TGIF!!

It's FRIDAY! YAY! What an emotional morning it has been! Normally, Anand takes the girls to daycare in the morning before work. Then, he picks them up after work. That gives me time to get home, prepare dinner and get ready for their arrival. Well, today was their first official day in the "Toddler Room", so I decided I wanted to go with him. On the way, I got a little teary thinking about how much they have grown and that although this is a good change for them, it's sad for me. My babies have grown into toddlers! Where has the time gone? It seems like just yesterday I was pregnant and thinking they would never get here! And now, here they are, running around and playing. Crazy. So, we get to daycare, we go into the toddler room and they sit at the "big kids" table to have their breakfast. The kids all looked so big-and of course I'm thinking how toddlers tend to be a little rough. The protective mommy side of me comes out and thinks "they better be nice to my babies", although I know those 2 can definitely handle themselves. Not only can they handle themselves, they have each other for back-up! So, watch out big toddlers-Maya & Suri won't take any crap! The girls do fine, we leave the room and head over to the infant room to say goodbye. The minute I open the door, Brenda (the head of the room) hugs me and I start bawling. She tells me not to make her cry. I tell her that I know the girls are fine, but I'm not ready for them to grow up! We hang around and talk to them and tell them how much we appreciate everything that they have done for us. They have truly gone above and beyond and have made it so easy for us to be able to go to work without worrying about our daughters. Without them, it would not have been possible. We gave them cards and told them we would still see them and were on our way-after looking in the window to see Maya & Suri sitting at the table. They saw us and started laughing!

Last night for dinner, I made a mediterranean barley salad. It was really good and so healthy! Very refreshing. I found the recipe on www.allrecipes.com and modified it for us.

Mediterranean Barley Salad

(modified from www.allrecipes.com)

Ingredients:

3 C Barley, cooked

1 Can Black Beans, drained & rinsed

1.5 C Frozen Corn

1 C Frozen Peas

3 Tomatillos, chopped

10 Grape Tomatoes, sliced in half

1/2 Red Onion, chopped

1/4 C Olive Oil

Juice from 3 Limes

2 Garlic Cloves, minced

Salt & Pepper to taste

Directions:

Add the barley, beans, corn, peas, tomatillos, tomatoes, and red onion in a large bowl. In a small bowl, whisk the olive oil, lime juice, garlic, salt & pepper together. Combine the dressing with the salad mixture. Enjoy!

Have a great weekend!