Didja miss me?

I've been busy! School got out, and all the kids have been home, and it was Ed's 40th birthday, and people have been having babies, and.... I could go on and on, but I'll spare you. So, where to start? Caroline is almost 11 months old! There's a birthday coming up pretty soon!!! She's cruising like a champ, and took her first step yesterday. I promptly knocked her down and duct taped her to the floor, so we should be good around here for a little while longer. Oh, for those of you who don't know me too well, that was a joke. I just said 'no no no Caroline!' and she sat down and hasn't taken another step. Yet. She's getting so big! Keith still loves her to death - he was taking her 'shopping' the other day...


She was having a blast, until he almost dumped her out onto her head. She wasn't a fan of that. Fortunately he caught her. How, I don't know, but I'll take it. We got new storm doors, and she loves looking through the glass at what's going on in the world. She also loves to smash her face against it and smush her nose up. It's pretty funny!


Henry's been, well, Henry. After shoving the lego through his eardrum, we were good for, oh, maybe 2 weeks. Then, he decided that he should jump off of the fort part of the swingset while holding onto the swing chain. Unfortunately he doesn't have a great grasp on the mechanics of gravity, and didn't let go of said swing chain until gravity decided maybe he should. Fortunately nothing was broken, but he managed to dislocate his shoulder. Guess where we went! That was a quick trip, too. He's talking up a storm, and will reenact the whole swingset fiasco for you if you ask. On the ground, though! We've appeared to have adopted my parents' dog, Kona, and Henry just loves her to death. He helps us feed her, takes her on walks with us, and tries his hardest to get her to play fetch with him. Unfortunately, she can't see too well, so she can't see the balls that he continues to throw for her. He gets a little irritated about that, and yells "KONA! Go get ball KONA!!!!' at her, which probably confuses her even more. So, that's what we've been up to. Keith leaves on Wednesday to go to Wyoming with my parents for six weeks, so Henry and Caroline and I will have to find something to do! I think I'm going to realize quickly just how much Keith does to help out with the little guys!

I scream... you scream...

We all scream for ice cream! Make another mark on that mother of the year tally sheet for me - I made ice cream from SCRATCH today! Chocolate chip ice cream even! And it was GOOD.

Yum. Corn.

It is officially summer!

Because there is corn. And fireflies. But this post is about the corn. Last night we had the first corn on the cob of the season. Of course, there were a few glitches in the preparation of the corn, but once it was cooked, it was good.

See that thing floating in the pot of corn water? The thing on the left? I had the water boiling and was just about to stick the corn in when I looked (thank goodness) and said "what the hell is that?" Henry piped up "A cracker." Oh, of course. Crackers. In the corn water. Who WOULDN'T put crackers in the corn water? Anyways, I wouldn't, so I dumped it and started all over. Fortunately there were no crackers in the second batch of corn water. So we cooked the corn, and some steaks and some rice. The kids really enjoyed the corn and the rice - steaks, not so much. Oh well, more for me and Ed!

Char-broiled chicken, anyone?

So, we decided to do a couple of roaster chickens on the barbecue today. Cut up some vegetables, shoved a can of ginger ale into the bird, and put the on the nifty chicken vegetable barbecue cooker trays we have. Stuck them on the barbecue, and went about out business. Keith was playing outside, and Ed kept checking on the birds. After they had been cooking about an hour or so (Ed had *just* checked on them) I happened to glance out the window and saw the barbecue, on fire, and Keith standing next to it waving the smoke away. Note to self: Keith didn't quite absorb all the fire training he's had. I yell for Ed, yell out the door for Keith to GET AWAY FROM THE BARBECUE, and go into the kitchen to get water. Did I mention it's a propane barbecue? Lucky it didn't turn into a rocket barbecue, seeing as we had just filled up the tank not too long ago. Ed runs out, pulls out the grease tray thingy with the tongs and dumps it on the grass (scorching the hell out of the grass in the process), and watches it burn. On the grass. While the barbecue also burns. Note to self: Ed didn't quite absorb all the fire training HE'S had. I grab some water, go out and dump it on the grease tray thingy and the fire goes out. However, the chickens are now pretty engulfed in flames. With the vegetables. Ed shuts the barbecue lid and fortunately after a moment or two the fire went out. Unfortunately, looking back on it, I didn't get any pictures, because they would have been funny! But I did get pictures of the aftermath!!
The grease trap - see the scorched grass?

The barbecue, sans chicken and vegetables.

The grease tray and the barbecue.

And my favorite picture, the vegetables. Ed was surprised that no one wanted to eat them! Here's a hint - they started out as potatoes, onions, and carrots. Yup. I swear.

The Best Twenty Dollars I Have EVER Spent

I had to go to Target today to get cat food and litter and some outlet adaptor thingys for the air conditioner - we don't have any grounded outlets in this house other than in the kitchen. While I was there, I found this for $19.99. And you know, I didn't even thing twice about getting it. I had to spend a few extra bucks to get the snocone holders (according to Keith you can't have a snocone unless it's in one of those annoying paper cones) and the flavoring, but even just plain ice is WONDERFUL. Manna from heaven, I'm telling you. Think I can pass it off as Ed's birthday present?

I am a wonderful mother!

Today is a hot one. According to weather.com, it is currently 93, but feels like 106. Otherwise known as hotter than hell. So, being the good mother I am, I said screw the water bill, lets get the slip & slide out!