I took Friday afternoon off

to spend it with Ashley Kate. That little girl just makes me smile.

She's a regular comedian, she is

From Ella Grace:

What do you call a pair of bananas?

Slippers!

Blow, blow, blow your bubbles

The weather this past weekend was absolutely gorgeous so we found ourselves spending a fair bit of time outside. One such endeavor involved lots of bubble blowing for Ella Grace. She was chugging right along with the blowing of about a bazillion bubbles and then chasing them down for popping when the excitement of the chase was too much. And bubbly liquid went flying.

She's a keeper, for sure! Look at those skills!

Lightening quick photo snapping skills.

All over her feet too.

Sippy Cup Sippage

This took some coaching, but overall I was pretty proud!

Maybe she's putting that big ol' noggin* to use! (If this is not, in fact, exemplary for a six month old, I would like to live in the illusion that it is. You see, my memory from four years ago is a bit hazy due to four years of one Miss E.G. and I don't quite recall when she started using a sippy cup. Pretty convenient, no?)

*Big ol' noggin reference is not made unjustly. At Ashley's six month check up last Monday the doctor informed me that her height and weight (16.5 lbs.) are pretty middle of the road. Her head, however, is at the 90th percentile. So, cranius gigantus, she is!

Exterior Flowerizing

Woo hoo! The landscaping crew showed up this weekend!

The outside of the house was looking a bit drab with all the dandelions taking over the place, so flowers were purchased last weekend in a Mother's Day 'do good' spree (along with other fixing up the house type items). The weather was just about perfect yesterday so the crew felt it was prime time for replenishing the dirt supply and planting flowers.

This seems to be a regular event for David and Ella. I think it might be the third year in a row that they have been in charge of walkway beautification, or as I like to call it, trailer-skirting-cover-up-ification. Ella really gets a kick out of helping David, especially when it requires getting her hands dirty, and she does a fantastic job!

Up next... the garden! *insert imposing music here*

Things going along rather well on the landscaping crew...

until one member decides to slack off. And jump in the bucket of the tractor.

Strawberry Daiquiris Anyone?

Remember last Mother's Day? I can't believe it's been a whole year! The time flying past like it has has helped my impatience with the strawberry plants. The little tag said that you had to wait a year to get your first crop. And would you look at that, one hot summer, one big belly, one not so big belly, a six month old baby and here we are!

We hardly messed with the plants once we got them in the ground, maybe just making sure that the weeds didn't totally choke them out. No special tending through the winter, no nothing. Thank goodness strawberries are tough little boogers and can take all sort of abuse because looky looky at what we have tempting me in the garden:

These pretty little flowers...

turn in to immature strawberries! Yay!

Ella is already talking about making strawberry cake with these. I don't think that's going to work out so well, but I'm sure she won't mind when we march out to the garden and eat them straight off the vine!

Sitting up AKA falling over

The quest to sit up properly just isn't on Ashley's mind. She's so laid back that she just content to, well, lay back. I have been putting her in the sitting position to try to get her to strengthen her back. Sometimes these sessions go well, sometimes she ends up eclipsing my expectations and throws herself backward, to my horror.


Yesterday I thought I would try to document her progress... That just lead to her falling over and me trying to catch her without getting in the picture. Priorities, people!

So cute, leaning slightly to my left

Again, falling to the left

To the left, just about to topple

Oh no! She throws me for a loop and throws herself to the right!

I heart those cheeks! (Obviously this has nothing to do with sitting up,

or falling down for that matter, I just thought it was cute!)

Westbound and Down

The weekend before last Ashley and I took a little trip down south. A visit with my Georgia fam was in order and I had a nice slow paced trip. Ashley was an absolute dream on the plane, both ways, and pretty much was just kickin' it the whole weekend. She was happy to see all sorts of strangers and let each and every one of them get doughy hugs from her.

David and Ella had some father/daughter Q.T. while we were gone, but he was rather happy to have us back home, safe and sound. (He even baked a cake and had Jamie over for hot dogs for her birthday! Awww...)

