren had school and Tyler and I went to church so I could help out with the Sunday school prep. I could only stay for about 30 min. because I had a Mom's club monthly meeting to attend. Our playgroup was in charge of the kids area this week. This just means that I get to watch the kids while the parents listen to the guest speaker. We were supposed to have a speaker on water safety but apparently she had a personal crisis to take care of and wasn't able to make. I hope everything is okay with her.

Later I baked some bread (since we were out and I didn't want to go to the store) and also made some Pineapple Black Bean Enchiladas for Mexican night at our Community Group. The enchiladas were surprisingly decent. Someone else brought spicier beef enchiladas which were definitely better...but mine competed as a meatless dish. Matt got held up in Coosa Pines so he wasn't able to make the community group. Somehow I talked Jasen into watching the kids for an hour until Matt got home so I could just go and enjoy some food and adult fellowship and not have to worry about the kids. When Matt got home he, Jasen and the kids all went out to a late dinner at Smokey Bones.

The kids came home completely wired and crazy but they were so sweet. Lauren wanted to snuggle and Tyler did too so I got to enjoy a few minutes of snuggle time with my two babies before I sent them off to bed so I could watch the first new episode of Grey's Anatomy since the writer's strike. (I watch way too much TV...)

Grilled Caramelized-Onion Pizza with Rosemary, Olives, and Prosciutto

I thought I'd focus on tonight's dinner for the blog because 1. it was very good and 2. I don't have any other pictures. I'm still very re-excited about my bread machine and I'm on a pizza kick lately. In fact, we are going to have 3 different types of pizza in the next few days because it is pizza week for us. This onion and prosciutto pizza was delish. After I took this picture I put it back in the oven to brown the prosciutto and when it came out I topped it with a few spoonfuls of sour cream. Very YUMMY! This and the other pizza recipes I'm going to try are all from Shape Magazine's May 2008 issue.

And in other highlights of the last two days.... Yesterday Matt had a business dinner to go to and I had to get my hair cut (chopped the back off...so it's short again like it was) so we had Casey come over for a couple of hours. I left them all eating dinner so the kids didn't really care that I was leaving. They had fun and were totally wired when I got home.

Today I decided we needed to get out of the house. Since I needed a few things from the grocery store we packed up our Thomas DVD and headed up to Trader Joe's in Atlanta. Matt was in a meeting during lunch so we didn't get to see him but we got a lot of neat things at TJs. Chocolate covered raisens and balloons were the highlights of the kids trip. I got a cool looking enchilada sauce to try in tomorrow's Pineapple and Black Bean enchiladas I'm making for our Community Group's Mexican night.

A fun surprise tonight was that our friend from Eugene, Jasen, came into town on business. We insisted he stay with us instead of a hotel. The kids got a kick out of him even though Lauren kept calling him Mr. Brad. I guess we don't have many friends who come to stay with us. Thanks for the love Mr. Brad. He'll be here until Sunday when he flies home to St. Louis. We have Casey coming back on Saturday to watch the kids so we can go do something adult for a change. Probably just dinner and a movie but we'll make sure it's at least a PG-13 movie. =)

highlights of my life (since I last posted)

We must start with Bunko on Friday night. I thought it was my lucky day and it turns out it was. I had the most wins and therefore won $15. Whoo hoo. Next month I get to host the game.

On Saturday we ran all our errands. Got the kids hair-cuts (4 inches for Lauren...and also chopped off her baby curly-cues...so sad....)That night we had Miss Morgan from across the street come to watch the kids while we went to a concert to celebrate Buddy's 38th birthday. (can you believe I hang out with somebody so old?! j/k!!...especially if he reads this ....or if anyone older than him does. ok, bases covered...I'll move on [wink].) We saw John Conley live!! He had his concert at Hoofers Gospel Barn and I had a good time even though it seemed I was 40 years younger than the majority of the folks there. I actually recognized his song Common Man and possibly another but the best part is I often thought of my dad that night and how he probably would recognize a lot more than me.

