ZITS, the comic strip

I only read one comic strip, ZITS, by Jerry Scott and Jim Borgman. The main character is a bit older than Pumpkin, but I can relate to it so much as we deal with our own teenager. Lots of mornings, I just burst out laughing as the strip hits the nail on the head.

Today's strip did not disappoint.

This time it brought tears to my eyes. I am guilty of just staring at my older son who is morphing into a man right before my eyes. Pumpkin will turn and say, "What?" I find the physical changes in this stage of his life to be even more dramatic than when he was a baby.

Where did the years go?

Snow Day Baking

Friday school was cancelled due to the impending weather.

I'd had my eye on this recipe for a long time. I convinced Peanut to help me make it. What would be more perfect than a sandwich on homemade bread on a cold day?

I think the last time I attempted bread was when we had a bread machine. We got rid of that after Pumpkin was born. The smell of the bread during my pregnancy was enough to put me over the edge. Anyway, we braved the yeast, gluten, and whole wheat flour to forge ahead.

Here is the first little rest of the bread.

Peanut painted the oil on the pans.

I love watching the kids bake. I have to keep telling myself that the mess doesn't matter! Cooking is so good for math skills, organization skills, and patience. The only change we made to the recipe was to use lime juice instead of lemon. I did not have any lemon juice on hand.

Here is the bread - just about ready to pull away from the sides of the bowl.

Wa La! We had two loaves of whole wheat bread! The bread stuck a bit to the pan on the right. But, it did not stop any of us from eating our lunch a bit early. The boys enjoyed the bread. We had it toasted with butter and jelly this morning with our breakfast. Wow! It was wonderful. I think we will be making more. I am even contemplating another bread machine.

When Pumpkin finally woke up on Friday morning, he wanted to bake something too. He decided to make a cake. My dad worked for Procter & Gamble for many years. Cake in our family came out of a Duncan Hines box. Believe it or not, I did not have any cake mixes on hand. Pumpkin searched through the pantry and decided on the recipe on the back of the Hershey's Special Dark cocoa. If you don't want a cake, definitely use it for icing. It is the best chocolate icing.

Here he is sampling the icing. I know this picture was taken after he iced the cake.

There he is finishing up the icing. I did not go into the trick of using waxed paper strips under the cake to clean up the extra icing.

It was good! We all enjoyed dessert. There just might be something to a cake baked from scratch. I don't think my dad would mind as P&G sold Duncan Hines years ago!

Movies from the Library

Toward the end of 2009, I started renting movies from the library. It can be hit or miss as to what is available. It is nice to have the movie for a week. I try to get new ones for the weekend. It is hard to find movies that appeal to an 11 and a 14 year old. We have relaxed letting Peanut watch more PG13 movies than Pumpkin ever did.

Some of the movies we have watched over the last month include the following:

Joyeux Noel - It was perfect to watch around the holidays. It made me think how our troops serving today handled the holidays.

Taking Chance - This was another movie with a military influence. It made me think about all our troops and the process that occurs when one dies in action. The movie is insightful.

Julie & Julia - I had just put this movie on hold at the library, when it showed up in the mail. Thanks, Justine! This was a great Christmas treat and we all thoroughly enjoyed the movie. It inspired me cook AND eat!!! Peanut loved Julia's affection for butter. He is there spreading tons of butter on his dinner rolls.

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs - The boys and I watched this on the afternoon of their first snow day a few weeks ago. I have to confess that I did not make it all the way through the movie. I think this is the type of movie where you have to watch more than you listen. That makes it hard to knit while you watch. I got wrapped up in my knitting and lost interest in the movie. They boys thought is was okay.

My Sister's Keeper - This is an emotional one. Pumpkin did not like the emotions it stirred up in him. No one wants to focus on death. He did come back to finish the movie. We all thought it was one that made you think.

