BECAUSE I"M NOT GETTING FAT FAST ENOUGH...

BERRIES!

We are just nuts for berries at my house. My kids go through a pint of blueberries a day and at least 3 cartons of raspberries and 6 cartons of strawberries a week. Needless to say the berry consumption is rockin' my grocery bill! I also love, love, love blackberries but I sneak them from the kids because they are $4 for a tiny container. We like to make smoothies and shakes with the berries. I have even started buying no sugar added ice cream and lowfat yogurt for the shakes (I buy Bluebell so you know it's delish...and expensive!). The kids like to eat the berries by themselves as well for snacks. I have eliminated all junk food in my house. These kids have been eating so much while at home this summer I had to do something about the snacking situation.

OUR WEEKEND

Friday night Duane and I went to see Mamma Mia and I can tell you right now you can wait for the DVD.  I wasn't disappointed with it but it wasn't great, either.  Pierce Brosnan's singing voice made me want to hide under my seat.  They seriously should have dubbed over that but he is fun to look at so it wasn't all bad.  We should have gone to see The Dark Knight again but I wanted to see it so I guess I can't complain (but I just did, didn't I??).  Anyway, after the movie we went to Zea for a late supper (nevermind the fact that we had already had an early dinner at home...oink.)  As usual, it was just great!  We ordered the Mediterranean Hummus with roasted garlic, sun-dried tomatoes , and feta cheese and it is just sooo good.  We also ordered the grilled portabello mushroom panini and I was just blown away at how flavorful it was.  Overall, it was a fun night out.

Saturday we took the kids to The Aquarium of the Americas in New Orleans.  The kids loved it and they were generally very well behaved and then we strolled through RiverWalk and got some treats.  Very enjoyable!  Unfortunately, when I started taking pictures at the aquarium the batteries died and there were none to be found in that place so I only got one of the kids playing on the slide near the IMAX (that's Andrew in the plaid shorts).  I need a new camera so badly!!

ICE CREAM CONE CUPCAKE

Since my obsession with cupcakes is growing ever stronger, I was thrilled to find these cupcakes baked inside of ice cream cones on CUPCAKES TAKE THE CAKE.  These are adorable!  Sophie has a birthday coming up in October and the idea wheels are turning.  I think I have to make these!

POOL TIME!

Duane and I had to bring Andrew to Baton Rouge on Tuesday so the girls spent the day with Kari and Aiden.  They had a great time!

GLASSES!!

Well, it seems that Sophie takes after her mother and is as blind as a bat!  I was 9 when I got my first pair of glasses but I needed them WAY before that.  At least glasses today are really cute.  When Sophie told her 8 year old cousin, Gracie, that she was getting glasses she said, "Oh, you are sooo lucky!  I've always wanted glasses!" Now we can wait and see who gets braces first :)

NANCY DREW

Sophie has been reading the Nancy Drew mysteries this summer.  She just loves them. She has been going through one of them every couple of days (but recently took a 2 day break to read The Secret Garden).  I read them all when I was her age...well, come to think of it I was 9 and she is 7 so around her age and my mother kept them all until they were destroyed when the house where they were stored burned down in the early 80's.  I am so happy that Sophie loves Nancy and all her detective escapades because I loved her, too.  I thought they were just the most exciting books and I thought Nancy was the smartest and prettiest girl I would ever meet in my whole life but I think I was wrong about that.  I think Sophie is that girl ( and my little Lillianne!).

SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE

Ok....so I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the summer series So You Think You Can Dance. There...I said it.  It is so incredible to watch these amazing kids dance.   They get to work with some unbelievable choreographers and the only downside is you have to watch the annoying Mary Murphy (a judge) put in her two bits about everyone with her irritating high-pitched squeal but it is a small price to pay for such wonderful entertainment.  I've posted my 4 favs but I really love the blonde and she is a Utah gal from Orem.

LITTLE ARCHITECT

Andrew is always building things and designing new tracks and roadways for his trains and trucks. This is his tower of tapes.

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!!