Since you have to drive an hour to get to Hoofers Gospel Barn you don't just go home after the concert. We hit up downtown LaGrange, GA for a night of drinks, pool, jukebox and a final stop at Waffle House. It was an incredibly fun evening even though we got home at 2am. I'm definitely not as young as I used to be because I took 2 naps the next day and didn't leave the house. We did watch American Gangster after the kids went to bed. Good movie. I vaguely remember seeing something about the true story but can't remember when or where. Good movie...(worth repeating.)

And that brings us to today which in fact there's not much to say about it. There was nothing pressing on the agenda so we just played. Indoors and outdoors since it was a beautiful day. (no snow here...not quite sure what's going on in Oregon...I hear there was snow over the weekend.)
Tonight we went to the Y. Me for my step class and Matt did the bike and tread-climber and the kids played. Then it was poker for Matt and the movie Awake for me. (I recommend the movie...even for those who don't like scary...you can turn away at the queasy parts.)

And to close...here's a picture of Tyler showing his Thomas addiction. He makes a "bridge" and then drives Thomas across it...while watching Thomas on TV. ...that's my boy!...

Picture Perfect Playdate

Today Lauren and Tyler had their playdate friends over for some fun and home-made pizza. It was a beautiful day so we were able to enjoy our pizza on the deck. I used my bread machine to make the pizza dough, added some tomato sauce and then let the kids take it away with turkey pepperoni and mozzarella cheese. It was just a picture perfect day so I'll just let the pictures speak for themselves.

The kids making the pizzas.

Tyler sneaks another bite of turkey pepperoni. But this time he got caught and knows it.


Watching the pizza bake. Lauren shows them where the Light button is on the oven.



The girls and Tyler enjoy their lunch. Strawberries and animal crackers compliment their pizza.



Playing in the sandbox after filling their tummies. Not pictured is us Mom's relaxing and talking while the kids play and play and play.




We all had a great time and I can't wait to do it again. Matt's on his way home from his business trip today and then tonight I have Bunko. Not sure if I'll get a chance to post again but wanted to share our fun day while it was still fresh in my mind.

show and tell

This is Lauren's show and tell she brought to school. I asked her how it went and she said she got to talk about her cats but that not every one listened. Some people weren't following directions. She also had her 2nd picture day of the year. I guess they do two picture days now so we have to spend more. I'm told we'll be able to view the proofs on the photographers web site but so far she doesn't have them up-loaded. L told me she smiled and even showed me her sweet smile she made for the camera. very cute.

While L was at school Tyler and I went to church to help out with the Sunday school prep. Kate, another volunteer brought me a couple books she thought I'd like to read. "Victoria Victorious" by Jean Plaidy ("the story of Queen Victoria") and "The Forest" by Edward Rutherfurd. We both like to read historical fiction and I had previously lent her my mom's copy (sorry) of "Charleston." While I was getting the lesson ready Tyler was playing with the other kids in the child-care and they got to go outside to play on the playground and enjoy a snack in the warm spring sun.

Back home we had lunch and then the kids napped. Then it was dinner. Dana called saying she had stir fry fixins but I had some shrimp thawed out that I needed to use. She doesn't eat shrimp so we did our own dinners tonight. I made a Shrimp Casserole from an old Southern Living magazine I had. It was good and very filling since it used a whole stick of butter! I served this with applesauce and a cut up tomato. Tyler ate his applesauce (only) and Lauren ate her applesauce, tomatoes, Tyler's tomatoes and all the shrimp out of her casserole. I choose not to fight with the kids over food so I didn't make them eat anymore. Like I've said before they will eat a good breakfast tomorrow. especially Tyler.

