blogged down

There are so many things that I think of posting and then never get around to. After awhile I start to get all clogged up in the blogging brain about what it is I was going to say and I just read others. :-) (btw~ is it ever correct to write "a while" or should it always be "awhile"?)

• Dora has become my bug detector. She feels it's necessary to tell me every time she sees a bug in the house. She tells me often.
• John Patrick had his final birthday party with family on Sunday. Even though the homemade ice cream was more like a milk shake it was lots of fun. And just to stay consistent with doting on Melissa's recipes, I made her chocolate cake and wow. it's good. The only thing is that I wanted to take it out to ice the whole thing and I don't think it's that kind of a cake. okay, I know it's not because half of it fell on the counter when I tried to get it out. A little extra icing makes everything alright.
Hanging out around the corn hole game with the boys

Lots of hugs for the gifts from Elly. :-)

• We took the plunge and bought an Odyssey minivan. We left the house to look at an Excursion. We drove a few different things and landed on the minivan. It was not the horrible experience I thought it was going to be. I start to really sweat over spending more than a few hundred dollars and I was afraid I would feel like I should be quiet and go with whatever John wanted. You know, because that's never the way we operate but I felt like on this issue I should and then I would end of driving something and regretting it. I know, logical. But, John was totally relaxed about everything and we both agreed on the minivan. The only downfall? It happens to have a DVD player. Which John and I also swore we would never own. I was afraid the kids would be asking every time we got in the van if they could watch something. But they accepted it very easily when we told them it was only for very long car rides. As in the ones we never take.

We had some extreme bubble blowing last night.

There were sound effects.

It's a contact sport sometimes.

In other types of news: Maybe you already have a pancake recipe? This is one that I would be sad without. I've been making these and enjoying them since John and I have been married but last weekend I actually bought buttermilk rather than mixing it myself. oh my. Just that made me decide to share this recipe. It is from the kitchen of Peg Gautraud. enough said.

2 cups flour, 2 tsp baking powder, 2 Tbsp sugar, 1/2 tsp salt, 1 tsp baking soda, 2 cups buttermilk, 2 eggs (the more you whip them before adding the better the pancake)
Mix and fry. If it's thick (which it will only be if you use real buttermilk) add water.
My variations depend on my mood that morning. If I'm feeling healthy and/or guilty from all the high fructose corn syrup my kids have had, I use half wheat/half white and cover them in applesauce rather than maple syrup. Or, if I've had too much sugar lately myself and I'm lacking the will power to cut myself off from the addiction, I add Cinnamon and apples. yum.

And last but not least, John Patrick lost his first tooth on Monday night. Can you call it "losing a tooth" when your dad pulls it for you? It's more like having it extracted but whatever. It was very lose and John Patrick said "sure" when John asked if he wanted it pulled. I was disgusted. They had their boy moment.