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.

Computer back up and running

Thank you, Mr. Andy Man! Thank you for buying me an external hard drive for Valentine's Day. If it were not for that - and for backing up my entire system for me - I would have lost each and every single picture of our lives together since we met.

Pictures us dating ...



Pictures of our wedding ...



Pictures of us in our first home ...



Pictures of Daisy Cat ...




Pictures of the girls ...



Pictures like this ...



... that would be irreplaceable.

(Can you guess where (specifically) this last pic was taken? And I mean be specific. Prize to the first correct guess. Don't know what the prize will be yet.)

I wish I lived in the Midwest (next week)

Sigh ...

Pioneer Woman is holding a contest for 4 winners to visit her at her ranch next week (in Oklahoma) for a baking demonstration from Bakerella ... two of my favorite bloggers in one place and the unrealistic possibility of me being able to be there.

Assuming I would even win.

Which I would.

Because I wouldn't be able to go!

Of course I would win!

I feel like Maddie, in the yellow.

If you could live anywhere in the world next week - where would it be? Yes, just next week!

Some things are really organized and some things are really not

I just did my monthly (or so) clean-up of my "Favorites" folder on my computer. I must favorite about 20 things a day - even if it's something I think I may only need once ever again and it was easy to find when I searched it in the first place. I have been favoriting digiscrap sites like crazy lately, especially the ones with the really great freebies. Some of the designers are totally my style - realistic looking designs - the elements look like the real thing ... while other designers are much too cartoony for me. I favorite them anyway, though!

I have a ton of folders, and they are all named crazy things. "So so sites" ... "Things to read when I'm bored" ... "Wacky Blogs" ... just to name a few. So now it is all nice and organized and I can find my wacky blogs whenever I so choose.

What is not organized in my life right now is my inventory! You know - the things you need to keep a house (and family) running on a daily basis. Like toliet paper. And razors. I am down to two rolls of the former and using a throwaway worthy version of the latter. As in it needs to be thrownaway. My favorite soap is all gone (Dove) so I am using Andy's Lever 2000 which does NOT leave my skin feeling sliky smooth. It leaves my skin feeling like a rubber tire. I have the feeling he uses my Dove - which is why I feel like I buy it all the time but never have any at all - and then pulls out the L2000 when there's nothing else left. If you like the Dove, use the Dove! Let's stop buying the rubber soap!

Andy works late every night (tax season) and we have a Stop'n'Shop close by, so he'll call me before he leaves (9:30pm-ish) to see if we need bananas and milk - staples for the little ladies. I never remember to tell him we need about a dozen other things, too.

So I am going to do inventory today, just like when I worked at The Disney Store, and send a list over to Mr. Andy Man. Except LOST is on tonight, so he won't go to the store until tomorrow.

One more day of rubber skin.

Layouts and Misspellings

I am attempting to change the layout of Twice as Nice all by myself. Basically I'm too cheap to hire someone and I knew I could do it if I just had some instruction! I found a site that took me step by step on how to create a three column layout - and have both columns to the side. (I am trying this all on a test site that I made up - that's why you don't see it here.)

It worked out great and I really like it! Now I am trying to put up a background that I also made myself and I am stuck. I can't get the background to fill the entire screen - only the middle - so there is white on the sides. I have been fooling around with it for a week and it is driving me crazy. I have one site that I am going to send a question to, and hopefully they can shed some light on what I am doing wrong.

On a different subject, we got all the paperwork together for the girls' preschool registration - and I don't know what the issue is with my name - but parts of it are spelled wrong everywhere! Andy got their birth certificates yesterday and my maiden name is spelled wrong - and it is a pretty common name. Nothing crazy. Just a plain old' Mc- name. So now I have to call town hall to see if the clerk who typed it up made the mistake or if it there is a mistake on the form they have on file.

Then, when I picked up their Baptism certificates - my first name is spelled wrong. "Rose Marie" - two words - wrong. So I'll call them, too. You know, because my days are so empty and I have nothing else to do.

