I Scream, You Scream, We all Scream for Ice Cream!

What a nice lazy day . . . Frank and I had the luxury of sleeping in a bit this morning before going to pick up the girls at Mimi and Paw Paw's house. After a good lunch with Mimi, Gigi, and Cousin B., we headed back home, but not before stopping by Blockbuster to exchange the movie that Carly had picked out yesterday. We've had the worst luck lately at Blockbuster with kiddie movies. It seems that we always pick the DVDs that are somehow scratched! After trading in "Twitches" for the latest "Hannah Montana," the girls were anxious to get home to watch their idol. I think they've seen the DVD at least 3 times already today! What is it with Hannah Montana?

Do you remember chasing after the ice cream truck as a kid? Well, the good old ice cream truck is still around, and it's found "OC" Lane. Of course, it always seems to show up on our street right before dinnertime, and the prices are outrageous, but Frank and I were feeling generous today. Carly got a bubble gum snow cone, and Emily got a cookies and cream blizzard. Did I mention that we already have cookies and cream ice cream in the freezer?

Date Night

Frank got off work a little early today and took Emily and Carly to Mimi and PawPaw's house, so we could enjoy an evening out without the girls, and so the girls could spend some time with Mimi and Paw Paw before they leave for their trip to Chicago. Neither of us was in the mood for anything fancy, so Frank and I just went to Bohot Mongolian Grill for dinner. Basically, it's a place where you can create your own stir-fry, and then they cook it for you while you watch. It's pretty good food. Afterward, we ran a couple of errands and then headed home to watch a movie, The Shooter, that Frank picked up at Blockbuster. It was an okay movie. Wasn't crazy about how it ended. How come they don't make good movies anymore? What was the last really good movie you saw? Any recommendations? If it's not Disney, we probably haven't seen it lately!

"Knowledge is free at the library. Just bring your own container." - Unknown

Thursdays are for going to the library . . .

A couple of weeks ago, the girls and I made our first trip to the First Colony Library where Emily and Carly each got their own library card. They signed up for the kids summer reading program, and I let them pick out 5 books each. They were so excited to check out their own books with their very own library cards! Both of them are determined to read at least 20 books this summer, so they can get a special reading trophy.

Today we learned how to return the books we checked out last time, and then we checked out some more. It's so funny to watch the girls pick out their books. They are so different. Carly is very quick to make her choices - - - almost everything is a "must read." Emily, however, is very picky about her selections and spends a lot more time searching for just the right books. I tried to find some reading material for myself during this visit, since it seems my reading has been limited lately to short magazine articles here and there - - - mostly in the bathroom where sometimes I can find a little bit of peace! Ha! Ha! Of course, my browsing was cut short when Carly insisted that she had to go pee-pee, so I just managed to grab a John Grisham paperback on the way to search for the restroom. I think it's one I haven't read before - - - we'll see.

This evening we visited the local pet store to get what we call our "puppy fix." Since the only pets we have at home are two Beta fish, "Megan" and "Nemo," every couple of months we stop by the pet store to see and play with the puppies. Tonight we played with a cute little Welsh Corgi and a brown Mini-Poodle. We also walked around and looked at all of the pretty fishies in their tanks. The guy who worked in the fish section was so nice, and he let Emily and Carly feed the koi. We also got to watch him feed the turtles which was very cool! I still don't think we're ready for a dog. I think the girls like the idea of having one, but they still get a little freaked out around enthusiastic puppies! Actually, I don't think I'm ready for a dog. The girls keep me busy enough as it is!

G'nastics

On Wednesdays this summer, I've been taking Emily and Carly to gymnastics at Bill Austin's Gymnastics and Dance. The girls really enjoy it and are both quite good at it. While Emily likes to alternate taking dance and gymnastics, Carly is strictly a gymnastics kind of girl. According to her, "dance is boring! G'nastics is much funner!" I enjoy taking them, too, because it lets them expend some serious energy, and the rest of our afternoon tends to be a bit more low-key. Emily's favorite activity at gymnastics is getting to jump on the trampoline while Carly loves the trapeze. Hmmm . . . maybe that's why my house sometimes feels like a circus!

Inflatable Fun!

