The Cookie Monster

The other day, everyone wanted chocolate cookies, so I decided to take the initiative and throw a batch together. I pulled out the mixer and all the ingredients, grabbed the Tollhouse recipe from Kelsee's recipe box and went crazy. Anyone who would have stepped into the kitchen would have realized how lost I really was, but everyone wisely kept their distance. Anyway, after a whirlwind effort, and spooned some globs of dough on a cookie sheet and baked away. Ten minutes or so later, I pulled hot cookies from the oven. I examine discs. They looked like cookies. They smelled like cookies. But how would they taste. I bit into one. Hmmm... not bad. Still I'll let the fam do the tasting. Kelsee was reading a book in bed, so I took her a couple, complete with a glass of milk (yes, I am the perfect husband). She commenced to tell me that were probably even better than my mom's (which is quite a compliment; my mom makes the best chocolate chip cookies ever, in our eyes). Cameron snuck a few while I was upstairs, and told Kelsee they might have been the best he ever had. Haley just ate hers without breathing, which is a compliment, I guess. Apparently, they all felt like I could add these to my short list of culinary masterpieces, which also includes grilled cheese sandwiches (affectionately referred to in our home as cheese toasties), tuna fish sandwiches, fried eggs and toast. So, not that I have this newly discovered talent, Kelsee decided to go for broke and have me make some more over the weekend. Let's just say that lightening rarely strikes twice in the same spot. These cookies were OK, but nothing to write home about. Still that didn't seem to stop Haley from enjoying them to the fullest:

Speaking of messy kids, Haley's cousin Blake celebrated his first birthday yesterday. He seemed to enjoy the cake...

Happy Birthday! -- A Haley-ism

Haley and I were sitting in the van outside Kelsee's parents house on Friday night. We had just spent the evening with her family and now were waiting for Kelsee to come out so we could go home. Somehow we got on the topic of birthdays and I mentioned to Haley that mine was coming up soon. The following conversation took place... Haley: You should have a High School Musical cake, Daddy. A Gabriella/Chad cake. Me: No, thanks. You might like a High School Musical cake, but not me. Haley: But you like Gabriella and Chad. Me: No, you like Gabriella and Chad. Haley: Maybe you could have a Dinosaur/Chad cake. Me, laughing: Um, no thanks. Haley: What, too Dinosaury? Me: Not really. Haley: Too Chady? Me: I'm just not interested in that. Haley: Well, what kind do want, Daddy? Me: Probably just chocolate cake with chocolate frosting. Haley, after a second's hesitation: Excellent choice, Daddy. Thanks, kiddo.

New Games, Same Result

OK. I just reread Kelsee's last post and I couldn't just let it pass. To quote my better half, with regards to the Wii: "I did well, especially with the bowling and tennis. I'm not athletic at all so this was a big surprise for me (that I did so well!)." I scoff at her surprise! What she neglected to mention is her prowess with pretty much any game she plays. While the games in question might have simulated sports, they were still games. And she kicks butt at games. I chalk it up to 60% intelligence and 40% competitiveness. Yes, that's right. My dear, meek, gentle wife is a competitive fiend. (Check out the asterisk at the bottom of this post.) Anyway, back to her gaming prowess...

• Word games. Like Boggle and Scrabble. Kelsee is our resident wordsmith. We play boggle and I'll come away with 15 or 20 words or so. She'll have like 30 or 40. Only Kally has been able to provide competition in Boggle. Kolby could, if he wouldn't spend so much time looking for the obscure eight letter words. In Scrabble, she comes up with the 68 point words when everyone else is getting 10 or 12.
• Strategy games. We are avid board gamers, and we play alot of the civilization/city building strategy games (Like Settlers of Cataan, Carcasonne, Attica, etc.) There are the occasional nights when I'll pull off a few wins, but most of the time we measure my wins in number per week and her's in number per night.
• Card games*. Like Uno, Rummy and Phase 10. We'll play to 500 in Rummy and she'll beat me by more than 100. In Phase 10 she'll usually be up two phases by the time we're four phases in.
• Computer games. She has a knack of figuring out a computer game quickly, then play it exclusively until she's mastered it or is bored with and then moves on to the next game. Only, it takes her much less time to master it than most people. Tetris, Bejeweled, Mah Jong, Jezzball, whatever. I'll play Jezzball and the game will be over in like four minutes. Her's will take 15 minutes and she'll be many hundreds of thousands of points higher than me.
• Shower games. No, not like you think. Get your mind out of the gutter. I mean bridal shower, baby shower, etc. She came back from the most recent baby shower and I was actually shocked--I mean, SHOCKED--that she didn't win either of the games they played. I thought she was slipping, then she announced that she'd spent more time holding one of the babies that was there than she did playing the game.
• Now, the Wii. She got the second highest bowling score of the night, just behind gaming junky Kirby and just ahead of athlete Kody. She ended up winning more tennis matches than she lost (even hitting her dad with her "racket" when he moved too close while she was swinging, or so she says).

