It's Friday, Friday...

...and we did what we usually do on Fridays...run errands! Exciting, right? Well, I still prefer to spend the day running errands with my roly poly over sitting in my grey, soul-sucking cubicle any day!

Grace, Sophie and I piled into the car and drove Sophie to school.

Sophie acting silly in front of her school.

Afterwards, Grace and I had to go buy some supplies for The Pied Paper.

Came home and had some "brunch".  Yogurt with a side of cell phone and lip gloss.  Yummm.

....fast forward eight hours where I was too lazy to take pictures: we did laundry, cleaned up the house a bit, napped, I finally ate lunch at 3pm, went to Whole Foods, picked up Sophie from school, went to Target, came home and made these omelets for dinner (they were so good), and the ended with a great finale to the busy day:

Strawberries with fresh whipped cream!!

I'm pooped.  Grace is in bed now and all I want to do is curl up with my nook and immerse myself into my Dennis Lehane book.  It's time for "me time"!

Easter Weekend, The Grand Finale

The grand finale of Easter this year was the White House Easter Egg Roll, which I participated in thanks to my cousin's generous offer to share her extra tickets.  We went early in the morning, but it was already sunny, hot and humid.  Especially with only the two of us moms and three toddlers and an infant.  And strollers in the mud.  But it was all totally worth it: we saw the Obamas, who were so elegant and regal that I felt my heart swell a bit with pride, we rolled some eggs, and we picked up our wooden souvenir egg, which I hope will remind my girls of this special day.

Easter Weekend, Part Deux

Today was the best Easter I've ever had.  It had all the ingredients that make the perfect day for me: family, great food, and the outdoors.  My cousin had an amazing party at her house and did a fantastic job organizing traditional Easter activities for the kids: egg dyeing, an Easter egg roll and an egg hunt.  It was great because for the first time ever, Sophie was old enough to understand the games.  She got pretty competitive during the egg hunt.  I saw her speeding up towards some eggs to edge out her cousins!  In the afternoon, we joined some of our neighbors for an egg hunt just for the kids on our street.  By then, Sophie was a pro!  At the end of the day, she had a ton of candy and toys.  What a sweet life she has!

Easter Weekend, Part One

It's the beginning of a very busy Easter weekend for us. We're essentially celebrating the holiday four times this weekend! Today, we had Easter lunch with my in-laws at their house, then went out again in the afternoon for an early dinner and buying mulch and flowers for our front landscape. I also bought some new papers and will be working on new designs for The Pied Paper. Tomorrow, more Easter fun (and pictures to come!).

Grace is all dressed up and ready to go to lunch.  I love being able to reuse Sophie's clothes!

Sophie is an awesome, loving, caring big sister!

Grace was pooped by the afternoon and fell asleep at the restaurant.

So excited to buy mulch!

Not so excited.  She's ready to go home!

That's hot

The temperature reached the mid-80s today and once again, the Washington area moves from a frigid winter right into a sweltering summer.  I am so over the climate here.  I don't think Grace is impressed either.  She had to cool down by rolling around in nothing but her diaper.

Yep, I know she has food on her face, but what are ya gonna do?

Slow-Cooker Creamy Chicken With Biscuits

I tried this recipe from Real Simple a few days ago and it was a total hit.  It's easy and no-fuss, thanks to the slow-cooker.  Basically it's a deconstructed chicken pot pie, but I think it tastes a lot better thanks to the white wine :)

Serves 6| Hands-On Time: 15m | Total Time: 6hr 30m

Ingredients

• 3/4 pound carrots (about 4), cut into 1-inch lengths
• 2 stalks celery, thinly sliced
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs (about 8)
• 1/2 teaspoon poultry seasoning
• kosher salt and black pepper
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 1/2 cup low-sodium chicken broth
• 6 (store-bought or Easy Drop Biscuits; see recipe), split
• 1 cup frozen peas
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 
  

Directions

1. In a 4- to 6-quart slow cooker, toss together the carrots, celery, onion, and flour. Place the chicken on top and season with the poultry seasoning, 1 teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Add the wine and broth.
2. Cover and cook until the chicken and vegetables are tender, on low for 5 to 6 hours or on high for 2 1⁄2 to 3 hours (this will shorten total cooking time).
3. Thirty minutes before serving, prepare the Easy Drop Biscuits (if using).  I used Pillsbury Homestyle biscuits.  Easy.  Fast.  'Nuff said.
4. Ten minutes before serving, add the peas, cream, and ½ teaspoon salt to the chicken and stir to combine. Cover and cook until heated through, 5 to 10 minutes more.
5. To serve, place the bottom halves of the biscuits in shallow bowls, then top with the chicken mixture and the remaining biscuit halves.

image and recipe via Real Simple

Sister, sister

 

 

Bounty.com, a UK parenting website, recently conducted a study of the combinations of children that lead to the happiest families, and....wooohooooooooo! Two girls is at the top! I don't know how true this is, but, I know so many families of two daughters and every woman I've asked has loved having one sister. Maybe there is something to it?

Here are the conclusions of the study.  Take it for what it's worth--amusement!:

‘BEST’ TO ‘WORST’ COMBINATIONS OF CHILDREN:

1. Two girls

2. One boy and one girl

3. Two boys

4. Three girls

5. Three boys

6. Four boys

7. Two girls and one boy

8. Two boys and one girl

9. Three boys and one girl

10. Three girls and one boy

11. Two boys and two girls

12. Four girls

BENEFITS OF HAVING TWO GIRLS:

1. Rarely noisy

2. Help around the house

3. Very few fights and arguments

4. Quite easy to reason with

5. Play together nicely

6. Rarely ignore each other

7. They confide in you

8. Very well behaved

9. Rarely try to wind each other up

10. Really like each other

NEGATIVES OF HAVING FOUR GIRLS:

1. Fight and argue all the time

2. Difficult to reason with

3. Ignore and dislike each other

4. Bedtime routine is a nightmare

5. Create a lot of noise around the house

6. Rarely confide in you

7. Hard to deal with when ill

8. Takes ages getting ready for school

9. Had to buy a bigger house and car

10. Hard to cope with on a daily basis

Wonderful Weekend Highlights

This weekend was so great. Some highlights: beautiful weather on Friday and Sunday, a lot of family time spent together, Darren and I going to see Aasif Mandvi perform (and sitting in the front row!), and a full day at the zoo and visiting my parents, which, cheesy as it may sound, is a great cap to the weekend for me!

No paparazzi!

Rock on!

Dining outdoors at Cheesecake Factory

Ready to have fun at the zoo.



Lunch break!

Naptime!