It's so funny because if we have another girl (one day) I have the name all picked out - and I was tempted to go with a slightly different than normal spelling because it's so pretty that way. I've changed my mind. No need to put her through that torture.

Where did Rosie go?

Here I am!

What a lovely shot ... just keeping it real. "Look, Ma, no cavities!" Which is true.

I've been away. For no other reason other than this blog got away from me. I had a ton of things to do and when I had a free moment I was more in the mood to eat Pizza Combos and watch TV or buy digiscrap supplies.

Then I would feel bad about being away - and even worse about not visiting my friends and leaving lots of lovely comments. It's like when you forget to write a thank you card, and the longer time goes by the weirder you feel about writing it. If you had just written it the first time you remembered that you forgot ... all would be well.

Right now I am in the midst of getting all the paperwork together to register the girls for preschool this September. I already went and filled out the paperwork and payed the $100 (!) registration fee - but I guess I was the only dunderhead who didn't bring their birth certificates, health records, and Baptism certificates (Catholic school). Then we realized we never even got their birth certificates! So Andy is going to town hall on his lunch tomorrow to pick them up - I am going to Church on Thursday to get their Catholic certifications, and Dr. B's office is faxing over the health records. Whew.

I am also preparing for company this weekend! Andy's brother Matt and his wife Jenny are visiting us from Mississippi and I am excited for them to see the girls. I have to start a-cleanin'!

I finally visited my friend Rosanna and her new baby, Colin! He is the cutest thing and I started crying when I first held him. Just so precious. It definitely made me sure that I wanted another one. Rosanna's hubby, Brian, has a brother who is a professional photographer and he took the most amazing pictures of this baby. She emailed them out and I made this ...

(I smudged out his birthday and stuff for privacy.)

I absolutely loved making it and I am going to print and frame it and give it to them as a present at the Baptism. I want to do them for all the babies in my life!

OK - so I owe you all an "A-Z on Monday: F is for ..." - I think I am going to do both F & G this upcoming Monday to keep them all on the same schedule. THANKS to Jen (creater of said "A-Z" who emailed me to make sure everything was OK. And to everyone who left me comments on my last blog post. I love my blog friends. :)

Look for comments on Wednesday!

Crazy Birthday

Yesterday was a day of craziness. First I wake up super early to shower because the contractors are coming to work in the living room and I want to look like a human being.

Then, I start to do my hair and pick up my hot air curling brush - it looks like this ...

I turned it on and nothing - not a sound. Broken. Grrrr ... so I had to use a brush and my regular blowdryer, with which I am not coordinated at all. But, if I don't put some sort of curl/body into my hair, it looks like this ...


So I get dressed, go downstairs and proceed to break apart two little girls who have reached the wrestling stage of their lives. I say, "It's Mommy's birthday!" to which Katie replies, "Id's not Mommy birday - nooooo ... id's Daddy's birday" all sullen-like. Then I tickle her and she cracks up.

Not only did I have two men working in my living room all day (who are doing a fantabulous job, by the way ... a whole post on that is coming soon) - but the Water Meter Reader guy was coming by, too, to install some thing-a-ma-job that lets them read water from the street. And he smelled soooo badly like cigars I could have sworn he was smoking one in my basement. I actually went down and checked a couple of times to be sure he wasn't chewing on one.

Maddie wasn't in the mood - so Katie and I made cupcakes just before lunch. She did such a great job! She emptied the bag of cake mix, she poured the water and the oil, (I did the eggs), and she stirred it all up - even held the mixer (with Mommy's help). She held the tray as I poured the mix into each little cupcake paper, which she layed out herself. I could totally see the pride all over her face - it was awesome.

(Aargh - I have no picture of this!)

They ate, had a nice long nap - and my mom and brothers came over for Chinese food - and Andy managed an early night from work, too. I haven't seen my brother Jeffery in years - YEARS! We talked on the phone all the time - but it's not the same. He hadn't seen the girls since they were about 3 months old. He just recently moved back from Vermont and I am so excited that the girls can get to know their granola-crunchy uncle better!