Other big news is we booked our trip to Eugene and Boise for the summer. The kids and I will fly out the last week of June and Matt will join us after a week. (I'm very nervous about my first solo trip with the kids!!) Then after a few days we'll head over to Boise on the 4th of July to visit the rest of our family. I'm very much so looking forward to this trip. Luckily we were able to use miles to buy our expensive tickets. This is good since we're always short on money.

Hope y'all enjoy your evening.

another Big Brother posting

sorry if I ramble on. =)

Today we went on a Mom's Club field trip to Jumping Jelly Bean. This is another of those inflatable toy warehouses like the one where we had Lauren's birthday party. This was smaller but had a jumping toy with balls in it that Tyler and Lauren loved. Lauren also stepped it up and wanted to play on the bigger toys, even going down a steep slide all by herself. Not sure who was more scared...her or I!! This place is pretty neat in that they have an adult lounge with comfy chairs, coffee, magazines and a window to watch the kiddos. Mine aren't quite comfortable though to play if I'm not within arms reach. Someday. Another cool thing about this place is they have a separate area for the wee little ones where they have some actual toys to play with. The best toy in there...and arguably anywhere...was a Thomas riding toy. Tyler latched on to this and pushed and pulled it all over. He had a fit if anyone else tried to play with it. See the pics.

I didn't get any pictures of the kids jumping because I was jumping right along side them but I did get a picture of Lauren discovering the water fountain. She watched a little friend take a drink and learned pretty quick. Her shirt was sure soaked though.
Back home we made a peanut butter and honey sandwich on homemade wheat bread with a banana, cherry tomatoes and strawberry yogurt for lunch. The famished kids ate great. Then it was a short 2 hour nap. Luckily I was able to get to the basement for a workout and even take a shower and straighten my hair since I won't have time for a shower tomorrow.

After naps Dana came over with fixins for Chicken fajitas. We made these the last time our men were out of town and I think it's a tasty tradition we need to continue. It was fun to chat with her and the kids play so well together. I'm not sure what the draw is but the 4 of them (Shep, 6; Emma, almost 5; Lauren 4 and Tyler 2) were surrounding the sand box on the back deck for about an hour straight. Since the weather was so nice Dana and I brought our cocktails out and joined them on the balcony.

After they left it was a race to get the kids bathed, dressed and in bed. Because, lets face it, Big Brother was on in 30 minutes and I had to be here for the live show. (Yes I know I'm pretty lame...but everyone has their guilty pleasure.)

ps...I haven't gotten any comments in a few posts...thanks Uncle Brian for always being there! You rock.

Lauren and Tyler made pizza...yummm

Since my bread machine is fresh in my mind after making some whole wheat bread yesterday, I thought it might be fun to make some pizza dough and have the kids make a pizza. (part for entertainment and part to encourage them to eat a good dinner.) Well it was successful in both ways. Lauren really enjoyed putting the toppings on the pizza and they both ate a pretty good serving. We're going to make another pizza for lunch during our Friday playdate since this turned out so well.

Today was a busy day for us. Lauren had school and while she was learning about purple, ovals and the letter "Y" Tyler and I went to the gym. I had a great workout. I took a workout idea from one of my fitness magazines which included the bike, step-mill and treadmill. It was an awesome workout but it appears that I had the most fun at the YMCA. When I came to pick Tyler up in the kids area he was laying on his tummy with his blanket and sucking his fingers. They told me he was whiny the whole time. He probably just missed Lauren since he's used to being held in captivity with her most of the time.

After the Y we headed to the post office to mail a couple pairs of shoes we sold on Ebay. At the post office Tyler was crying because I wouldn't let him take his blanket in. An older gentleman in front of us in the line offered to let us go first since he felt bad from Tyler's agony. I accepted because when T's like this you never know what he's going to do....he could break down into the full on fit. Not only did this nice gentlemen give us his place in line but he also came up later and gave us a coupon for a free scoop of ice-cream at Chik-fil-A. Bless his heart. So of course, after the post office Tyler and I headed to Chik-fil-A for our free ice-cream. He was pretty funny eating it. It was too cold for him so he would let it barely touch his lip but he always wanted more. After the ice-cream I ordered two kid's meals and then we were off to pick Lauren up from school and head home for some lunch.

