Easy as peanut butter pie..

Tonight are neighbors are cooking us dinner, but there is a twist. We are eating it over at our house. Because we have three small children (they do not) we decided that it would be easier to have dinner at our place after the kids go to bed. They are doing all of the cooking and I'm just setting the table. I LOVE to entertain so I am so excited about the idea of setting a wonderful dinner table without having to do the cooking. Of course, I can't "have" people over without making something. So...I've decided to make my all-time hands-down favorite recipe of all time-Cooking Light's December 2001 Peanut Butter Pie. Those of you who know me well, know that I love peanut butter-this pie is heavenly and the great thing about it is that it makes 2 pies. You make one for someone else and keep the other one for you. It tastes like a Reeses Peanut Butter cup without the guilt! So here's to an evening of good food and wine, great company and even better conversation. I also included a picture of the table (which is already set!)

What were they thinking?

J Crew is calling this fashion but it looks like something from the Dukes of Hazzard if you ask me! Also, another favorite store is selling this as decorative art-I wonder who's buying these things....

my son, the great procrastinator!

I had to post this sweet picture of Harrison...he was about the age the twins are now and it made me smile.....I still remember this day. It was a cold March morning and he had tried blueberries for the first time and LOVED them! I'm so lucky that I get to stay home with him and the boys (I treasure these days!)Anyway, our sweet little boy has become quite the little game player lately. After we put the twins to bed at night we usually go outside to play for a while before it's time for bath, books and bed. Harrison dislikes coming inside to get ready for bed and will usually prolong the event by asking for a drink of water. Then it's off to bath, he wants to stay in the tub until he's all wrinkly and will protest getting out....last night he was trying to prolong things further by playing the "kissing game". While I was putting his pj's on, he kept saying, "mommy, I kiss you" or "daddy, I kiss you" or "mommy, I kiss your eyes, ears, nose," etc, you get the drift. He then tries to sneak in a 3rd book (even though we usually read two books). When it was finally time to tuck him in, he kept trying to give "kisses". "I kiss you goodnight, mommy", "again", "more kisses, mommy" he says. That boy is too smart for his own good! He knows mommy is not going to turn down kisses-which is why he has become the great procrastinator!

excuse me?...did you really just ask me that?

Last week the family headed to the Farmer's Market for a nice dinner outside to listen to music and enjoy the nice weather we WERE having. We, of course, got lots of stares and questions about the twins and even met a couple with twin girls who were the same age as the boys (she also shared with me that she was 13 weeks pregnant with their 3rd-YIKES!) Anyhoo.....we were eating our dinner of crepes (me), quesadillas (Harrison), and b-b-q (Dan), when a pleasant woman sat down at our table and proceeded to ask lots of questions. Then she got to the dreaded one....did you go through fertility treatments to have them? Now most of my friends know that I am very open about my whole fertility process in hopes of helping someone else who might be going through it...but a complete stranger, not so much. It's amazing how many complete strangers ask me this. It's really not an appropriate question to ask someone you don't know. I always reply with..."twins run in my family". My mom has two sets on her side. I surely wouldn't ask someone with one child how they conceived their children....

It's no olympic medal....

but I won 2nd place in my age division-female in the PPD 5K this morning. My friend Kara won 1st place in this division-woo-hoo Kara! and Amy won 3rd overall female. We ladies kicked butt! Just thought I'd share...it was a great run, now I'd like to try a half-marathon! I really like the Kiawah Island Half-marathon t-shirts-they rock!

my little preppy boys

For those of you out there who have little boys to shop for, you know how difficult it is to find cute boy clothes. It's fine if you want your little guy to wear sports-related or character clothes all the time. There's a time and place for all of that (like the playground) but I LOVE the preppy look on my little guys. I can't get my husband to adopt this fashion style, but my little boys are young enough not to protest it yet. My favorite look is the embroidered pants (whether its twill, jeans or cords). I absolutely love these cords from J Crew Crewcuts -although I won't pay the full price for these, I will be scouring ebay or jcrew.com in a couple of weeks when these go on sale. How cute are those little dogs on these pants? I would actually like some like this for myself too. Another great reason fall is around the corner-corduroys!! I love them and can live in them all season. To me they are so much more comfortable than jeans. As I sit here and daydream about fall, it is back up to 80 degrees and very high humidity. Oh well, at least I know it's around the corner-and how cute will my little guy look in these pants?

pajama party!