A Beautiful Mind - A few days before we watched this movie, I was talking to someone who's son is graduating from Princeton this spring with a degree in Math. I enjoyed this movie. I think I tried to read the book when in came out years ago. I did not get very far. Boy, this movie gives you appreciation for mental illness. It made me glad that I am not off the charts smart!

The Soloist - I had wanted to see this one when it came out. I was thrilled to see it at the library this weekend. We watched it last night. It too has a view of mental illness. I was enamored with the main character's musical talent. Robert Downey Jr. and Jamie Foxx did an incredible job. The movie is a few years old. The homeless in LA at the time of the movie was very high. I am sure the numbers are higher now. I pray we'll get all this homelessness worked out.

Evening - I ended up seeing this one through. We popped it in on Friday, the boys' second snow day. They pretty much packed it in right away. I knitted away and listened. It has a great cast, but the movie is not the best.

The Notebook - I had some ironing to do and popped this one in last week. Medical researchers need to eradicate Alzheimer's! I pray that is not the way I go. But, what a love story this is!

Four Christmases - In the middle of the holidays, we were lucky enough to rent this. It was entertaining with some of the slap stick humor that a 14 year old loves!

The Reader - This one is R rated. The Big Guy and I watched it without the boys. It starts out with some steamy sex scenes. The movie revolves around sin and absolution. It makes you think about guilt, sin, and what is right. I thought Kate Winslett did a phenom job in this movie.

There might be a few more, but these are ones that came to mind. This is a small accomplishment for me. I always fall asleep during movies. But, I am getting better. We try to make the Friday night movie thing, a family thing. The boys look on the counter when they get home from school to see what movies I got. Plus, it is economical. It costs so much for all of us to go to the movies. We are trying to learn patience waiting for the movies to come out on DVD. Lastly, it is a great excuse to knit! I just knit along with the movie. It makes it worthwhile and keeps me interested in the movie.

Snow Day Number Two

It is coming!

We got notification early this morning that schools are closed for today. There was not a drop of winter out there. But, they assure us it is coming. We just don't have any equipment to deal with ice or white stuff. The boys were excited and settled back into to bed for a bit.

When Adam rallied, I convinced him to help me make some whole wheat bread. I've had this site bookmarked for some time. The bread is proofing and we should have fresh bread for lunch. Yum! I took some photos and will post after I get a finished shot.

A few weeks ago, I threw away my muffin tins. They had seen their best day. There was some rust on the bottom and I just did not think that was good. I realized I had silicone liners, a gift from a Christmas past. I had never used them. They are a bit smaller than standard muffin tins, but I love them. I'd read folks have problems with sticking. So far, two batches of pumpkin muffins have popped right out. I was thrilled to use something I have and glad I did not run out and buy new muffin pans.


On Tuesday, I finally added a fleece band into the inside of this stocking hat. I bought the yarn in DC last spring break and essentially knitted the hat the entire car ride home. It just took me a long time to finish it up! There is nothing better than a handknit hat with fleece on the inside. Everyone in my family is a convert. I don't knit too much for myself, but knew from the beginning that I'd keep this one. It goes well with my very old Lands' End pullover jacket. It is my go to jacket for walking the dog. Speaking of walking, we got four straight days in. I am on a roll and hope to continue...

So, I mentioned we have a snow day today. The sleet has now turned to snow and we just might get lots of it. They are saying 4-10 inches. That is big time for here! We hope the Big Guy gets to come home and play in it with us.

I knew we were going to hunker down today. I walk the dog, a short 10 minutes, first thing every morning. This morning, I wore my flannel jammies. I've never done that before. I am sure I was a sight to see! On cold mornings, I slip on Pumpkin's swim parka. It is perfect to keep out the wind and the wet. I had that on today too. He doesn't mind. He just laughs when he finds bags in his pockets.

I know I was a scary sight, but this validates it! I donned my new gold knit cap. I wish I could say I knit the hat, but I did not. It was a Target clearance find that was too good to pass up. I never know when I might need it to go watch the Commodores play.

