m.u.s.t. have s.l.e.e.p.

for some reason, when lily finished potty training, she also stopped sleeping through the night. at first it was a couple times a week. now it's a regular occurrence. a few nights she has gotten up at 1 and decided it was time to be up for the day. the nice part for me is that she is attached at the hip to her dad. so in the middle of the night the only person she wants is him. larry of course is wishing that they weren't quite so bonded ;) last night was especially bad because we stayed up late, then lily came in a hour after we went to bed. it took about two hours or so to get her settled back in; which just means that she was asleep in our bed - bad parenting i know. we are getting soft in our old age. then a couple hours after that brooke gets up because she had a bad dream and won't go back to her bed. so larry moves one sleeping girl out only to be replaced by another one. so needless to say today i'm feeling like i haven't slept at all. i might need to get a caffeine iv just to make it through the day. and i am seriously at a loss as to how to solve the lily problem. believe it or not we didn't really have this problem with the rest of our kids. we don't want her to wake the rest of the kids with a screaming fit in the middle of the night so we appease her which just makes it worse but what to do!!! it's very frustrating and exhausting.

the two l's one afternoon after a long night together

be afraid - be very afraid!!

it's official. brendan can now legally carry a gun in the woods and hunt four legged creatures. he spent 12 hours last week in a hunter safety class and took his exam on saturday which he passed with flying colors. i still am not really sure how i am feeling about the whole thing. it's great that he has an interest in something that he and his dad can do together. however, those of you that know brendan have to agree that he still seems a little bit young to carry a gun and hunt prey. when i try to picture it in my head, all i can see is him at about the age of four, traipsing through the woods carrying a gun that is about 4 times his size. kind of like in "father of the bride" when the daughter tells her dad she is getting married and he visualizes her as a child the whole time. it's just really hard for me to believe that he is growing up so fast! the best part of this adventure is that when larry went to sign him up he asked me if I wanted to sign up as well! like i have any intention of hunting ever in this lifetime! that's an even funnier picture in my head. i am sure it would play out like the hunting scene from "new in town" - which is actually a pretty funny movie once you get past renee zellwegers plastic face that is no longer capable of moving. i should have larry watch that movie and then i'll bet he won't ever suggest that i go hunting with him again. besides, it will be a great father\ son - and i'm willing to bet someday a couple of girls will tag along as well - experiance.

the great debate

so larry and i are in the middle of a debate and i'm having a hard time being objective. part of me says that i am just being a sentimental old fool but the other part says i have a right to be that way. i'm not sure what to do so i'm looking for some objective input. here's the situation.

our neighbors are having a baby. they thought they were done (their youngest is in kindergarten). so they got rid of all their baby stuff. awhile ago they had told larry that they were interested in any baby stuff that we had. the other day, the dad asked larry about our crib. now on the surface our crib is nothing spectacular. but the emotional attachment i have to it makes it more precious than if it was made of gold. growing up, my parents had these friends that were like second parents to me. when larry and i found out we were expecting, they gave us the crib they had purchased for when their grandchildren came to visit. all four of our kids have used that crib. lily still uses that crib, even though she is far to big for it. i just can't seem to take it down because i know that when we do it will be put away forever. and while i don't foresee us having any more children the thought of taking it down makes me a little weepy. larry's side is that it needs to come down because lily needs to sleep on a regular bed; for the record i agree with this part. but he also thinks that since we won't be using it again we should give it to someone that will. our kids are not going to want it for their children so why should it sit in storage forever? again, i see where he is coming from but i just can't seem to give it up. am i being a silly sentimental pack rat?? maybe we should take a vote. yes means silly sentimental packrat - it needs to move on to another baby and no means keeping it is my prerogative even though it will set in storage for years to come. which ever way you vote won't hurt my feelers i promise. i just need some objectivity.

yummy sesame chicken recipe

i love to cook and try different things. but chinese cuisine always eludes me. it never tastes authentic. since i am always on the prowl for another attempt at redemption i found the following recipe. tried it this weekend and it is heavenly!! finally a winner!