Today is just one of those days-it's pouring outside! I've decided to stay in all day in my pj's-besides tonight I have supper club and the theme is pajama party. We girls are going to go in our pj's, eat great food, play games and have girl talk! How great can that be? It's so yucky outside today. I've got my Pumpkin Pie Yankee Candle lit and the house smells incredible. Harrison and I may make some cookies later on. Sometimes I LOVE days like this. It seems that we have been insanely busy lately, so it's nice to slow down a bit. I'm also going to catch up on the Gossip Girl that I tivo'd last night while the boys are napping this afternoon. All in all, a great day awaits!

By the way, I have the above PJ's from Nick and Nora that my sweet husband bought for me a couple of years ago and I LOVE them. They are so comfortable and roomy that I actually wore them the entire time I was pregnant with the twins. They sell them at Target now (didn't back then) for a very reasonable price. Sorry honey!

it's an addiction, really!

I'm not one of those gals who buys-a-starbucks-everyday person, but now that September is here, it also means the return of my all time favorite-the Pumpkin Spice Latte. Oh, how I love the flavors of pumpkin, cinnamon, nutmeg and clove all brewed in one cup of coffee...Ahh, to me it also signals the beginning of a new season, that fall is here. It means that Halloween and Thanksgiving are just around the corner. When I was teaching, there was a Starbucks right across the street from my school. It was so easy to just hop on by before work to grab one of these delicious concoctions of a drink! Now, it's not so easy and I guess that's a good thing. However, there is a drive-thru Starbucks on my way to pick up the Mr. from preschool. Maybe, just maybe I will stop. I've got to limit myself though-at 200 calories and 5 grams of fat for a tall, non-fat, no-whip pumpkin spice latte-and not to mention over $3 a cup-it's an addiction that must be controlled. Besides, I've also got to hold out for my other beloved Gingerbread Spice Latte when it comes out in November!

more peas, please!

I have a confession to make-GASP!-I don't make my own baby food for the twins. Now, the reason I say this is because I DID make it for Harrison. You see, I do feel a lot of guilt with the twins-partly because I nursed Harrison and formula-feed the twins. (Not that there is anything wrong with formula-feeding, believe me I don't want to open that can of worms.) Although it did work the first go round with Harrison, breast-feeding did not work for me the second time around. Main reason being my body wouldn't produce enough milk for 2 babies....so I digress....Anyway, I don't feel as though it is worth the time (or the money) to make my own food for the twins given the price of organic produce down here. It definitely was a lot cheaper in NOVA. But what I have found is that the boys get more variety of foods than Harrison got. I love, love, love the Earth's Best Organic line of baby food. It's available at my local Target for around 50 cents a jar (a big jar).

Brady and Jack couldn't be any more different, but they both have loved everything from this line that I have given them.....plums, bananas and rice (together), peas and brown rice, corn and butternut squash, apricots and apples, raspberries and apples, sweet potatoes, you name it...they have eaten it. I really am hoping that they won't be the picky eater that my sweet Harrison has become. I hope that one day we will here the phrase "more peas, please!" often in our household! Here's to good eating....

"It's boootiful outside, mommy"

This is what Harrison said to me this morning as we went for a walk around the neighborhood before school...so sweet, that little boy! Ahhhhh, it felt like fall in the air as I went for my run this morning-60 degrees! It was AWESOME. There's just something about this weather that puts me in a good mood. This afternoon I ate my lunch on the back screened porch and did my sodoku puzzle without the ceiling fan on and without sweating. Loved it!

I want to share the following picture with you because this is what I always dreamed of when I was struggling to get pregnant. When I saw Harrison do this yesterday, my heart nearly melted. I feel so lucky and blessed to have such a wonderful family.

Lazy Saturday

Dan and Harrison headed to Charlotte this weekend to visit his sister, our niece and his parents while they were in town, so it was just the boys and mommy holding down the fort. We had a nice time together and the house seemed very quiet. This morning we took about an hour long walk just exploring the neighborhood (I walked to places I'd never been before). The boys napped while I walked, best of both worlds!

