You Don't See That Every Day

In the past when I have written about cooking with eggs it is usually to show my gaffes. (Cool word, gaffes.) But today we have a different story! Today I can celebrate my prowess in the kitchen. Today I cracked all the eggs one-handed. Have you seen the movie "Sabrina"? (It's one of my favorites.) Not the modern one with Harrison Ford, but the original with Audrey Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart. She goes to Paris to a cooking school and one of the skills she has to conquer is cracking eggs one-handed, no mess. Tonight while making dinner - breakfast food because G is not here for supper - I needed to crack a lot of eggs, and I had a fussy baby (no surprise there). So I just did it. I struck the egg against the bowl, used my thumb to press in and then my claw-index finger along with middle finger and thumb, to open it. I was nearly giddy with delight. All nine eggs came out without shells. I think this should be in the Book of Awesome .

I'm not one to rant much. Every once in awhile something happens or I see something and it really irks me: people chewing food in my ear - ugh; drivers who don't use their turn-indicator - frustrating! But the other day G came home and told me about a bumper sticker he saw that really really bothers me. How is it people can have this on their car and not be accused of "hate speech" or whatever it is called these days. If I were to substitute another word, say a certain race or ethnic group, I would probably be tarred and feathered. This is the bumper sticker: So many Christians, So few lions . There are websites that sell this on more than bumper stickers - T-shirts, buttons, etc. How can they get away with this? Like I said, if I put on a shirt that said "So many Jews, or blacks, or gays, so few lions" I would be in big trouble. Now the next question is, what can I do about it? Prayer is the only thing I can come up with. Anyone else? Now a rave: oh wait, I...

So it has been 2 months since baby was born. I have 20 pounds yet to lose to be back to an acceptable weight. But I have found a decadent dessert that makes it very difficult to lose those pounds. Prior to this discovery I was hooked on "Loaded Cookies". I even made a batch and froze them before I went into the hospital. I snacked on one a day when we came home. But now I have a new 'addiction' - Caramel Brownies. Thanks goes to my niece who made them last week for the bridal shower. We have 3 barbecues to attend this week; well, one yesterday, and then 2 more this coming week ((a sure sign summer has begun!)) I have decided I will be bringing caramel brownies to each of these events. And I have decided I must start running again if I am going to combat the brownies and maintain the weight instead of gain some more! So not only will I be whipping up this delicious treat, but starting my couch-to-5k training this week also. Putting it in 'print' is sure to make...

It's classic movie week at our house. And because it takes more than one night to view a movie around here, it's been going on most of the week. First run was "Never Cry Wolf", a lovely walk down memory lane for G and I. The kids all enjoyed the movie too - except for the littlest M. She didn't like the main character eating the mice, or when he falls through the ice. (I never liked that part either.) So she opted out of watching the movie and went to bed instead. The other kids had a good laugh at the rabbit who watches the proceedings of this man falling through the ice. They have a strange sense of humor. Next up wasn't a movie - but G's boss/supervisor came to dinner here. There's a first time for everything. Actually he works in California and was visiting the area for meetings. Knowing how G gets sick of restaurant food while traveling, we deciding to ask The Boss to eat with us one night and give him a break from traveling food. I think he liked...

Today I bought myself a new cell phone. Welcome to the age of technology! The phone I did use ( top picture ) was a discard of my husband's. It was one of the first ones he used at work many, many, many years ago. It was continually dialing random numbers because of the bumping and bruising it got in my purse. I liked it because it was so basic, but I was constantly checking to make sure I hadn't dialed China. So today when the 2 youngest girls and I were walking downtown on an errand I passed by a T-Mobile store and thought I would just duck in and see what they had. Ta-da. And here we are: a flip phone (bottom photo) - it won't dial without my help and it even takes pictures! Plus a lot more neat little things, but at least now I won't be calling any Li's across the seas.