Celeste, Daddy and Ashley, who looks very concerned

Marisa and Ashley, who looks very concerned slash happy?

Rusty and Ashley, who looks very concerned slash surprised?

Marisa's belly. It's as big as it looks. Baby Estes (with the testes)

has got all sorts of room to swim

Marisa and Ashley, who is laughing quite hard (and not concerned)

Marisa encourages Ashley to enjoy the merits of a beer, I am concerned

Sweet baby Ashley after too much O'Douls

Mother's Day flowers, they ain't

We appear to be fighting one nasty battle with dandelions this year. (Actually, I don't know that it's necessarily a fight because that would imply that there are two sides participating. We pretty much just watch the dandelions take over the place and then moan and groan about it.)

David and I have never really treated our 'yard' like a yard because, well, it isn't one. It's two steps away from being a field. Maybe that's why we have never fertilized or treated or whatever it is that you do to a yard. Either that or the fact that we're lazy. That could be it...

Now we are paying the price with one of the most horrid dandelion outbreaks I have ever seen. Going out and mowing the little fuzzy boogers down only perpetuates the cycle and will multiply your numbers. Damn Mother Nature and all of her wicked, wily ways!

I tried to convince Ella to go pick all the yellow flowers she could and I would pay her a penny for each one. That didn't fly. Looking at this picture, I wouldn't take me up on it either.

Yep, that's Lilly in there, almost hidden in the field of fuzz.

Is this happening just here in my area (because it's not just my little piece of neglected ground, these suckers are all over town)? Is there a dandelion epidemic?

Dimples make me smile

Of course I love all the parts and pieces of my baby girl, but my most favorite at the mo' has got to be her elbow dimples. TWO dimples in the midst of all that pudgy goodness are more than I can handle. I find myself wanting to rub Ashley's super soft, super squishy arms because I don't know how long the baby fat stage will last and it's just too cute to resist. Wouldn't you want to get your hands on this?!

(While I was changing Ashley into her pajamas. I asked David to hold her so I could get a picture of her elbow dimples. I ended up with the picture I was after and a couple more that I just love. The last one kills me.)

Caramelicious

Today I published what is surely one of my new favorite recipes over at Smartini. It's for Caramel Bars and they will make you close your eyes and say 'Oooh, that is good!' I have it on several people's authority that they are fantastic, since I was nice (or stupid) enough to share with a whole hall full of people at work.

Check 'em out. They are worth another lap around the track to make up for all of the naughtiness. But wait! They have oatmeal! That makes them health food, right?!

We Interrupt Your Regularly Scheduled Broadcast...

I will be on a slight blog hiatus for the next few days... But until I return, I leave you with this:

Last night while jogging, the song "No Air" pipes in through my headphones. Is this ironic or do the local DJ's know exactly what I'm doing?

On the way home from aforementioned jogging experience, I get behind a car that has the vanity plate "R2D2LVR". And it's a chick. Are you serious?! Wow, I bet you are quite the popular gal at all the Star Wars conventions.

Ella tells me "I just as soon you ". What? Really.

Tonight Ella asks "What's yapping mean?" followed by "What's constant mean?". I'm guessing that she has been told (at preschool?) that there was constant yapping. Uh. Huh.

I filled up the gas tank on my HONDA ACCORD and it cost me fifty dollars. Fifty-freakin'-dollars! I know that there are plenty of you out there who it's not uncommon to spend that much at the pump but for pete's sake, FIFTTY DOLLARS on an ACCORD? Good. Grief.

A meal at the Waffle House is in my future and I couldn't be more excited! :)

Barefoot Wine = yummy. Also, a dab of peanut butter on ginger snap cookies = yummy.

We turned on the AC for the first time tonight. It was a really nice evening, but the girls' rooms don't have that great of air flow, so AC it is. Spring, I welcome you with open arms! And a glass of wine!

