Now That's What's for Dinner

Yummy!!!!

School And The Rest Of The Day

Today was the letter "E" and the beginning of kids learning about sea-life for two weeks. Olivia was pretty proud of this fish that she created. She wanted to make sure her daddy saw it so we stuck it on the fridge. It was the first thing he saw when he walked in through the door because she wasn't going to let him pass through the house until he looked at it.
Here's Olivia writing her name.

And there's the "E" collage.

Tonight I didn't feel like cooking and Dave was getting home early since he had to go register the CRV so the girls and I took a vote and we decided to try this new Mexican restaurant. It was yummy and a good choice. Ava ate a whole kid size burrito which she has never done before. She likes tortilla but typically on the side not filled with beans. Olivia ordered nachos and when they came with melted cheese she refused to eat them and ate Dave's rice, beans, and lettuce. So now we now we know two burritos only.

Afterwards we crossed the street to check out the kids bikes at a nearby store. I had been checking craigslist for a cheap one for Olivia since her 12in is too small but there were only 2 bikes that were 16 inches in the nearby vicinity and one was already sold and the other never responded. So anyway we found the perfect bike for $50. Olivia jumped right on and rode it around the store. Ava got on it too and she could ride it but she is better suited for the little bike we have at home. Although Ava does need a helmet which created a bit of a riot when we tried one on for size at the store and she refused adamantly to take it off... Olivia and I pretended we didn't know Ava and Dave and slowly moved away.

Then we picked up some elastic to restring the bracelet that Ava had been wearing earlier but had broken. The girls are so into jewelry, nail polish, bows, and all the fancy crap I was never into. It's funny that they are so girlie. Must have been genes that skipped a generation. We also bought a friendship bracelet kit so I can make the girls a few bracelets without beads. Should be interesting. This was also something I never did as a kid. I guess stuff like that always comes back full circle.

Saturday BBQ

Baby "A" came to play with the girls and we had a barbecue. She's getting so big now she can really enjoy the girls and vice versa.

It's the dads' time to watch the kids. Don't they look confused?

Guess who's toes these are...Ava's!!! We painted our toes to look pretty for our friends.

We had a wonderful night, kickin' back hangin' out with our friends. It was sort of the last big hurrah before everyone starts teaching, working, or going back to school. Summer's over this week. I'm sad. I've really enjoyed it this year. Now it's back to me being alone with the girls from basically Sunday night to Friday evening and having to do all the housework, cooking three meals a day, cleaning and vacuuming, bill paying, grocery shopping, shuttling Olivia to and from preschool, dog poop picking up, nap giving, teeth brushing, story reading, puzzle building, you name it I do it every day all day all by myself. It's exhausting. Dave will be home two week nights after 6PM when he isn't teaching until 11PM but really by that time dinner has been given, eaten, and cleaned up. The girls are already in their jammies, and basically are just waiting to go to bed. So the cycle begins again. I wish I had a nanny to help out occasionally but that isn't going to ever happen so I'll just have to deal with each day as it comes. Goodbye Summer, Hello Fall... Try not to kick my ass ok!

As the Cat Sleeps, the Mice Will Play

Dave was lucky to survive this weekend. I knew it seemed to good to be true when it was so quiet in the house. As he decided to nap on the couch Saturday afternoon, Olivia scaled the baby gate by using her bike as a ladder and was found in the kitchen standing on a chair. Doesn't sound so bad does it? It gets better. She had taken her little chair and placed it on top of the kitchen chair and was standing on top of both of them. In her hand was the turtle food container that she was cleaning in the fish tank. Yes, she dumped 2 full jars of turtle food into the tank. So many things could have happened if she had fallen off the chair or fallen against the tank. She could have went into the backyard to play since the door was open, thankfully we had dumped the water out of the pool the day before. I was furious with Dave for being so negligent while he was supposed to be watching her. He's lucky that nothing happened to her.

As for last night's dinner with the neighbors, it was great. The food was good but overpriced I my opinion. The night itself went wonderfully. Our babysitter is awesome with the girls and had them in bed and asleep by 8 PM without any crying whatsoever. She even brushed their teeth. It's nice to be able to go out now that the girls are bigger and know that they are in good hands. It's a huge relief.

Would you like some fried chicken with that?

My husband loves fried chicken. Today I decided I'd try to make it again and see if I could get the batter to stay on. This time I used the Japanese breadcrumbs that I normally use for crabcakes. Oh my God. The chicken turned out beautifully fantastic. Dave came home, saw his favorite dish, mouth watering, eyes fixated, and I knew right there- he's gonna wanna do the naughty tonight. For some reason he associates sex and chicken to be one in the same. Not any old chicken fills this quota though. It must be fried chicken- not necessarly made by me either. Just good old fashioned fried chicken.

As we eat dinner, Ava is drenched in her nightly ketchup dip and Olivia is requesting, "get more daddy mommy, mommy daddy..." For some reason Olivia started calling us both names, maybe to see which one of us will respond. It's been going on about a year now and I am usually called "daddymommy" most of the day.

Anyway, I look over at Dave and he gives me the smile/wink rwalll sound and says, "sex and chicken". This post might be late tonight. We will see how quickly we can get the girls to bed.