Don't you just love kiddie birthday parties? I took Carly to a birthday party at Bounce U this afternoon. (For those of you who have never been before, it's one of those places that has really huge inflatables that kids can jump all over while their parents smile and silently pray that they don't bounce into someone and suffer a concussion!) Really, it's a fun place, and the kids LOVE it, but unfortunately, Carly hasn't always had the best of luck there. The last time we were there, she bounced right out of one of the inflatables and onto her head. She was fine, but she gave me an absolute heart-attack! Today, I almost had another one. She was in her element, bouncing around like crazy, when I suddenly noticed blood all over her face! It seems that the scrape across the bridge of her nose that she got when she fell out of her bed the other night had split open with all of her climbing and jumping around. You would think a place like Bounce U would keep some kind of first aid kit on hand, but all they could manage to find was a band-aid. So, I cleaned up her nose the best I could in the bathroom, put the band-aid across her face, and fortunately, being the little trooper she is, she was good to go again! Aaahhh . . . kids!

Sleep Deprived (or is it Depraved?)

Will Frank and I EVER be able to get a full night's rest without one of our girls waking us up in the middle of the night? Despite recently redecorating Emily's bedroom, she still insists on sleeping in the guestroom and visiting us in our bedroom on a nightly basis. Just the other night she dreamt of a "macaroni tornado," and crawled into bed with us. It seems she takes after me with the tornado dreams! I guess she, too, watched "The Wizard of Oz," at a very impressionable age! Carly, our fearless one, is now sleeping in her new big girl bed, but unfortunately, she fell out of it last night in the middle of the night. There was such a commotion that I was sure she had fallen down the stairs! She was quick to go back to sleep, but she's now sporting a serious scrape or rug burn on her nose! Poor baby!

Paw Paw babysat for the girls this morning, so I could attend a PTO meeting (what am I getting myself into?!) at the school. They really enjoyed being with him this morning and were so excited that PawPaw had made them "butterfly" sandwiches for lunch! Thank you, Paw Paw!

Brow Shaping

Okay, after staying up WAY too late last night playing with photo images for my blog, I am seriously tired today!

Not a very eventful Friday to report, other than Carly decided to throw up after getting out of the car when I went to have my eyebrows done today. (If you've never had your eyebrows "threaded," you've got to try it. My very good friend and fellow uni-brower, Heather, introduced me to this lovely ritual about a year ago, and I'm hooked. So much better than tweezing them yourself, and it definitely lasts much longer!) Anyway, Carly was feeling a bit car sick today, and I just managed to get her out of her carseat and out of the car before she threw up on the pavement. Since we were already at the salon, and since she managed not to get a speck on her, we kept my appointment. After a little bottled water and a dum-dum sucker from the front desk, she was feeling just fine! Aaagghh! I don't know what we're going to do about her "sensitive" stomach.

After my brow appointment, we headed over to Old Navy to pick up some festive 4th of July wear for next week. Of course, by the time we got to the store, it had started to rain, and Emily and Carly both insisted on each having their own umbrella. Not a smart move on my part! Let's just say we were in and out of the store in less than 15 minutes, and the kiddie umbrellas might just get lost before it rains again!

Just 4 Grins . . .

I thought it might be fun to start a blog, or a public diary of sorts, to keep some kind of informal record of the day to day happenings in the D*, Jr. household as Frank and I journey through this thing called life together and watch our two precious little girls grow up. I'm also hoping this blog will serve as a way to keep in touch with friends and family that I don't always have the opportunity to see or talk to on a regular basis. I'm calling my blog "Just 4 Grins" for a couple of reasons . . .

I absolutely have NO IDEA what I'm doing at this point when it comes to creating my own personal blog! My friend, Leslie, turned me on to blogger.com with her claim that it's "free" and "so easy to get started." After checking out her fancy blog, I can only aspire to create one as beautiful and lovely as hers! I think getting my own blog up and running is is going to be a process of trial and error, so I hope you all can bear with me as I try to figure out how to do this thing!

The D*, Jr. family is a family of four and includes my wonderful husband, Frank (37), my dearest daughters, Emily (6) and Carly (4), and Me (thirty-somethingish) - - - thus, 4 grins! I hope you find some humor in the craziness of our lives, and I hope what's posted here makes you smile from time to time.