After my brothers left, my mom stayed so Andy and I could make a run to CVS to buy me a new hot air curling brush. I was in sweats, he was in these LL Bean nylon rain pants - and he all of the sudden is in the mood for "a pint" - you know, because we live in the middle of London and all. I look at him and can tell he is totally into it - but all I can think of is how it's 9:30 on a Friday night - how the bars and restaurants are hoppin' - and how much I DO NOT want to walk into a place with no make up on and sweats that are too long on me. Thankfully, he came to that conclusion, too - so we booked my mom for next Friday night so we can go out for a nice dinner. In clothes.

(pic from our honeymoon in WDW)

We went to bed at a nice reasonable hour (for us) and were woken to the sounds of Maddie crying at about 12:30am. Maddie NEVER cries at night - not even when she was a baby. Only is she's sick. She started sleeping through the night very early on and has been a great sleeper ever since. I think it has to do with the fact that she sucks her thumb - very soothing. So ... Maddie woke up and I always go right to her - in case she's about to heave up the contents of her stomach or something. Then Katie heard me and popped straight up in her crib, too - so now I have two screaming girls to calm down. Andy is still dead asleep. He finally wakes up and goes to get them some milk. We plopped them on our bed - gave them the milk - and put them back down. They blissfully fell back to sleep.

This morning I had to wake up early to shower again because we had a birthday party. I get ready to open up my brandy new hair appliance and decide to take ONE LAST LOOK at the old one. I click it on and off - nothing. Then it dawns on me. I look at the plug and push in the reset button. It's all fixed now.

My turn!

Hey everyone! It's my birthday! I've never been shy about my birthday - I love it!

OK - so - my goal for this year is to look like this again ...

This was at our rehearsal a week before our wedding in July 2003. I was not super skinny by any means, but I was at a nice size where I didn't have to starve myself! So ... off to make a plan!

Have a great day everyone!

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!)

Smiling

It has been such a nice day.

Andy went shopping on his way home from work last night and I had him pick up a whole chicken so I could make soup today. Soup always makes me feel better. I wanted dumplings, also. After noting that the Bisquick I had in my fridge expired in 2005, I had him pick up a new box of that as well.

We had a big icy snow last night - so while Andy went out and shoveled this morning I fed the girls breakfast and they ate so nicely it was amazing. Mealtimes give me agida (looked up the spelling of that one - there are a million ways) and for some reason they just ate like angels. After that we all went to sit on the potties (well, not me!) and Maddie did her thing. And she got a sticker. Katie couldn't do her thing. But she wanted a sticker and sat on that potty for half an hour. Didn't happen though so I talked her into trying again later. No sticker. :(

After that I put the chicken in a big pot of water with veggies and parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme. Just like the song. Easy to remember. It cooked for about 2 hours - I broke the chicken apart - added more veggies - and then Andy had a big bowl right before he went to work. He is not a dumpling fan, so I'll make those later for my dinner.

The girls and I played and read and had another lovely meal (is it a full moon?) and then after Sesame Street it was naptime. I did all the dishes and - because they are Andy's favorite thing in the world - I made yellow cupcakes. (He bought the mix last night so I figured that was a big fat hint!)

So now it is almost 3:30 in the afternoon and I hear the girls stirring. Gotta go. Hope you all are having a nice day, too.

Bronchitis

Yes - I have bronchitis. I knew this was not just a regular cold when I realized my nose was clear as day and my throat was filled with a glob of yuck.

I just got back from the doctor and he put my on Prednisone and an inhaler.

I may be very sporadic in my posts for a while - my energy is zapped and all I want to do is sleep. I have to rest as much as I can for the girls (it breaks my heart how much I have plopped them in front of the TV these past few days) and I think the computer will be on the back burner for a while. :(

Stay tuned - I'll be back. :) -- Rosie

Thanks, everyone!

Hey there! Thanks so much for the well wishes yesterday. I rarely get sick but when I do it hits me so hard. I woke up today still feeling gross, but I seem to be improving as the day goes on. Thank you, God, for this beautiful sunny day. It is helping me feel so much better - thank you!

