For the Birds

Christy and I must have very bird-friendly homes.

I discovered this little treasure on our backyard fence today.

There aren't any eggs yet, but I'm hoping there will be soon. The boys would love it, and it'd make for all sorts of great lessons.

As Josh says... all the time now... tweet tweet!

In Soviet Russia, Milk Drinks You!*

Look at funky design of the milk jugs I got at Sam's Club the other day.

Isn't it weird? It looks like some sort of Soviet Russian design, doesn't it? Totally communist-utilitarian, right?

And it doesn't even work that well. Pouring the milk without spilling is difficult because the opening is so large. (They need a spout of some sort.)

I'm sure it's some new 'eco-friendly' packaging, but boy, is it ugly. If milk weren't a $1 cheaper, I'd just buy it elsewhere. That's how much I hate this packaging.

Perhaps I should go old school and start using a milk pitcher. I'd, uh, take one for the team and use any of these:

From Etsy

Also from Etsy

From Crate and Barrel

From Pottery Barn

*Don't get the joke? Go here. And then brush up on your early 90's pop culture.

Mother & Wife of the Year

I scored big points toward becoming mother of the year last week when I bought this awesome wagon for the boys.


I scored even bigger points towards becoming wife of the year because I got it for only $15! (Usually about $80.)

I'll get to work on my acceptance speeches.

Neckties

(Sidenote: Neckties seem to be the mortal enemy of all the men in my life. Which is a shame, because nothin' looks better than a man in a crisp white shirt with a good lookin' necktie. Am I right ladies?)

A real conversation I had with Spencer this morning:

Me (putting on his necktie for church): There. All done! Don't you look nice.

Spencer (pulling at the necktie): But I'm a big boy.

Me: Yes, you are.

Spencer: I'm a big boy now. I don't need it anymore.

Me: Oh - you think big boys don't wear neckties?

Spencer (perking up and smiling wide): Yes!

Me: I hate to break it to you, but only big boys wear neckties. You'll be wearing neckties for the rest of your life.

Spencer (standing up with his fists in the air): Nooooooooooooooooooooo!

Oh, the humanity!

Magic Pajamas

My Dad and Susie bought these Spiderman pajamas for Spencer two summers ago. (Can you believe how young he looks?!) He simply adored them and would wear them until they were unbearably stinky. (At least to me; he didn't seem to care about the smell.)

They were magic pajamas; they turned the wearer into a super hero. (Interestingly enough, not limited to just Spiderman.) The pajamas made Spencer faster and stronger; he'd zip through the house, flying and 'getting the bad guys'.

It was a sad day at the end of last summer when we declared that he had outgrown the jammies. He was just too big and the jammies were just too small!

But the pajamas are back, and just as magical as ever.

Josh adores them. He would wear them all day and night if I let him. The first time he put them on last week he turned into super hero. The jammies make him faster and stronger, and he zips around the house, tripping over nothing and shouting out nonsensical things about Spiderman. (Which is interesting because he was just a baby the last time the jammies were worn by Spencer; it's not like he learned all of this from him!)

Hooray for magic pajamas!

Chocolate Winner!

Well, there were some mighty ambitious guesses made. I liked the over 200 crowd - they really wanted a lot of chocolate. :) And Lance liked the guesses that were only one less or more than the previous guess - very Price Is Right. (He thinks someone should 'bid' zero in the next contest.)

Well, there were exactly 60 pieces of Hershey's Bliss Chocolate in one pound. Which is cool, because I like nice, round numbers like that. But it also made it tricky because Tiffany guessed 59 and Heidi guessed 61.

What to do, what to do...?

Well, I decided to go all scientific. Or at least pretend to. Okay, not even pretend to be scientific.

First, I went to Random.org and chose to use their Coin Flipper. (I went with the antique coin "Antoninus Pius - Bronze Sestertius - Roman Empire" coin, in case you're wondering.) Then I asked Spencer who he wanted to be: Heidi or Tiffany. He chose Heidi. Then I asked if he wanted heads or tails, and he went with heads. I clicked the "Flip Coin" button and...

HEADS!

Heidi is our winner!! Congratulations!

(In case you don't believe the above scenario, here's videographic proof. Yeah, I cover all my bases.)

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Sheetcake Recipe

Per Kerry's request, here is the sheetcake recipe I used yesterday. Happy baking!

Texas sheet cake

2 c. sugar

2c. flour

1/2 c. shortening

1/2 c. margarine

1 c. water

1/4 c. cocoa

1/2 c buttermilk

2 beaten eggs

1 tsp soda

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp salt

Sift flour and sugar together. Bring shortening, butter, water, and cocoa to a boil. Add to flour and sugar mixture. Then add buttermilk, eggs, soda, salt and vanilla and beat well. Pour into a well greased jelly roll pan. Bake at 375 for 20 min.

Icing
*Make 5 min. before cake is ready to come out.

1 cube butter

1/4 c. cocoa

6 T Milk

1 box powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1 c chopped nuts (optional)

Bring butter, cocoa and milk to boil. Then add powdered sugar, vanilla and nuts. Spread icing over cake while both are still hot.