Eileen on Him . . . at least, I try!

Refugees

Last night there was a strong wind that blew over three of our porch nativity statues.

Obviously, the Holy Family needed protection, so we brought them inside. :)

SB thought the Baby Jesus needed extra attention.

And Taz thought He would enjoy a good book.

(Personally, I think He was just fact-checking.)

But it's still Christmas Time (all the way until next Sunday!), so, with a few paint touch-ups and weather notwithstanding, they'll be back on duty today.

Merry Christmas!

Kids Say the Darndest Things Friday: Sorry, That's Not in the Budget.

 

... My sweet little 4 yo sleeping peacefully in his new "Big Boy Bed" in his very own new-to-him room.

Note the high profile of the bed.

Note the low profile of the ceiling.

Too bad Sunny-boy didn't!  A couple nights ago, despite all the warnings, he decided to test his new bed's jump-a-bility quotient.

Head, of course,  met ceiling, and Sunny-boy theatrically collapsed to the bed with a shocked howl.

Looking up through the mist of pain he declared, "We gotta move that thing."

For more Kids Say the Darndest Thing Friday posts, head over to Mystical Rose Design -- and while you're there, join the fun! 

... And That's Why They Call It Thanksgiving

Pie.  For breakfast.  In pajamas.  In front of the TV.

How can something so wrong seem so right? :)

Happy Thanksgiving, Everyone!

What We Have Here is a Failure to Communicate ...

My little boys love to help me in the kitchen.  So when a task made for little hands, like scrubbing potatoes, comes along, I put them right to work -- they have fun, the potatoes get scrubbed, and I can turn my attention to something else, perhaps the chili on the stove (chili over baked potatoes!  Yum!), for a minute or two. 

Usually.

Mmmm.  Cleanest potatoes in town! 

(Good news:  The soap rinsed well and left no discernable residue.  And the boys enjoyed rinsing them almost as much as scrubbing!)

I Hear Other People Use These for Cooking

What a Turkey!

Or, What???  A Turkey???

Seen meandering through a residential area of a nearby city ...

(We actually had to stop to let him cross the street!)

Either this guy's lost ... or, like us, he's checking out the real estate! :)

With the Right Mold, Maybe?

Note what's in the tube.  Note the lovely accompanying photo.

Then note the lower left admonition (just in case you had your hopes up):  "Serving Suggestion."

Yes, but isn't it a little late for that???

Made For Each Other?

Taz has been absolutely off the wall all afternoon.  I tried really hard not to get upset with him, and redirect, redirect, redirect, redirect ... perhaps you get the idea?

Finally, I'd had enough.

"Grrrr!"  I said.  "You're making me nuts!"

His eyes lit up. "Oooh!"  he danced.  " I love nuts!"

A.: One Bite at a Time?

Q.:  How do you eat a loaf of St. Nicholas bread???

I had some serious misgivings about carving up these St. Nicholas figures.  (I'm a little squeamish about slicing into people I know; it's just a thing with me, I guess.)

Anyway, after removing ... uh ... the heads and any loose foot and hand pieces, I just carved them up like any loaf of bread, for a bread & butter treat, or for a lunch of PB&J and noodle soup.

By the way, the texture is awesome, and the sweet lemony smell is to die for!  My family tells me they taste like (no, not chicken) a sweet pretzel.  Step 2 even compared it to that delicious St. Lucy bread that we made last year!

Despite the misgivings, then, this yummy treat stays in the family tradition repertoire! :)

Happy St. Nicholas Day!

Watch out, Big Fella. You're next!

... And That's When the Pizza Just Got Too Expensive

I'll write a "real" review of the Pizza Hut Crust recipe soon:  since the original recipe is for bread machines, and I don't have one, I did adapt it somewhat.  But I'll tell you this much:  It's really, really good!

Which is why I planned to make fresh pizza for dinner tonight!

I started it all perfectly -- mixed together the dough by 7:30 am, giving just enough time for it to rise before we had to leave for Junie B's horseback riding lesson at 9:30.  I figured I'd leave it in the fridge until I had a chance later on to pre-bake the crusts, and then finish them off just before The Chief would get home for dinner.

I even amaze myself, sometimes.

But, all amazement aside, I forgot to put the dough in the fridge before we left ... and after 3 additional hours of sitting on a stove still warm from breakfast, the dough had spoiled.

Undeterred, I decided to make another quick batch of dough.  But while I was pulling the ingredients together, Sunny-boy -- whose nap today lasted all of 5 minutes, but who's counting? -- decided to abscond with a gallon of milk, which he then promptly dumped on the living room rug.

Only half of it.

I sopped it up as best I could, and dumped some baking soda on top, until I could get back to doing a more thorough cleaning.  Then I gated off the living room, put Sunny-boy to work with some playdoh in the kitchen, and enlisted the other two to clean up the playroom. 

Then I knocked the yeast  & olive oil & water mixture all over the kitchen floor.

Still not ready to give up, I sopped up this mess with the remaining old towels (laundry, anyone?), and took my life in my hands to mix up yet another batch of liquid ingredients while trying not to slip on the oily floor.  (I survived.)   Then I tossed it in with the flour mixture and set it on the stove to rise.

But by now, it was almost 6:00.  No way that crust is going to be ready for dinner.

And that, my friends, is when I called Bill's Sub Shop.

I guess we'll just have to have the homemade stuff for midnight snack another time.