Addicted to the Net?

I saw a cool post on a friend's blog this morning, so I'm copying her idea for today. (Thanks for the inspiration, Leslie!) I don't know what I would do without my computer. I don't so much "surf" the internet, but I definitely could not live without my e-mail. How addicted are you to the internet? Me - - - 54%. (See, Frank, I'm not as bad off as you may think!)

You Are 54% Addicted to the Internet

You're somewhat addicted to the internet - but who isn't?You can keep it under check, and you're by no means a hermit.

You can take your own quiz here.

We've Got Spirit, Yes We Do . . .

Let's hear it for SOE! Today was Spirit Day at Emily's school. Every Wednesday, students are encouraged to wear their spirit wear to school, and classrooms compete to see which class can demonstrate the most school spirit. I really like it, because I don't have to worry about what Emily is going to wear on Wednesdays! Here she is all decked out . . .

Go SOE Express!

First Day of School!

The girls went back to school today, and while I'm excited to have a little more time to myself now to run errands and get things done around the house, I'm not all that happy about having to get up so much earlier every morning! Today has been the longest day EVER!

Emily enjoyed her first day of 1st Grade in Mrs. Hagler's class. Her favorite part of today: "meeting new people."

Carly also enjoyed her 1st day as a Kangaroo in her Preschool (4 yr. olds) class. Her favorite part of today: "playing on the playground!"

I can't believe how quickly our girls are growing up!

Long time, no post . . .

I warned you . . . this month has been super busy! The last week or so has been exceptionally hectic with Frank out of town on business, PTO work to be done, end of summer visits to the pool, visiting Little Noni before she goes back to Maryland, Carly's preschool Parent Orientation Night and Meet the Teacher Day, Carly's first soccer practice, and Emily's elementary school Meet & Greet! I'm hoping once the girls start school next week, I can catch my breath and spend a little more time writing on my blog, but until then here are some pics from the last couple of weeks . . .

Recipe of the Week

Tonight I tried a new recipe from one of my cookbooks, Edible Heirlooms, and it was super yummy! Below is the recipe (with a couple of slight modifications*) if you'd like to try it for yourself. Suggested side items for this tasty dish: garlic mashed potatoes and sauteed green beans. Enjoy!

Chicken with Lemon-Basil Sauce

1/4 cup olive oil

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Salt and pepper to taste

3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

4 cloves garlic, chopped

2 teaspoons packed lemon zest

1/4 cup white wine

3/4 cup chicken broth

2 tablespoons chilled butter

1/4 cup chopped fresh basil

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper and add to skillet. Saute about 5 minutes per side or until brown and cooked through. Transfer chicken to a platter and cover with foil to keep warm. Add lemon juice, garlic, and lemon zest to skillet. Stir over medium-high heat for about 30 seconds. Add wine and chicken broth and boil until sauce is reduced. Add butter and stir to combine. Simmer 1 minute. Mix basil into sauce. Season sauce to taste with salt and pepper. Spoon sauce over chicken and serve.

* The original recipe calls for 1 cup of white wine, but I only used 1/4 cup and substituted chicken broth for the remaining 3/4 cup of wine. The original recipe also called for 3/4 cup chopped fresh basil or 1 tablespoon dried. I only had about a 1/4 cup fresh basil on hand, and I thought it was just enough. I wouldn't recommend using dried basil. I just don't think it would taste as good.

The Tooth Fairy

Emily lost a bottom tooth today! She was hoping she could hold out on losing it for a couple more weeks, since she really wanted it to come out on the first day of school. (Apparently, it's a big deal when you lose a tooth while you're at school - - - you get to sign your name on a big tooth in the nurse's office or something.) I guess the tooth fairy will be making a visit tonight. I wonder what the going rate is for a tooth these days?

Just a Few Reasons Why I Love Frank . . .

• He buys me flowers even though it's not my birthday, Valentine's Day, or Mother's Day.
• He takes the time to write me the sweetest notes.
• He makes an awesome Eggs Benedict for breakfast!
• He loves me even when I'm not that loveable.

Thank you for the beautiful flowers, honey! I love you so much!

Carly's Favorites

Color: Red

Food: Cereal

Drink: Milk

Book: Franklin Has a Sleepover

Toy: Fuse Beads

Place: The Mall

Animal: Kangaroo (because she'll be in the Kangaroos class at preschool this year!)

Game: Operation

Thing to do: Play soccer (even though she hasn't started practice yet!)

Thing to wear: My fuschia rhinestone t-shirt with my Lucky Brand denim capris

Emily's Favorites

Color(s): Aqua and Turquoise

Food: Pasta

Drink: Bottled Water

Book: Chocolatina

Toy: My Doodle Doll

Place: School

Animal: Monkey

Game: Bingo

Thing to do: Dance

Thing to wear: My pink butterfly shirt with my brown pants

Rrribbit! Rrribbit!