One of my neighbors asked me over for lunch, so it was nice to get out and socialize! We watched a little bit of football too. Good to see the Tigers won today! I wasn't really hungry for dinner, but decided that I should eat something-so cereal it was. I'm not much of a cereal lover for breakfast (I usually eat an english muffin with turkey or an egg) but every now and then I'll get a craving for my favorite cereal, Honey Bunches of Oats with Almonds, for dinner. It's so nice not to have to cook!

Well, it's 7:00 pm, the boys have been fed and have been put to bed, Bailey's been fed, and the laundry is folded. What to do with the rest of my time? I'm sure I'll think of something, besides US Weekly came in the mail today and there's a glass of wine with my name written all over it! (By the way, I have that skirt above and LOVE it-I wear it every Saturday to cheer on the Tigers!)

two steps forward, one step back

We have a lot going on in the magnolia household-for the past 2 1/2 months Harrison has been doing a great job with potty training. Honestly, I didn't think potty training him would be this easy! Last week he started preschool 3 days a week. He loves everything about it EXCEPT going potty. The boy will hold it the entire time without going. His teachers have started calling him "camel" because of his strong bladder. Well folks, today the camel sprung a leak. When I went to pick him up he had on different shorts. For some reason I feel like I did something wrong when this happens! I quickly told him it was OK and that "accidents happen" to quote Elmo's Potty Time, but not sure what to do here. I asked him why he didn't want to go potty at school and he said "I'm scared". He pee-peed before we left for school too. Any thoughts?

These are a few of my favorite mommy things...

There is so much baby gear out there, but this is my list of favorite mommy things....

1. My Maclaren Twin Techno-I couldn't live without this when going to stores, museums, parks, etc. And I also have it in the Clemson Orange color!

2. Boudreaux's Butt Paste -this stuff gets rid of diaper rash like no other. Plus, it smells good too!

3. Skip Hop Pronto-this wipes and dipes holder plus changing pad fits right in my bag for easy access to diaper changes.

4. Baby Jogger Q Series Triple Jogging Stroller-because somedays (like today) I wouldn't have left the house without this. Like I've said before this "machine" is the only way to take all three kids on a power-walk in the neighborhood.

5. Honda Odyssey Minivan-not really a baby "item", but it really is the only way to get around with 3 small children!

6 and 7. A glass of Fat Bastard Wine and an US Weekly-because at the end of the day-we moms all need to treat ourselves!

Seriously? Seriously...

OK, is it a full moon? How many random things can happen in one day? Where do I begin? Could it be the 4 hour excursion to take Brady to the doctor downtown (scheduled appt) only to be seen for 5 minutes by the doctor! By four hours I mean, 20 minutes to get there, 3 hours of waiting and 5 minutes seeing the doctor, 10 minutes to wait for the elevator to get to the car and 20 minutes to get home....

Then when I got home, it was time to cook dinner. While doing that Harrison fell asleep sitting up at the table, we found ants in the pantry and Dan stepped on glass in the garage (see post from last week) UGH....oh, and Harrison had an accident (he hadn't had one in weeks, that boy was so tired).

Then while we were feeding the twins after dinner Jack spit up his entire bottle all over me, himself and the chair...drink anyone?

Sorry to be so whiney! Just needed to vent....

Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad!

37 years ago today you were married! Thanks for being the role models of a wonderful marriage! Here's to many more...I love you both!

dad, my sister Paula, mom, me

Come Back Jack!

My sweet little Jack is crawling already-now I know that 6 months is not too early to crawl, but big brother Harrison crawled at 9 months, so I guess I was expecting the same for the twins. Not so much! Jack is all over the place, he's so little and can get places pretty quick. Brady (the bigger twin) is not ready to crawl yet, which is fine by me. It's so funny-with Harrison I was in such a hurry for him to do everything, now I wish it would slow down. I'm not ready for them to be crawling now-this is when it will really be DOUBLE TROUBLE!

So, here's the question I pose for readers out there. I used to make fun of people who owned those "kiddie jails", now I may be the proud owner of one to keep the boys safe and contained. What do you think of these?

a day in the life...

Why is it, when I'm going to have a gathering at my house I try so hard to keep my house clean, SOMETHING ends up happening? 3 things happened today that required major clean-up.

1. I was making a batch of formula for the twins and when I went to shake the container, formula went everywhere-I guess it would help if I put the top on!