Last night we had a wedding shower for my niece. How can they be old enough to get married?! Two of them will be getting married within the next year.... You see, these 'kids' are almost like my own little sisters (and brothers). I was 10 years old when my first niece was born; 11 when the first nephew came along. The two girls pictured here were born when I was 15/16. So their 'growing up' makes me feel ... old. But the shower was fun in my humble opinion! My sisters did an amazing job of decorating and baking!! I was in charge of the games - so that was easy. We played one called "What's in Your wallet?" where guests got points for certain items in their purse, such as nail clippers, credit cards, college paraphernalia, baby wipes, passports... etc. We also played a Famous Couples game where everyone had to fill in the second name to a famous couple, like Sonny and Cher. Lotsa laughs, lotsa fun. Today my oldest has gone on his first youth group trip. An...

I lay awake from 4 until 6 this morning; tossing and turning and trying to stop the tide of mental gymnastics. Baby K is sleeping 4 to 5 hours in a row at night this week! It feels great, but my body is slow in adjusting, as evidenced in the toss and turn. Last weekend was a great one; I had wanted to post about it earlier in the week but never got around to it. We had a call previous to Saturday that someone wanted to come and check out our house! We had just been talking about pulling it off the market and then we got the call. So Friday was a flurry of cleaning and straightening and cleaning! We had been pretty relaxed about being realtor ready. Well Sat was a beautiful day, and the house *sparkled*. The realtor came and went. And they made an offer - on a different house. So we are back to wondering, "Do we stay or do we (lower it and) go?" Sunday we still had some sunshine - rare for here this month - so we went on a picnic! I had made ham and cheese biscuits the night b...

I'll try not to post too many pictures of our new baby - there are other children in the family - but these were just too precious not to share. I finally got her to smile at me while I had a camera ready, and finally caught the action. And her dimple. :)

You just don't see this every day!

6 weeks old and with very kissable cheeks! Baby K is cooing and smiling a little bit now. Of course, she stopped when I got the out camera!

School is out at our house. Occasionally the kids have to do a little book-work, especially when they are driving me crazy; but essentially they are done for the school year. So now we have time do fun things we wouldn't do usually. Like crafts and blowing things up and such. Today was Rocket Day. We put together a 'rocket' from a kit I picked up last week. It was powered by vinegar and baking soda. We met some friends out at a park and set it up. After a few failed attempts - hey NASA fails more than they launch right? - we finally figured out we should set it on a flat surface, like an asphalt path, rather than on the bumpy field. And then we saw it shoot up to the sky. Well, almost to the sky, more like 10 feet above us. It was still exciting to see it actually go up. It almost filled my son's craving to "blow things up". We also are making a book for this summer. But not a normal, story book. I saw an idea in the Family Fun magazine to make a book of summe...

Have you ever had one of those moments when you stop and think, Is there a camera on here? Where's Allan Funt? Yesterday I felt like I was in a movie scene. I'm in the kitchen cooking dinner; I decide to cook up the hamburger patties that were sitting in the refrigerator from the weekend. Baby is sleeping, kids are playing, all is good. My sister calls, and after chatting a bit she convinces me to broil the burgers instead of pan fry like I had originally planned. (The rain was coming down too hard to put them on the grill.) So I started cooking. It's all going well ... and then ... Baby K wakes up and starts to wail, at the same time the smoke alarm goes off b/c of the smoke from the broiling, and it's loud! The dog, who had been sleeping peacefully in the other room, darts for the hiding place - under the computer where a child is playing, and a small ruckus ensues. And then to top it off - while I am 'helping' my son fan the air around the shrill alarm, and m...

Since last week's outings of going to museums didn't work out so well, this week we tried something new. The sun was shining nicely yesterday afternoon, so I loaded up a bunch of the junk we had laying outside the garage, waiting to be disposed. Today I loaded up the kids, who were not wanting to be disposed, but yet ready for an outing nonetheless. And we headed for the town dump. I had never been there before so it was something of an adventure for me. The oldest three had been there with Dad, so there was not excitement on their faces. But the little Princess and I, well we were looking forward to it. Strange, I know, but it was something new and different for us. After some strategic calls to my husband regarding procedure and payment, we found the dump. There is a scale that weighs the vehicle on the way in, and then on the way out. We saw the weight "5480" on the way out and tried to figure out how much we all weighed plus the vehicle ( math, it's all aroun...