Phone sex and maraschino cherries

Today, I saw a news headline that spoke about more moms becoming phone sex operators. And, I thought "Duh!" This is the perfect mom job; especially mothers of boys.

I stroke egos all day long with my sons:

• Great job!
• You're so smart!
• You're #1!

Not a big transition from that to, "Oh, baby!" :)

I may need to look into this gig.

Although, I should probably practice a little.

Missed opportunity: Yesterday, the hubby asked me if I wanted the maraschino cherry from his dessert. I should have said, "Give it to me!"

Friends and Family

This weekend is going to be great. We have friends visiting from IN with their two children. Baby R cannot wait to play with them!

And on Sunday, my dad and stepmom are arriving from WV. I'm nervous, anxious, and excited all at the same time. I have visions of my dad trying to tell me how to raise, discipline, and feed my children - and I see myself going postal if he tries to do this. So, I'm anxious to see how we get along (as well as adding the stepmom into the mix).

And I have to admit to being excited because my kids love family. Baby R loves to talk about grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc. He is really looking forward to "Grandpa Chuck's" visit. They will be staying with us for the next week and helping out while the hubby is in Chicago for training.

I have a few, fun recipes planned for this weekend and the coming week with my family:

• Baked chicken with salad, homemade croutons and panna cotta with raspberries - hands down my new fav dinner and dessert!
• Five-layer Italian dip - thanks to my friend, Amanda. She makes this for parties and such and it is amazing!!!!!!!!!!!! I cannot say enough about this dip. I'll post the recipe below to spread the love.
• Cheese quesadillas with refried beans, and Mexican cheesy rice

You can tell I'm making out my supermarket list for today, right? Hahahah!

Five Layer Italian Dip (recipe)
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup grated Parmesan
1/3 cup pesto
1/2 cup roasted red peppers, drained, chopped
1 cup shredded mozzarella

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix cream cheese and parm. Spread onto bottom of 9-inch pie plate or quiche dish. Layer remaining ingredients over cream cheese mixture. Bake 15 mins or until heated through. Serve hot with assorted crackers or sliced Italian bread.


Also, for a baby update - Baby A is doing very well. Although, he does have a little cold and continues to want to nurse every 30 minutes. He is becoming more alert and starting to focus on his surroundings. I love when his eyes finally focus on me and he just stares so intently. But, I also get a kick out of him staring at his nose, cross-eyed. :)

Opinions on Baby A's Name

Why do people feel compelled to give you their opinion on your choice of names for your children??? Did I do this to others before I had kids? God, I hope not.

Everyone from my family to the cashier at the supermarket has an opinion and they want to share it with me.

• "That baby is going to have a nickname...did you think of that?"
• "That is such a strange name. I would have named him...[insert their name choices]"
• "Just so you know, I am not going to call him that..."

I try to be gracious and say something like, "Oh, well we really like the name." Sometimes that quiets the opinion-giving, and other times I have to break out my big guns and say, "Well, it seems that everyone wants to give their opinion on my child's name." That one stopped my father in his tracks. Score!

I hope that when people tell me their name choice(s) that I say only positive things in response. "Great name!" or "Oh, that is my favorite name."

Come on, people. Have some tact.

A lesson in choc-covered strawberries

Over the past few years, I've become enamored with chocolate-covered strawberries. I think you could almost say "obsessed" vs. just enamored.

I love the darn things - the bigger the better, of course!

I love to buy them, but I also really enjoy making them. Here are a few lessons-learned I've picked up from making my own:

• Chocolate - Only purchase the Hershey's chocolate shell coating. Any other brand will leave choc remnants on your wax paper vs. sticking to your strawberry. And use a small, child's cup (my fav is one of the sippy cups from Tupperware) to hold your choc so you can easily dip the strawberry into it.
• Strawberries - Cut the damn leaves off. It is annoying trying to eat around the leaves. As I said, I also like the bigger strawberries, yet the smaller ones are probably sweeter.
• Wax paper - I place my strawberries on wax paper over a cookie sheet. This keeps the strawberries from sticking to the pan.
• Quantity - If you believe your small family will only eat a dozen...make two dozen because you are dead wrong. That small family will devour those 12 strawberries and lift their heads to sniff out more. They will look like freaks from a horror movie, with strawberry juice dripping from their chins. The lesson here is to overdue it; buy 2 cartons of berries and dip them all!
• Announcing your dessert choice - I believing timing is key here. If I have one or two picky, dinner eaters I'm apt to announce my yummy, berry goodness as our dessert choice a little early in the meal. However, if I have a lazy eater (or two!) I will keep this a secret until the end of the meal, and watch them shovel their meals in their mouths in order to earn that yummy, berry goodness. As I said, timing is key.

And there you have it, peeps. I challenge you to try it yourselves at home.

Sherlock and Mary

I am so excited!!!! My favorite author of my favorite book series has a new book - The God of the Hive. Whoo-hoo!

This is my ideal mother's gift. Hint, hint ST!

Basically, King has resurrected Sherlock Holmes and provided him with a female counterpart, Mary Russell. I love it!

I recommend starting with the first book, Beekeeper's Apprentice.

The West Wing

Somebody else become a fan of this show...please!

I watch the series on DVD almost every day (thank you ST for buying me the entire series).

But, I need someone else to love this show as much as I do so I can chat with them about it. My ST leaves the room as soon as he hears the opening sequence.

I am enamored of the men on this show - Leo, Toby, Joshua, Charlie. These guys are amazing. I love these characters. In fact, Baby A was almost a "Joshua."

Just watch the show already! You can catch re-runs on Bravo.

Thank You

Special thank you to my friend, Laura. She arrived the day Baby A was born and took excellent care of my two boys. Every pic she sent my cell showed my boys laughing and playing.

She bought them toys and craft supplies. And she played endless games of "ghost hunting" with Baby R.

I can never thank her enough for jumping in...and all this only weeks after she herself gave birth to her 2nd baby!

Thank you Laura! You are a truly special friend. I could fill up pages and pages of blog with praise for you as a friend, woman, and mother. You are amazing.

P.S. Special thanks to Aji for the new, Indian recipes!