Beavertails

When I was a kid I was very responsible and organized.  I know, hard to believe, but my mother will back me up.  I was the kid who came home from school and told my mom that two weeks from Tuesday I needed something for a class project.  I did my homework on Friday nights instead of waiting until Sunday and I didn't wait until the last minute to do anything.  That might have changed a little bit in college, but before that I was on top of things.

Which is why it kills me when I get things like this from Andy:

The recipe was for Beavertails Ontario (because he is giving a presentation on Ontario, Canada tomorrow in Social Studies).  In case you don't know what beavertails are, because I didn't, the are basically fried dough covered in sugar and cinnamon.  Luckily I happened to check my email this morning and had time to run by the grocery store.  I looked over the ingredients he needed and we had all of them except for yeast.  Then I texted a friend to ask how, exactly, do you get the oil hot enough to fry to beavertails and she thankfully had a deep fryer in her garage that she was happy to lend me.

We started this project right after school.  I made Andy do as much as possible but when you are working with 375 degree cooking oil I am not giving the reigns to a 12 year old.  So, we mixed the dough together, he rolled it out and after putting the girls to bed Charlie also got involved and did the frying while I did the rolling in sugar/cinnamon.  Amazingly it didn't turn out to be the long night I expected and we finished before 9p.

Charlie claims that he wasn't a last minute kid either.  So where did Andy get it from?  That's anybody's guess but he does have a few aunts and uncles that have the same characteristics.  He got an earful during dinner and I would hope at this point he is clear on our disdain for waiting until the last minute to work on a school project.  This isn't the first time this year this has happened, but it always seems to work out in his favor.  Charlie thinks that next time we shouldn't be so willing to help and see if that teaches him a lesson, I'm inclined to agree.

Regardless of our stance, the finished product turned out pretty good.  They may not look as good as they should, but we were pretty excited.

Late Night Squeeze

Last night before I went to bed I went into Andy's room to make sure he had turned his alarm clock on.  I don't do this every night, but I at least try to do in on Sundays after I know he's had his alarm off for the weekend.  He had been asleep for a couple of hours so I thought he'd sleep right through it, but when he stirred I didn't want him to freak out and think I was an intruder (he has a bit of a fear of that) so I quietly asked him if he remembered to set his alarm.

He acknowledged that he had and then asked if he could have a hug.  Of course!  I leaned down and gave him a big hug and stayed with him for a few second, told him I loved him and left the room with a little smile on my face.  No matter what, he'll always be my little man.

Passing the Buck

Last week Amanda needed to get her blood drawn at the pediatrician's office.  Don't worry grandmas, she's fine, they were just worried because she's a little on the chunky side (as her mother was at that age).  I like our doctor's office, but sometimes I think they are a little too concerned about my kids and wonder if we were still in Texas if they would even think twice.  Stupid healthy Colorado.

I always take the kids to the doctor and I get the brunt of it when they get shots or medicine or even when Sarah had to do an in-office breathing treatment when she had pneumonia.  They get mad at me and they cry and then they cry some more.  Sometimes I think that they cry so much just because I'm the one that takes them.  Daddy is the fun one and he never has to do the dirty work, so this time I made him take Amanda.

It started out by him asking me where the doctor's office was (see, he never takes them and he's even been to the office for a flu shot before) but he went without complaining.  He agreed that my thought process had some merit and was willing to try it.  However, Amanda cried regardless.  She cried and struggled and made the whole situation worse because she was flailing while she had a needle in her arm.  I guess with some things it doesn't really matter who takes them.

It turns out that there was nothing to worry about.  Our fluffy little girls doesn't have a thyroid problem or diabetes and everything came back normal.  Her cholesterol levels were slightly elevated (probably because we accidentally had waffles for dinner the evening before the blood test, not the smartest idea) but nothing to be concerned about.  Except they said they want to recheck it at her well-visit in August.  I'm pretty sure I'm going to have to take her to that one.

Kid Quote of the Day

The girls can be pretty lazy, so often they will ask Siri to open an app on their iPads for them.  It doesn't always go so well.

Amanda:  Siri, open any app.

Siri:  I don't see an app called "any".  What app do you want me to open?

Amanda:  I don't care.

Siri:  I don't see an app called "I don't care".

Amanda:  Siri, I hate you.

Kid Quote of the Day

Amanda:  When I grow up I'm going to live next to you.

Me:  Great, then I can babysit your kids and sugar them up and give them back to you.

Amanda:  What does that mean?

Me:  That means I can give them lots of candy and make them crazy and then send them home to you.

Amanda:  No thank you!!!