playgroupsarenoplaceforchildren

Carson and Ella will both be in preschool two days a week this school year. They start Thursday.

I am BEYOND EXCITED.

Tate doesn’t understand my excitement at all. “You’ll miss them when they’re gone all day, you know that, right?” He’s said this to me on more than one occasion.

The truth is, I’m not going to miss them while they are at school. They’ll only be gone for a total of twelve hours each week. Out of the approximately 72+ awake hours a week I will continue to spend with them, I think those twelve hours while they are at school will be a long awaited blessing.

My excitement is so much less about being away from them, but instead it’s about being able to accomplish things without strategic, long term planning. It’s been almost five years since I’ve been able to make plans completely on my own. Every thing that I’ve done since having kids has either been when Tate is available to watch the kids, or I’ve had to plan errands and exercise around the kid’s meal and nap times.

I’m going to make hair, dentist, doctor, and eye appointments without having to clear the appointment time with Tate or find a babysitter.

I’m going to go to the grocery store without packing my purse full of snacks, Capri Suns, toys, and a change of underwear for Ella.

I can run errands at lunch time, instead of between the hours of 9:30 and 11:00.

I’m going to browse shops with fragile items.

I’m going to eat my lunch in peace, sitting down for the whole meal instead of getting up to refill someone’s milk cup or clean up spills.

I’ll be able to hop out of the car and just run in (to the grocery store, the liquor store!!!, the convenience store, anywhere I want!) I won’t have to unbuckle one kid from his carseat, then run around to the other side of the car and unbuckle the other kid from her carseat, then hold little hands, and slowly make our way.

I’m going to go for a run without pushing Ella in a stroller and keeping Carson from falling off his bike as he follows me.

I’m going to take a shower without an audience.

I’m going to do it on my time.

I’m going to putter.

I’m going to breathe.

I can be independent again, even if it’s only for twelve hours per week.

And in my independence, I think I can become me again. And when I’m me again, I’m going to love my children even more and be the very best mom I can be.

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Speaking of the kids going to school, check out their new back to school duds courtesy of TJ Maxx/Marshalls over here!

So our vacation wasn’t ALL bad. There really was a lot of good.

This was our charming beach house on Tybee Island. The upstairs was cute and beachy.  Built in the 30’s, it still had it’s original wood floors and white clapboard walls.

Here was the “summer house,” advertised as livable, but sadly only for mosquitoes. At least it was cute to look at from a distance.

From the looks of the pictures I took of the kids, it seems like they had a good time.  I guess I purposely didn’t take any pictures of them when they weren’t having fun.  There really is no need to preserve those memories for posterity.

Tybee Island was a really lovely beach, minus the jellyfish. Ella and I are still battling our jellyfish stings. They are now itchy welts and against my protests, Tate read on Google that they usually leave scars.

We LOVED, LOVED, LOVED Savannah. We even got to eat at Paula Deen’s restaurant, The Lady and Sons. At the Roundhouse Museum a few hours after we ate at Lady and Sons, we ran into her son and grandson, Jamie and Jack Deen.  It’s the little things in life, y’all, that I find exciting.  (No pictures of the encounter, none of them turned out.)

The line to get our name on the list for lunch at 9:30 AM.

The founder of the Girl Scouts birthplace.

The Savannah Candy Company. The kids got Ring Pops, of course, since you can get those anywhere.

Thanks for humoring me and looking, I know how excruciatingly boring it can be to look at other people’s vacation photos.  I’m in such a funk right now, hoping that getting the kids back to school next week will perk me up…and perk up this boring ol’ blog.

She was pretending to be Mommy.

Purse?  Check.

Stroller?  Check.

Devil horns?  I have no idea.

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Psst.  I still have a t-shirt giveaway from The Rocking Pony over here...

“Mama, wait.  Don’t take a picture.  I don’t have all my Silly Bandz on.  I’m not cool yet.”  –Ella, Age 3 (going on 13)

This is Ella.

She is not the daughter I expected to have. When I was pregnant with her, I’d imagine her in all the little girls I saw everywhere. I just knew she’d be blond, with long, straight hair. She’d carry a little purse and wear smocked dresses and bows.  My daughter would be dainty and clean.

That is not Ella.

