College girl

So E sends me this picture. She's chewing something. Maybe she's trying to prove to me that she's eating breakfast? I just don't know sometimes.

And this is her after-karate, proscrastinating-on-writing-a-paper face.

Japan Fest

B stayed at school till 6 p.m. last night and was back again this morning at 10 a.m. to help set up for the annual Japan Fest. Then he worked the "duck game" from noon to 4 p.m. and stayed about an hour after to help clean up.

Sensei certainly knows how to make her students work and they, surprisingly, love doing it.

Missing out

Mom and Cindy should be safely in Panama today. Hope they're having fun. They plan to come up soon to visit, and I expect they'll bring photos of their trip. I wonder, though, if any will be as funny as the ones I like to take. Remember these?

Mom mimics a hula dancer statue in Lahaina on Maui, February 2011.

Cindy pretends she's the Statue of Liberty, New York City, September 2013.

Cindy looking through the luggage area of our tour bus, Costa Rica, January 2014. This was one of those "you had to be there to understand why this is funny" moments.

Sadness

I should be in Panama today with mom and Cindy, but the universe had other plans. Don't I look sad? On the positive side, I'm half-way done and I still have hair, though it's starting to fail me.

Muffles and B

Cutie

Living the dream

August has quite the life of leisure - laying with L on the downstairs sofa with the fire going while she watches "Dr. Who" and simultaneougly plays a game on her iPad.

Soup's on

How sweet is B that he found a recipe in one of my cooking magazines that he wanted to make, and he actually made it for dinner! Of course, the recipe was for chicken soup, one of his favorite foods. And it turned out really good. He halved the recipe and still has a tiny bit left for his dinner tomorrow.

The recipe, "Ultimate Chicken Noodle Soup," is from Taste of Home magazine.

2-1/2 pounds bone-in chicken thighs
1-1/4 teaspoons pepper, divided
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 large onion, chopped (about 2 cups)
1 garlic clove, minced
10 cups chicken broth
4 celery ribs, chopped (about 2 cups)
4 medium carrots, chopped (about 2 cups)
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme or 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
3 cups uncooked kluski or other egg noodles (about 8 ounces)
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Pat chicken dry with paper towels; sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon pepper and salt. In a 6-qt. stockpot, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add chicken in batches, skin side down; cook 3-4 minutes or until dark golden brown. Remove chicken from pan; remove and discard skin. Discard drippings, reserving 2 tablespoons.
Add onion to drippings; cook and stir over medium-high heat 4-5 minutes or until tender. Add garlic; cook 1 minute longer. Add broth, stirring to loosen browned bits from pan. Bring to a boil. Return chicken to pan. Add celery, carrots, bay leaves and thyme. Reduce heat; simmer, covered, 25-30 minutes or until chicken is tender.
Transfer chicken to a plate. Remove soup from heat. Add noodles; let stand, covered, 20-22 minutes or until noodles are tender.
Meanwhile, when chicken is cool enough to handle, remove meat from bones; discard bones. Shred meat into bite-size pieces. Return meat to stockpot. Stir in parsley and lemon juice. Adjust seasoning with salt and remaining 3/4 teaspoon pepper. Remove bay leaves. Yield: 10 servings (3-1/2 quarts).

My soon-to-be graduate

L brought home the proofs for her eighth-grade graduation pictures yesterday. I like the second pose. Just look at how long her hair is!

Sunshine

It's been really cold this week and when Muffles decides to leave the girls' room, he can usually be found laying on the table in the sunshine. At least he lays on the end where we don't eat.

A wanted man

B registered to take the ACT in February and the college mail has started to come in.

Class of 2020

Andy and I went to the high school tonight to see what courses are recommended for L to take this fall. My baby is going to be a freshman!

Birthday baker

L was not about to let Andy's birthday pass without making him a cake. She baked it last night after we got home from taking E to college.

She did a good job frosting it, but Andy decided she needed to use all the frosting in the can so he had to step in and help out.

Her finished product!

Andy poses with his birthday cake.

Blowing out the candles and making a wish!