Speaking of Commodores - what a game on Thursday night. They beat TN at UT. They haven't done that since 2005. The 'Dores look very strong. They have another big game on Saturday. They play UK in Lexington. It is on ESPN and we'll be watching. Go 'Dores!!

Proofing - Who Knew?

My oven is three years old. When we replaced it three years ago, I did not do too much research. I had a drop in style. We modified the cabinets to accommodate a slide in. There aren't too many slide in models. I looked at what was out there and picked the one I liked the looks of. It was a special order. We ordered it sight unseen.

I've developed a relationship with my oven. It cooks well and can hold lots. It has quite a few features too. We had a little problem with it right before Thanksgiving. Fortunately, it was still under warranty. As I was flipping through the oven manual, I realized it has a proofing feature. Who knew?

Last week I made a parmesan, sesame seed pull apart bread using frozen bread rolls. And, I got to use my proofing feature!

You have to look closely to see the bread rolls rising in the bundt pan.


Love it! My oven also has a drying feature. We thought about using for Peanut's science fair project but couldn't figure out how to control it, measure it, and make it a project. I just may try to dry some apples or something in the near future. Soccer is about to pick back up and I'll be using the DELAY/BAKE feature. There is nothing better than walking in from the soccer field to a piping hot dinner in the oven!

Science Fair 2009

Pumpkin is done with science fairs!

Peanut, on the other hand, is just beginning...

His project was titled, The Biggest Loser. The question was which citrus fruit loses the most water. He did research on dehydration. All in all, it was a fairly simple process. He sliced citrus fruit and weighed them over a period of a week to see the weight loss. Most dehydration is done in ovens, but we could not figure out a way to control the variables. He needed to show some sort of data collection.

It was fun to watch the fruit shrival on the plate. The seeds even popped out! The grapefruit slices were so big they overlapped on the plate. By the end of the experiment, there was mold on the grapefruit.

Peanut is probably doing the oral presentation as I am posting this. He was a bit nervous as he hates oral presentations. He will do fine! Here is the infamous board that will be presented in the school gym tomorrow. We are all glad this is done:))

Pumpkin bought this yarn to use for his math project. It did not work for the project. So, he wanted me to knit something. I started on a stocking hat for his high school swim coach. Guess what? I used the wrong size needles and the hat was way too big. I hate that as there were are few hours invested in the hat. I frogged it all yesterday and I just can't get the mojo to start a new one. Ugh! I have to do something with it soon or else it will get packed away for something at a later date.

When the Cat's Away, the Mice will Play...

One afternoon I ran a few errands. When I returned a game of basketball was occurring right in the family room!

Yes. The basketball hoop is screwed to the wall of the bridge!

I have to admit there has been lots of fun going on. The Big Guy is right there in the middle of it. Fortunately, Buddy doesn't mind and doesn't show any interest in the balls.

A Few Photos

My sister and famly come down to visit every New Year's. Years ago, one of us picked up Nerf something or others for the boys to play with. Each year, it morphs into some other toy for the kids to run around the house with. We don't officially communicate about who it getting what. One year I found something on clearance and this year, my sister picked these up on clearance at Kroger. Well, at a moment's notice battles erupted in our house. The boys teamed up and played against each other. When the battles were underway, it was pretty crazy. They stopped for just a few minutes for me to snap this shot.

And, another random shot - we got these bulbs for a gift over the holidays. I wonder if they are Pretty Whites. It was fun to watch them grow. This is definitely a flower that needs to go outside. It doesn't have too pleasant of an odor. No one wants it near them. I keep moving it around the house. There is another bloom that is getting ready to open. Then, I'll have to figure out how to plant them outside.