I have a post that I am working on called "No Knead Bread" - have you ever heard of it? One of my twin club freinds sent it to me because she thought I would love it and she was right. I channeled Pioneer Woman and took step-by-step pictures of the whole thing - I was such a dork. I am working on that post now.

Is anyone else as frustrated with the picture uploading process here on Blogger as much as I am? It bugs me that they all get uploaded to the top of the post - and a million spaces get inserted into your text. Am I doing something wrong? Is there a trick I need to know about?

So once I get the energy to fight with Blogger to get my post to look the way I'd like it to, I will finish that up. I was going to do it last night, but ... LOST was on, people! I have watched it from day one and supported it through it's ups and downs and I am sooooo excited that it is back. And it is sooooooooooooooo good!

If you into LOST, there is a great blog that I read: http://blog.zap2it.com/lost/ - this guy is an awesome writer and recapper. You can read his analysis right from the first episode. It is also a spoiler-free site, which I love. I like to be surprised as I watch. Most definitely worth a visit.

This was a random post, huh? Sometimes those are the best.

Inauguration

I have been watching the inauguration coverage on CNN on and off this morning, as the girls will let me! I think, "it must be so amazing to be there" then I see the bundled up people and the bustling crowds and I am more than happy to watch it from my couch.

I am not a political person, and I really don't like talking politics. I don't understand enough to feel like I can make a comment and support it well. And I don't like being lectured. Why is it ... if you support one party ... does it mean you have to vehemently hate the other?

So anyway - enough of that. Enjoy your day!

Hope Christmas Never Ends!

A few weeks ago my dad and my Aunt Beverly and my Aunt Susan came to visit the girls (they would say they wanted to see us, too - but I think the girls outrank us!).

The girls love when people PLAY with them - and this day was no exception. There was lots of hide-and-seek and chasing and Blue's Clues and reading. You can totally tell by the expression on their faces that everyone had a great time.

I made a pasta with meatballs - and everyone brought yummy desserts that were delish. I attempted to feed the girls real food while the rest of us ate dessert and Andy just looked at me like, "You're kidding right?" The second the girls saw all the goodies that was the end of that. They had cake for dinner (I think Katie did eat a little pasta first).

Everyone had a great day - and took a ton of pictures. There were four cameras going!

Here is a slideshow of the day - enjoy!

(*The slideshow is in a different post - so if you clicked here through the title of this post you just need to click my header above and you will see the slideshow below this!* whew!)

We missed you!

My first year of teaching was in 2002. I started mid-year in January and I took over for one of my favorite teachers. Yep - I had gone back to teach in my old high school.

My first week was horrible. My favorite teacher was also their favorite teacher and those little 9th graders wanted nothing to do with me. I was walking a fine line between being super-strict to announce my authority (!) and being kind to let them know I was rational. I cried every night and I was exhausted. I was in bed by 7pm sometimes. The week I started was also the first week I started dating Andy - so there was lots going on.

By my second year I had it all together. Yes - there were days that still drove me nuts - but I also learned to relax and enjoy myself. I learned to look past the kids' behavior while they were learning (which was where most of the acting-up occured) and started to see how they acted before the bell rang. They cracked me up - they were so smart and talented and funny and real. I learned a lot that year. During that second year I had two students, Katie and Kristen, who were just great. They were fraternal twin girls (talk about foreshadowing), different as night and day (more foreshadowing). When they graduated 4 years later they ended up attending a college about 15 minutes from where I live now. They would come over every Tuesday night for dinner and to hang out with the little girls. I became friends with their mom, too - they are such a nice family.

This is their sophomore year in college now and things got busy for them, as it should, so our weekly dinners had to be put on the back burner for a while. But they got to visit a few weeks ago with their mom. Here are some pictures from that day ...

Katie readind to Maddie - a "Max and Ruby" book of course!


The whole gang hanging out! Mrs. Mullen loves to read this blog - and she tells me it brings back so many memories of her girls when they were this age. She gives me tons of advice - especially for meals! (Yuck to meals is what I say.)

Kristen is in the background there - my Katie gravitates to her and likes to climb and bounce and rough around.

