She can't even boil eggs...

Okay, the kids wanted to decorate Easter eggs on Saturday. I put 18 eggs in a pot of water, brought it to boiling, covered it, turned off the heat, and left it. I came back an hour later, took out the eggs, and we began decorating. Naturally the two year old broke one of them. To my chagrin, it was still semi-liquid inside. As were they all. Now, I know I am not a gourmet chef, but I thought surely I knew how to boil an egg. I've never had a problem with it before. Who knows what happened. I've boiled eggs before.

At least I can still make toast without burning it. I got a nice new toaster for Christmas. Hey, maybe I've traded one skill for the other. Now that I can make toast, I can't boil eggs. Both skills cannot co-exist.

It's a good thing nobody around here likes boiled eggs.

Hey! How about some privacy?

This picture is too cute.

I love winter!

I am sure that this post will make me very unpopular with a large group of people, but I wish it would stay winter longer. I just love the cold weather. I love walking outside and seeing my breath. I love that gray look to the sky when it's about to snow. I love the crisp smell of the air. I love being able to snuggle into my bed at night and be nice and warm.

In summer, I walk outside and immediately see my sweat. The sky is hazy from all the heat waves. The air smells either steamy and rotting or parched and dry. And I have to sleep with no covers on, and I'm still hot.

I actually really enjoy spring, except for the fact that it leads into summer. If I could be somewhere where the temperature hovers at 75, I'd be happy. I could wear jeans or shorts, depending on my mood. I might need a jacket if it got windy, but most of the time I wouldn't. Unfortunately, it doesn't stay 75 around here. It gets hotter, and hotter, and hotter. Last year it was 95 in May. Why would anybody want that kind of weather to come?

So I have to say Autumn is actually my favorite season. It's still warm, but that chill comes into the air around November 1st. And it gets cooler. Then cold. Then the first flakes of snow fall. And if you're lucky, a white Christmas!

I am the one who cheers for Punxsatawny Phil every February 2nd that he predicts more winter. I'm the one with the "We Love Snow" sign on the front door. If it gets too cold, I can always bundle up more. In summer, there are only so many clothes I can take off. And I'm still hot.

So for all of you who enjoy summer's heat, I say have fun, enjoy the heat, get out there in the sun. But rest assured, winter will come again. And I'll be waiting.

A recent picture of me and the baby

ABC stinks

Okay, what is the deal with ABC? It has been three weeks since they've shown an episode of Desperate Housewives. Three weeks! And this week's episode? It's gonna be a re-run! Okay, so, I go to see what this week's Lost is going to be about. Guess what? It's a re-run too! The last new one of those was two weeks ago. What in the world is going on? You would think that after finally getting two hit shows, ABC would want to show as many new episodes as possible. Instead they sit around on their and show stupid movies and re-runs.

I remember this happening before, and I'm sure you do too. Remember Moonlighting? Also on ABC, also a huge hit. What did they do? They kept showing re-runs! It got to be so bad it was almost a joke - they even had the characters on the show commenting about it! You would think that ABC would've learned their lesson, but no. We have to suffer through re-run after re-run. And the season's gonna be over soon! Get with it, ABC!

Here's the baby trying out the Exersaucer for the first time!

Who needs 3 dozen eggs?

We went to Sam's Club last night to pick up some groceries. I can remember clearly the days when we went to regular grocery stores and bought 1 gallon of milk, 1 dozen eggs, 1 carton of orange juice. Now, ten years and four kids later, our weekly grocery shopping usually includes:

• 3-5 gallons of milk
• 3 dozen eggs
• 6 half-gallons cartons of orange juice
• 4 loaves of bread
• 6-10 pounds of apples

Monthly, we also buy some or all of the following:

• a box of 18 chimichangas
• 9 ready-made pizza crusts
• 10-20 cans of diced tomatoes
• 8-15 boxes of cereal
• 10 pounds of frozen vegetables

And those are just the things I can think of right now.

So far, only three of the boys eat regular food. And none of them are teenagers. I can envision the day in which I will need to push three or four carts through Sam's Club just to do one week's shopping. I am very scared. I wonder how many people have to take out a second mortgage to buy groceries?

If I ever make it on a game show and the host asks me how I'm going to spend the money, I've already got my response ready. "Well, I've got four boys," I'll say, "so this should feed them for about a week." I guarantee big laughs.

It's funny 'cause it's true.

Techno Kids

Well, the two middle boys were watching Star Wars the other night up in my bedroom because the oldest was playing Nintendo downstairs. So naturally when it was time for dinner, they didn't want to come down. I told Hubby to remind them that our oldest couldn't continue playing while we were eating, so they could bring the tape down and watch it while we ate. Hubby came back down, trailed by the budding sci-fi fans. The five year old was upset. "But Daddy, that video doesn't have scene selections. How will we find where we left off?" Thus my 5 year old hit on the only advantage video tapes have over DVDs - you never lose your place.

It got me thinking, though. How will my kids ever understand the vast difference between the world in which I grew up and the world in which they are growing up? I commented that I had seen Star Wars when I was six. Hubby said, "In the theater?" And I had to remind him that "in the theater" was the only way to see movies in 1977. If you didn't see it in the theater, you didn't see it! Now, of course, I would rather wait for the DVD so I can see all the bonus material and listen to the commentary. I have probably spent over 40 hours on the Lord of the Rings trilogy alone. Of course, I did see those in the theater.

My kids are so used to technology that they don't even think the same way I do. My second son is only 5. It's simply a matter of time before he's writing his own blog I suppose. In the meantime, I will continue to regale them with tales of how, once upon a time, you had to watch whatever was being broadcast on the television at the time. No video tapes, no TIVO, no DVD recorders. After all, would we really have chosen to watch that many reruns of Gilligan's Island if we had a choice?

What is the toilet for again?

So last night my five year old woke up from a really long nap and came down to the basement. He wandered around a bit, then walked over to the trash can. It was dark, but I thought I saw something I didn't want to be seeing. All I could do was say, "Are you peeing in the trash can?!" And he was. What on earth possessed him to do this I haven't a clue. Was he still asleep? Was he too lazy to go upstairs? Did he think this was a good alternative to wetting his pants? Who knows. I still can't believe he did that.

New pictures!