My name is Jessie and I'm addicted to social networks...

I don't know when or how it happened but somehow I have signed up to so many social networking sites! I remember the days of migente.com. But now I'm on myspace, facebook, mom bloggers club, CEFL, cafemom, linkedin and I'm sure there are others. I can't stop myself!!! Right now I find myself logging onto facebook a lot. Many of my old friends from my Harlequin/Silhouette days are now on facebook and it's so much fun reconnecting with them!

And it's funny because I actually feel guilty about neglecting the other sites that I'm on! I know, it's crazy but I do! Maybe I should come up with a schedule ;)

Julia decided to experiment in the kitchen today. She concocted a big chocolate, syrupy mess and wanted everyone to try her "secret" recipe. We had to try it on ice cream and dip our strawberries in the brown goo. She made different versions. Some were ok but others were pretty bad! She was so into her creations and we tried everything and smiled. I found that she was using honey, two types of chocolate powder, Ginger, cinnamon, cloves and dry mustard!!!!!!! She raided my cabinets and just combined everything she found. Towards the end of her kitchen exploration she asked me about the adobo for her "special" syrup but I told her using that wasn't a good idea. I wish she would have asked me about the dry mustard!!! I ended up having to clean a lot of chocolate powder off the floor but my little kitchen diva had fun so I wasn't too upset!

Last night Hubby and I watched the home run derby. I was so impressed by Josh Hamilton of the Texas Rangers. He hit 28 home runs in the first round of the derby. He broke the record! But what impressed me the most was his backstory. He was a first round draft pick for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays but only played a few minor league games before he got heavily involved in drugs. He did not play baseball for 3 years because of his addiction. He managed to battle his addictions and found his way back into the majors. He is one of the top players and he put on a great show yesterday at Yankee Stadium. He is very open about what he went through and seemed very humble. He thanked Jesus as his Lord and Savior and gave Him the glory for his amazing perfomance in the home run derby. After last night, I have to say I am a fan of Josh Hamilton!

We had our annual block party on Saturday. Its usually a little crazy because someone will bring out their deejay equipment and blast music so loud that the houses start to vibrate! When its that loud I take 
the kids inside because its no fun for them once that starts. But this year was different! No obnoxiously loud music! This year it was more of a family atmosphere. The kids played from early morning until night. It was just a fun day for all.

Since they close the street, the boys were able to run wild! They ran, played catch with their daddy and chased the neighborhood chihuahua. Julia used her new scooter. She also had almost every kid in the block on our stoop at one point! We had a bubble blower, sidewalk chalk and she also brought out her new magic kit! She had the kids on the block thinking that she really new magic.When she first came out in the morning she did her "magic" show for our neighbor Denise. I've known Denise since I was a little girl. She said she never wants Julia to change because Julia has great enthusiasm and is not shy.

I'm glad that the block party was more family oriented this year. It was nice seeing everyone outside grilling and getting to talk to all the neighbors and feel a real sense of community. The storefront church on the corner was nice enough to bbq and have snacks for everyone on the block and an ice cream truck came by and gave free ice cream to all the kids. Beautiful weather, community and fun for the kids... it was a great day!