Dougie is 3!!!

Happy Birthday, Dougie!

Dougie learned how to put on his own coat!

5 months!

Here are some shots taken this morning...Kate's 5 months old!

She always has her fingers in her mouth! (Can she be teething? I forget....)

Sitting up pretty well now...

Dougie needed to get in on the action, too!

All Smiles!

I laughed out loud when I saw this pic...can she really be annoyed by her older brother already?

Mixed Emotions

So much is going on this week and I'm not quite sure where to put myself. 

I'll start with the best part; Liz is home!  Yesterday after school, I packed up the kids, picked Nik up from work and drove to Logan to pick Liz up from the airport.  She landed early and we got there right on time.  It was so good to see her.  We drove to her parents house and then went out to dinner before coming back home.  I haven't laughed that much since the last time she was here.  I miss her do much when she's in Ireland!  Liz bought Dougie and Aer Lingus plane (which makes airplane noises!) and he hasn't put it down since he got it.  He even brought it to the sitter's house today. 

Worst Part; Nik is leaving on a business trip.  He'll be gone for almost two weeks.  Normally this wouldn't bother me, besides the fact that I'll miss him...but Kate hasn't been sleeping and it has been really nice to have Nik's help.  Also, Dougie is at the age where he'll REALLY miss him and understands that he wont be home tomorrow or the next day...I'm hoping I can convince him that talking to him over iChat with video will be good enough while he's gone...but no one can replace Daddy.

Kids have been crazy at school since we've been doing MEA testing.  We're finally done and back to work this week and I've been having a hard time wrangling them in to do ACTUAL work.  I've decided that the best thing is to have them write about their pets...for the first time all day, right now they are quiet.

Time to head to lunch.

Look Who Learned Something New!

My current obsession

In one week...

I'll be driving here:

To pick up:

and then dining here:

I can't wait!

Yummmmm

I love when I make a dinner that looks like it could be served in a restaurant. Tonight I made Lemon Garlic Shrimp. It was SO good...I was tempted to eat a second helping, but I decided to save it and take it for lunch tomorrow.  

I'm so satisfied, I love making yummy things! Yesterday, I made my Butternut Squash Lasagna, that was good too. I'm on a roll these days!  

When I was taking pictures of our dinner, Dougie made sure to remind me to take a picture of his dinner!  (Don't forget mine, Momma!)

I usually don't make two dinners...he mostly eats what we eat or doesn't eat at all! (Who sounds like a parent, now?) But shrimp has a weird textures for kids, so Spaghetti Os it was!

Here's the recipe I used for the Shrimp dish...I changed it up a little bit from the original recipe...I'll include both!

1 (8 ounce) package linguine pasta (I used thin spaghetti)
1 tablespoon olive oil (I used probably two...)
6 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup white wine (I used White Zinfadel)
1 lemon, juiced (I used 1/4 cup lemon juice)
1/2 teaspoon lemon zest (didn't have a lemon...)
salt to taste
2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
1 pound fresh shrimp, peeled and deveined
1/4 cup butter (I used half this much!)
3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

*and I added a red pepper for some more taste!

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add linguine, and cook for 9 to 13 minutes or until al dente; drain.
Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat, and saute garlic about 1 minute. Mix in chicken broth, wine, lemon juice, lemon zest, salt, and pepper. Reduce heat, and simmer until liquid is reduced by about 1/2.
Mix shrimp, butter, and parsley (and red pepper!) into the saucepan. Cook 2 to 3 minutes, until shrimp is opaque. Stir in the cooked linguine, and continue cooking 2 minutes, until well coated.