Waffle Maker Woes

I made waffles this morning. Here is the proof. For my faithful followers, please ooh and aah over the red wall. It is stunning against the chrome and the, uh, what is that other thing in the picture? Oh, it's a round waffle maker circa 1987. Makes the best waffles, crisped to perfection. And now you know how long I've been married.
Alas, there is a slight problem. The antique waffle iron is gimpy. It's leg was severed somewhere around, um, guessing here, about 2000? Disappeared during Y2K. Yup, that's it. Gone. Well, we all know you cannot make waffles at a tilt so a suitable solution is at hand. One must go to the miscellaneous cooking supply (junk) drawer and rummage around for exactly the right tool.
Oh, there it is. The biscuit cutter, circa 1999. It is the only tool which solves the waffle maker dilemma because it is exactly the right height. Now, admit it. Did you scroll back up and look in the drawer and try to find it? Kind of like, "Where's Waldo?" I'll bet you did.
A match made in heaven.
Doesn't that feel so much better?
Ready to rock and roll!
And now we take a break from our regularly scheduled programming to show you what kind of syrup we are currently using. The label clearly states, "NO HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP." On the back of the bottle, the first ingredient listed is Corn Syrup. That High Fructose stuff will get you every time. We'll revert to the real stuff after the tax refund check comes in.
So here are the waffles ready to be consumed. If you blow up the picture, you will clearly see the black flecks from the waffle iron nicely baked into the beautifully bronzed waffles. I'm tellin' ya, those aren't blueberries, they are gunk from the last million times we made waffles.
Some people must have an egg on top of their waffle. As I was multitasking at a premium rate, these are not the prettiest eggs, but guess what? They got eaten.
Here is the appreciative crowd unaware of the photographer or I'm sure they would have smiled. Or maybe they were too busy eating.
Except Trey! Who was quite aware of the photographer and made certain that I took a picture of just him. "Look at me, Mom!" "Take me, Mom!" Oh, okay. You are too cute, Trey.
Thus ends the waffle maker's woes. It was good. It was very good.

Mug Shots

Micah has a wonderful speech therapist. She had the idea to make laminated pictures of everyone in the family so that he could practice our names. He already has a card set of familiar objects like cow, cup, baby, cat. So here we are in all our glory.

Micah
Trey
Cora
Kloey
Erika
Erik
JerrodLindsey
Jennifer
Bob

Squeaky Sneakers

Trey and Micah go to Squeaky Sneakers each week, a community playgroup run by the YMCA. They are catching on so quickly. A side note: I could do it in my sleep as it is the same predictable program we played in with Lindsey, with Jerrod, with Erik, and then with Erika and Everett, and now the boys. Predictability is good for toddlers. It is great fun watching them enjoy themselves. Here is the proof. Alas, these are my photos. Lindsey says practice, practice, practice.










The pictures speak for themselves.

She is our Unsung Hero

Our first born is truly an unsung hero. Committed to Jesus, others, and then herself in that order, she is a picture of joy. She announced our Unsung Hero award to be given by the Governor in Concord.
See here: http://lindseys-sur-ren-der.blogspot.com/2010/01/my-unsung-heroes.html
We wouldn't be the parents we are without the kids that we have.

True Confessions about the Tooth Fairy

Okay. Here is a true confession. I'll just come right out and say it. The Tooth Fairy doesn't come to our house anymore. There, I said it. I feel so much better. It started out okay but in this cashless society, there never seems to be dollar lying around, never mind one that looks decent enough to put under a pillow. After awhile, the Tooth Fairy often "forgot" to come and would have to make an appearance the next night or even the night after that, paying double, of course. We have not had any sleepless nights but do wonder if our children will be permanently disabled by this omission in their childhood. We will figure something out. I am certain that there are homes that need the Tooth Fairy more than we do.
Addendum to this post: Erik dragged out his own tooth collection in honor of Cora's new gap. See, I wasn't kidding.

Tubing on a Sunday Afternoon

What a great way to warm up. We hardly noticed the cold whilst running up and down the hill. We had a wonderful afternoon spending time with some neat families and rest assured, the children definitely outnumbered the adults by a large margin.
Kloey is helping by taking a younger girl's tube for her. So proud of her.
Cora is having too much fun as usual. She was our only casualty of the day when she was injured at the end. She is resting comfortably and will probably bounce out of bed in the morning.


Trey loves living in the fast lane. Walking up the hill is another story. He had a good time.


Micah is pretty sure he is having a good time.
The girls banded together to make a giant run down the slope.
The boys are lined up in hot pursuit.
These were the protectors at the bottom of the hill stopping everyone from entering the woods. Good guys.

There is more to the cinnamon roll story...

What do you do when you have scalded the milk and it is too hot and you want to cool it. Well, first you put it in a cold metal bowl and do this:
And then you do this:
And then you do this some more:

And then you get these which were worth all the trouble. Of course during all that, there was a good movie on the tube.
I cannot admit how many of these I have eaten.

This is the life!

We are so thankful for our pool pass each winter. It is a little taste of paradise we get to sample a few times a week. It is even more fun this year because Micah and Trey are both enjoying the water and all the big kids are good swimmers playing in the deep end without worry. Once again, all photos credits must go to the fabulous Lindsey M. Peterson.



Water has not been Trey's thing. He is doing so well and asks to go "wimming."
Micah, on the other hand, is a water baby. He loves water and has no fear.

Brothers splashing. Great fun.
Trey learned that he could float with only one hand holding on for stability. This is so much fun for me. Seriously, real joy!
Not sure why he was clasping his hands but it was so cute. He was watching the girls on the other side of the hot tub quite intently.
This is the life. What more could I ask for. Next time we will try to get big kid pictures but they don't stay still very long. They play and laugh and jump and play and........

Thanks Mom and Dad Hill!!!