"how many dark naps until Daddy gets home?"

That would be 3 more, Lauren. This morning Tyler asked me if "Daddy home?" Not yet, Tyler. And then Lauren asks daily, how many dark naps until Daddy comes home. So although he's working out of town he's always in our hearts and thoughts. (cheesy but true)

Today was a beautiful day. The temps were in the 80s so it would have been a great day to get outside and do something but other than play in the sandbox we stayed close to home. I was getting mentally and physically prepared for our trip back home next week. I can't wait. The only sad thing is we'll only see Matt for one day. He gets back from his conference on Saturday and the kids and I leave on Sunday. We'll be sure to have a high quality day together when he gets home. He'll be out West with us soon enough though.

I don't have much else to say about today so I'll just describe it from the pics I took.

This morning we had to do the obligatory Thomas video. This was Tyler's preferred pose of the day. He loves to cross his leg over his knee. Too cute!

While Tyler watched a Thomas DVD, Lauren actually acted it out on the train set. This was a big pile up that Thomas had to come save the day.
One of my favorite t-shirts Tyler has....


Dinner was Ziti pasta with pancetta, green beans and basil. It was light, easy and really just okay. It was good but not to die for so no link to the recipe.

We had a special bath time tonight in my big bathtub. The kids loved all the bubbles and didn't want to get out.

On our way back downstairs to read books, Lauren insisted on helping Tyler down the stairs. She's such a loving and caring sister. And I'm sure Tyler knows how lucky he is...if not she's gonna remind him every chance she gets.

Way to Go Celtics

I started to write this last night and the title was Go Celtics but my computer was giving me so many problems that I thought I should just shut down before I threw it out the window. So this morning I now know the Celtics won, hence the title change.

On Monday Matt didn't go in to the office before his trip out of town. Instead we ran some important grooming errands. I needed to get my nails and toes done and the kids needed hair-cuts. To save time Matt took the kids to get trimmed while I was at USA Nails. To ensure Tyler didn't come back with a buzz cut I wrote explicit instructions to the stylist on a napkin in the car..."no buzz cut" and a request to layer Lauren's bangs and hair. We decided to try a new place. We normally go to Snip-Its. (a specially-for-kids salon) It's colorful, has TVs, music, prizes and they charge a bit more for their cuts but the employees (at least where we go) don't seem to put much effort into making it an exciting experience. They actually don't really seem to like their job much at all. So to try something new and hopefully save some money we took them to Great Clips (there are one of these or something like it on almost every corner.) Matt said he was very impressed. He said he had to be by Tyler who was bit nervous so Lauren was on her own. He said L talked and talked to the stylist and had a great time. She even let her blow dry her hair. I really liked how they cut her hair too. We may have found a new place (and it was half the price of the premium kids salon.) How's that for a long winded description of a hair cut? and no pics to follow up.

Matt almost got off on his work trip without a hitch. Due to an accident on the Interstate he was 5 min. late for his flight. Luckily he only had to wait 1 1/2 hours for the next flight. He made it to Panama Beach, FL for a meeting and then Tuesday he flew to his conference in DC.

Tuesday morning I wanted to take the kids to see Mr. Magorium's Magic Emporium. The Georgian Cinema's offer free movies during the summer for kids and this is the one playing this month. When I drove by I saw 4 buses parked outside and long long lines of kids. I just kept driving. Maybe we'll try again when it's a cartoon and I'm sure the kids would really enjoy it. Instead we went to a bookstore and made it in time for their story-time. It was pretty cool. 1) Lauren and Tyler were the only kids there and got to pick their books and 2) they had the coolest Thomas train set the kid's have ever seen. We stayed there for over an hour playing and I found a couple of activities and books to pull out on the plane trip this Sunday.

Story-time...a Thomas book by request

Tyler really loved playing with Harold. I think he needs one.

Since Matt was out of town we had a Christine-style dinner. fruits and veggies. I did throw in some left over chicken from yesterday. Corn on the cob, cukes, red pepper slices and carrot sticks with honey mustard dip and hummus, watermelon and chicken bites. The kids LOVED the corn on the cob. They each ate a whole one (2 halves.)

After dinner Miss Casey came over to watch the kids while I went to the neighborhood pool for a Mom's Night Out pool party with the Mom's club. There were about 8 of us there and we had a good time. I brought some veggies and dips and also made Oatmeal Raisin bars. We're trying to plan a Wii Rockband night for the next one.