This is the adorable fleece jacket and hat they gave my girls for Christmas. Katie wouldn't take it off!

We ended up coloring at the kitchen table - and they ALL colored. (My Katie, still wearing her jacket. The hat is hanging on the phone - look upper right.)

I was cooking dinner throughout this - and Mrs. Mullen was giving me tips like to save the Happy Meal bags from McDonald's and put their food in that. She did that for her girls years ago - and she said with a wink that sometimes McDonald's served broccoli!

I am so glad that they were able to visit me - and I hope to see them all again soon!

Thank you, Katy!

Well! Yours truly has been given an award from the fabulous Katy over at Fun with the Baker 5.

ONCE YOU'VE BEEN AWARDED, THE RULES ARE:

1. Thank the person who was so thoughtful for giving you this award by linking their blog to this post.
2. Put the logo on your blog or post.
3. Nominate 10 blogs which show great attitude/gratitude.
4. Link your nominee to your post.
5. Comment them to tell them about the award they've won.

I nominate (in no particular order):



1.Audrey Lois Blogs - This is my Aunt Audrey and she got me started into the land of bloggerdom. She lives half the year in NJ and the other half in Florida. She writes about her family and her grandchildren and her life.



2. Anyone Can Blaugh - This is my Aunt Beverly who is a sporadic blogger - and she knows it. She blogs about whatever is on the top of her head - and gets frustrated when she loses posts!



3. Unglazed - Jen is a new friend. She loves all things log cabin. Right now she and her husband are hiding stuffed reindeer around the house with cute notes for the other person to find. Too cute!



4. Sweet Sue Sews - Sue is my Aunt Audrey's sister-in-law and we became friends through blogging. I want to be Sue when I grow up. She makes the most adorable creations for her grandchildren and everyone around her. I want to live with her for a week and let the talent seep in.



5. Family and Flowers - Darla is another friend I met through a blog of a blog of a blog and we just hit it off. She is a gardener like no other - and living in Florida she has blooms all the time. Her pictures are gorgeous!



6. Living in Maryland - Safire is a twin mommy, like me - but she also has an older daughter so I think I had it easy compared to her! Her poor little ones just got over RSV and they are starting to venture out into the world again.



7. Yaya Stuff - Yaya writes a deeply personal blog sharing her quest to have a child. She is honest and true and real and tells it like it is. And she loves her orange uggs.



8. Songbirdtiff - I just started reading this blog this week and already I am taken in. She crafts! She decorates! She sews! She's planning for 2009 Christmas presents now! And her post titles are titles of songs - which I think is just plain cool.



9. TidBits from Liz - Liz is another friend I know solely through blogging - and we hit it off right away, too. She is a Mac girl to the core. Don't even mention the (Vista) word. Ask her about her Wii - she is converting me slowly.



10. Pleeza Pass Tha Pees But Holde Da Korn - Have you read my Oklahoma post from a few weeks back? If yes - then you know all about these 4 gals (who all have sites of their own that were already nominated or I woulda done it myself). If no - just know that they love the crazy words that we have to type in to verify our comments and like to make definitions and nutso sentences using them. It is an original site that ALWAYS makes me laugh.



So there you go - my 10 nominees. Congratulations to you all and thanks for filling my days and nights with interesting facts, stories, truth, and friendship.

An epiphany!

(Before I begin this post - I found my lens cap! Thank you to everyone who sent happy thoughts my way or prayed to St. Anthony! Thank you St. Anthony!)

Have I mentioned how excited I am about my living room getting "done"? We have been in this house over a year and besides the playroom (which took us 6 months to renovate on our own) only the dining room is painted.

Once the hardwood floors are in I really feel like I can start getting things prettied up. I haven't even loaded my "good plates" into my teeny china cabinet because I didn't want to have to unload them all again when we DID get the floors done. We technically could have hung things on the wall in the dining room already, but have I mentioned how after the girls go to bed we collapse on the couch at night?

My cabinet now, filled with pictures ...

(Notice the dead plant, the sewing maching in the corner, and the girls' toys on the top. Those are the toys I confiscate when the girls fight over them. Bye-bye.)