She’ll wear dresses, but only if I beg, plead, and force her. Bows stay in her hair, on a good day, for twenty minutes. Usually I find them on the floor, minutes after combing through her nest of golden caramels curls.  Ella’s favorite accessory is dirt.

Princesses?  Ella thinks they are just pretty decorations on her underwear.  She doesn’t understand why she can’t have Thomas the Train panties.

I signed her up for a little dance class, but what she desperately wants to do is play t-ball. At Dollywood, she doesn’t understand why she can’t ride the roller coaster. Ella is my fearless baby.

I’m always having to tell her, “when you’re bigger, Sweet Pea, then it will be your turn.”

I don’t miss the daughter that I imagined her to be.  To me, she is perfect.

Ella, please always be who you are.  Walk your own walk.  Mommy and Daddy love you.  YOU.

I still wear my maternity jean skirt.  I haven’t been pregnant in three years.

Other confession:  I’d still wear my super cute maternity jeans but they no longer fit because they are TOO SMALL.

It’s been awhile since I’ve posted a recipe since I haven’t made anything worth sharing in a while.  We’ve been eating a lot of grilled meat with a microwaved vegetable side dish, nothing worthy of a recipe or even a photograph.

This week, since getting home from Missouri, I’ve had a hankerin’ for fancy, time intensive meals.  (See also:  time away from the children while they sit in front of the TV, hypnotized and silent.)

Our dinner last night was truly a masterpiece.  Sure I’ve probably said that about things I’ve cooked before, but I’m just not creative enough to come up with anymore descriptive terms.

I made Involtini Di Pollo with Limone Sauce and Linguini Alla Trapanese.  Sounds pretty fancy, huh?  Well it was!  And worth every minute of the hour and half it took me to prepare it.  It could have just as easily been called Prosciutto and cheese stuffed chicken breasts with a lemon sauce, and Linguini tossed with garlic and cherry tomatoes.  Actually, now that I think about it, that sounds pretty fancy, too.

(See how mine looks almost exactly like the one in the picture!  La ti da for me!)

Recipe from the Summer 2010 issue of Everybody Cooks, a magazine published by Dierbergs grocery store in St. Louis.

Involtini Di Pollo

1 C Italian seasoned bread crumbs
3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/4 C grated parmesan cheese
6-8 thinly sliced prosciutto
6-8 thinly sliced mozzarella
1 large tomato, seeded and diced

Slice each chicken breast in half, horizontally.  Remove any extra fat.  Place chicken between plastic wrap and pound until it’s a 1/4 inch thick.  Place bread crumbs in a dish, lightly coat each chicken breast with bread crumbs.

Take each chicken breast and top with a slice of prosciutto, mozzarella, tomato, and parmesan cheese.  At the narrow end of the chicken, carefully roll each chicken breast to hold the filling.  Secure with wooden toothpicks.

Grill the chicken over medium-high heat for 5-7 minutes per side, or until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees.  Once cooked, allow to rest, then slice and drizzle Limone Sauce over.

Limone Sauce

Juice of 2 lemons
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 tsp fresh oregano, finely chopped
Salt & Pepper to taste
1/4 C extra virgin olive oil

Whisk together the first four ingredients.  Add oil in slowly until well blended.

Linguini Alla Trapanese

3-4 TB extra virgin olive oil
3-4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 container of grape tomatoes, halved
Salt & Pepper to taste
1 lb whole grain Linguini
1 tsp dried basil
1/4 C grated parmesan

Cook linguini according to package directions.

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat.  Add garlic and cook for 30 seconds.  Don’t let it burn!  Add tomatoes and cook for 4 minutes, reduce heat to Low.  Add the basil, and salt and pepper to taste.  Once the linguini is cooked and drained, add the linguini to the skillet and toss with the tomatoes and garlic.   Sprinkle with parmesan cheese.

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I know I said it took awhile to prepare, but don’t let that scare you!  It was easy and tasted better than anything you could get in a restaurant.  Make it tonight.  DO IT.

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I don’t know what got into me today, it must have been that delicious dinner last night, but I also wrote about our trip to the Titanic Museum in Pigeon Forge, TN.  Three recipes in one day PLUS a post about the Titanic Museum.  I am out of control!

Read all about it here!