We've Been Smurfed!

Baked potatoes & Fireworks

Yesterday was a full day.  The girls and I started off by seeing a 3D imax movie at the zoo.  It was Born To Be Wild, and it was so good. 

The girls even kept their glasses on for most of the movie! 

After the movie, we spent ALL DAY at the pool.  Seriously, ALL DAY.  It was hot, and the pool was cool.  The perfect pool weather for me.  Briana did 2001 cannon balls, and Sydney practiced swimming and dunking her head.  We even got in the lap pool and swam about 542 laps!  By the time we got home, we were exhausted.  And my hair was looking very, very scary.  But, I had laundry to do.  No rest for the weary.  I have been battling some strange staining on all my white clothes since we got back from California.  After many, many applications of stain removers and bleach (and a panicky email to my mom for help), I think most of the staining is finally gone.  Yay!  So, I had all of my clothes hanging outside on the clothesline to dry while the girls and I were swimming yesterday.  I went out to my freshly cleaned clothes, and guess what I discovered? 

See those two brown spots about two inches from the pocket?  It's bird poop!!  Crap!!  Oh, and did I mention that we were planning to go to the Memorial Park free concert and fireworks last night?  Yep.  So, I have hair resembling medusa (or Bozo the clown, you pick), bird poop on my shorts, a dinner to prepare, kids to get ready, a cooler to pack for the concert and zero energy. 

"Let me know what I can do to help," Mike hollered after me as I was getting dinner ready. 

"Can you make the beans and potatoes for dinner?" He agreed.  However, the potatoes had already been in the oven baking for about a half an hour.  I checked on them and discovered they were nowhere near being ready. 

"Well, just take them out of the oven and microwave them instead," I told Mike "They'll be fine!"  He did as I told him, and a few seconds later I heard "OH CRAP!!" coming from the kitchen. 

What I learned from this experience is that you cannot bake potatoes in the oven and then microwave them.  Because they will explode.

And then you have another thing to clean up before you can go to the fireworks. 

As Mike was cleaning up the potatoes, the girls found something awesome in the back yard. 

Finally, our very own Smurf village! 

We did finally make it down to the concert.  38 Special and Cheap Trick were performing.  So I actually knew a couple of the songs! 

And, the fireworks were worth the wait!

The end.

Adventures in Book Buying

Yesterday, I took the girls to see the new Judy Moody movie at the theater.  Since the girls have both finished all of their summer reading logs that the bookstores offer each summer, I told them we could stop on the way home and get their free books (the prize that the bookstore grants each child for completing the log).  We went in, and the girls picked out their books, then Briana asked if we could look around for a minute.  "Sure," I told her, preparing myself for the stacks of books the girls would pick out and beg me to buy for them.  Sure enough, Briana spots a brand new Smurfs book "Sydney, look!" she hollers.  Sydney grabbs it out of her hands, eyes wide.  As she's looking at the back cover, she sees there are two other Smurfs books advertised on the back that she can't live without either.  "Can we PLEASE look for these, Mom?" she asks.  I sigh and find the other two Smurfs books.  "You'll have to spend your own money on these," I warned her.  Meanwhile, Briana is finding all kinds of A to Z Mysteries that she can't live without.  That's when she sees the Magic Tree House books.  "Do you think these are like the A to Z Mysteries, Mom?" she asks me.  "I don't know," I tell her, "I've never read them." So we spent a good 20 minutes sitting on the floor in Barnes and Noble trying to decide which looked better.  Just when she had narrowed her search down to four books, she spotted something on the shelf.  It was a blue chapter book, titled The Smurfs Movie: Junior Novelization.  Sydney about died.  I told her I didn't care if she got it, but she had to spend her own money.  Guess what we ended up coming home with?

Every single Smurfs book they had.  And, she already read The Smurfs Smurfin Guide to the Smurfs last night. 

Briana was much less willing to spend her own money on books and came home with one Magic Tree House book. 

I imagine all the books will be read aloud to Ellie by the end of the week!

Pillows!

Look what the girls made yesterday!



They are fleece tied pillows!  They turned out really cute and the girls both slept on them last night!

Doggie Paddle

It was a big day for Ellie.  First, almost going for a bike ride this morning.  Then, this afternoon, she had her very first swim. 

The girls were dying to get her in the pool with them.  Knowing how much she hates taking baths, I thought the experience might not be so fun for her.  But, she surprized me and seemed to like it. 

The girls fussed over her the whole time she was in there, which always helps.  She got to try out all their pool toys too.

She stayed in the pool for over a half an hour! 



Monster Cookies

Yesterday was the hottest day of the summer so far, with highs close to 100 degrees.  The kids got out the pool, and I heated up the house by baking a batch of monster cookies.  I can't think of a better way to spend a hot day than baking!  I found the recipe here:  http://www.browneyedbaker.com/2010/06/30/monster-cookies/ . 

But, I'll post it here too.  I was a little worried about these cookies because they use melted butter and there is a teaspoon of corn syrup in the batter.  But, they turned out de-lish and I've received only compliments on them so far.

Monster Cookies

3 eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup light brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon corn syrup
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1½ cups chunky peanut butter (I used creamy)
4½ cups rolled oats
½ cup all-purpose flour
¾ cup chocolate chips
¾ cup Reese’s Pieces
¾ cup M&M’s

1.  Preheat oven to 350.

2. In a very large mixing bowl, stir together the eggs, both sugars, vanilla, corn syrup, baking soda and salt (I used my hand mixer). 

3. Add the melted butter and peanut butter, followed by the oats and flour.

4.  Stir in the chocolate chips, reese's pieces and M & M's.

5. Let the dough rest for 30 minutes.

6. Drop by the 1/4 cupfuls onto parchment lined baking sheets and press lightly with your hand to flatten the dough slightly.

7. Bake for 10-12 minutes until golden brown. 

They are really yummy! 

And, since it's summer, if you're looking for a fun way to add some healthy-ness to your cookie snack, give your kids some watermelon afterwards!

The perfect summertime treat!

Lastly, the girls and I have been going on bike rides every day so far this summer.  Since Sydney hasn't mastered her two wheeler yet, she gets to go in the bike trailer on the back of my bike.  This morning, we got ready to go for our ride, and guess who was this close to coming along with us?

Unfortunately, just as we were leaving the driveway, we had a major catastrophe and the bike carrier completely fell off of my bike!  And after I spent half an hour trying to get that stupid thing back on, I was already hot and sweaty and didn't have the energy to deal with Ellie, so she had to stay home.  But still, she got to try out the trailer for a second, and she liked it!





Dance Recital Day!

Briana had her dance recital yesterday.  She danced her little heart out and did a fantastic job!! 



I'm so proud of her!!