do you know the muffin man?

This morning, I made some banana and blueberry muffins with my two little helpers. Overall, it was a relatively smooth process with minimal threats of banishment to another room because of not listening. While they were baking, the girls alternately checked on the muffins and asked me if they were done cooking every thirty seconds throughout the 25 minutes of baking. But, overall it was a success.

 

(And, yes, that is a coffee mug sitting by A. She was begging for some this morning. It was more milk than coffee. Don't you judge me!)

go, slackers, go!

This was one of those weekends that we were on the go from start to finish. On Saturday, we got up, got dressed and got in the car to head to Charlottesville for the UVA v. ECU game. We got to see a few friends before the game at the tailgates (and I heard "E looks *just* like you" at least a million three times).

The girls were great. They played with the Little People and puzzles that I brought them with minimal fighting or whining. At halftime, John took them to get ice cream, and after A finished hers, she laid her head on my chest and fell asleep. Seriously. Girlfriend was up from 2 to 5 AM on Thurday night/Friday morning at our house, but she slept through all of the yelling and screaming and music. After the game we headed home, grabbed some dinner and watched a bit more football before calling it a night.

A little popcorn, a few toys and ice cream at half-time? We're loving these season tickets!

Today we headed out to Cox Farms, which is a local pumpkin patch that has all these cool slides and farm animals and all sorts of stuff. It opened at 10. We got there at 10:15 and it was already packed and there was a traffic jam to get in. But we had tons of fun running around in the gorgeous weather. We did a lot of sliding, watched a cow milking, I painted the girls faces and we generally ran ourselves silly. We were going to eat lunch there, but the lines were so ridiculous that we left and went to this BBQ place nearby that we love. Let me tell you, BBQ travels well...but when it's fresh and hot and you are starving it is DIVINE!

At the gate and rarin' to go...I don't have to tell you that E picked her hair accessory out this morning, do I?
In front of the VA State Fair's Biggest Pumpkin Winner

Slip slidin' away


My face-painting handiwork...don't laugh...we had to fight E tooth and nail to take it off tonight


Attempts at good shots of the fam

The rest of the day was spent napping, watching the Skins lose, grocery shopping (for me and E) and playing outside (for John and A). We had a great steak dinner, kettle corn from Cox Farms for dessert and then it was time for baths and bed.

Luckily, the fun doesn't end tonight! The girls don't have school tomorrow, so I'll be hanging out with them. We're headed to Arlington to see a friend and then meeting up with Marathon Mom and her clan (where I will finally get to deliver a "Welcome, Meredith!" meal...even though Meredith is now over a month old. Luckily she's well-versed in my slacker ways...so, better late than never.

tropical storm? schmopical schmorm!

Despite Hanna moving northward through Virginia on Saturday, the Slackers thought it'd be a great idea to have a family outing to the Virginia vs. Richmond football game. John, working in concert with the Internet, local weather stations and his friend in Charlottesville, determined that the rain would end in there around 12:30 PM, which would allow us to enjoy a soggy, but rain-free game. I was skeptical to say the least...but figured it'd be something to do rather than being trapped in our house all day. So, we threw on our best Virginia garb, several changes of clothes for everyone, dosed the kiddos on dramamine (the road to Charlottesville has been a particular puke-y one for the Slackers) and off we went.

It poured as we drove down. We saw a car hydroplane. It was not looking good for us. When we met Uncle Matt and Aunt Noreen for lunch at a Charlottesville market, it was still raining. And then, around 1 PM, the skies cleared up. No more rain. In fact, it was downright sunny.

The game itself was fun. We stopped by and saw my friend, Pam's family, and Jenn's husband, Brian. The game was pretty empty, so the girls had a little room to play up in the stands. John miraculously got A to nap, which was needed. Things didn't run as smoothly as when we went to the baseball game, mainly because the diaper bag was filled with raincoats and spare clothes rather than toys. But we made it through the game...and have the pictures to prove it!

a sign of things to come

Yesterday was bee-you-ti-ful outside! It was in the 70s and sunny. So, for dinner last night we had a cookout. We grilled burgers, dogs and brats (can you guess who went grocery shopping this week?) and ate out on the back deck. The girls were thrilled to play on the swingset while we cooked and cleaned up after dinner. It was a great way to spend the evening ... I look forward to doing it more as the weather gets better.