Hope everyone's having a good week.

no pickles in the bath tub

...to continue where we left off yesterday. The kids were napping and Matt was mowing lawns..... The next significant and yummy thing was dinner. We had grilled tilapia with cherry salsa and Texas two-bean salad. Matt said this was delicious. Instead of grilling the tilapia I baked it. (Matt was busy mowing lawns and I didn't want to fire up the charcoal grill myself...some things I'm not ready to learn.)
After dinner we went outside in the front yard to play. We attracted the attention of Mr. Mike and his kids, big Tyler and Tera and also Joshua and David from across the street. The boys all played together while the girls (Lauren and Tera) dashed off upstairs into Lauren's bedroom. They were so cute together. As I was eaves-dropping I heard them making high pitch doll voices and they were interacting with each other more than I've ever witnessed before. It was sooo cool! Here's a couple pictures I was able to take.

I even got a picture of all the boys playing downstairs. Yes, that's my Tyler flopped down on his tummy because I asked him to look at the camera. Go figure.

Later that night we invited Mr. Mike and his Tyler and Tera to stay to watch movies. We set the kids up in the spare bedroom in the basement while us adults watched "Lars and the Real Girl" in the main room in the basement. We weren't too sure how kid friendly this movie would be just by reading the title and summary. But it ended up being suitable for the occasional pass through made by a kid in the need of some attention...juice...snack...or whatever.
Since Lauren and Tera played so well together I invited Tera to go with us to Dixieland Fun Park on Sunday. I thought it opened at 10am so we got there about 10:30 only to find out it opens at 1pm on Sundays. So as not to spoil a good outing we found a nearby park and played there and had our lunch of peanut butter and honey sandwiches before heading back out to Dixieland. Here's a shot of Tera and Tyler peaking out of a tunnel at the park. Tera was a big daredevil at the park and I think she encouraged Lauren to try new things. It was a lot of fun and the tree cover and occasional breeze made it bearable too.



At Dixieland the girls went on a couple of rides together. Tyler, Tera and Daddy went on the boat ride and they got to squirt water on Lauren and I who opted not to go on the ride. Here's a picture of Tera and Lauren on the "race car" ride (as they called it.)

After doing the outside rides we went into the kid's maze in the air-conditioned playroom. Everybody had a blast here and time flew by. Finally Tera and Lauren were showing obvious signs of "having had enough" so we decided to call it a day. Tera rode in the stroller out to the car and Lauren cried the whole way...she wasn't ready to go yet. Poor girl. She only had to fret for a few minutes as her and Tyler were both asleep by the time we exited the parking lot.

After we dropped Tera off at home we put our kids to nap and I started to prepare Matt's Father's Day Feast. He's such a good Daddy that I wanted to make a meal for him that had some actual RED MEAT in it to enjoy his special day. Of course I wanted it grilled on the BBQ (so he had to grill it) but seriously...it's the thought that counts right?!

While the food was cooking Lauren presented Daddy with her and Tyler's 2nd father's day gift of the year to him. At church last week she made Daddy this and today I traced Tyler's hand to add his signature to the gift. (Tyler didn't hold still long enough but you get the point.)


For dinner we had Grilled Steak Sandwiches w/ Goat Cheese and Arugula, Twice-baked Potato Bites and Green Beans with Cider Vinaigrette.

It was sooo good. The bread I used for the sandwich was a bit tough but the potatoes and beans were to die for. I will definitely make this again but next time use a home-made egg bread for the steak sandwich. I can't wait. The heat wasn't quite miserable enough to keep us inside so we enjoyed our dinner on our new patio furniture on the back deck. We hope all you special Dad's had a wonderful Father's Day today. (it's a bit bittersweet for me since this is the first since losing my own father last August.)

P.S. to elaborate on the title of today's post....during bath tonight Lauren informed me that she brought some pickles into the bathtub. (I have no idea what made her say this as she absolutely DID NOT bring any pickles into the bathtub.) Tyler got a complete kick out of this. I told them that the new rule was that there would be "No Pickles In The Bathtub". This (for some unknown reason) brought out big big laughs from the both of them....and this phrase has been on my mind ever since.

free time

The kids are napping and I still have a few minutes before it's time to fix dinner so I thought I'd take a break from surfing the blogs and post about our morning/afternoon. First I should say that I found a pretty funny blog today that you might want to check out in all your free time. The Lawson's Did Dallas The author of the blog is pretty witty, funny and has a 2 year old son. I guess we have somethings in common. I'm a bit disappointed that my blog is not as witty as hers...maybe I'll work on that.

This morning I wrote out the weekly menu and made up the grocery list while Matt and the kids played "crash cars" in the basement. They love to play crash cars with Daddy. Tyler is still a bit afraid of the noisy cars (they rev up when you shake them and then take off on the track when you set them down.)