Now, you might think there could be another answer to this (ie. maybe Jason just sucks at games). But she does this to everyone, not just me. We play party games sometimes at family parties. She more often than not wins or is on the winning team. Like Scattergories or Taboo. Even Trivial Pursuit. Cameron even comments on this if someone else wins when we are playing games.

Now to explain the * next to card games. There is the rare instance that we find a game that I win. Rare being the operative word here. Shortly after we were married, we went through a Rook phase. For some reason, I won more often than Kelsee. She would get frustrated, but when I suggested we stop or play something else, she'd just lean back in her chair and say "Deal again." One particular night, her competitive self was a major glutton for punishment. I went on quite a run, and she became more and more frustrated. Finally, after another loss, she looked at the stack of cards on the table, then looked at me, and then with both hands shoved all the cards towards me in anger. The cards littered around me on the floor, I vowed to her that we would never play that game again. She asked from time to time over the next few days, but finally gave up. We haven't played that game for 13 years.

And she's never gotten that mad at losing a game again. Of course, since she rarely loses...

I've injured myself

I've got a sports injury (Yes, dear readers, scroll down and look. This really is Kelsee writing. Yep, I said I have a sports injury). I can hardly move my right arm and shoulder. My left one hurts, too, but not as severely as my right arm. We had a big Father's Day party yesterday. We grilled out, had great food. Enjoyed hanging out. We played tennis and baseball and we also bowled. I did well, especially with the bowling and tennis. I'm not athletic at all so this was a big surprise for me (that I did so well!). Usually we play cornhole at our big family parties. But yesterday we got ambitious. We branched out. We tried something new. And we had a lot of fun! But my poor, poor arm! I could hardly lift the gallon of milk for my morning bowl of Rice Krispies. Who knew a Wii could inflict such muscle damage? :)

Attack of the cicadas!

Kentucky, like many other states, is having an "outbreak" of 17 year periodical cicadas. They only live for a few weeks and other than some relative harm to young fruit trees, they don't really bother anything. Except for the deafening noise. At night they are so loud outside that it can be hard to have a conversation in some locations. They are also really ugly creatures. They like to swoop down my chimney and die on my living room floor/hearth. Gross!

World's Worst Blogger award...