And speaking of warmer weather...it has come to my attention that bathing suit season is quickly approaching. (Thanks, Poppop, for shopping for Dora bathing suits online wih E on Satuday. She has talked non-stop about swimming in her Dora bathing suit this summer!) Not only that, I'm headed to Ireland in a little over three weeks (yay!)...and if I want to pack something other than the three pairs of "real" pants and closet full of sweatpants that fit, I'm going to have to lose a few pounds.

Since I need the accountability of regular weigh-ins, I've started a new blog to document my progress (or -- horrors!-- lack thereof). Feel free to visit...or if you want to join in, let me know!

free refills would be nice

Last night, E got her "usual" at Cold Stone (kids cup of strawberry with a gummy bear mixin), and A and I split a Like It cup of vanilla with Oreos. Well, A and I finished ours before E did, which A was not happy about. While E did give her some bites of hers, this was not good enough for A. She grabbed our (empty) bowl and spoon, hopped off her chair and walked to the counter. She then started pointing wildly at the ice cream while holding up her bowl. It was so cute, albeit unsuccessful.

cooking...slacker style

While I'm no Iron Chef, I actually do enjoy cooking when I get the time to do it. However, being a working mom with two small children, I don't often get the time. That's why I love these two things, both of which I made this weekend. They are great, homemade recipes and they are easy peasy to make.

The carnitas are great to feed a crowd because it utilizes an inexpensive (and awesomely named) cut of meat. The Teets had Boston Butt on sale last week, so we were able to feed 6 adults and *still* have leftovers for under $7. It's also a great thing to have when you have people over since you aren't slaving over the stove. All I had to do to get this to the table was heat the tortillas, shred the meat and dump the guac, salsa, sour cream and cheese into my cute serving bowls. (Note: Thanks to Kiki for introducing this recipe to me! Also, Sweet Pea Chef has a version of this recipe on her site...it looks yummy, too!)

Carnitas
Take a Boston Butt (heh), trim the fat and salt and pepper it. Cut slits all over it and insert (about 4 cloves or so) garlic cut into quarters.

Slice an onion and put that and a whole jalapeno on the bottom of the crockpot. Throw in your garlic-studded Butt and a can of beer. Turn on LOW and cook for about 10 hours. Shred the pork and serve with corn tortillas and guacamole (and your other favorite fixins).

To make BBQ leftovers: threw the pork in a non-stick skillet with enough BBQ sauce to generally coat. Heated on medium until warmed through. Note: we used your basic BBQ sauce, and my BBQ-connoisseur husband thought it would have been better with a Carolina (vinegar-based) sauce.

The ice cream is great because...well, it's ice cream. I use the basic recipe that came with the ice cream maker because that whole tempered eggs things that the more involved recipes use kind of scares me. Also, this recipe is quick and super easy. E helped me make this while A was napping...and she loved telling Maura and Maggie that!

Thin Mint Ice Cream
2 cups heavy cream (well chilled)
1 cup whole milk (well chilled)
3/4 cup sugar
1 - 2 tsp vanilla (I use Nielsen-Massey Vanilla Paste)
1 sleeve of Thin Mint cookies, crushed (about 1 cup...minus a few for snacking!)

Mix the sugar and milk together until the sugar is dissolved. Add the cream and vanilla. Pour into the ice cream maker and turn on. Run for 20 - 25 minutes, adding the cookies in the last 5 minutes or so. Transfer to a separate container and freeze for a few hours to harden a bit. Enjoy!

numbers game

When E counts to twenty, it goes something like this.

1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10...11...12...13...14...15...17...18...19...20.

For as long as she has been able to count to 17, E has always omitted 16. It's dead to her.

In other news, the Slacker family had dessert tonight at the newly opened Maggie Moo's. 'Cause really, nothing says "It's ice cream time!" like temps in the 30s with windchills below that. Though she did not get her own cone, the big winner of the trip was A. She spent the entire outing walking back between me, John and E having a bite from each. E was such a good big sister...she shared so much of her cone with A and wiped A's face after every bite. They get along so well...I just hope it lasts once they hit the teenaged years!

so it's not business casual...