At 10am I took off for my hair appointment. It was time to get rid of the 2 inch dark brown grow out that is oozing out of my head. I would think after high-lighting my hair for so long that it would learn...but then Miss Cary would be out of $125 every 6 weeks. Anyway, I love my color and cut (the cut is the same as last time.) I took 4 pictures of myself but according to me I looked way too tired to post them on the blog. I'm also lacking make-up today so that might be part of it. Anyway, imagine your favorite movie star (tired and without make-up) and it pretty much looks just like that.

While I was getting my hair done the kids and Daddy watched the movie "Cars" Lauren said that Tyler really likes this movie and she wanted Daddy to play it for him. She's so sweet...most of the time.

After I got home we had lunch and then headed to Home Depot and the grocery store. I had them drop me off at the grocery store to save some time. I gave both Tyler and Lauren the option to go with me or go to Home Depot with Daddy. Lauren shouted out an adamant "DADDY!!" but my sweet darling favorite little boy in the world, Tyler happily chose me and the grocery store. How I love that boy! =) Although it was slightly more difficult with him (he kept telling me "I need that" to everything he saw and wanted to put everything I took off the shelf into the cart himself...which was fine but just took some time and mommy finesse to make sure nothing was broken) he was for the most part wonderful and I felt so special to be chosen over the almost-always-preferred-over-mommy-DADDY. After we were done Daddy and Lauren picked us up. They found a sink faucet and shower head for the basement bathroom.

sink faucet

shower headthe basement bathroom that [obviously] is nowhere near ready for them. ha ha ha

Just a quick jab at Matt. But knowing him...this unfinished project will burn a hole in his pocket? and he will finish it in no time at all. ...after his work trips and after our summer vacation of course.

Back home now the kids are napping and Matt is mowing the neighbors' lawns. He mowed ours yesterday so he only had 2 to do today.

And finally to close (as I hear movement upstairs) I'd like to share my disgusts at 1) unleaded gas prices and 2) our over-sized and yet NEEDED big gas guzzling vehicle by re-posting this picture from the gas station yesterday.

"it's not fair," says Tyler

Tyler has been talking a lot more recently...or maybe it's just the fact that he's more understandable now. His favorite phrases are "it's not fair" (regardless if it makes sense) and "don't do that." It's funny and scary at the same time. I don't want my baby to grow up quite yet but apparently he's doing it anyway.

This morning we had our Friday playdate. This week we were at Miss Cynthia's house.
She has 2 boys, Kyle (about 4) and Seth (about 2). Miss Nicole was there with Abigail as well. For the first hour my kids played right by my side but the second hour they relaxed a bit and played in the play room and also played with their friends.

After playgroup we all held our breaths as I drove to the gas station. The "low fuel" light has been on for a couple of trips now. Well I made it to Kroger where I get a 10 cent per gallon discount, keep in mind. The fill cost me over $90. I never thought this would happen...maybe I'm dating myself but c'mon....I remember thinking it outrageous when we spent $50 to fuel up when we first got the denali. Here's proof of our purchase. I was in shock and had to document the event with a picture.


On our way home we picked up some Taco Bell for lunch. My last batch of bread didn't turn out and so we didn't have much at home for lunch. I had bean burritos and the kids had TB's newest item...the cheesy roll-ups. Yumm and yuck at the same time.

While the kids napped I did a GH workout and then made a new batch of bread. I'm happy to say that this loaf turned out much better.

After the kids woke up Joshua (he's probably 5 years old and lives across the street..Morgan's little brother) came over and asked if he could play. I sent all of them outside to play in the sandbox and later had them come inside to have a snack...apple slices and animal crackers. Lauren really enjoyed his visit. She stuck by his side the whole time. Here's a picture of her watching him play her Leapster video game.

Tonight was my Bunco night so I told Matt him and the kids were on their own for dinner. He opted to take them back to the Mellow Mushroom. I sent the camera with him to take a few shots but he said his hands were full the entire time. I guess the kids did okay but they weren't quite perfect angels for him. I'll have to ask him for more details later.

I had a good time at Bunco. I didn't win any money but enjoyed the time chatting with the ladies.

And for the last shot on the camera....
Matt discovered his Father's Day present which wasn't hidden well enough and so we let him open it. The kids (I) got him some Molasses Clove cookies from Dancing Deer Bakery. I heard about this bakery from one of the blogs I love to read and wanted to try them out. Matt enjoyed his present even though it was a few days early.


And now I'm off to brush my teeth and get to bed. We have a lot to do this weekend before Matt heads out of town.

wednesday & thursday

Yesterday we went to DixieLand Fun Park. I knew this was close to our house but I didn't realize how close until I went on this Mom's Club suggested activity. It was crazy hot but we were able to enjoy ourselves none-the-less. We did a couple outside rides and then went inside to play on the toys in the air-conditioned room but after our brown bag lunch of PB & honey sandwiches & raisins & crackers we had a new wind and Lauren wanted to try out some of the other rides. She really enjoyed them but Tyler was a bit too scared to go on them. We'll go back very soon, however, and let Lauren go on as many rides as she wants.