Our front door opens right into our living room - no entryway or anything.
Blah. Ugly peach walls (sorry if you have peach walls and love them!). I have a beautiful mirror that I will hang on the wall to the left of the stairs. When we lived in the townhouse, this is what it looked like ... (decorated at Christmas).



This dresser now holds the TV and media paraphenalia in the girls' playroom. It's nice and sturdy and won't fall over. Of course I had Andy bolt it into a stud in the wall, too. Of course!

I am one of those (nutso?) people who don't like shoes in the house. I know ... I never liked those people either. But after I married Andy and he described to me in detail what he walked through when he worked in Manhattan, and then we had the girls, I quickly became a believer. So right now we have a chair that we keep near the front door so people have a place to sit while they are taking off their shoes. Last night when I couldn't fall back to sleep at 3:00 in the morning, I had an epiphany.

A bench would be perfect on that wall!

I can still hang the mirror over it, and then get those boot trays to go underneath so that there is a place for people to put their shoes after they take them off. I'm diggin' the style above, especially those drawers, but not really the stain color of the wood. I like a more natural, bare look. I'll have to dig around a little more to find exactly what I am looking for. There is an unfinished wood store by me - so that will be my first stop.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

On another note, four families that I know are going through some hard times right now. I don't want to get into specifics, but if you could keep them in your thoughts and prayers I would appreciate it.

Sleeping through the New Year

Happy New Year! Hope that you all had a fun time whether you were home, out at a small get together, out at a fancy party, or in Paris (my dream vacation - until Andy points out I'd have to get on a plane).

Andy and I went to my cousin's house for a small get together and it's always such a nice time. We eat more food than our bellies could hold, and as soon as a dish is empty my cousin's wife whips up something even more delish to take it's place! The younger kids were all playing Wii, while the older kids sat with us and texted all night long. But they shared the gossip with us, so text away!

My mom always goes to the movies with her friend Patty on New Years Eve, then swings by our place and watches the girls so we can go out. We actually had every intention of taking the girls with us this year and just leaving early, but they were (are!) still so sick and there was just no way.

My mom always takes pictures of the girls at midnight, while they are sleeping. So while Andy and I were leaning over some chairs to give each other a kiss at midnight, this is what our little girls were doing as the year changed from 2008 to 2009 ...

Happy New Year, my babies. I wish you happiness, health, and lots of Blue's Clues.

Doors - Wonderous Doors!

My back doors are being replaced as I type this. They are doing a spectacular fantastic amazing job considering that this house has only one straight wall in the place - wait, no it doesn't.

They started yesterday and are finishing up today. The old doors leaked in air somethin' awful - I could not get this house warm if it was a windy day.

We have been shuffling the girls all over the house to keep them away from the cold air, especially since they are still sick. We let them watch for a while and they got a kick out of there not being a door. "Windy!" Maddie said. "Snooooow ..." came from Katie. And yes, it is currently snowing. And the contractors are cursing at it. It's hysterical.

The playroom door is all done - and something was bothering me about it but couldn't put my finger on it. Then it hit me. We had new storm doors installed, also, and they are the kind that have a pull down screen built right in. So the door is essentially cut in half with a white bar ...

The entry door is a "nine-light" (oh yes ... I know my door terminology) ...But when you close the doors together, the "middle line" doesn't line up. (I don't think that's a proper door term.)

I thought I had made a mistake and should have known when I was shopping to make sure that this line matched. So I asked one contractor, Mr. Jim, and he said, nope - that's how they're made. So that made me feel better at least.

Working on the kitchen in the above pic.

Next job: living room. There are many cracks in there that are beyond Andy's level of experience (sorry, hon). We are also having hard wood floors installed!!!!!!! !!!!!!! !!!!!!! (many exclamation points required) And a new ceiling with highhats! And it looks as if the fireplace is leaning into the room - and that's not something I even want to think about.

So Mr. Jim and his brother Mr. Matt hopefully will be back here in a few weeks to get that work done. Then I'll write a post called, "Living Room - Wonderous Living Room" ...

Happy New Year, everyone!

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!)