Mondays (and Fridays...and whatever other days I can finnagle, for that matter) are my work-from-home days. And, I admit it, I don't exactly dress to impress on these days. So what if I'm wearing sweats and a tee-shirt? So what if I haven't showered? My interactions with people are via the phone, e-mail and IM...they have no idea that I'm a sloth.

Today, however, our next-door neighbor came delivering Girl Scout cookies (which is another post in itself. Samoas, Thin Mints, Tagalongs...oh how I love thee!). As I was going to get my wallet, her younger snot-nosed brother shouts out,

"Miss Slacker! Are you still wearing your pajamas?"

Embarassing? A little bit. But it won't prompt me to change when I go pick the girls up from school or anything.

viva las vegas!

So, John and I made it back from Vegas in one piece. Actually, it wasn't all that wild of a weekend -- in part because we are older and more mature (heh), but mainly because we were both sick as dogs all weekend. We both had some sort of cold/flu thing that we most likely got from the girls (though Kiki is also a prime suspect), so neither of us felt good all weekend. On the one hand, it's such a bummer to be sick on our weekend getaway. On the otherhand, it was nice to sleep in as much as we wanted and not have to watch after the girls.

In a nutshell: Stayed at the Mandalay Bay. Got in Friday evening. Had dinner at Aurole, which was fantastic and had an extensive wine list. Woke up on Saturday and went exploring down The Strip -- started at the Wynn and walked down the Palladium, the Venetian and Caesars. After lunch, I thought I was going to die, so I napped while John went to the sports book. Then we both went down to the sports book for the Tennessee vs. Memphis game (of course!). Went to dinner at Trattoria del Lupo where we were seated in the most awesome spot ever for people watching. On Sunday, we walked around the resort, had lunch at Burger Bar and gambled a bit more before departing.

While it was a packed weekend I'm bummed that we did not get to go see a show. We had wanted to on Friday night, but with our delay, the time change and feeling totally cruddy, we ended up not going. Also, I think John was disappointed that we did not hit one of the great steakhouses out there for dinner. We opted out of making reservations for Saturday night because we weren't sure how we were going to feel...and while our dinner was delish, I think he would have preferred a hunk of red meat instead.

So, maybe next time...

ETA: Special thanks to both sets of grandparents! Grandmom and Grandad watched the girls most of the weekend, and Nonna and Pop-pop watched them last night (our flight didn't get in until after midnight) and helped this sleep- and coffee-deprived mama get the girls out the door this morning!

one of those days

Today was one of those days. You know...where no matter what you do you are always running late or forgetting something and generally not on top of things? This was mainly weather-induced today...we had freezing rain and it stopped traffic throughout the area. Literally, they shut down 395 going southbound for over an hour. Luckily, my commute home was *only* two hours tonight. Since I had left early so I could vote, work from home and then pick up the girls, I just didn't get a chance to work this afternoon. Guess there are worse things in the world than that.

The other thing is that I got one of these scales. It was on super sale from Drugstore.com (65% off) PLUS I got $10 off for it being my first order PLUS I got 12% back from Ebates. It was quite the deal. I was psyched!

And, then I stepped on the damn thing. I mean, I wasn't expecting single digits or anything...but man was it was a painful sight. Not giving you exact numbers but that whole let's just say that my whole "muscle weighs more than fat" excuse has pretty much been shot to hell.

But...as I sing to E every single night...the sun will come out tomorrow.

dear pizzeria uno

I know you are trying to emphasize that you use fresh ingredients and what not by decorating your restaurant with boxes of food, cans of tomatoes and bottles of wine. I get that. What I do not get is why a marginally decent pizza chain an Italian restaurant would need to display ginormous baskets of apples and oranges. Wine and pasta? Sure. Go for it. But, apples and oranges? What's so Italian/pizza-y about that?

But, if you are going to continue to display said baskets of fruit, you might not want to sit the Slacker family directly beside them in the near future. My ears (and those or our nearby diners, I'm sure) are still ringing from the shrieking and crying Sweet Baby A did in her effort to convince us to give her one. And, you might want to do a quick check of the apples when you get a chance. I think one of them might have a E-sized bite in it from when I had my back turned.

