Dirty Dirt Dirt

I am JUST getting calm enough to let the girls play in the dirt. It probably has something to do with the fact that they don't eat it or throw it anymore. I just make sure the clothes they have on are already stained and I let them loose. And I don't look.

It was so cool, beautiful, and breezy last night that we all went in the backyard to just chill. Even though we have a nice selection of climbing appartus-es and slides my darling daughters go straight for the back of our yard where hardly any sun gets through the trees and there are nice surfaces of brown calling to them: "Psst ... Katie ... Maddie ... c'mon over here. Those clothes need a little color on them."

And of course Mr. Andy Man cannot let fun be had without him.

"Just makin' it easier for them."

The wind was blowing the dirt away before it even made it into the bowl.

All I needed was a pitchfork and this picture would have been complete.

Father's Day Fun

We had such a nice Father's Day. We originally intended to go down the shore to Point Pleasant, but looking at the weather in the morning the outlook didn't look good - so we stayed home. Andy took the girls grocery shopping (by choice!) and I had some nice time in the morning to myself.

I told him to pick up whatever he wanted for dinner - and he came home with burgers, tilapia, and scallops. He didn't want to wait for dinner, though, so as soon as the girls went down for their nap he fired it all up on the grill. I'm not a fan of scallops (unless they are wrapped in bacon, of course - everything is better wrapped in bacon) but the tilipia was yummy.

He also came home with two cake mixes, and he couldn't wait for those either. I'm in the dining room and I see Andy out of the corner of my eye bending down for things under the cabinets - opening drawers - then he asked me where the vegetable oil was. He made his own cake! I made him wait to cut it until the girls woke up so I could take a picture. (He was itching for that cake.)

While the little ladies were napping the sun came out! We hemmed and hawed about taking the ride down the shore anyway, just so the girls could go on the rides, but decided against it. I wanted to take them SOMEWHERE - goodness knew when we were going to see the sun again - and after reading on Facebook that my friend Maureen and her family were at the Arboretum we decided to head over there.

I set my camera to the micro setting (the little tulip) and took really close-up shots of some of the flowers. My favorite ones are the two right after the light pink rose in the slideshow. When I saw they were from the hydragea family I was not surprised - my favorite flower! I like what I like.

The Arboretum is great - lots of paths - lots of open fields for the girls to run around in - lots of fountains. Just beautiful.

Enjoy the slideshow!

A-Z on Mondays: I is for "It's a Small World" (and a winner!)

A big congratulations to Liz (TidBits from Liz) who made the first correct guess! You won the surprise prize! Send me your address (to madkatblog@yahoo.com) and I'll get it out to you ASAP. Honorable mention goes to Safire - right ride, wrong park! :)

These pictures were from our Honeymoon in Disneyworld in July 2003. I worked for Disney for almost 5 years (before I knew Andy) and had fabulous discounts and perks (which no longer exist to the same extent, I hear). We would get 2 free tickets a year, close to 50% off our hotels, and 30% off all food and shopping. It was hard not to go - and "go" I went - about 3 or 4 times a year. Andy, however, had not been there since he was a little kid. He was just as excited to go as I was ... and I think he had the most fun out of the two of us.

It rained almost everyday we were there, but you expect that in Disney - it usually last about 15-20 minutes in the middle of the day and then it's over. All the weaklings leave and you get a nice empty park for a couple of hours. But it rained HARD for us - and two days it rained almost the whole day. We were troopers, though, and just got wet. I even got my hair cut off at the Grand Floridian so I didn't have to worry about the humidity.

One night it poured, and Andy wanted to ride It's a Small World over and over and over and over ... and over. He loved it, and I loved him - so I went along for the ride. He had me adjust the setting on our camera and take picture after picture of him making this face. He is a crack.

(The third picture was with the flash - no fun.)

We were there for 10 days and had a great time. We always look at our honeymoon pictures and smile.

Congratulations, Liz!

Happy Birthday, Andy!

Dear Andy,

Happy Birthday, oh husband of mine! Today you are 35!

Sorry the girls wouldn't sing to you this morning. But since you feed them breakfast every morning you know how cranky they are when they wake up.
Sorry you had to do the mundane tasks of going to the dry cleaners and getting your car's oil changed.

Sorry we spent all our money on a soon-to-be finished living room so there's none left for presents.

