We toured a local dairy today with the Mom’s Club. The girls had a grand time.

Tessa is completely fearless – several people commented on that.  She makes me nervous because I can’t predict what she might do next.

Sabrina was only concerned about which cows made the chocolate milk.  Every time we came to a group of cows, she asked me to ask the cows if they made the chocolate milk.  We were at the petting and feeding area with 3 calves.  One of them started to poop.  Sabrina then declared “Look Mommy! That one is making chocolate milk.”

Do you drink enough water?  A lot of us don’t.  I drink a good bit of water every day but I’m sure that I could benefit from less iced tea and giving up my occasional diet soda. Most of the water I drink is straight out of the tap (we are fortunate to have good tap water here) but as a treat I sometimes get a flavored water to enjoy instead of soda.

I was so excited to be selected as an ambassador for Aquafina’s Flavor Splash campaign.  Every week for 6 weeks they promised to send me a new flavor to try.  Yummy flavored water appearing at my door as if by magic every week?  Sign me up!

Last week, which was the first week, they sent Wild Berry flavor.  I honestly wasn’t looking forward to that flavor.  I’ve had it from other brands and always found it over powering and too sweet and fake.  But when I cracked it open, I was pleasantly surprised.  It smelled strong but the flavor was quite mellow and pleasant.  It was a hint of berry rather than being hit over the head by it.  I liked it.

This week?  My favorite: lemon. I love lemon flavored waters and Aquafina’s is no exception.  The lemon is a pleasant background flavor and quite refreshing.

If you would like to pick up some Aquafina Flavor Splash, you can print out a $1 off coupon by clicking here and following the instructions.

Or you can leave a comment on my post here telling me what flavor you like when you drink flavored water (or that you’ve never tried it).  I have 1 coupon for a free 6 pk (I had fun last week giving out the rest to real life folks rather than my on line friends).  I’ll send that and a Wild Berry lip balm.  Just leave a comment by Friday morning at 8am central and I’ll do randomly pick a winner.

This post is in conjunction with a campaign with MomCentral.  I am receiving a 6 pack of Aquafina weekly for 6 weeks as well as some promotional items to give away.  I will also be compensated for my time with a gift card at the end of the promotion.  My opinions are my own.

It was a good weekend for technology in our house.  My not-very-old-but-poorly-refurbished-laptop has been on the fritz for 5 months.  It just randomly shuts down or gives me a blank screen.  Steve declared no more refurbished laptops.  Then decided just no more laptops right now since I don’t use mine to rove anymore (I don’t get out much…and when I do, I have my smart phone…and the laptops got too darn hot to actually put them on my lap).  So this is my new friend.  I haven’t named him/her yet.  Still getting to know it.  (Yes, I name my computers. This last one was Blue because it as navy blue…I never loved it enough to give it a good name.  The one before, which I did love, was Hera.  This one might end up Juno or Zeus but time will tell.)  It is a Gateway One – the touch screen function is pretty darn cool.  The CPU is integrated into the GINORMOUS screen (ginormous screen size…it actually has a quite thin profile).  The screen is so big I feel like I am sitting in the front row at the movie theater.  Huge.  Also? I haven’t used a mouse in years and miss my touchpad.

Then? Mr. Coffee got a girlfriend.  I won this pretty little Tassimo coffee maker on Secret Agent Mama’s blog.  How cool is that?  I tried it out this morning.  I’m not a huge fan of the first t-discs I picked up – Starbuck’s breakfast blend (it was fine just not as good as my normal coffee).  But then I’ve never been a fan of Starbuck’s plain old coffee.  I look forward to trying out some different things.  The discs are a bit pricey but the machine is quite slick and makes a nice, fast cup of coffee.  Can’t wait to play with it a little more.

The girls are even more full of sass than usual. Time outs are plentiful.

We went to another couple’s house for a cook out on Saturday.  Neither girl would eat anything.  Tessa screamed and squealed at the indignity of being forced to sit still during the meal (like she isn’t forced to do it at home) so conversation was difficult.

Sabrina and Tessa escalated the bickering last week to a new level.  Tessa has started to care more when Sabrina takes toys away so there has been much screaming and tug of war.  I’ve started piling the toys causing issues on the dining room table rather than refereeing.  By the end of the day there isn’t a lot of room left.

Sabrina’s favorite thing is to hoard toys that she wants to stake a claim on.  She used to pile them in the corner of the couch but once Tessa started getting on the couch she had to find a new tactic.  Now she puts as much as she can in her baby stroller and walks around with it piled high.  She looks like a bag lady.  I’m thinking of buying a black and white striped shirt and a whistle because I spend my entire day refereeing “I had that!” “That’s mine” “She took that from me!” “MAMA!”

All is quiet here.  I haven’t been thrown up on since Saturday.  No bodily fluids have required cleaning up since Sunday.  Hopefully, the girls are done with whatever this odd bout of illness was.  And hopefully Steve feels completely better soon too.

We realized that we’ve traumatized Sabrina with stories of the Easter Bunny bringing candy while she was sleeping.  Almost every night since Easter, we’ve had to assure that we won’t let the Easter bunny come into her room while she is sleeping.

Santa didn’t bother her.  So old men in red suits bearing gifts are okay but giant bunnies bringing candy cross the line.  Good to know where the kid’s boundaries lie.