Oh, one more thing. If you are going to take for-freaking-ever to get us our food on a Thursday night when your restaurant is pretty much empty, you're going to have to give me a bigger glass of wine. The thimble-sized glass that you poured for me just isn't enough to take the edge off.

Thanks,
Slacker Mama

drink more, work less

So, it's New Year's resolution time! Usually, this means that I tell myself that I'm going to eat better, exercise more and lose weight. Like so many others, I've completely blown it by January 18th.

But...this year is different. As you can tell by the post title, I have lofty goals:

Drink more, work less.

I know what you are thinking. "Uh...Slacker Mama...that doesn't seem like something to aspire to." But you'd be wrong.

When I came back to work in July, it was supposedly for 32 hours/week. However, due to the workload that I have (and the culture of the company that I work for) it really hasn't worked out that way, and I usually end up putting a full 40 (if not more). Since I'm a hourly contractor, this has worked out nicely for the Slacker family coffers, but has left me feeling like my work-life balance is totally out of whack. And since this has increased my already guilt-ridden conscience about not spending time with the girls, I pretty much spend every second of my free time with them. Which means that the time I spend doing things for myself (or even by myself) has been reduced to pretty much nothing.

That's where my resolution comes in. I'm going to really focus on limiting the amount of time that I devote to work, by working more efficiently (she says as she blogs during work hours...loving the conference calls!) and by setting limits on when I work (developing and sticking to a schedule). In addition, I'm going to make a concerted effort to spend a little more time doing stuff for me, be it getting up a little earlier to work out or enjoying a glass (or three) of red wine at night.

So far, I've been pretty good at doing this. I'll keep you posted as the year goes on.

when all else fails...

Pack everything you own. I've...um...gained a few pounds of late, which has limited my already limited wardrobe. So packing for this trip has been a little more stressful than usual. I've just laid out most of what I'm going to pack on my bed. It's litterally anything I've bought in the last 5 months, as well as anything that recently has fit me, sort of fit me or I wish would fit me. I've also thrown in my workout clothes, for good measure. Because, really, being on vacation over Christmas is the perfect time to start an exercise routine!

where in the world is slacker mama?

As it is Friday, it's time for my requesite post where I tell you what far-reaches of the universe I am headed off to this weekend. For those of you who haven't kept track, here's a schedule of what the fall has been like for us:

September 8-9: Me @ Atlanta for Wedding; John @ UT
September 9-15: Home for John's B-day
September 22-23: Family @ Charlottesville (UVA vs. GT)
September 29-30: Me and John @ NYC
October 6-7: Me and E @ Home; John and A @ UT
October 13-14: Fam @ Charlottesville (UVA vs. UConn)
October 20-21: Me and John @ Asheville for Wedding

So this weekend's destination is...drumroll please...HAPPY VALLEY, for the Penn State vs. Ohio State football game.

"Wait a minute, Slacker Mama," you ask. "Penn State? Ohio State? Haven't heard those teams mentioned before. Why are you headed there?"

Well, dear reader, our friends (and frequent partners in crime) Sean and Autumn have invited us to the game. Sean's parents went to Ohio State, and therefore, Sean is a big Ohio State fan. (Seriously, is it any wonder that he and John got along so well first year, with their mutual hatred of Notre Dame and their similar love of schools that they do not attend?)

Anyhoo, we're shipping the girls over to Nonna and Pop-pop's tomorrow morning and headed up to Penn State for the game. For Sean's birthday, Autumn got him this awesome grill, so we'll be tailgating it up before and after the game. On the menu:

• Brats and kielbasa
  
• South Georgia Caviar
  
• Hummus and pita
  
• Veggies and dip
  
• Pasta salad
  
• Grilled veggies
  
• Steaks
  
• Chicken wings
  
• Brownies
  

Gluttony, thy name is Slacker Mama.

dixieland delight

We had an absolutely fantastic weekend! We arrived in Asheville around 5 or so. John's parents were five minutes behind us, so we met up and did a little Chinese firedrill for the last hour of the trip. Their car is in the shop, they had a new Volvo XC90 as a loaner car, which I got to drive. I love love love that car and totally want one now! My birthday is coming up next week....