Sorry you have to work past 9pm every night until April ... auditing companies who don't know how to keep their data organized.

But I am glad that you are my hubby and that we get to celebrate our birthdays together every year!

Love, Your darling wife

(PS - Today we are both 35, my dear - I don't turn 36 for one more day!)

Pizza Pizza

Well, Christmas Proper is over - and Christmas Aftermath has begun. The girls got way more presents than imaginable - and we plan on doling them out here and there throughout the next few months to keep things new and exciting. This was a good year though, in that they got a bunch of educational toys that are actually fun toys, too! (I'm big on that.) I'll post Christmas pics after I organize them a bit. In the meantime ...

It's Pizza Night!

I love making pizza. I used to make my own dough, but certain things have been set aside for the time being (crazy girls, cough) and I found that store bought pizza dough is mighty tasty. Andy and I are plain pizza people - Katie, too (Maddie says a prim and proper "no" when asked to sample a slice) - so I usually just do a regular cheese pie. Like this one ...

But I had fresh mozzarella left over from Christmas antipasta so I decided to use that instead of the Polly-O. Here's what it came out looking like ...

It threw us off a bit because we like our Pizza Pizza well-done. I thought it tasted pretty good, but I could tell from Andy Man's look that he likes it better with the regular mozzarella cheese (even though he said, "this is fine, this is good.") So back to Shop'n'Stop I go for the Polly O'!

(Any Pampered Chef lovers out there? Recognize my bar pan? Yeah, baby!)

Our Kitchen Calendar No More

This past Sunday I went to a Pampered Chef party (LOVE THEM!) and when I got home this is what I found:

Andy had taped a piece of construction paper to the top of the calendar, covering the picture. "Um, why?" I asked him warily ... He said the picture was freaking him out. He told me he has never liked this calendar and not to buy this kind again. He was so deadly serious I almost started laughing! He so rarely has an opinion about anything - but he was darn adamant about this calendar. So the green construction paper has stayed. Want to see the picture that was freaking him out?

I think it was their huge, open, gaping, "I'm gonna eat this pie and love it" mouths.

When Mama's Sick

The past few days have been painful for me - literally. I have a cut on the back of my ear (have no idea how I got it) and it caused my lymph nodes to swell up to do their job. Have you ever read the resume for a lymph node? They get on a conference call and recruit white blood cells (WBC) from all the other companies in one's body and promise them coffee and donuts if they come to work early. So the WBCs all come - and fill up the LNs like a bad office party - you know - karaoke, sitting on copiers, eating all the shrimp, making passes at the boss. The WBCs get themselves into such a frenzy that their pain is then felt by the owner of said body - times 1000.

The entire right side of my face felt like I had a migrane. My ear, my jaw, my cheekbone, down my neck, the top and bottom of my skull. I went to Dr. B and he found the cut, gave me some ointment and told me I could just take Advil for the pain. It would just have to heal. I don't like taking anti-biotics, so I was fine with that.

Except the Advil didn't work. Neither did Aleve. My head was throbbing and I couldn't sleep - which I have a hard enough time doing as it is. I called again, and he prescribed me Vicodin for the pain (I am allergic to codeine). Andy took yesterday morning off to spend the morning with the girls so that I could catch up on all the sleep I wasn't getting. He was a bit stressed out because he had a bunch of meetings he had to prepare for - so I am thankful he was able to do that. (Thank you!)

By yesterday around 11:30am I had three doses of the V in me - and I found out that it affects me the same way the codeine does. It made me stunad ("stoo-nahd") - which is my Italian family's word for dopey. I knew what it was, and I knew all I could do was let it pass. I was basically passed out on the floor - my aunt came over to take care of the girls for me and I just slept (thank you!). My mom comes over after work every day to help me feed the girls and put them to bed, but last night she went solo (thank you)! I felt fine and horrible in waves for the next few hours - I even managed to sit at the computer and do some blogging - and then by night I was fine completely.

The up side is that my pain is gone! It still hurts around the ear itself, but I don't have the pain radiating all over my face anymore. Advice - if you don't want a WBC office party in your head - don't cut yourself behind your ear.