This morning we went to the "Froggy Pool," which is one of our neighborhood pools that's only a few blocks from our house. Emily and Carly call it the Froggy Pool, because there's a really big painted frog that sits in the middle of the baby pool. Its tongue is actually a slide that little ones can sit on and then slide down into the water. It's really quite cute! However, since Emily can swim and Carly is learning to, we can now spend all of our time in the big people part of the pool. Today Emily mastered the art of turning forward and backward flips in the water, and Carly spent most of her time leaping from the side of the pool into my arms or Frank's arms. And, after a lot of encouragement (and a couple of failed attempts,) Emily finally jumped off of the diving board for the first time --- yea!

"Little Noni" Comes for a Visit

Our family has been pretty busy lately, and I'm afraid to say writing on my blog has taken a bit of a back seat to other matters. It looks like the month of August is going to be more than a little hectic, so my writing may be sporadic for the next four weeks. Frank has a lot of business travel planned. He just got back last night from a short trip to Los Angeles. He'll also be making trips to Dallas, Denver, Phoenix, Las Vegas, and Salt Lake City before the end of the month. We really don't like it when he's not home with us!

Yesterday, the girls and I drove out to Katy to see my grandmother (Carly's and Emily's great-grandmother,) aka "Little Noni."


It amazes me that, at 87 years old, she's still able to get on a plane and fly down here from Maryland to see us. My cousin, Mike, flew down here with her, so it was really nice to visit with him, too. He leaves to go back to Maryland tomorrow, but Little Noni will be staying here in Texas for a few weeks with my parents.

I Found Them!

At least I think I did . . . it's amazing what 18 or 19 years (and several lbs.) can do to a person!

A Blast From the Past . . .

Who are these people, and where did they go?

Rat-a-phewww-ee . . . not so good.

Emily discovered last night that one really shouldn't eat too many gummy bears in a single sitting. Since she sat next to her Daddy when we were at the movie theater, I had no idea she had ingested almost a whole bag of them! Thanks, Daddy! She woke up with a sick tummy at midnight and threw up 2 or 3 times before finally falling back to sleep. At one point, I think I heard her say that she was "never going to eat anything gummy ever again!" Lesson learned.

Rat-a-too-ee . . . C'est tres bien!

Tonight Frank and I surprised the girls and took them to go see Disney Pixar's "Ratatouille." What an absolutment charmant movie! Emily and Carly loved it (and so did we!) Four out of four stars from us! We've decided that Monday nights are great for going to the movies. There weren't a whole lot of people in the theater, and we had our pick of primo seats (right in the middle and a little more than halfway up.) I think we'll definitely be doing this again!

Happy Birthday, Haley!

Today Emily and Carly's friend, Haley, celebrated her 7th birthday with a party at our neighborhood pool. Despite some really stormy weather this morning, the afternoon turned out to be surprisingly perfect for hanging out at the pool.

The sun was just a wee bit bright!

Emily and Haley

Emily and Carly

"Come on, vamonos . . ."

This morning we drove out to Katy for Cousin Alli's "Dora the Explorer" splish-splash birthday bash. Despite the drizzly weather, the girls enjoyed splishing and splashing around and playing on the fun waterslides Alli had in her backyard.

They also had fun crafting their own personalized sun visors.

Happy 3rd birthday, Alli! We love you!

Today also marks "Little Noni's" 87th birthday - - - WOW! We're looking forward to seeing her when she comes down from Maryland to visit us in August!

Emily Goes "Hollywood"

Today, Emily attended a birthday party for her friend, Naomi. The theme was "come dressed as your favorite hollywood superstar." It should have been "just come dressed as Hannah Montana." I've never seen so many little blonde wigs in one place! It was hilarious! I think Emily was one of the only originals at the party. Since her Halloween costume from last year still fit her perfectly, she went dressed as an "American Idol," complete with diva sunglasses and a sparkly microphone. Here's our little superstar before she left home to stroll the red carpet . . .

I hope she'll remember all of us when she hits the big time!

Dirt Free (Mostly)

Today, Dirt Free came out to clean our carpets. We've used them before, always with great results. While the representative showed up on time and cleaned the downstairs carpet to my satisfaction, I should have checked the upstairs before leaving the house with the girls for a while while the carpet dried. For some reason, we now have a rather large blackish ring on one of the top steps leading into the gameroom. The rep. must have set a canister of some sort on the step while he was cleaning the carpet in the gameroom. You would think he would have noticed the ring on his way back down the stairs, but apparently not. Needless to say, he'll be coming back tomorrow.

Notes to self:

• Unless it's an absolute emergency, do not ever plan to have the carpets cleaned during the summer while the kids aren't in school.
• Despite what the carpet cleaning rep. tells you, the carpet will not dry within an hour.

"There's No Use Crying Over Spilled Milk . . ."

Who came up with that saying anyway? Whoever said it must have had tile flooring throughout his or her entire house. Which is not the case in our house. Can you see where I'm going with this?

We had a little accident this morning at breakfast time. It seems that while Carly was trying to bring her empty cereal bowl (or should I say somewhat empty cereal bowl) to the kitchen counter this morning, she misjudged just how high the countertop was and just how much milk was still left in her bowl. Although the bowl managed to make it to the edge of the counter, unfortunately, the majority of the milk did not, and most of it wound up on the living room carpet, adjacent to the tile floor in the kitchen. Now why couldn't it have just landed on the tile in the kitchen, I ask you? Because it's Monday!

