My daughters are ten months apart. No, it wasn’t planned that way. Who in their right mind would plan it that way? I mean, most of us wouldn’t think that it’s even physically possible for that to happen. But I’m here to tell you that it is entirely possible. Eggs and sperm pay no attention to what is reasonable. They have their own agenda.
When Leela was born, Shannon was not even walking yet. Matter of fact, due to complications with Shannon’s birth, she didn’t walk until she was two years of age. So, for the longest time I had a baby on either hip. It was quite the workout.
And if it wasn’t for the fact that they were the sweetest most happy natured babies on the planet, I might have not kept it together mentally. To say it was hard would be putting it mildly. But the girls were such love bugs and I was so happy to finally have daughters, I saw the joy more than the work.
Those two babies were entirely precious. Little bundles of tulle, ribbons and more pink than was reasonable. And oh how they got along. Where one went, the other followed. They might not have been twins, but they might as well have been.
Both girls were born hair twirlers. And when they got tired at the end of the day, they would lay side by side, one finger on the other’s scalp and they would twirl each other’s hair. I used to marvel at how connected they were.
And then something changed.
I can’t even tell you when it happened. There was no major fall out. No cataclysmic event. Nothing. They just decided to not get along anymore. And my heart cracked in half.
They don’t hate each other, mind you. It’s the little things. The nit picky things. She took my Elmo. She’s breathing too hard. Her leg is touching mine. Don’t look at me. I can hear what you’re thinking and I don’t like it. I want to sit next to Daddy at dinner. She made the mess.
Little things that chip away at my sanity. My two babies that loved each other so fiercely when they were small now seem to repel each other every minute of the day.
And the things they fight over are so petty that it makes me want to cry sometimes. I wish I could get them to not only hear what they are saying to each other, but also understand the damaging effects their words can have on each other.
But empathy is not easily taught and I find myself preaching the same sermon over and over again. Hoping that one day it will all kick in and that they will adore each other again. Or at least tolerate each other. I’ll take that too.
Today is rainbow day at school. Each grade wears a different color. Shan’s class is orange and Leela’s is yellow. And even though it’s raining today, both girls were excited to get up and get dressed this morning. Luckily, the girls have a very colorful wardrobe. Finding their class colors wasn’t an issue.
As they got ready for their day, I watched them because something was different this morning. It was eerily peaceful. No bickering. No “it’s mine, not yours”. They even helped each other find the other’s shoes.
And as I was reveling in this bit of peace today, I couldn’t help but think that while this is rainbow day at school, maybe this is rainbow day at home too.
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Well, it’s been a long time since my last peek into my cart post. Rest assured I’ve been shopping, but it’s been sort of haphazard at best lately.
I don’t usually purchase white bread. But I wasn’t sure if the other girls that were coming to the party would eat wheat. So, white it was. White bread with Nutella and peanut butter cut into butterfly shapes. Because I’m a crazy mother who can’t serve a square sandwich, apparently.
Guess what I’m having for lunch tomorrow. Yup. Sandwich crusts. C’mon you know me better than to toss perfectly good food. Nevermind that I don’t like Nutella. I will for the next two days.
Not too shabby of a spread. Everything was on sale except for the fruit dip. I just didn’t have time to whip that up from scratch.
Oh, and I forgot to tell you what kind of party this was. A spa party. I’ll be telling you more about this in an upcoming post, but I promised the kids I’d give them manicures. CVS was kind enough to offer an ECB deal of $5 back for $10 spent on Sally Hansen polishes. That certainly was good timing.
After a relaxing day of working all morning for my real no kidding paying job, shopping at Shaw’s and CVS for the party and then throwing the actual spa party for very 
And while I might not have scored any amazing coupon deals today, this bottle of wine came with a rebate. So, I’m not totally off my game. I think.
As of late, when I attend mom blogging conferences it’s for one of two reasons. Either I’m going to them on behalf of companies to find bloggers that might be interested in working with them or I’m attending in a role as mentor/volunteer.
The Grand Floridian is quite spectacular. The most deluxe of the deluxe hotels at Disney World, the Grand Floridian is exquisitely posh and the staff oh so very gracious. When we visit Disney we usually stay at the economy hotels. So, this was a very decadent weekend indeed.
Our conference was held right at the Grand Floridian at their conference facility which is located just minutes away from the hotel rooms.
A food blogging conference wouldn’t be quite right without some food. We were treated to all kinds of whimsical creations made by the Disney chefs. While they had some delicious appetizers, I think most of us were enamored with the very magical dessert table.
And of course there was swag. Mostly edible swag. This was one conference where no one could say that they were hungry.
And if that wasn’t enough stuff to drag home, some of the attendees participated in a food swap. Myself and about 30 others brought food items that represented our states and we swapped in the Grand Floridian lobby.
Oh, I had to save room for one last thing in my suitcase. In Downtown Disney there’s this shop called Goofy’s Candy Company where they hand dip treats in chocolate. My kids just love the chocolate dipped Rice Krispie treats. And even though my suitcase was bursting at the seams, I couldn’t leave without those.
Yesterday was the first full day of actual conference sessions. It was a day filled with lessons on visual technology, work-life balance (ha! as if!) and a lot of food.
As a blogger, when your mom leaves a comment on your last post with this message, you know it can’t be good:
Does anyone remember the post from last December when I shared with you my prized find of a 
I’m not sure where the time went today. I distinctly remember waking up, getting the kids dressed and fed, ushering them out the door to the bus and that’s when the rest becomes a blur.
There are so many blooms on this tree that it forms a natural canopy around the back of the house. Isn’t it gorgeous? As I stood underneath the tree, the wind was gently blowing and the petals were cascading down around my head.
It’s so hard to believe that just weeks ago it was snowing. Spring is like a salve on winter weary skin. Don’t you think?
And where did these leaves come from? I swear they weren’t here a week ago. I guess I just got too busy to notice. Note to self, schedule time to be in the now before it’s the past.
My greatest discovery was that my chives came back. Not only did they come back, they hopped out of the deck planters and are now in various spots around the back yard.
I’m a girl who likes it hot. Steamy hot so that the windows fog. And of course I’m talking hot in the kitchen, just in case I need to clarify.
First things first. The meat. I’ve been pulling away from ground beef and substituting ground turkey whenever I can. But as you know, ground turkey can be quite bland.
After cooking up the meat, I added cheddar cheese, onion, cilantro and some salsa. Sure looks like we’re building a taco, yes?
And then I went all fusion. How about wrapping it up in an egg roll instead of stuffing it into a taco shell?
Some were baked to keep with the healthy theme of the deliciously seasoned ground turkey.
And some were deep fried because it just seemed like the right thing to do. I mean really, we are all about choice over here.
Which one would you have gobbled up first? The baked taco egg roll or the fried? Of course I had to sample both. I’m not going to give you a recipe if I haven’t tried it myself. What kind of blogger does that?
Yup, this recipe is a keeper. Just spicy enough. Not so much that it burned our taste buds off, but hot enough for us to grab a beverage. My fusion taco egg rolls.
