Gummy Dinos

Monkey man made these Dubble Bubble dinosaurs this morning. I thought they were so cool!

Beauty is in the eyes of the grower...

I picked this beauty this morning. Then, I snapped its picture. Then, I ate it. :)

Once Upon a Pea Patch

Once upon a time there was a beautiful, but slightly ornery princess. Her royal mother dearly hoped to obtain her photographic likeness while standing in the royal sweet pea patch. The morning light was just right, and the peas were standing tall & verdant.
However, the slightly ornery princess was not desiring to have her likeness captured at that particular moment. Happenings in the royal kingdom had not been to her liking a few minutes earlier [older brother would not let her hold his bat & ball].
This was the best her royal mother was able to do.

Finally, the royal mother became exasperated and banished the slightly ornery princess from the royal sweet pea patch. And peace reigned in the kingdom for five more seconds.

What's wrong with this picture?

Can you tell what is wrong with this picture of Mr. C.?

No, it is not the goofy grin on his face. No, it's not the muddy jeans in the background. No, it's not the dirt piled all over the porch. It's this:

The cat had brought it into the house this morning & I asked Mr. C to get it out. I thought he would pick it up and quickly put it outside, but he didn't. He sat there and let the lizard slowly crawl up his leg and get a ride outside. Ewww!

Making soup

Sleeping Beauty

Yesterday, I snuck (sneaked?) out of the house to get a chance to walk to the mailbox alone. The big girls were playing with the tape recorder, and the others were watching a Scooby Doo DVD at (on?) the kitchen table.

When I came back in, I saw this:

And I thought, "Wow, Queenie is really into Scooby. She's watching so intently."

"She's not even moving! Queenie... Queenie?"

Sleeping BeautyCareful, Queenie, please don't drool on the DVD player. The boys will be really upset.

I love little feet.

A new toy

Sugar Baby purchased a tape recorder from the thrift store yesterday. Hours of entertainment are in store...

Look closely at Monkey Man's mischievous face. He's thinking of all the obnoxious noises that can be recorded and played back. The possibilities are endless!

I know this picture is fuzzy, but I'm sharing it anyway. Bobby was just winding up for a yawn & I caught him.

Out of the mouths of babes

A few days ago, Queenie broke something that belonged to Sugar Baby. One of the boys said, "Queenie, you're a bad girl!"

Queenie became very indignant and redfaced and said, "I NOT bad durl!"

Then she calmly and matter-of-factly looked at me and said, "Mom, I a dood durl, akshully."

Okay, Queenie. Whatever you say.

:)

Soft Pretzels!

I found another winning recipe from allrecipes.com yesterday. The ducklings were eager to help out & it ended up being lots of fun. I was amazed at how yummy these pretzels were! This recipe is definitely a keeper.

I snapped this picture & when I looked at it on the camera, I discovered Queenie nibbling on her piece of dough. I hadn't noticed her doing that until then... the sneaky little rascal:) Rolling & shaping was fun and required no flour, so it wasn't as messy as most of our family cooking experiences.

Here they are in the oven before they browned. Mmmmm...

Mall Pretzels

1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 1/8 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup bread flour
2 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
2 tablespoons baking soda
2 tablespoons butter, melted
2 tablespoons coarse kosher salt

DIRECTIONS
In a large mixing bowl, dissolve the yeast, brown sugar and salt in 1 1/2 cups warm water. Stir in flour, and knead dough on a floured surface until smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, and turn to coat the surface. Cover, and let rise for one hour.

Combine 2 cups warm water and baking soda in an 8 inch square pan. [I added 2 Tbs sugar to this and kept it boiling in a deep skillet.]

After dough has risen, cut into 12 pieces. Roll each piece into a 3 foot rope, pencil thin or thinner. Twist into a pretzel shape, and dip into the baking soda solution. [I let them simmer for a minute.] Place on parchment covered cookie sheets, and let rise 15 to 20 minutes. [Oops, just noticed we forgot to do this!]

Bake at 450 degrees F (230 degrees C) for 8 to 10 minutes, or until golden brown. Brush with melted butter, and sprinkle with coarse salt, garlic salt or cinnamon sugar.

Enjoy!