First Read in 2010

photo taken from amazon.com

Right before the holidays, I started reading The Help by Kathryn Stockett. I did not finish it until the start of the New Year. Wow! What a book. I was a skeptic - just 'cause the book is on the best sellers list doesn't mean it will be good. This one is an enjoyable read. We live in the South and this gave me a perspective of what it was like in the early '60s. Yes. The book is about maids and the work they do for the white folks. But, the book is about WAY more than just that. It is an easy read that really makes you think. We all draw lines, racial, religious, social, financial, whatever. This book made me more cognizant to minimize the lines I draw and try to see people for who they really are.

My mother-in-law was raised in Louisiana. Lots of this book is familar to her. It opened doors for us to discuss her life and how things were. I want Pumpkin to read it so he can have some wonderful discussions with his grandma sharing her memories.

Add The Help to your list of must reads. It is Kathryn's first novel. What a good one it is!

Snow Day 2010

Wear your pajamas inside out,
Flush an ice cube down the toilet,
Slide a spoon under your bed--->
SNOW DAY!!

Okay! The folks are a bit crazy down in the South, but lots of kids must have down the above.

On Thursday, January 7th, we got a snow day! We were all surprised. This is about as much snow as we got. The boys were not complaining at all! Peanut actually hopped up out of bed to walk the dog with me. He wanted to see the snow before it all went away.

Pumpkin completed a math project. It was for Geometric. I think the premise was to use lines to make curves. He spent quite a bit of time working on this. He designed the pattern first. I was thrilled to share all my stitching supplies with him.



He stayed commited and finished the project. He got extra credit for turning it in early. That never hurts your grade! I am thrilled the project is behind him. We may just frame it when he brings it home.

Buddy at Dinner

Ever since Buddy was a puppy, he loves to be under things. For awhile, he curled up under the coffee tables. Then, he got too big! At dinner time, Buddy joins us for his spot under the kitchen table. He doesn't beg. He just sprawls out under there while we eat. We have a joke that you have to claim your foot space before he gets comfortable. In the winter his coat keeps feet nice and warm.

A week or so ago, we sat down for dinner. At the end of the meal, the Big Guy commented that he could not move. Buddy had him "locked" in. Pumpkin jumped up for the camera capturing this shot. Buddy is curled up in the Big Guy's territory.

Up close, you get the real picture. I think Buddy was actually catching a few zzzzz's with his head on someone's shoe. Too cute!

New Year's Day Mento Fun

On New Year's Day we had a few minutes of fun with Diet Coke and Mentos.

My sister and I got side-tracked with all the sales at Dillard's or we would have done this science show in the daylight. Anyhoo...it was cold and the kids enjoyed the fun albeit short-lived.

I love the photos from my brother-in-law's camera and this is my first time experimenting with smilebox. What do you think?

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Look at this one for some Diet Coke and Mentos sophistication!

Four Legged Holidays

For the first time, we did not kennel Buddy when we went to Cincinnati. We thought about taking him along, but we weren't going to be there very long and he takes up lots of room in the car. An opportunity to swap dogs with a friend presented itself and I went with it.

Buddy spent the Christmas at another house. He was great except he wanted to be in the dad's lap while he opened his presents. I love the Santa hat. Buddy looks to be enjoying himself.

The best thing about the swap was Buddy was at home when we rolled in very late from Cincinnati. It was wonderful to have him here and not have to pick him up from the kennel.

A few days later, Simba came to stay with us. It took Simba some time to get used to our house. He doesn't like slippery floors. We had to make a trail of blankets for him to walk on the hard wood floor to our bedroom. It was pretty funny. Eventually, he settled in. I snapped these to pictures of the two of them napping together. Simba was sleeping until he heard the click of the camera.


The "boys" got along fine and it was easier than I thought it was going to be.

We had a small mishap one night. A glass jar of salad dressing broke on the kitchen floor. During the clean up process, the "boys" were banned from the kitchen. Peanut initially kept guard making sure the dogs did not go into the kitchen. In the middle of the clean up, we grabbed the camera and snapped this one.