After naps and dinner, Lauren played on the computer while Tyler finished watching a Thomas show. Lauren called me into the computer room after a while asking me to pick up a big mess of receipts that somehow ended up on the floor. I asked her if she accidentally dropped them and she said no. She said, "I didn't do it but my hands did." hmmm.

Later we cleaned up and had our snack. Tonight it was some chocolate from Easter. Tyler told me over and over that it was "delish". He's so cute!

And finally before we went to bed Lauren asked me how many more dark naps until GG is here She's really excited for GG to come on her month long visit. ...as we all are.

Enjoy your Tuesday.

I'm so lame....

I'm not going to the gym tonight simply because it is too cold and it looks like it is going to downpour. And I didn't work out this morning because I was going to go to the gym tonight. Lame excuse I know. I'll have my bad attitude in check tomorrow. For the rest of this evening the kids will continue to watch their new Thomas videos. We got four in the mail today which we ordered from Ebay. Earlier today we went into Atlanta to have lunch with Matt since he's going out of town. He had to be at the airport by 2pm so it gave us just enough time to grab some lunch at Mellow Mushroom, hit up Trader Joe's and then drop him off at the airport. We got the kids one (huge!) slice of pizza each and they ate the whole thing. I had 1/2 a greek salad and 1/2 a veggie hoagie. It was good and we all got stuffed. So much so that the kids only ate banana slices and strawberries for dinner. Oh well...they'll eat a good breakfast tomorrow.

Here's a cute picture of Tyler in his Elmo vest he got for his birthday. You have to be quick when you take a picture of him because when he notices you're aiming the camera at him he wants to come behind the camera to see what the picture looks like. He doesn't quite understand that I need to take the picture first.

I'm trying to upload a video of Lauren singing Hickory Dickory Doc. It's a hoot. I'll post it when I can figure out how to get it on here.

Family Day at the Atlanta Opera

And yet again the weekend has gone by way too fast. Saturday we headed out early to go enjoy family day at the Atlanta Opera. I know what you're thinking... "yawn." But I really wanted to expose the kids to something that has never really drawn an interest to neither Matt nor I. We were lucky we got an early start because they are doing weekend paving of the connector (I85/I75.) This goes straight through the middle of Atlanta and is a stretch of constant crazy traffic, always. This weekend they had it going from 6 lanes down to 2 lanes right at a merge with more in-coming traffic. We made it to an exit in Atlanta and took side roads clear across the city to Oglethorpe University where they had the Opera's Family Day. We noticed on the way home, however, that traffic was miserably backed up much farther back from where we were able to exit. This paving will continue for many weekends so if we don't get an early start than we won't be heading into town!

Anyway...at the Opera. They had many booths with crafts such as making tambourines, rain makers, masks, magic wands, beaded bracelets and also had an instrument "petting zoo" and a place to try on opera costumes. In a separate room they had an ensemble singing some opera but it was too loud for Lauren to want to enjoy. The whole time Tyler preferred to play with the balls on the pool table they had in the student lounge. Lauren really enjoyed the crafts and made a tambourine, rain maker, magic wand and a beaded bracelet. Although it was long and difficult to get there (due to the traffic and detour we took) we decided that it was worth it.

Later that night we went to church and heard about being at a Crossroads with our Future. Lauren enjoyed her puppet show in the children's room and due to a low volume of volunteers, Tyler and other 2 year olds were in the same room as her. Lauren told me Tyler just played with the trains the whole time but that she sang, listened and colored as was asked of her. Such a good girl. She is now writing her name on the pictures she colors and I just love her handwriting.

