Thursday 13

OK already!! I know I am not posting as regularly as some of you bloggers. It is just too much pressure. Things have been great here, just crazy-busy. I have not watched a TV show all summer. Not even the Today show. Our world could be crashing around us and I wouldn't have a clue. I rely on P to tell me anything important. Hopefully he has not held out on me. Here is an update of our important lives:

C has gone to baseball camp, hitting camp, basketball camp and swim lessons. He is turning into quite the athlete and we were all super proud of him winning the hustle award at basketball camp. The boys have gone to VBS - R was finally old enough to go this year and they both loved it. In addition to my regular Pilates classes, I taught a group of high school students this month who were in town for a special program. I had a group of girls and a group of boys. They were hilarious. Seriously. One boy kept referring to me as "our pretty little Pilates teacher" or "the beautiful Pilates teacher", one boy took my picture (yes, I realize it may be on the internet by now). This was ridiculously funny to me as I recalled it to my girlfriends. The really funny thing, she pointed out, is how I could totally be their mother!! Not so funny anymore.

Anyway, those nights involved teaching 3 classes per evening. I also am getting ready for a two-week vacation involving three different destinations. Hosted our book club's birthday bash this week (lovely, really), and in the beginnings of a business venture with two girlfriends (details coming soon). So, there has been a lot going on.

I LOVE to read. I love just having a stack of books waiting for me. Here is a list of thirteen books I'd like to read:

1. Honeymoon With My Brother (kind of cheating, since I started it last night)
2. The Book of Jane
3. Water for Elephants
4. Citizen Girl
5. The Pact
6. The Covenant
7. Wicked
8. I Capture the Castle
9. ComeBack
10. Grownup Girlfriends
11. The Color of Water
12. When Crickets Cry
13. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nightime

Move Over Starbucks

There has been a request for Lydia's Homemade frapps. We here at the Shopaholic and Mommyhood blog are all about service, so since the recipe is readily available - on my counter where it basically stays (you would think I would have it memorized by now) I will share it with my faithful fan following. I am aware of the risks associated with sharing this - the fraps will no longer be a special treat I can whip up for friends. Now, you can enjoy them at any old house. Maybe not in the special glasses with special straws available at our house. Come over, let me whip some up for you.

"Yummy" Mocha Fraps

In blender, combine the following:
1 cup crushed ice
6 oz nonfat milk
4 heaping tablespoons instant hot chocolate
1 tablespoon instant coffee crystals (I use decaf, especially when sharing with C and R - yikes!)

Blend. Add more ice to thicken, add more coffee for a richer flavor. I top with whipped cream, from a can of course. You can also make them non-skinny by using milk with fat, or a double shot with more coffee, etc - you get the picture. They must be requested Starbuck's style - I'd like a decaf skinny mocha frap with whip. Enjoy!

The Cure for the Shopaholic

Just wanted to give you a little taste of what shopping with a 5 year old boy and a 3 year old boy after two nights of sleep-overs with their buddies (meaning sleep deprivation) is like. For some reason, in the midst of the madness, I recalled a similar moment in the past in which I am pretty sure the words I will not shop with both boys after sleepovers again ran through my head. Hmmn, a little too late with the memory.

The boys had a wonderful time with their buddies and as is the norm for sleepovers, sleep was comprised. But, I was determined to do a little shopping. I had already narrowed it down to the bare minimum - 5 stores. That was it. Some of them would just be a "walk in, look around, walk back out". 5 stores. Is that really too much to ask? Yes, it is.

We started off the day like this:

C: How many stores today, Mommy?
Me: 5! That's it! Only 5! Some of them will be really quick ones, too. I have a sticker for you and your brother for each store. If you are well behaved, stay with me, do not grab any merchandise and have best behavior, then you will earn a sticker and at the end of our little adventure, you can each get a giant bug - we have one spider and one praying mantis.

C: So, how many minutes will we be in each store?
Me: Not really sure. Maybe 10 minutes in one, and 1 minute in another.

As we arrive in the parking lot, R announces he has to go potty. Luck was on our side. The restroom was two doors down from the store I wanted to shop in. We all went potty and headed to shop. Right for the clearance section. Found a few things, headed for the fitting room.

R: Mommy, I have to go potty.
Me: What?
R: I have to go potty.
Me: Really? Because we just went potty like 2 minutes ago.
R: Yup.

Off we go. Again. We all go potty. Back to the store. Head straight for the fitting room where girl has held my items. I start to try on.

C: Mommy, I have to go potty again.
Me: Seriously! What is it with all this pottying? You really have to go again? Can you wait 5 minutes?
C: Need to go now.

Back to the potty. I have not caught on yet to the allure of these restrooms. Sure, they have automatic flush and sinks, but really. C has a crisis because the automatic toilet won't stop flushing while he is trying to go. I manage to get the door unlocked and go in and save him from the tidal wave.

Back to the store, purchased my items, cut the store list to 2 and got out of there. Boys got their bugs. I'm not even sure I like to shop anymore.

Just Call Me Dixie

Ok. I'm back. I have taken a leave of absence from blogging, but (audible sigh of relief), I am back. Seriously, it has been 13 days since my last post. What is going on here??

I only claim the excuse of busyness,which is really not an acceptable excuse, because, really, what young mother living in 2007 is not busy(emphasis on young)? I have had a wonderful visit with family, a trip to Memphis, a trip with the boys to Branson, and lots of T-ball games, teaching my classes, swim lessons, playdates, etc. No time to sleep, much less blog.

So, I am making an attempt to re-enter the blog world. No promises on frequency, but I will try to keep you updated on the big stuff (and the little stuff, too).