Four new tires on an old ass Explorer leave us slightly lighter in the pockets. But bring on the snow! Bring on the water! My ever faithful green girl is ready! I, however, will be too busy to drive due to a) the out of control cost of gas, see above, and b) the fact that I now have to clip coupons til kingdom come to pay for said new tires.

Who wants more wine and cookies? Me! Who cares if the next time she runs to work off that wine and those cookies she has 'no air'? Not me!

Tweezed

I think that there should be a universal rule that any vehicle a woman is in should have a pair of good, sharp tweezers in it. They are a handy tool, to be sure, but nothing else will do when you happen to glance in the mirror while you're stuck in traffic and realize that there are just some eyebrow hairs that don't show up under your bathroom light no matter how hard you look and posture yourself. And now that these things have come to light, they are glaringly obvious to everyone on the planet as well as the fact that you haven't had a good wax in a tiny bit too long. It becomes a matter of national emergency, really.

Maybe just a little glove box kit that contains all such tools that a girl really needs when out and about? I think I smell a sure fire hit... And won't I have the neatly plucked eyebrows to show for it!

Favorite Website

The Weekly Special at Smartini is for each of us to post about our favorite website. Below is my post about my fave. This really shouldn't be a surprise to anyone... I pass along recipes from here all the time! How's about y'all do me a favor, in return for all the fabulous recipes I have sent your way, and go to Smartini and tell us about your favorite website? We are all fiends of the Internet and just looove to check out new stuff!

From Smartini:

Mmm... There's always something cooking over at Allrecipes.com. (Or at least about a million things I should be cooking.) This is my main go-to site for anything that's going on in the kitchen and favorite landing spot on the web. As I stated before, you really shouldn't drink on an empty stomach, and this cooking site on crack is there to help. It is so crazy good that not only is food involved, drinks are too!

I really enjoy making good food and All Recipes just feeds the need. You can search for recipes by name, ingredients, type, occasion, etc. and come up with loads of results. Gotta love those moments when you stand in your kitchen with the cabinet doors flung open saying to yourself 'Now what can I make with rice, chicken and peas?" Seventy-three meals, actually!) Also, once you are a member you can keep a virtual recipe box of your favorite recipes and find them easily when you need them.

But perhaps the best thing about All Recipes is the user reviews. Users can rate the recipe by awarding stars and leave comments about their results and any suggestions. These are just so handy for helping me determine if I want to try the recipe and any alterations I should make. While there is advertising on the site, it is subtle and easily looked past with no pop ups. (Newsweek: take note!)

Now, who feels like cooking?! Here are some recent favorites from All Recipes (with some personal adjustments):

Monster Cookies

Dill Dip

Apple Butter

Mexican Style Meat

Italian Spaghetti Sauce with Meatballs

And now that I look at the homepage, that Chicken Peanut Mole with Cilantro Rice is looking rather good... must add that to the list of things I should be cooking!

400 Posts!

Woo hoo! Four hundred times I have hit the 'Publish' button. Ok, 399 until I get done typing... Let's all celebrate by making some Texas Caviar!

I posted the recipe over at Smartini, a site that you should be checking regularly for sheer brilliance on everyone's part. Many thanks go out to Laura, Karen and Susan who already are regulars at the bar. I knew I could count on you girls to imbibe with me!

Fridays are WTFriday at Smartini and I have just finished creating a fantastical WTF? post that includes a serious wardrobe malfunction on the part of a semi famous musician. The picture is worth a thousand words... The three main ones that come to mind are W. T. F. ?!

A.K. Today

Ashley Kate:

* has discovered that she has the ability to put her toes in her mouth

* continues to engage me in the diaper war, insisting on rolling over constantly

* got her first servings of really soupy cereal and seems to mildly like it

* got her first serving of slightly thicker cereal and did not like it at all

* can't keep those damn fingers out of her mouth

* log rolls across the room in the blink of an eye

* doesn't do so hot with the whole sitting up business, but is fab with the spitting up business

* thinks its really, really funny to 'stand up' and get her legs underneath her

* seems to be getting some of her hair back

* loves her big sister

* is a counted blessing each and every day

(I apologize for the slight blurriness of these photos, but the flash was just too harsh!)