Later that evening we had a massive thunderstorm. While the thunder was rumbling, I noticed Tyler kept peeking out the window.


Shortly after we got some serious rain.


Shortly after that the power went out for about an hour or so. Tyler did okay but Lauren was a bit freaked out. We brought down many many candles and tried to have as much fun as possible during the outage. Even Miss Dana came over to enjoy the excitement since her kids were at Grammy's house for the week. Matt stayed late at work so as not to drive through the torrential downpour but he got home in time to put the kids to bed.

And today was a typical Thursday. I volunteered at church and both kiddos played in the adjacent room while I helped out with the Sunday school preparation. After being overly busy for the most part of this week, the kids and I were all exhausted, We all took a nap this afternoon. Mine only lasted 1 hr. while the kids napped 3 hrs. plus. I'm so jealous.

This evening we had homemade pizza with ricotta, sauteed asparagus, green onions & sun-dried tomatoes.

After dinner I started a deep clean of the house while Daddy and the kids played outside. The kiddos enjoyed a lemonade pop and had fun cruising around in the wagon.


Hope everyone had a wonderful day and love to all.

busy busy day

This morning I woke up before Matt did!! He did his usual "sleep in Tuesday after the Monday night poker game" routine. I got up early because I had to get ready to do an Intro to Cycle class at the YMCA at 8:15am!! Instead of bringing the kids along I had Morgan come over to the house to keep them instead. She's been such a good sport about requesting baby-sitting jobs that I love to oblige whenever possible.

So come to find out, this "intro to cycling" is no intro class at all. It was T-U-F-F. I looked at the clock only 15 min. into the class and thought there was no way I was going to be able to finish it. But somehow I persevered. I felt awesome afterwards...but it was sure torture to get to that feeling. Honestly though, that feeling is a bit addictive and I can't wait until I can do it again. (not tomorrow though...tomorrow will definitely be an easy workout day.)

Back home I paid Morgan and then showered, leaving just enough time to meet Dana at the Mellow Mushroom for lunch. The kids had a HUGE piece of pizza each and I had a half of a greek salad and a half of a tempeh & feta hoagie. It was all delicious. We all were basically licking our plates clean. Dana was pretty surprised at how much Lauren and especially Tyler ate. She said he ate enough to "put a horse to sleep." How right she was because Tyler was asleep by the time we got home...a 15 min. drive at the most.

Here are pictures of my big kids getting into their car seats by themselves. Lauren has been doing this for awhile but this is new for Tyler. He climbs in while saying "me do it" over and over. He's gotten pretty good.


Back home the kids went down for a nap and I got ready for yet another adventure. At 2pm Morgan came back over to watch the napping kids while I rode along to the Atlanta State Farmers Market with some ladies from church. I was in awe at this market. Kyndra and Stacy told me that the market was no where near capacity but I still saw so many aisles (street size aisles) of different fresh produce for very little money. (i.e. red bell peppers for 75 cents; whole watermelons for $3) I didn't buy anything since I already purchased the weeks produce at the grocery store but I plan on going back asap. Kate and I are already figuring out how to fit our double strollers and all 4 kids w/ car seats into my car. It can be done!

At home Morgan had filled out another baby-sitters report card and said the kids did great yet again. They played hide-and-seek and also in the sandbox. I'm so relieved to hear that they don't just watch tv the whole time.

After Morgan went home I made a quick dinner. Hummus and Vegetable Wraps.

Take a 10in. tortilla and spread with 1/3 c. hummus. Add sliced raw yellow pepper, sliced tomato, sliced avocado (I left out on mine of course), alfalfa sprouts, salt and pepper and roll up tightly. It was quick, easy and very good. Matt, however, thought it could use some chicken. (as expected...grain of salt [wink])

Shortly after we finished dinner one of the neighbor boys came over to do a "no obligation to buy" presentation about Cutco Cutlery. He did a good job and we ended up buying a little something. We were pretty impressed with the quality. And we sure made his day with our purchase!

After he left, Matt and I switched things up. I gave the kids their bath and Matt read them their bedtime stories. We thought we'd try alternating who gives the baths since Matt has been the sole bather ever since I've been pregnant with Tyler.

Here's some pics of story time.

After the kids were in bed and the temps cooled into the 80s, Dana and I did an after dark walk around the neighborhood. We even jogged a couple of times. I love having a partner in fitness...be it Dana or Kate (she's a new friend from church). This way I'll be sure to lose the last of the baby-weight that technically can't be called baby weight anymore.