What Rebecca Takes to Bed

One day it's books.






A few weeks later, she's transferred her affections to puzzles.

Grocery Store Cake Walk

The cake my children were given as a consolation prize for not winning a cake.

Sleep aid

Alex: "I can't sleep!"
Me: "Ok. Lie in bed and stare at the ceiling."
Alex: "I can't. It's dark."
Me: "You could try counting. Lots of people do that to go to sleep. Try counting to 1000 and see how far you get."

A half hour later, after I catch Alex mumbling in bed:
Alex: "I'm counting to 1000 in strawberries."

Vexing question

Rebecca: "Where is tomorrow?"

Music to my ears

Laramie emptying, filling, and running the dishwasher last night when I was too tired.

Pie Clinic

On Cooking With More Cooks than Knives

My knife it's gone awalking
And I don't know where it goes
Utensils in this kitchen
Where are they? No one knows.

'Cause that one gets moved this way
And this one gets moved that
So pretty soon there's nothing
That you know where it's at

Backyard Dutch Oven

Saturday was a cool winter morning, so what better than to fire up the dutch oven in the backyard?

Christmas Came Early Cookies

Every year when the weather turns a little cooler, when snow threatens our normally mild climate, when the candy canes begin to appear on store shelves, and when the sun sets by 5 pm, we turn to chocolate for a bit of solace.

Here is one of our favorite chocolate cookie recipies. (Adapted from "Chewy Chocolate Cookies," Cook's Illustrated Jan/Feb 2009).

Ingredients
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1 1/2 cup flour
• 3/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup corn syrup
• 1 large egg white
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) butter
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 4 ounces bittersweet chocolate chunks (or other chocolate pieces)
• 4 candy canes, chopped into small pieces

Directions
1. Spread 1/3 cup sugar on plate or pie dish and set aside.
2. Whisk flour, baking soda, and salt in small bowl.
3. Melt half of the butter and mix with cocoa powder.
4. Whisk corn syrup, egg white, and vanilla in small bowl.
5. Using an electric mixer, beat remaining butter, brown sugar, and 1/3 cup granulated sugar.
6. Add cocoa mixture.
7. Add corn syrup mixture.
8. Add flour mixture.
9. Add chocolate and candy cane.
10. Chill dough 30 minutes and preheat oven to 375.
11. Roll balls of cookie dough, coat in sugar, and place on cookie sheets about 2 inches apart.
12. Bake until cookies look puffed and cracked, but the centers are still soft (10 to 11 minutes).

Mmm, Grape!

I had to break into my stash of children's Benadryl last night to help me sleep through this cold I've got. Tastes way better than the grownup stuff!

A Tip for Mom

In which my daughter teaches me a valuable photography lesson:

On the Same Path

There's only one sidewalk on the way home from school. There's only one direction to ride. So why is Alex getting so mad that "Rebecca's chasing me?"

Weather

Weather this morning: cloudy
Weather this afternoon: cloudy
Weather when Rebecca and I decided to walk to Alex's school: cloudy
Weather as we went down the sidewalk: sprinkling
Weather when we met Alex: pouring
Weather as we returned: sprinkling
Weather when we got in the car to pick up Katherine: cloudy
Weather after we brought Katherine home: sunny

Alex's Prizewinning Costume

Usually Grandma (my mom) spearheads the kids' Halloween costumes. But this year, Grandpa decided to get involved. After Alex decided he wanted to be a fighter pilot, Dad started designing. After several grandpa-grandson construction sessions, a trip to the PVC pipe store where the salesmen donated a marshmallow gun to the cause, and phone consultations about decoration, Dad produced a wearable airplane. With Grandma's addition of a cap from Goodwill, and an old "bomber" jacket that I dug out of Alex's too-small box, he became a very convincing pilot.


Alex in the Martial Arts costume contest, competing against Wolverine, a Blue Angel, Howie Mandell, and an IPOD.



Alex wins first prize in the costume contest--4 movie tickets. A much better prize than the 2nd place birdhouse.

Math confusion

Katherine, working on multiplication problems in the car, suddenly told me: "The only way to get an odd number for an answer is to multiply an odd number by and odd number."

"No," Alex contested, having misheard. "You can only get an odd number if you add an odd number and an even number."

And they were both right!

Costumes

When Rebecca's preschool teacher asked what she was for Halloween, Becca tried to describe her princess outfit:

"I don't know...I think I was Katherine!"

You know you're behind on your laundry

...when your toddler outgrows her dirty clothes faster than you can get around to spot-cleaning them.

Freckles

"I have sparkles on my nose!" Rebecca exclaims, pointing to her freckles. Then she touches one and traces one finger down to the tip of her nose. "I'm moving one here."