Saturday Morning Adventures

My favorite day of the week is Saturday, as I am sure it is for most of you, too. I may be home all week long, but I am working just as much as anyone else. It is exhausting dealing with the Crazy Carroll Chicks! (Although, I do love it and am thankful we are able to do it this way.) Andy does the nicest thing in the world for me and takes the girls out almost every Saturday morning and I get to sleeeeeep as long as I want. It works out for everyone: Andy gets to spend time with the girls, Katie and Maddie get dirty without me saying "NO" every 30 seconds, and Rose gets a morning off!

He likes to take them to parks and he is trying to hit every park in our county. He gets an address, plugs in the Tom Tom, and takes off. If they are not exhausted by the end of their adventure he will even take them to lunch, that way when they come home all we have to do is clean them up and put them down for a sleep. And sleep they do!

When I remember, I shove the camera in his hand as he is walking out the door. Here are just a few pics of their adventures at one of their favorite haunts. It is a fun place and he takes them there after their nap sometimes, too.

Maybe one day I'll go with them ... but why spoil everyone's fun?

They are soooooo his children ...

'nuff said

Broken

Oh, I want this part to be over. So very badly.

I finally have the girls convinced that their beloved ba-ba's are "broken," which Katie repeats forlonly but matter-of-factly several times a day. She sighs in the middle of coloring, "Ba-ba broken," and resumes with her favorite color yellow.

However - now I am dealing with a liquid strike of sorts. Maddie barely peed at all yesterday, which of course sent me straight to the phone to call their doctor (who I love to death)...

"Is she dehydrating?"

Chuckle. "No."

"They aren't getting any calcium now!" (I don't have a single cavity and I think my brothers each have one - and I am determined for that gene to be passed along to the girls. I know ... that's been predetermind - nature vs. nurture, etc.)

Chuckle. "Give them an extra yogurt. Give them their vitamins."

Through this conversation, Maddie consumed two cups of water/juice mix. Good - now at least dehydration is off my mind.

Katie is a bit easier to deal with - I have resorted to holding her in my arms and she will drink a good portion of her milk that way. She isn't crazy about holding it on her own, though. Case in point: yesterday morning she bit down on the sippy cup spout and pulled the cup part down. Cup opens - milk everywhere - she is soaking wet sitting in a puddle of milk in her high chair. Ugh. Andy, my knight in shining armor, gives her a bath before getting ready for work.

Don't even talk to me about potty training.

Poll: Which cup is the best? Leave me a comment! I need to know!

The moment where it all began .... (Maddie on top, Katie on bottom)

Andy's eyes

Just two of the reasons I love him.

They may have won the battle, but ...

Andy's attempt at sippy cups:


7:30 am: Pitter patter of little feet running in the kitchen. Giggle giggle.

7:31: Clicking of the high chair straps. "Ba-ba?"

7:33: Crying. "No cup!"

7:36: Screaming. "BA-BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

7:40: Banging - cups falling - kids wailing. Strangly, no sound from Andy.

7:41: Complete and utter silence.


Back to basic training, Private Carroll.

Five Years

Happy 5th Anniversary, Andy. I love you forever.

We love our Playroom

When we first moved to our new house, it needed (and still needs) a lot of updating. I liked the split level design because of the room one level down off the kitchen. I knew we would turn it into a playroom and be able to hear the girls all the time. However, the walls and ceiling in that room had a "stucco swirl" design that I just did not like. We knew when we were looking at the house that those walls and ceiling were coming down immediately. All these pictures are from last year.

Before. You can sort of see the pattern on the walls and ceiling.

First the room was gutted with help from Andy's friend Anthony. Thank you Anthony!

Putting in the recessed lighting - it took me forever to decide how many lights I wanted. I finally settled on 4, although 3 would probably have been enough.

Anthony and Andy putting up the ceiling. Later, Andy replaced ALL the insulation before the walls went up.

My brother Eric came over to help with walls. Then he came over every day for about 2 weeks to spackle, put up crown molding, and make new shelves for the built in little bookcase. Thank you, Eric!

We had to have a new floor poured, because the room was sinking - so I marked the occasion for all time.

Once the room was all painted and carpeted, Andy and my mom had the lovely task of moving all the furniture downstairs. Thank you, Mom!

Beautiful!

After! The girls have their beautiful playroom - it gets wonderful light during the day - and Andy and I have a great TV room at night.

Thanks again to everyone who helped out! There was no way that we could have done it alone!