Past Posts...

For those of you who are bored to death... I have added many old posts - from before we even blogged. We started this whole journaling thing as e-mails to the girls, so you will notice they sound/feel different - more like letters. Anyhoo - in an effort to make the blog from the beginning, we have added them. If you are bored out of your gourd, you can check them out - just click on the calendar on the right and click 2006 and 2007 where they are several. I'll add more in a bit.....

Blog to Book?

A fellow blogger and I enjoyed a seminar on 2 year-olds last night and hit a local Mexican restaurant for some dinner. We talked about blogging - who we do it for, what it means to us and others. I told her how much I would like to turn my blog into a book - not something you can buy at the airport, but a legacy for the girls. Well, after a few minutes of googling this morning, I found a site that can turn your blog into a book - www.blog2print.com. Does not look pricey and seems to be super easy. I have no idea of the print quality or any real hard info on the site, but I think the service is terrific. So, I thought I'd share this. If you've already done this or have any thoughts, please share!!

What's new here...

It really seems like every day the girls are doing funny things - things that just make you laugh. I love this age! I love how everything is so new to them. I love the independence they have - if you tell them to get in the car they do it! I love how they love life and enjoy everything. Here are a few cute/funny/special stories we've had lately.

- Too Funny! The girls babysitter says everything is too funny. Well, guess who now says everything is too funny!! Erin is too funny - Ev is too funny - I am too funny - everything is too funny.

- We went to the beach on Friday and had a blast. We had peanut butter and jelly sandwiches on the sand. How you can enjoy a sandy pbj still amazes me. Well, as usual, they loved their little sandwiches. Erin put hers down and a seagull swiped it! Just like in her Curious George book. She was even able to communicate this to Dave when he got home from work. Her communication skills are ever growing and expanding!!

- I Did It! The girls love to profess when they do something. Well, at lunch the other day the girls were enjoying salami. Erin decided to put the whole piece of salami in her mouth and worked at chewing it for a long time - and finally swallowed it. She then proclaimed "I did it!" Well, darling, I am glad you managed to swallow your whole piece of salami without choking - good job!!

- Yesterday right after naps Erin was jumping on her bed and banged her tooth on the crib and hurt herself. The amazing thing was that she could tell us what happened. This is a very new skill - and really helps us know what the heck she is thinking!

- Tonight at dinner Erin very quickly ate her hot dog and wanted more. I told her there was no more - which made her a little sad. Ev then handed me her fork with a bite of hot dog on it - for Erin. So sweet.

- Evelyn loves cashews. She might be one of those people who picks them out of a mixed nut bowl.

- The girls are really enjoying listening to music - this weeks favorites include: Snuggle Puppy, 5 Monkeys Jumping on the Bed (2 different versions) and Wheels on the Bus. One day I listened to 5 Monkeys for about 2 hours straight and almost drove the car off a cliff.

That's my monkey!

My daughter (Evelyn) has hijacked my monkey.

I have always loved Curious George - since I was a little girl. Never had an interest in dolls - it was all about the monkey.

Well, my girls have fallen in love with my friend, and Evelyn has literally stolen my favorite monkey. This is the monkey I have slept with for the past 8 years - since Dave bought him for me. Most nights I can steal him away and still sleep with him, but some nights she holds on tight - I think knowing I'll come and take him. When I do take him then Erin goes to my bed in the morning to bring him back to her sister. She seems to be in on the whole charade.

Note - this photo was taken prior to her obsession with Bob the Builder. Back in the good old days when she looked like a girl while sleeping.

Every Mom's dream...

Most moms dream of dressing their little girls in pigtails, lace, bows, pink and all things girly. Now, I am not that frilly of a person, but I would prefer not to have my daughters sleep in Bob the Builder pajamas. They have become Evelyn's favorite pjs - though I can't imagine why. They are hand-me-downs from my nephew - shouldn't that be a clue they are not for girls who carry around a pink pony? There is nothing I can do - she is a sucker for them. And, tonight even Erin wore them to bed.

And - don't you love the HUGE mosquito bites on her forehead - so feminine.

The Best Apple Pie EVER!

I made a terrific apple pie tonight - after we got back from the orchard. It was very easy and tasted amazing! I have an old fashioned peeler/slicer/ corer which helps move things along.

Crunchy Carmel Apple Pie

Ingredients for the Pie

• 1 pastry crust for a deep-dish pie 9-inch (homemade or store-bought)
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 3 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 6 cups thinly sliced peeled apples ( fuji or cortland are great - I like to use a mix)
• 1 recipe crumb topping (see below)
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans
• 1/4 cup caramel topping

Ingredients for the Crumb Topping

• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup quick cooking rolled oats
• 1/2 cup butter

Directions for the Crumb Topping

1. Directions for Crumb Topping: 1. Stir together brown sugar, flour, rolled oats.

2. Cut in 1/2 cup butter until topping is like course crumbs. Set aside.

Directions for the Pie

1. In a large bowl, stir together the sugar, flour, cinnamon and salt.

2. Add apple slices and gently toss until coated.

3. Transfer apple mixture to the pie shell (I remove the store-bought pie shell from the aluminum pie plate and transfer it to a 9-inch pie plate of my own, but you do not have to.)