2. My 3 year old decides he wants to stand up to pee-pee on the potty and gets pee everywhere because of a bad aim....geez, these men and their aims!

3. Last but not least, as I was enjoying my hot cup of coffee this morning, I missed my mouth and spilt it all over my shirt and the floor. Yes, I missed my mouth!

If you've read my 100 things post you know that I.am.clumsy!

So, the house is now clean and there are no signs of formula, pee or coffee on the floor. The food is mostly made, sangria is chilling in the fridge, laundry is folded and all boys are napping! Hopefully, nothing else will happen before the ladies come over for bunco tonight!

Addendum: Well, as I was getting drinks out of the fridge that we have in our garage, I dropped a 6 pack of perrier and glass went everywhere (in the garage). This happened right before people started arriving. I honestly didn't want to hold anything else the rest of the night! Just one of those days...

No more gym memberships for me...

I've been running about 3-4 miles in the morning before Dan goes to work, but lately it's been dark when I go. It's only dark for a few minutes into the run and it is actually nice to see the sun rise. But it has me thinking about when it gets cold. It won't be cold for a while, but it will eventually be too chilly to go running at 6:30 am and too dark to go when Dan gets home from work and the kids are all settled...soooo my neighbor told me about Exercise T.V. on Comcast On Demand. It's so great! I just pick the work out I want to do (they have several, I did Turbo Sculpt this morning-kind of like Body Pump at the gym) and I can do it in the comfort of my own home. I had a gym membership before we moved back to S.C. but now I don't need one. I feel like I've gotten a great work out everytime I've done one. So if you have On Demand, check it out!

Harrison's First Day of School!

Harrison had a blast at his first day of school in the 3's class! His teacher said he kept asking to go outside-that's my boy! I got to go grocery shopping with 2 kids instead of 3 during preschool. It actually was a little easier. I did miss him though! Thought you might like to see his "First Day" Slide Show...

These shoes were made for walkin'...

Ahh, a new school year-and with that comes brand new shoes. Harrison's school (which starts tomorrow) has a no-croc policy because of kids complaining of mulch in their shoes from the playground and the fact that they use the school gym sometimes. Anyway, the UPS man delivered his new shoes just in time for tomorrow. It's so strange to see him in sneakers because the boy has been living in his crocs all summer-he loves them. I must say I'm going to miss them too because he could put the crocs on by himself.

I went with the New Balance 992's because I have them myself and LOVE how comfortable they are. And, because I am a mom of 3 BOYS, this may be the only item of clothing that my boys can have like me. I think he looks so cute too, just had to share...

Go Tigers....Boo Seminoles!

In preparation of the big game tonight, Brady wanted everyone to know what he thought of those Seminoles down in Florida.

Here's to a brand new season! Now let's beat those Seminoles....go Tigers!

Farewell to Summer....Not Really

Even though Labor Day officially marks the end of summer...school starting, no more white pants...it's not really the end of summer down here in the coastal south. It's going to be hot for a while longer. Because it's been so hot, I decided to make one of my all time favorite salads for a light Sunday supper last night....Cobb Salad. I had to be creative because Dan doesn't go for blue cheese so I added monterey jack, and I'm trying to be healthier, so sans bacon it was. It was the perfect ending to "official" summer, not to mention pretty to look at.

Boys Photo Shoot

I decided to take the opportunity to play around with my camera and do an impromptu photo shoot with the boys today. Just thought I'd share...

Check out more pics here.

Oh How I Love Thee....

I honestly don't know how it happened...but I LOVE college football! I was so excited that this weekend officially marked the beginning of college football. I was in the height of my twin pregnancy last football season and this is when my love for the sport really took off. I've always been into my Clemson Tigers playing, but last year I began to watch other rivalries and teams play. My husband didn't know who I was wanting to watch all those games with him. My theory is that because I was carrying two little baby boys that I had an enormous amount of testosterone flowing through my body, hence the fascination with the pigskin sport! Well, my love continues and I am secretly happy that it's been pouring down rain all day so we can stay in and watch games all day.

So, here's to another college football season. I hope the Tigers can pull through this season, since it will be impossible for them to be overrated!

C-L-E-M-S-O-N T-I-G-E-R----S Fight Tigers! Fight Tigers! Fight! Fight! Fight!