The carpet cleaners are coming tomorrow.

Peace and Quiet

Frank and I got to enjoy some alone time without the girls this weekend! (Is that two weekends in a row now?) Emily and Carly spent Saturday night with Noni and Poppy out in Katy. Half the fun for them is packing their own bags. (Of course, Mommy still double-checks the bags before they head out the door!) Here are the divas all packed up and ready to go!

This Little Piggy Went to the Market . . .

Carly asked me at the dinner table tonight, "Mommy, when can I get a pedicare?" Of course, she was actually referring to a "pedicure." So, Mommy pulled out the nail polish tonight after bath time and gave the girls each a mini-pedi. Here are the results . . .

Happy 4th of July!

After Frank and I enjoyed dinner and a movie last night (if you haven't seen the latest Die Hard action flick, it's really quite good!) with some of our old neighbors from Pearland (let me clarify - - - they're not old - - - we just don't happen to live across the street from them anymore!), today was for relaxing and BBQing. The rain managed to let up this afternoon, and Gigi, Uncle Steven, and Cousin Brianna came over, and we threw some baby back ribs on the grill. After all of the finger licking, the girls entertained us with another one of their lovely "fashion shows," and we feasted on a yummy cake that Gigi had whipped up. Emily and Carly were somewhat disappointed tonight that the usual 4th of July festivities and fireworks display in our neighborhood were canceled due to the wet weather we've been having lately, but they quickly settled for watching fireworks on TV while eating popcorn. Happy 4th!

"Toys Are Us"

It seems that Emily and Carly both think they have mastered the art of cleaning up their toys and pulling the wool over my eyes . . .

It's always been a struggle to get the girls to clean up the upstairs playroom and their bedrooms, and it's usually not accomplished without a bit of yelling (mostly them) and crying (mostly me!), so I thought I would try something new the other day. I promised them I wouldn't constantly bug them about picking up their stuff all day long if they would promise me to pick up their toys and other belongings at least twice a day - - - once before Daddy gets home from work and one more time before bedtime. Anything left out after clean-up time disappears into a bag and "goes away" for a period of time. They agreed to the deal, and things have been working out extremely well. Both parties have been very satisfied with the arrangement - - - at least until today!

While in Emily's room this morning, I stubbed my toe on something poking out from under her bed. When I had a little look-see to determine what the offender was (thinking maybe a wayward Barbie accessory or a forgotten hair clip,) I was surprised to discover a whole treasure trove of toys! It seems that the little fartknocker has been shoving all manner of things under her bed during clean-up time to avoid putting them where they actually belong! I guess she and Carly made their own special little pact to speed up the cleaning process, since after careful examination, it became apparent Carly had stashed quite a bit under her bed as well! Now the rule is "anything left out in plain sight" and "anything pushed under the bed or any other piece of furniture" goes into the dreaded bag. I guess I should have been more specific with my clean-up instructions. Silly me!

All Wrapped Up

"Hey, Mommy . . . can you do that thing on my head like you do when you get out of the shower?"

Rain, Rain, Go Away . . .

I Scream, You Scream, We all Scream for Ice Cream!

What a nice lazy day . . . Frank and I had the luxury of sleeping in a bit this morning before going to pick up the girls at Mimi and Paw Paw's house. After a good lunch with Mimi, Gigi, and Cousin B., we headed back home, but not before stopping by Blockbuster to exchange the movie that Carly had picked out yesterday. We've had the worst luck lately at Blockbuster with kiddie movies. It seems that we always pick the DVDs that are somehow scratched! After trading in "Twitches" for the latest "Hannah Montana," the girls were anxious to get home to watch their idol. I think they've seen the DVD at least 3 times already today! What is it with Hannah Montana?

Do you remember chasing after the ice cream truck as a kid? Well, the good old ice cream truck is still around, and it's found "OC" Lane. Of course, it always seems to show up on our street right before dinnertime, and the prices are outrageous, but Frank and I were feeling generous today. Carly got a bubble gum snow cone, and Emily got a cookies and cream blizzard. Did I mention that we already have cookies and cream ice cream in the freezer?

Date Night

Frank got off work a little early today and took Emily and Carly to Mimi and PawPaw's house, so we could enjoy an evening out without the girls, and so the girls could spend some time with Mimi and Paw Paw before they leave for their trip to Chicago. Neither of us was in the mood for anything fancy, so Frank and I just went to Bohot Mongolian Grill for dinner. Basically, it's a place where you can create your own stir-fry, and then they cook it for you while you watch. It's pretty good food. Afterward, we ran a couple of errands and then headed home to watch a movie, The Shooter, that Frank picked up at Blockbuster. It was an okay movie. Wasn't crazy about how it ended. How come they don't make good movies anymore? What was the last really good movie you saw? Any recommendations? If it's not Disney, we probably haven't seen it lately!