It Just Doesn't Stop

More Ella Grace:

The other day my mom tells Ella that she's sending her a dress. The next day we stop by the mailbox and lo and behold there is a package. Ella asks if it's her dress from Grandmama and I say no, that the package isn't big enough to be a dress. I suppose she didn't hear me and thought she should put it some terms that we would understand a bit better. Like 'Did MEGAN'S MOM send me a dress?!' Heaven. Help. Me.

This evening Ella says that she would be 'shocked and amazed' if something or another happened. That's all her daddy, right there, shocked and amazed.

E.G. and I went to a local track this afternoon where I jogged and she rode her bike. The plan was to pop into the grocery store afterwards for a few necessities, a plan that wasn't thought out all that well. I tell Ella that I sure do need a tan and when I go into the store in my shorts it's going to be scary. She promptly comes home and tells David 'Mama was scary in the grocery store!'

Also tonight, after Ella had been in her room taking forever to get her pajamas on, I call down the hall and ask what she's doing. To which she replies "I'm just taking care of a few things."

Once the 'few things' have been taken care of (which involved putting on lots of play jewelry) David begins asking her to put away some of her toys.

David: Well, number one, you need to put away your Lincoln Logs.

Ella begins putting away Lincoln Logs.

Ella: No number two, I don't want a number two...

(I hide my face and start to laugh, sneaking a look at David who didn't quite understand what she meant)

David: You don't want what?

Ella: A number two; something else to put away.

(me still hiding and laughing, David catches me and tries to hide his laugh too)

David: Sorry, sweetie, you need to put your bike away.

Ella puts her bike away.

David: And your ball, please put that away too.

Ella, laughing: I said no two and you were planning on it [all along]!

David, laughing: Also! Put your ball away, also!

You know, when other parents told us that our kids would mimic us and say what we say, I never thought that it would apply to everyday phrases and admonitions. I pretty much assumed that meant cussing. Cuss around your kids and you will hear it back. But oh no, no! And the thing is, it's not like I'm saying stuff to Ella that is bad, it's just when she says it back to me then I'm affronted by it. Like after I bump my elbow on something, her telling me 'that's why you should watch where you're going!' or getting shushed if I make a loud noise while Ashley's sleeping. It's all things that I have said to her, but when bounced back at me seen so wrong!

The kicker in all of this is that everyone tells me that this is my child saying all this! Mine all mine. I'm sort of proud in a narcissistic way but then come to the reality that holy shit this is how smart my mouth is! There is a future for Ella Grace at Smartini yet! Oh, and by the way, I bet that Ashley Kate won't be any better, having two smarty pants to learn from!

From the Daily Report, Again

Yesterday's report from preschool included this:

"... Ella is still having a little difficulty with her friends. She tries to be the teacher and the kids tell her they don't like it and she does it anyway."

Like a good mom I snickered at this. I guess I shouldn't because that means she is a little Miss Bossy Pants but it still makes me laugh!

David commented that maybe that's her Aunt Jamie coming out in her... Apparently Jamie liked to play teacher too, and I'm going to guess that it was with David as the student even after he said he didn't like it! (Which makes me laugh, too!)

Horse Show #2

Saturday we took Ella to another horse show. This one was yet again a very small, laid back deal and she definitely got a ribbon (I made sure to check beforehand!).

Such a professional cowgirl

Ella with the loot: two cups, a hoof pick and a Super Star! ribbon

I don't think you get more official than having your very own back number!

As we drove over Ella said 'Aww, Scooter's my buddy!'. Yessirree.

While We Were Out

If you haven't checked out the hippest spot in town, Smartini, then you haven't seen this madness. This is what happens when I start feeling sorry for Maggie and let her inside while we run out 'real quick'. I'm sure there was some help from another dog I may know, but these incidences only seem to happen when Maggie is around so that's why she got the mug shot!