4. Sprinkle crumb topping over apple mixture.

5. Place pie on a cookie sheet so the drippings don't drop into your oven.

6. Cover edges of pie with aluminum foil.

7. Bake in a preheated 375 oven for 25 minutes. Then remove foil and put back in for another 25 to 30 minutes without foil.

8. Remove from oven. Sprinkle pie with chopped pecans then drizzle with caramel on top.

9. Cool on a wire rack and enjoy warm or at room temperature.

10. Serve with a good vanilla ice cream - don't go cheap with generic ice cream!!

no posts lately...

Sorry there have not been many posts lately - things are so busy! But, I just hooked up a few - enjoy!!

Crazy Potluck...

Tonight we had a potluck dinner with several friends and their kids. It was a great time - but bedlam!! There were 12 adults and 8 kids and everyone had a blast!! Dinner consisted primarily of noodle dishes - the kids are all 2 and what does a 2 year old like better than noodles. Most of the kids enjoyed dinner around a cocktail table - check out the adorable photo!

We are so lucky to have such good friends to enjoy time with. I'll post photos as soon as I get them - I am sure they'll be adorable. SEND THEM TO ME FRAN!!!

Rain Rain Go AWAY!!!

Saturday was very hectic. I (Nancy) was the co-chair for my twins club resale - which has been a lot of work lately! But, yesterday all the work paid off. The only problem was it was the rainiest day in Chicago's history. That's right - it poured all day.

I got home around 2pm and could not park in our driveway - and barely got down the street. I parked a block away - everything was flooded. When the girls woke up from their nap they came downstairs and were flipped out by the water outside our door. We got their shoes on and they went splashing in our new "pool" for a quick couple of minutes. By dinnertime water was about 2 feet deep in the street and our driveway was totally flooded.

We were very lucky that we did not have any water in our basement. By morning the street was dry and though the gardens are still wet, normalcy is back on the horizon.

What a busy day!!!

Today was a blank slate!! And, boy did we fill it up!! Being Saturday we had an entire day with the whole family.

Our first big decision of the day was to decide on either vising Millennium Park or going to the Lincoln Park zoo. Since the summer is quickly turning into a cool autumn we decided to go to the zoo while we could still stand to walk around. We met up with some friends and their kids. In all there were 6 kids under 2 1/2, three double strollers, a packed picnic lunch and lots of animals to see. The girls just loved the primate house and pretty much every other animal they saw.

We must have walked several miles back and forth seeing bears, penguins, giraffes, lions, and many more critters that leaped off the pages of the picture books we read to the girls at night. After eating a lunch of PB&J the girls wanted a ride on a kiddie train. We knew Evelyn would be all over that, but much to our surprise Erin didn't freak out at all. We were very impressed and proud of her. It seems like a silly thing to be so proud of, but there would have been NO way she would have done that just a few months ago. The zoo also has an old fashioned carousel which the girls really enjoyed. Again we were amazed at how much Erin enjoyed it. She wanted to sit on every animal she saw.

Our last stop at the zoo was the petting farm and Evelyn was fascinated by the cows. Erin liked the bees we could watch in the bee hive. By this time we were all so very tired from the fresh air and all of the walking. It seemed like we were all about to collapse yet we had to walk all the way back across the zoo to get to the car. The girls zonked out in the car which is a bit unusual since they never sleep in their car seats.


After a short snooze in the car we went to a park and even more energy was burned!! The park we went to was near our last house so we decided to drop in on our previous neighboors. Some were home but others were not. I guess that's what you risk when you drop in unannounced.

After catching up with some old friends we were off to dinner with Dave's aunt, uncle and cousin. I told you this was a cramed packed day.

Dave's relatives had a great time hanging with the kids and catching up with how much they have grown and changed. Since it was the all you can eat noodle extravaganza at the restaurant the girls went absolutely nuts on breadsticks and noodles - loving every minute of it.

That bottomless pasta bowl at the Olive Garden is awesome!!

Today...

I was right - Erin was not happy Dave went back to work!!

We had fun at gymnastics - I'll have to take some photos and blog in a bit so you can get a sense of 2 year old gymnastics...

Good day overall - but we did miss Dave.

The perfect weekend!

Dave got both Friday and Monday off and that has just been so much fun. We have spent so much time doing fun family activities... Here is a glimpse...

Bike Rides...
We rode our bikes to the Wagner Farm to see the cows and horses - they girls got nice and close and really had fun. Then, we rode to lunch and capped the trip off with a stop at the park. They really love being on their cool bike seats - and Dave and I can use all the exercise we can get.

Dinner out...
Dave and I had the luxury of having his mom watch the girls so we could have a super tasty dinner with our friends Tom & Susan. We got all gussied up and went down town. I had the best gnocchi ever - and my filet mignon was also perfect!! Dave had guinea hen and a lamb pasta. It was so nice to eat a meal slowly and just enjoy adults!

Trips to the Park...
It is amazing how the girls have progressed in their climbing abilities. Trips to the park are really a blast - and that is where they want to be all the time!! They just love it - especially Erin. She tells us when she wants to go and basically just leaves the house.

Friends BBQ...
We had a tasty dinner at our friends home. The girls had a blast playing nude in the pool. They just love spending time together.

There is so much more - and most of it was sweet nothings. It has just been a great weekend as a family. Tuesday will be a rude awakening when Dad is not there to help wake them up - I am sure Erin will not be happy.