After the kids were in bed Matt and I shared a bottle of Trader Joes $4.99 red wine special and watched "Into the Wild." I had read this book a few years ago and it made a huge impression. The movie was very good too. It really got us thinking. You need to see the movie. When I first read the book I was single, no kids and I could see it through a different perspective. Then last night I watched the movie from a different perspective (as a parent) I really saw it in a different light. I highly recommend you watch it although it's a bit sad.

Today, Sunday, was a busy busy day. At least if felt that way for me. This morning while Matt made delicious omelets I planned out my weekly dinner menu and made my grocery list. The whole time Matt was cooking Lauren kept saying how omelets were yucky and she wouldn't eat one in one hundred days. Much to everyone's surprise, however, she ended up eating 2 whole omelets herself. They were just that good. After breakfast we headed out to the clean Kroger. Tyler and I took our buggy and our list and Lauren and Daddy took the coupons and went on their grocery hunt. We made record time and were home in time for lunch. We're trying to save money wherever we can and if we don't need to eat out for lunch then we won't. While the kids lunched I did my workout and took a shower.

During Tyler's nap (Matt let Lauren stay up and watch movies instead of napping today) I went with Dana to USA Nails to get a full body make-over (eyebrow wax, pedicure, and a fill for my new solar nails!!) Meanwhile, Matt worked on his chopper in the basement. He's taking it apart now to get it painted. Remind me to get a picture of this work of art.

After the trip to the nail salon I got right to work making dinner. This was quite extravagant because I tried a recipe to see if it would be suitable for when I host the Bunko game next month. I made Lasagna Primavera, Garlic Knots and a "whatever was left over in the veggie drawer" salad. For the Garlic Knots I even broke out the bread machine and made my own pizza dough for them. As taste testers for the dinner I invited Dana and the kids over (Buddy had just left for a business trip to Tallahassee.) All agreed, it was delicious except for my DH (dear husband) who predictably suggested that I add a bit of chicken next time. I did decide that I will make this for Bunko but I will do one as is (vegetarian) and add the darn chicken to the other one. For dessert we made a dozen cookies which we purchased from Shep's school fund-raiser. These aren't healthy cookies by any means but they are pre-portioned and all you do is take them from the freezer to the oven. And they taste delicious. Tyler didn't eat anything but the bread at dinner but he ate 2 whole cookies and would have ate more had we let him.

I think that's about as much as I can draw from the past couple of days. Next week will be a bit different for us since Matt will be out of town and we have been used to having him home for the past couple of weeks. He's off to Raleigh, NC.

Sorry this rambled on...I've been watching Big Brother... =)

the sun is shining...for another 20 min. or so

It's been a beautiful few days but now the clouds are forming over head and the storm is almost here. That's okay since we were able to enjoy the park with our Mom's club friends this morning. We had a potluck lunch at the park by Lauren's school and did a lot of playing and eating. We had to break out the sunscreen too for the first time this year.

I'm going to have to let the picture speak for the past two days because we are getting ready to head next door to "Hang with the Hancocks" which we seem to do every weekend as of late. Enjoy your Friday.

Happy Hump Day

It was a beautiful, dare I say perfect, spring day. 75 degrees and low humidity. Since I don't have allergies I was able to thoroughly enjoy it. Others I'm sure suffered since the pine tree pollen has left a blanket of yellow over everything.

We had a play-date today at Miss Kyndra's house. A few of us mom's from the community group from church decided to get together and let our kids play. There were 5 kids total and 3 adults. It was nice to have some adult conversation even though Lauren and Tyler were both pretty clingy with me. I finally got some breathing room when we sat down for some snacks. chocolate chip muffins and oatmeal cookies and even string cheese too.

Back home we had a tiny lunch and then it was nap-time. I went down to the basement and did a cardio step aerobic video. Surprisingly it was a good workout even though I was dodging the ceiling fan for part of it.

When Tyler woke up from his nap today he came out of his room on his own and went right into Lauren's room. (who was still sleeping she tells me.) He woke her up!! I guess he was just getting an accomplice to go downstairs with him. I didn't see them until they both came downstairs together. I thought it was pretty funny.