Escapades from the Crib

The other day I laid Ashley down, thinking that she might be in need of a nap. Apparently she had other things on her mind. Like snatching off her socks. When it was obvious that she was not going to take a nap, I went it to pick her up and found this:

When I laid her down, those socks were on her feet, at the other end of the crib. So she must have gabbed her foot, yanked her sock off and threw it up by her head... and then did it again!

Quoted

Ella, from a recent expedition to the mall for new shirts for me:

"You look pregnant in that shirt."

"That looks like a stay at home shirt."

(After being told that we were going to go pay and then I stopped to look at another rack) "This doesn't look like going to pay."

Wow. I guess the tongue sticking out incident was just the beginning...

Smartini

You are all invited to the Grand Opening Celebration of Smartini, a fabulous business venture between myself and five other blogger friends. It's a bar, of the internet variety, that serves up cold drinks in the form of news, celebs, creative writing, recipes and snark. With six of us posting you are guaranteed to find something new and interesting every day, if not throughout the day. We serve all ages, 24 hours a day!

Today would be a great day to wander over to the bar. It's unofficially WTF? Friday, which will leave you confused yet feeling incredibly normal... especially after you see my contribution! :)

www.smartinibar.blogspot.com Add it to your faves!

Trick Rider

This is what happens when I get photo editing software that I can actually use. Somebody stop me!

Ella has really taken to doing tricks on her bike, many of which involve standing on the seat. I have one other picture (that I will try to post later) of her on just one foot with the other kicked up behind her which is pretty impressive! Maybe I should be worried about what this type of behavior, at 4 years old, implies for later in life. I think I need to keep my first aid kit handy for, oh, say, the next 14 years!

Miss Mountain Biker, Ella Grace

Dill Dip

Oh, my, have I come across a recipe that I will use over and over again! Dill dip happens to be one of those things that I could eat my weight in and not think twice. Judging from the response to it at work today (which was to scrape the bottom of the bread bowl it was in before noon), I'm not the only one! Give this recipe a shot the next time you have to contribute to the snack table at a social function. Hell, don't even wait for a social function. Just make it and plunk yourself down on the couch. You won't be going anywhere for a while.

Dill Dip

1 1/3 cups mayonnaise - real, not Miracle Whip
2 2/3 cups sour cream
1 Tbsp dried parsely flakes
3 Tbsp dill weed
3 Tbsp grated onion
1 1/2 tsp. seasoned salt
1/2 tsp. garlic salt

Combine all in a bowl and let sit over night for flavors to blend. Serve with beer bread, chips or vegetables.

Sunday Afternoon Ladies

Sunday afternoon proved the perfect time for another photo shoot of my girls. I'm a sucker for Ella and Ashley any old time, but especially when the light is just right and their eyes really shine. Love. It.

And then there is this picture, which cracks me up. Look at what perspective does to Ashley's arm! It looks like a tree trunk!

Feet of Fury

Get ready... get set... here they go! Feet of Fury doing Riverdance!

Nap Time

In the spirit of Pen's picture of N.Lo on break, I caught Ashley on her afternoon break. She has really taken to sucking on her fingers and prefers to sleep on her stomach, just like N.Lo. She also takes really, really long naps on her stomach too (we're talking 4-5 hours)!

Spring Is Here

Proof that spring is here: my strawberry plants from last year are emerging in the garden!

Who Wants a Margarita?

This weekend I realized that I have not shared with you one of my favorite recipes yet: Knock You Nekkid Margaritas! It's definitely a recipe to keep handy, whether you like margaritas or not... you never know when a Cinco de Mayo party will break out at your house, right?!

Knock You Nekkid Margaritas
1 12 oz can limeade concentrate, thawed
12 oz 7 Up
12 oz bottle or can of beer
6 to 12 oz tequila

Mix all together. Using the limeade can to measure the 7 Up and tequila makes it a cinch!

Two things: You might want to strain the limeade if you don't like pulp and I found that 9 oz of tequila makes it plenty strong. If you use 12 oz, you might need to change the name to Knock You Out Margaritas! Either way, beware because these go down easy and pack a punch!