Back to U of I

Andy and I drove E and her friend, M, down to Urbana today. Course, we couldn't drop off E without taking her to lunch. We went to the Firehaus and got lunch and cheese curds as an appetizer.

And since it was Andy's birthday, I thought it would be nice to get a picture of the two of us.

And here she is being dropped off at her dorm, braving temperatures that never climbed above 10 degrees all day.

Had to get a picture of this - the bookstores have some funny things. We left B at home and L was at a sleepover birthday party last night. The hostess' parents brought L home, but by then, B had left for a friend's house (unbeknownst to us) and L couldn't get the lock open. Apparently, she called B and his friend to come home and let her in, which they thankfully did, all the while the birthday girl and her parents were waiting with L (thankfully since it was so cold!) Also unbeknownst to us, L texted Aunt Allison and asked her bring her lunch, which she thankfully did (although L is capable of cooking for herself). The things that happen when we're away.

A new friend

Andy and E went to O'Hare this afternoon to pick up a friend from California E met in her calculus class last semester. Her friend, M, is staying with us tonight and we'll drive the girls back to U of I tomorrow. Muffles warmed up to her right away and decided her Disneyland blanket needed a little cat hair on it so he cuddled up on it.

Laundry or escape?

I think E definitely is making plans to sneak this kitty back to school with her ... and he seems pretty willing to go.

Cuddle time

I think one of the things E misses most about being at college is playing with the cats. She took some time to cuddle August this week before going back. Hope that lasts her until spring break.

Officially an adult?

E bought her first Powerball ticket last night, hoping to win the $1.5 billion jackpot, as of today.

A bit of blue

So this is what L and I were up to yesterday - we dyed the bottom of her hair blue. I didn't want to bleach it first so it's a bit dark, but she says she likes it. Her plan is to put a row of pink dye above the blue, depending on the reaction from her friends at school today. She said the blue looks like the tardis from "Dr. Who" so she's happy.

Registering for the ACT

B is going to take the ACT test in February as a warm-up for the April test and to see what he might expect to score. Of course, he had to fill out a long questionnaire of his likes and dislikes before registering for the test. E looks a bit more excited about the whole process than B does.

Braving the snow

We decided to brave the snow this afternoon and went downtown for Gino's East pizza. It was our plan to do something fun with E before she heads back to college next week, but she ditched us for the boyfriend

Bird-watching

Early b-day present

I saw this on etsy and had to get it for E's birthday. I didn't want her to have to wait till April to get it when she could use the keychain for the entire semester, so I gave it to her early. Too cute that it includes the sorority's dolphin mascot. She hung it on her ID lanyard.

They like the decorations

The cats are going to be sad to see the decorations taken down. Muffles likes to sit under the tree and August likes to jump on the mantle and bite at the garland.

Made with love

E's been busy making me a new soft, cheery blanket. (The side in the picture is the back of the flower fabric.) Rather than tying the fleece, she got out the sewing machine and stitched all four sides and even made a red strip across the top of the blanket. I'm sure it will come in handy.

L's a winner

L had a three-hour confirmation class Sunday and brought home these balloons because she was able to tell her teachers what a church moderator does. Sounded like they had a pretty interesting class. They toured the church and went up into the ceiling. Not many people get to do that.

A new hideaway

Andy and I (and L) took B and his friend, IB, out to Hoffman Estates last night so they could play in a video game tournament. While they were at the tournament, we went to dinner at Morretti's (it was OK, but I wouldn't go out of my way for it) and did a little shopping. We were thrilled to find a new Kitty City Hideaway for the cats since their old one was "condemned." L couldn't wait to get home and put it together for them.

And Muffles couldn't wait to get back on his perch. I think he likes that it's stable once again.

August's tail

There's nothing quite like getting hit in the face with August's tail when you're trying to check your phone.

Pretty cool

Andy and I decided not to give each other Christmas gifts this year, just limiting ourselves to little stocking stuffers. Then he found this and apparently thought I needed it. He has a knack for finding gifts I never needed that turn out to be pretty cool. This is an automatic hand soap dispenser for the kitchen. You just put your hand under it and it dispenses just enough soap to wash your hands. It's really handy.