Mother’s Day wasn’t exactly the relaxing day I envisioned but it was all good.  We had brunch – I was a little nervous because we were literally the only people in the restaurant but then we realized the rest of the world was at church and we were heathens.  After a nice brunch, we picked up my requested ice cream cake from Bruster’s (coffee ripple ice cream w/white cake – YUM).  Then I spent the rest of the day holding Tessa.  She wasn’t feeling well and just really wanted momma.  She was whiny and clingy and demanding – so I spent Mother’s Day being a momma which is pretty amazing when I think about the mother’s days I spent thinking I might never get that title.  Steve grilled dinner so I didn’t have to do a thing.  It was a good day.

Sabrina is a total girlie girl – I bought this pink twirly dress for her on Saturday and she never wanted to take it off.

Look what I got out of my little garden this morning.  Salad for everyone!

I went out with some girlfriends yesterday for a little lunch and shopping.  (Being moms, we all bought things for our children and nothing much for ourselves.)   While I was gone, Steve spent an hour working with Sabrina so that she could write my card herself.  (She doesn’t write at all…or didn’t until yesterday.)

The envelope

Inside the card:

Steve did the heart and helped Tessa with the T but otherwise it was all Sabrina.  I, of course, cried.  Heck, I’m crying a little now looking at it again.

Hope all of my mom friends had a great day!  And I hope all of the mom figures in my life had a fabulous day as well!

I took Elle’s advice and scrapped my tomatoes from seed plan.  There was just no way they were going to yield fruit in the year 2010.  Yesterday, I planted a beefsteak, a Roma, and a 3rd type I can’t remember all of which were already a foot tall thanks to Home Depot.  In a completely illogical move, I kept the tomatillos…most because I couldn’t find them already started anywhere.  Maybe we’ll have salsa verde by New Years.  My little herbs (not the out of control oregano and parsley) out front look like they largely drowned this weekend in the 16 inches of rain we got so I may have to go buy some already started herbs too.   I’m taking a wait and see approach on that.

I think the girls might have gotten as much water as the tomatoes.

I can totally see 12 year old Sabrina in this shot:

I might have mentioned once or twice that I love guacamole.  What better reason than cinco de mayo to tell you again how easy it is to make?

I had this pile of pretty produce so I made some.  Yum!

Smoosh (w/potato ricer or fork) 3 Haas avocados.

Throw 1/3 of an onion, 3 cloves of garlic, 1 roma tomato, the juice of a lime, the juice of 1/2 of a lemon, a quick squeeze of orange juice and a teaspoon of salt into a food processor and pulse.  If you have cilantro, throw it in too. If not, don’t sweat it.  Mix that up with the smashed avocados.  Then, crumble 2 slices of cooked bacon in there and mix.

Did I mention Yum!?

(Not my photo…taken from the AP.) I joked about apocalyptic rain on Saturday.  I had no idea how accurate it would prove to be.  I’m sure you’ve all read about the flooding in middle TN.  We are fine but what a horrific storm!  I don’t think I’ve ever seen it rain like that before.  It was a constant, heavy, torrential downpour.  It would lighten now and then but it didn’t stop for 40 hours.  We ended up getting 16 inches of rain.  Roads and yards flooded in my little town but I’m not aware of anyone with serious damage here.  Some roof leaks and some wet basements.  We were all trapped at home for the most part because the roads were closed.  But other areas around us had catastrophic flooding.  I’ve shared a lot of photos on Facebook.  Watching the news coverage drove home just how dangerous and horrific the situation was for so many near us.

(This one is from CBS News.) In the wee hours of Monday, the rain stopped.  Yesterday dawned sunny with clear blue skies.  Except for the humidity in the air, you wouldn’t know what the previous 2 days had been like.  Fortunately, my little town seems to be okay.  Many other areas can’t say the same.  The town we lived in when we initially moved south was devastated.  Downtown still had many flooded streets yesterday as the river crested at 12 feet above flood level.

(I pulled this one from a local news outlet.) If you’ve ever visited our area and stayed at the Opryland hotel, it is filled with water.  I can’t imagine the cost of fixing the damage on top of the lost revenue while repairs are made – not just to Opryland but to most tourist attractions in the area.  Aside from the business and tourist dollars lost, I would make bets that a large percentage of people whose homes sustained damage don’t have flood insurance.  They didn’t live in a flood plain and there likely didn’t seem to be a reason for it.  Many lost everything and will not have insurance payouts to replace the material items.

Shortly after I moved to Pittsburgh, I worked on a FEMA project leading a crisis counseling team in the community after flooding.  I enjoyed the work if not the project (as with many emergency grants it was thrown together without a clear vision or end goal).  I have this intense need to dust off my clip board and start going door to door to talk to people and see how they are coping once the water recedes.

************** Silver lining(s)

My dorky couponing is coming in handy. I have a decent amount of stockpiled stuff to donate to the relief cause.

My little garden didn’t complain about all of the rain – glad we took the time to make sure the drainage was sufficient.  These shallots were not over the top of this container before the rain started.  They grew several inches this weekend.  The rest of my garden is pretty happy too.

During today’s apocalyptic downpours, we had photos for Sabrina’s ballet class in their recital attire.  All of those 3 and 4 year olds in their bunny costumes were too cute for words!  I can’t wait to see the group and individual photos but for now, here is one snapped in the hall while we were waiting.

Tonight, assuming the roads aren’t washed out (only 1/2 kidding about that), the girls has having their first babysitter who isn’t related to us.  Woohoo – date night!  Guess who is the most nervous about that?  If you guessed me, you would be wrong.