Shark Steam Mop- Yea or Nay

Do any of you own the Shark Steam Mop?

Lately our floors have been a mess. The cat. The dog. The toddler. And a house that has almost ALL wood and tile floors. You can imagine there is something that always needs to be cleaned up.

I am thinking about getting the Shark mop, but first I want to know if it is worth the money. If you have one, do you like it?

**UPDATED** I bought the Shark Steam Mop yesterday and mopped our entire downstairs last night. It took less than 30 min and it was the easiest mopping I have ever done. There was no bucket of dirty mop water to mess with and it was a breeze.

Arboretum with friends

This week I was able to meet up with one of my friends that was in town visiting her parents. Blue Eyed Bride and I took Hudson and Miss A on a fun picnic at the Dallas Arboretum. We picked up some sandwiches at Central Market, slathered the babies in SPF 50 and we were off.

We had such a great time! The weather was perfect - we had a blast spending time together, plus the kiddos were adorable together. On the way over, A and H were in the backseat in their car seats and Miss A kept talking to Hudson - she would look over at him and yell "hey!" At one point we were all taking some pictures together and she kept putting her hand on his shoulder.

I think we each took a zillion pictures of these 2 - trying to capture the 'just right shot' is pretty difficult when you have 2 moving targets.

I hate that she lives so far away. We always have such a fun time when we are together - we can talk about anything and everything from dealing with dogs & babies to Dancing with the Stars. At least they come to Dallas throughout the year!

**Want to see some pictures of the babies faces??? Head over to Baby M. ***

Food Revolution

My latest celebrity chef crush - Jamie Oliver.

I have become addicted to his Food Revolution show and I LOVE what he is doing with the school lunch system - our kids are eating some serious crap. He has a great message and a great accent. I want to read his Food Revolution book.... Did you see when he did the chicken nugget demo? AWFUL.

I cook all the time for us and lately I have been even more concerned with additives and preservatives in our food.... You always hear to shop the perimeter of the grocery store - I am really trying to stick to it. Our grocery bills are a little higher, I have to grocery shop a little more frequently, but I know that we are eating healthy stuff.

This afternoon I even downloaded Jamie Oliver's iPhone app - 20 Minute Meals with Jamie Oliver. Looks like there are some pretty tasty recipes and he has beat Rachel Ray by 20 min. Take that RR!

My favorite recipe is one that I can make for dinner, and then eat cold for lunch the next day. This generally involves a whole wheat pasta with some veggies and feta. What is your favorite fast and healthy recipe?

Crazy Mad Skillz

My husband is a sucker for new tv shows. And I am a sucker for Food Network shoes. So, when you combine the two you get the new game show - Minute to Win It hosted by Guy Fieri. It is one of those shows than you can have on in the background while doing other things like cooking dinner or cleaning up from dinner.

The object of the show is to complete a series of "drunken college dares" each within a minute. The more you complete, the more money you win. There is this one where you have to balance 5 coke cans on their side. They each have to stay that way for 5 seconds. The cans each start off full of soda... you have to figure out how much to drink in order to get the can to balance. I felt pretty confident that I could do that.

Bam! I tried it this morning. Crazy mad skillz.

Pink and Green Easter

The Easter bunny visited our house over the weekend and left basket full of pink and green goodies for Miss A!

What exactly does the Easter bunny bring for 1 year old little girls?

Sidewalk chalk, bubbles, clothes, books, a sippy cup and plate and hair clips!

And, our little Jake is quickly becoming big Jake. Here he is at 8 weeks old.

Jake and Steve may not be best friends, but they are learning to tolerate each other.

Jake's 1st Walk

No way.

Not gonna happen.

I don't wanna.

You can't make me.

Please don't.

Aw..... no!!!

Ah.....Much better.

Spring Table

I love table linens. I have an entire closet full of table runners, napkins and napkin rings. I change them out on a routine basis and love the way a table looks when it is set...even if it is just place mats and napkins/napkin rings.


For spring, I have some fun fruit napkins with silver pineapple napkin rings. And in the middle, I am have a ceramic egg holder - filled with lemons and garlic! I cook with lemons, limes and garlic all the time, and this is a fun way to keep them all organized.

Strawberries!

Oranges!

Bananas!

Apples!

I also have an egg holder on my night stand that I keep my rings in. It helps keep things organized - which I need!

**New pictures on Baby M**

Hey Good Lookin.... What ya' Got Cookin?

When the weather gets hot, I like to eat lighter food. Lots of fresh fruits and veggies.... grilled chicken... nothing too heavy or greasy. I know it is not hot just yet, but I am already getting into summer cooking mode.



I was at the grocery the other day and came across some yellow cherry tomatoes.... I had no idea what I was going to make with them, but they were too delicious to pass up. I decided to make some creamy tomato basil soup - kind of like the kind you get at La Madeleine - but yellow. And completely fresh.

I added a couple roma tomatoes into the mix because they were on sale.

All of the tomatoes chopped... approx 7 cups total.

I then added 6 cups of my homemade chicken stock and 1 small can of tomato paste.

Simmer for 30 minutes.

Puree with a couple handfuls of basil. I had to do it in a couple of batches. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Return to stock pot and add 1 stick of butter and 8 oz of heavy cream. Whisk the soup while the butter melts. Let simmer for a minute or two.

Bright yellow soup!

Serve with wine, sourdough bread and some cantaloupe. Enjoy!

I plan on buying more of these sweet yellow cherry tomatoes and making a couple more batches of this wonderful soup... or maybe some sauce. Or some salsa. Baby A even liked the soup!

**New pictures over on Baby M**