For dinner I made Stuffed Poblanos and Cilantro Lime Rice. The poblanos at the grocery store were the size and width of my pinky so I bought banana peppers and a green bell pepper instead. I figured I could stuff more vegetarian filling in them. Matt said the dinner was delicious but just needed a little chicken. (he says this about any meatless meal I make.) I thought it was good too and the banana peppers added just the right amount of spice. Tyler didn't eat much but he offered some to Thomas. (he wore his Thomas shirt yet again today...but thoroughly got it dirty while we were playing outside after dinner...so it is headed for the wash.)

After dinner we walked the neighborhood and played in our greening yard. Then bath, books and bed. Matt is off at a poker buddie's house for yet another poker game tonight. This is his 2nd game already this week and that's his limit. Hopefully he wins tonight.

The grass is getting greener!

It just happened this past week. Spring is in the air...or at least in the ground.
The dormant dead grass we have here during the winter in the south is finally coming back to life. After Matt clips off the top we should have a very nice lush looking yard.

Tonight Matt is at a conference at a hotel near the airport. Today they are having their dinner and social functions. I tried to go but our baby-sitters are all out of town due to spring break. It looked like a lot of fun with a dj, prizes, fortune-teller?! and of course and open bar. Oh well. I had a good time mopping the floor and spending the evening with the kiddos. (maybe just the evening with the kiddos to be honest.)

I absolutely hate mopping the hard wood floors. Clean with vinegar, rinse with water and then hand dry. Painstakingly time consuming. But, I LOVE the feel of freshly cleaned hard wood floors. They almost feel velvety. (or maybe I'm just enjoying the lack of grimy build up that's been accumulating since I last mopped...I don't even remember when.)

Well Tyler wore his Thomas t-shirt today but it wasn't his initial idea. Lauren is the one who suggested it when we were getting dressed. We did watch the Thomas and Friends cartoon about 3 times today though.

Instead of a nap, Lauren now has quiet time. She gets to pick out a couple of books and a toy (which is usually her Leapster game) and go into her room for a couple of hours for quiet time. We've been doing this for a few days now and she's ended up napping every time but I'm attempting to ween her from the nap. I started doing this because she's been restless at nights when it's bedtime. She'll go down at 8pm but will open and shut her door and just make noise in her room. I'm thinking she's getting over the need to nap...or at least getting close. People tell me that I should be thankful because I got a couple more years of naps our of her than most people.

That's about it for our day. If you notice on the right side of the blog I added an intake and output section. This is simply so I can be accountable for what I eat and how much I exercise. I'm ready to finally lose that "baby weight" (not sure if I can still call it that) and enjoy the summer at the beach and pool in a bathing suit. 10 pounds to go...I'll keep you posted.

Thomas and Friends

Tyler wore the same shirt 2 days in a row. His one and only, favorite, Thomas t-shirt. Matt got him dressed on Sunday and since I didn't put his shirt in the dirty clothes Saturday night he grabbed it when he woke up and had Matt put it on him. Then this morning when I went into his bedroom he was saying "Thomas and Friends" over and over while pointing at his closet. By this time his shirt was in the dirty clothes hamper and I didn't let him wear it. He was pretty upset and when I suggested his Mickey Mouse t-shirt he just said "No". I did wash Thomas today so if he's adamant tomorrow I suppose I'll put it on him.

Tonight Dana called me to say her kids were at Grammy's and Buddy was working late in Atlanta and asked if I wanted to do some shopping with her. She talked me into skipping the gym and we went all over and I didn't spend much money at all. (good thing) We finished our evening with a shared dessert at LongHorn. It was good but huge. 6 different types of chocolate. It was fun to get out and spend some time with a girlfriend. Now I'm home and Matt is downstairs enjoying and hopefully winning the Monday night poker game.

