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Well most of you do not know about Nicole and Neona playing soccer last year since I did not start this blog until after it ended. The girls have always loved watching soccer on television. James' has tons of jerseys. Arsenal is James' favorite. The girls even have a few jerseys of their own. When they were little they had cute little full uniforms that James brought back from England but they have out grown all of them.

A couple of years back Alexis started playing soccer at recess and really liked it. When we moved to this small town Nicole and Neona decided that they wanted to join the soccer league that the community center runs. They had practice on Thursdays and games on Saturdays. They loved it at first. It rained so much this spring that we were always behind on games. They started to get upset because it kept getting canceled. Then they were changed to 30 minute practice and then 2 games every Thursday and Saturday to make up for the rain days. This really wore the girls out so they started to get sick of it.

The last game of the season came and Neona was tired and begged to stay home. I told her that she had to play because it was the last game and her team depended on her. Half way through the second game Neona took a ball to the face. It hit her hard and her glasses went flying off. She had a headache the rest of the night and her glasses had to be bent back to shape at the eye doctor but she was fine. She did decided not to play this year though. Nicole and Neona are a year apart so this year they would play on different leagues so they did not want to do it. I am hoping that they will get back into it next year though. It brought them closer together. They were not just sisters they were team mates too. Plus I got to sit on the side lines with all of the other soccer moms.

The Sproutwells are back with a new video. In this one the mother becomes a soccer mom. It is pretty cute. Do not forget that you can collect points on healthy products and then go on to freshfunds and use your points to bid on great prizes. All you have to do is buy some Chiquita Fruit and Veggie Bites, Fresh Express Gourmet Café Salads, or Fresh Express Packaged Salads and collect the points.

It keeps getting colder everyday. This also means that I am drinking more and more coffee everyday. Now add on that I have not been eating flour...

I really, really want to make my biscotti but I should not. So instead I will give you my recipe and just drool at the picture. I can still guzzle coffee though.

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 stick (6 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 cup walnuts, chopped
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1 tablespoon confectioners' sugar

Preheat oven to 350°F. and butter and flour a large baking sheet.

In a bowl whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. In another bowl with an electric mixer beat together butter and granulated sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs and beat until combined well. Stir in flour mixture to form a stiff dough. Stir in walnuts and chocolate chips.

On prepared baking sheet with floured hands form dough into two slightly flattened logs, each 12 inches long and 2 inches wide, and sprinkle with confectioners' sugar. Bake logs 35 minutes, or until slightly firm to the touch. Cool biscotti on baking sheet 5 minutes.

On a cutting board cut biscotti diagonally into 3/4-inch slices. Arrange biscotti, cut sides down, on baking sheet and bake until crisp, about 10 minutes. Cool biscotti on a rack. Biscotti keep in airtight containers 1 week and frozen, 1 month.

I have not talked about Entrecard lately and I have gotten a good deal of traffic from them lately. This means that I really should talk about it again. I truly believe that they can be a Godsend to blogs that are having trouble getting regular readers. As far as traffic building goes you really do get out of it as much as you put in. It is also a very nice community.

The addition of the Entrebar has made my life much easier. I can do my drops with little to no extra thought. As soon as I sit at the computer in the morning I open up Firefox and sign on to the toolbar. I open up my email and also open 10 blogs. I read a few emails while the blogs load and then go through the blogs. I go back and forth like that until all my emails are taken care of. Then I go about any other business I need to take care of while more blogs load.

I do this back and forth routine and before I know it I have finished my drops. The Entrebar is so easy and thoughtless that I often find my kids doing drops for me. I will get up to get some coffee and come back to find my kids sitting there. For those that know that I did not see being able to have multiple blogs and being able to drop on them all... this is why I am able to. My teenager does some of my drops for me. She is becoming addicted to blogs now.

There are a few blogs that the girls have come to like reading. There are a few that they just point out to each other when they come to them because they like the name of the blog. The girls love the animal blogs and craft blogs. They also like to talk about some of the interesting blog topics. I have to say that it is better than the almost nonstop conversations about Tokio Hotel that have been going on for the last month.

Long story short... If you do not use the Entrebar yet you really need to. For those that have had problems with it there is also a newer Beta version available. I have the original one on my main computer and the Beta one on my laptop. I have used the Beta one for about a week and I love it even more. It is not listed as a feature on the site but it seems to keep you from having to start at the beginning again if you stopped. Either that or I am nuts.

I have been able to do drops on the main computer for awhile and then go to the laptop and it will pick up where I left off. It makes it so much easier to deal with than the original. The Beta version and the original version can be downloaded on the Entrecard Toolbar page.

I have thought many times about having lasik surgery done. I am so sick of wearing contacts. I hate dealing with taking them out and soaking them. I also hate having to deal with glasses when I have my contacts out. Then you have to worry about getting something in your contact or it falling out. It becomes a big hassle. That may be a worry for me but it could become a very dangerous situation for people is certain careers.

Lasik surgery has become even better now with the newer iLasik. The new iLasik changes LASIK technology by using two lasers. This new breakthrough eliminates the need for a blade. Now the procedure is even safer because of it. Lasik has changed many people's lives already. Now that it is even better and it is also changing the military.

How many people had dreams of being a pilot growing up but they could never follow that dream because of their vision? All those dreams could not be fullfilled. Now that has all changed. The Military and NASA are now using Lasik technology. The aviators and pilots are raving. If you have even thought about having Lasik surgery now is the time to check into LASIK information and take some action.

This game seems plain and boring for the first couple questions and then it gets crazy. It is a thinking game but it will not make your head explode like some of the others I have had. Good Luck!

Okay, school came entirely too fast this year. I feel like summer just started and now it is over. It feels like every time I turn around I am spending more money on the kids. Just the school supplies were over $200. Then add on $30 a kid in book fees. Kids always seems to out grown all of their clothes during the summer too.

Right when I thought all of the spending was over Noelle brought home a permission slip. I had heard about a 7th grade camping trip before but I guess I did not realize it was right away the second week of school. So there goes another $70. I really feel bad for parents that already could not afford all of the other things. This has been a tough year for a lot of people. They do have scholarships for the trip but I think that would be pretty embarrassing for the kids.

The camping trip is during school days so it is considered mandatory. They will leave Monday when school starts and come home Wednesday at the end of school. They will be doing normal camping things and crafts, plus activities to bring them closer together as a group. Noelle is very excited about going and being with her friends. It will be strange with just the two younger girls home. We will have to do some fun young girl things on those days.

With all of this spending I thought that I would post a few Back To School sales.

Do you live outside of the U.S. and constantly get frustrated because many companies will only ship inside the U.S.? Do you find that many things you want to sign up for require that you have an address in the U.S.? This company might be just what you are looking for.