sesame chicken

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
1 tablespoon dry sherry
2 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
1 dash sesame oil
1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast meat - cubed

1 cup chicken broth
1 cup white sugar
2 tablespoons distilled white vinegar
2 tablespoons dark soy sauce
2 tablespoons sesame oil
1 teaspoon chile paste
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 cup water

1 quart olive oil for frying
2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
1. Sift flour, 2 tablespoons cornstarch, baking soda, and baking powder into a bowl. Pour in low-sodium soy sauce, sherry, 2 tablespoons water, vegetable oil, and a dash of sesame oil; stir until smooth. Stir in chicken until coated with the batter, then cover, and refrigerate for 20 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, bring chicken broth, sugar, vinegar, dark soy sauce, sesame oil, chile paste, and garlic to a boil in a saucepan over high heat. Dissolve 1/4 cup cornstarch into 1/2 cup of water, and stir into boiling sauce. Simmer until the sauce thickens and turns clear, about 2 minutes. Reduce heat to low, and keep sauce warm.
3. Heat olive oil in a deep fryer or large saucepan to a temperature of 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
4. Drop in the battered chicken pieces, a few at a time, and fry until they turn golden brown and float to the top of the oil, 3 to 4 minutes. Drain on a paper towel lined plate. To serve, place fried chicken pieces onto a serving platter, and pour the hot sauce overtop. Sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds to garnish

the only change i made was instead of 1 cup white sugar i did 3\4 cup brown (a suggestion from the reviews). it was fabulous! even brendan who is a notoriously picky eater loved it. one side note is that according to larry it does not warm up well so make sure your quantity is for one meal only. and don't be discouraged by the length of the recipe. it takes a little bit of work, but the end reward is worth the blood, sweat and tears!! just kidding - it's really not that bad at all. you just have to have a little patience.

you know it's windy when....

your grill takes a spill.

it's been windy here all week. have a mentioned before how much i hate wind?? yesterday the wind was out of control. i had to do some grocery shopping late in the afternoon and the wind was so strong that it pulled some of the lighter bags out of the trunk, carried them for a couple of feet and then dumped the contents into the parking lot. complete craziness! then our poor grill got knocked over by it. i kept looking around for the twister. it felt very dorothy right before she gets carried out of kansas - ish. the best though was the other day when a giant piece of cardboard came flying at me while we were driving down the road. but that actually was a little bit more "twister" with the cow flying across the road now that i think of it.

peaceful

lately, the only way we can get lily to take a nap is to load up in the car and go for a little ride. but today, she climbed up onto the ottoman and promptly crashed.

i could watch that sleeping, serene face for hours.

we got ourselves a bleeder over here

taking into consideration that the female to male ratio in our house is 2 to 1 you would think that accidents would be few and far between. however, for some reason it seems like every day someone in the house is bleeding. now the quantity of blood varies and usually it's nothing more than a minor scrape. but occasionally we have what i like to call "bleeders". last night, while watching the grammy's, brooke decided to show us her mad dancing skills. about 10 seconds into her phenomenal routine her head made an unfortunate connection with the wood feet of our couch. the end result was this lovely flesh wound.

now i have to say that brooke is one tough cookie. she hardly cried. although maybe that's because she was in shock?? and today she didn't complain about it at all. but she has decided to put her dance career on hold for a little while longer. to keep the tally of a bleeder a day running, while playing with the butterfly tunnel this morning lily ran smack into another kiddo. promptly producing a bloody nose and lip. i have to say that she was not as calm as brooke. she kept screaming "i'm bleeding" and became very disgruntled when i told her that i couldn't put a band-aid on her nose. "but how will it stop mom?" thankfully it didn't last very long. but i am seriously amazed at how often these kind of things happen in our house. is this normal?? are we just a house full of klutz's or do the kids just play too hard?? i really don't get it. if it were a house full of boys i would expect these kinds of things. i would have cases and cases of band-aids and polysporin. anyway, i'm hoping that tomorrow will be less eventful.