Advice request to follow... Lauren has started to say a word that sounds exactly like "oh crap". Neither Matt nor I say this...ever...but we're pretty sure this is what she's saying. After hearing this a few times I told her that wasn't a nice word. And now she says it even more. Today I started saying "oh quack" every time she says it hoping that will take the fun out of saying it. Any advice on what to do? ignore or reprimand??

Tyler's 2 year check-up

We've been busy busy the past few days. We've had Drs appointments (I had 2 and Tyler had 1.) playdates, lunches in Atlanta, community group, church and even a trip to the YMCA.

Matt and I did a cycle class at the gym together. It was TUFF! My rear is still sore 3 days later but it was such a good workout. Matt's not sure if he'll ever do another class again. We'll see. When we went to pick the kids up we saw Tyler playing with another little boy in there. They were copying each other. Spinning in circles and then falling down. Tyler was cracking up. It was very cute to see. And Lauren colored us a picture and even wrote her name on it. She had all the letters in her name even though they weren't straight in a row.

Another highlight of the past few days was Tyler's Drs appointment. Matt got to take him to this one. Lauren was at school and I had a Drs appt. of my own. He weighed in at an approx. weight of 29.4 lbs (he refused to be still on the scale so it was hard to get.) and is 35 inches tall. The Dr said he looked very healthy and is doing just fine with his development, physically and developmentally. She mentioned that we should try potty training. So far Tyler wants nothing to do with the toilet. He doesn't even like to be without pants, muchless without a diaper.

Last night after dinner we all went next door to hang out at the Hancocks. (That almost sounds like a potential reality show..."Hanging with the Hancocks") We actually got to have adult conversation while Lauren and Tyler played on their own for a long time. Tyler found a bucket of balls to entertain him and Lauren saw the biggest coolest barbie town house in the world. They've come along ways since I had my Barbie townhouse.

And to close I'll share a little about the church service this evening. Pastor Ken talked about being at a Crossroads with Finances. (our church is named Crossroads Baptist so there's plenty play on the word crossroads for the services) Anyway, they highlighted a course they were offering by Dave Ramsey. Financial Peace University. Matt was on the edge of his seat. He's a huge Dave Ramsey fan...who's all about sticking to a budget.

Enjoy your Saturday.

Surgery and Song

Matt started off the day with a bit of surgery. He had the basal cell carcinoma removed from his chest. The biopsy he had taken last week came back as cancer but a very unaggressive kind. They just scraped it off instead of doing the Mohs surgery he had last time. He seems to be doing fine but just can't wrestle with the kids today.

While Lauren was at school Tyler did a a lot of talking. He likes to talk about himself in the 3rd person. i.e. "move out Tyler way" "Tyler open" Before picking her up we ran to Walmart for a couple things and he had a Daddy fixation going on. Every guy he saw he would call "Daddy" he says this really fast so it sounds more like "Da-eeee." When Matt gets home he continues his Daddy fixation and wants nothing to do with me. poor Mommy.

For dinner I made roasted green beans and prosciutto wrapped chicken. I even let Matt have some even though he wanted me to get ham instead since it was cheaper. He did admit it wouldn't have tasted nearly as good wrapped in lunch meat.

After dinner we packed up and headed to Program "God Bless America" at her school. While she was coming up to the stage with her class she saw Matt right there taking a picture and broke down in tears. Her teacher quickly swooped her away with the class so crisis was averted. She did fine the rest of the concert even singing a couple of the songs with gusto. Unfortunately her chronic cough is back and she coughed throughout all the songs. She did cover her mouth like her Mama taught her. Since she did such a great job at the program and to start a little fun tradition we went and got an iceLauren's Spring-cream cone afterwards. Marble Stone Creamery was the closest place and both Lauren and Tyler enjoyed their ice-cream. (as did Matt and I.)

Off to watch Big Brother but by reading the blogs I already know what happens. =)