Peanut quickly abandoned his post. It looks like Buddy got bored too!

This was Simba's hang out. It was on the carpet and not the tile floor. He watched the clean up and all the kitchen activity from this spot.

We were glad they got along. This provides us an economical option if we don't want to travel with Buddy. Plus, it has to be lots better than being stuck in the kennel.

One funny story from Simba's visit - the Big Guy was out throwing the ball with the dogs. Buddy retrieves and loves the game. Simba gets the ball but doesn't retrieve. On one pop fly Simba caught the ball in his mouth. It was dark outside and Buddy did not see it. Buddy spent about 10 minutes running around the yard trying to find his ball. The entire time Simba was laying down with the ball in between his paws. Buddy finally figured it out, walked over to Simba, and looked up to the Big Guy as if to say - how do I get my ball? Buddy did not try to get it from Simba. He just stood there waiting. The Big Guy was cracking up as it took Buddy so long to figure out where his ball was. We were pleased he was not aggressive with trying to get it away from Simba.

The good thing was Buddy did not go through any withdraw when Simba left. We don't want a second dog and did not want him to get too attached.

Lastly, I finally went to a meeting yesterday investigating the process for Buddy to become a MidSouth therapy dog. Thanks, Deb, for putting the bug in my ear a few years ago! He needs some refreshers on his skills. I am going to start the process with enrolling in obedience for him. At this point, I think he can do it, but it will take some time and commitment to get him trained. When we make it through the final evalutation, I think the experience would be very rewarding. I firmly believe in the idea that not all medicine comes in a bottle. The affect a dog can have on health is amazing.

Uncle Lou's

When my sister was in, we did do more than just eat!

But, having visitors is a great excuse to try some local hangouts. We tried an authentic fried chicken place call Uncle Lou's. It was featured on The Food Network's Diners, Drive-ins and Dives. The chicken was phenom. The corn nuggets reminded me of corn fritters, a personal favorite. The setting wasn't anything fancy, but the food was cooked to order. The staff was one of the friendliest around.

Peanut got his wings with a touch of heat. He traded his uncle for one of the hot ones! Gotta love the facial expression:)

In the days following, we bulked up on veggies to counter the fried foods!!

Unicycle Practice

Peanut got a unicycle for Christmas. I don't know where he got the desire from, but he kept asking for one.

I remember having unicycles in PE in elementary school. Our PE teacher, Mr. Schaefer (what a memory?!) would line them up along the wall. We'd get on them and try to push off the wall. I remember being motivated to figure it out. I'd get about 10 feet from the wall and fall. I never quite mastered it.

Peanut is determined to master his. He looked on the internet and came up with a couple ways to get his balance. One involved using the railing of the deck.

He wasn't quite sure about this one as all his weight is on the railing. It gives him a false sense of balance.

As of late, he's put the sawhorse up using it to get up and tries to balance on the unicycle. It will take some time, but I am confident he will master this. Next thing you know we will be joining a unicycle group!

I know most of the country is cold. We are freezing! There is some white stuff forecasted for tonight. Guess what two boys are excited? The temperature is supposed to go down into the single digits on Friday. That is really cold for this area of the country. The good thing is it can't last for long!

Incredible Pizza

Last week, my sister was in town. We decided to treat the kids and go to Incredible Pizza. When they were visiting this summer, we went there and everyone wanted to go back. It was not nearly as crowded this time around. In general, the kids were not as lucky this time. Pumpkin pulled off a win of a stuffed animal in the claw digger game.

We ate pizza and salad first. Then, the boys played games. We finished up with ice cream and cookies. Calories are free over the holidays, right? Pumpkin was goofing around with a big spoonful of ice cream. Who is teaching him manners?

My sister and her family enjoying snacks before we headed out.

Us. Enjoying the time together. And, no. We don't know the two folks in the background. Thanks, Gina, for including them!