Anyway, we checked into the Grove Park Inn, which is gorgeous. We met up with John's parents, Matt and Noreen, and Sam and Dave for a Seafood Buffet. I ate way too much (quelle suprise!), but it was yummy. After dinner, the guys headed back to the main bar to meet up with the wedding party while Sam, Noreen and I made our way to Elaine's Piano Bar. We had an absolute blast singing and dancing along with the dueling piano guys.

On Saturday morning, I woke up and headed down to the Spa for an 80-minute hot stone massage. It was absolutely amazing. If she had asked me if I wanted to pay $500 for 20 minutes more, I would have done so in a heartbeat. After the massage, I stuck around the spa for a few more hours. I did the contrast pool (alternating pools of 64 and 100 degrees), the sauna, the outdoor hot tub and had lunch on the sundeck. Then I headed back to get ready for the wedding.

The wedding was gorgeous. A friend of the groom is a minister and performed the ceremony, and his dad played the piano. The food was fantastic and their band was incredible. Lots of dancing by the entire Short clan. A couple of the wedding guests told us that they recognized Sam, Noreen and I from our hijinx at Elaine's the night before...slightly embarrassing, but whatever. After the wedding, we headed back to Elaine's and closed the place down. The end of the evening was a little fuzzy for me, but I'm pretty sure I had a great time despite EVERY request that I made to the piano guys being shot down. Bastards.

Today, we woke up and headed home. There was one 20 minute stretch where I thought I was going to die, but because John is AWESOME he did most of the driving and let me sleep pretty much the entire way home. The girls had a great time with Nonna and Pop-pop....but they definitely missed us. A didn't let me get more than a foot away from her without screaming bloody murder, though she's kind of a mess because all four of her molars are coming in.

But, everyone else is tucked in their beds and asleep...and that's where I'm headed as well. I have work meetings Monday through Wednesday that include dinners and the like, so most likely I will not be posting until later this week.

my mother is evil

How else could you explain her leaving a batch of brownies with chocolate drizzled over the top at my house yesterday? Especially when I had to work at home today...so I was home alone all day long with the brownies.

Luckily, they will no longer be able to tempt me...I ate most all of them over the course of the day. It was a dirty job, but someone had to do it.

a fun, fall weekend!

How do you know when you've had a fun, action packed weekend in the Slacker house? When the kiddos don't wake up until 8:15 on Monday morning! They were two tired pups, I tell ya.

We had a blast this weekend. On Friday night, everyone converged upon Chez Slacker...the entire O'Reilly clan, and Rick and Mark. The youngin's went off to bed, while E and Maura played and the adults had a late dinner. The girls headed off to bed while the boys stayed up 'til the wee hours of the morning.

Saturday, we got up, piled into the cars and headed down to Charlottesville for the UVA game. We had a prime tailgating spot and the weather was gorgeous! Though it was thrown together at the last minute, our tailgate was pretty nice. We had a sandwich platter from the Teets, Autumn brought cookies and made a 7-layer dip, and I contributed a spinach dip and one of my faves, Paula Deen's South Georgia Caviar!

Everyone had a blast at the tailgate...and then it was time for the game. The boys headed in, and the girls loaded up into the Suburban to head home. E was a bit confused.

"Where are we going, Mommy?" she asked.
"We're going home," I told her.
"But I thought we were going to the Orange Birginya?" she asked.
"We did, sweetie. But we're going to go home now."
"No, Mommy! We need to go IN! We have to go into the Orange Birginya!"

The girls all passed out on the way home. We picked up some Foster's on the way home, threw the girls in the tubs and then went to bed.

On Sunday, there was lots of playing outside, football watching, and finishing off of the dips from Saturday. The O'Reilly clan left in the late afternoon...we polished off leftovers from Friday night, and then the Slackers headed off to bed.

All in all, it was a great weekend. Good times were had by all.

E and Maura's Pajama Party

E, Maggie and Maura at the Tailgate

Watching the Band Play

E and Daddy

A and Maggie Hanging Out in the Shade