goes to me! I promised Jason I'd blog a little with him if he'd set it up but so far, I've been a big dud. I'm not nearly as funny as Jason so who wants to read what I write?! Plus, I get all of my "talking" out on my favorite message board (hey MOFia girls!). But I'll try! Actually, the MOFia (a private message board I've belonged to for eons) is what has prompted me to write today. Thursday night a friend of mine lost her husband suddenly to a massive heart attack. He was close to my age and in good health. My heart is breaking. I'm having a hard time concentrating on other things. It's such a shock. Life has been hard the last many years for our little family. We've dealt with a lot of difficult things but I've always been able to see the silver lining in the dark clouds (sometimes it takes a while but I still see it eventually). Having my young friend lose her husband (and five beautiful, sweet children lose their father) has prompted me to look at all of the blessings I have in my life. Funny that Jason just did a list of things he loved - I was thinking about doing the same thing and was so surprised when I saw his latest blog entry. So, just because I AM so blessed, I'll share some of the happiest things in my life: Jason - He is my rock. I can't imagine my life without him. He makes every day a beautiful day! He makes me laugh all.the.time. He is the sunshine in my life. Even after 13 years he still makes me all swoony! Haley - Was I really happy before Haley was born? I can't imagine how I could have been because she is such a joy to me. She is a funny, spunky, spirited challenge but oh how I love her! My extended family - My family is crazy but I love them so much! We love to hang out together, tease each other and help each other. I'm so glad that I have all of my siblings and their families relatively close. Our lake outings, cookouts, family dinners and playdates are so much fun! Jason's extended family - Who couldn't love an ex-Elvis impersonator? Jason stepdad and mom are so good to us! We love the whole crazy group! Especially, Cameron. He's bringing a lot of interesting things to our lives - discussions about everything from teenage hygiene, dating and girls, acceptable music, the reality of God, anime, animals, strategy games, etc. While it's challenging to incorporate a 15 year old into our lives, he's a great kid and we enjoy having him live with us. Trees - I couldn't post about my blessing unless I posted about my obsession. I LOVE trees. I love being outside. I love hiking and camping. I don't love hot, humid Kentucky summers but I love all of the green trees! :) That's why living in western Washington was so great - we lived in a forest at the base of beautiful mountains. What could be better? Every day felt like a vacation! Kenny - as in Chesney. I love his music. Someday I'm going to be a beach bum in the Caribbean. Just wait and see! MOFia - I love these girls! My church family - We have such a great group of people in our church. Serving, worshipping and playing with them are such joyful things in my life. For the past three years I've been leading our Young Women (12-18 year olds) and I love it. They are such great girls! Books - Reading is my favorite pasttime. I ALWAYS have a book I'm reading. I can't NOT read. Internet - Because I always have an obsessive interest that needs research. LOL The color green - I painted my office a beautiful green color called Bermuda Grass. It's perfect! Bright and cheery. Everytime I look at my walls I smile. It makes me so happy! I wish I could convince Jason to paint the whole house this color. ;) This list will do for now. And I solemnly vow to do a better job blogging.

Things I Love...

So, a quick Haley-ism. We were outside weeding the garden on Tuesday (something I'd not done since we planted it quite a while ago). Anyway, Kelsee was on the phone in the house working on something, Cameron and I were working hard, and Haley was trying her darndest to provide value to our weeding effort. However, it was dirty, hot work and we came face to face with quite a few bugs: ants, spiders, earwigs, rolly-pollies (such a manly phrase; still, "woodlice" is just creepy) and other creepy crawlies. Soon the mosquitoes decided to join the fracas. I was pretty oblivious to them, and Cameron seemed to be ignoring them. But Haley was getting increasingly frustrated with them. Finally, at one point she sighed and said: "I must just be a nabitat for the bugs." I tried not to laugh. "Do you mean habitat?" "Yeah. I must be a habitat for them." What a kid. -------------------- Speaking of my kid and working in my yard, they are just two of a list of many things I love.

Here is a sampling of this list:

• Kelsee
• Haley
• Cameron
• All my other family. Yes, all of them, as hard as that is to believe
• Working in my yard -- planting, weeding, mulching, pruning, watering, enjoying...
• Music -- everything from the hymns we sing in church to hardcore metal to classical to bluegrass to old school rap -- music just gets into my soul
• Laughing -- Funny movies, funny books, funny jokes, funny conversations, funny-looking people, funny laughs -- they all make me laugh, which means that if I could see and hear myself, I'd laugh some more, which would start a vicious, unending cycle... (Get it... I'm funny-looking and have a funny laugh, which means, you know, that I would laugh at myself...oh never mind...)
• Food
• Shows about Food
• Jokes about Food
• Pictures of Food (notice the theme)
• Sports
• Ignoring my cell phone
• Embarassing Cameron
• Mythbusters -- Did you know you can accidently make a bomb out of your water heater? And, no, drinking Diet Coke and eating Mentos at the same time will NOT kill you.
• Thinking about traveling -- A year or two ago and this one would have just been "Traveling", but I can't afford the gas anymore.
• Reading -- Speaking of which, one of my favorite books is "An Incomplete Education". Awesome.

That's it. I have no other loves.

I'm kidding, of course. But I'm pretty sure know one else cares, so I'll spare everyone the complete list.

Another Post...

I've posted twice in a week. Don't get used to it. Anyway, another cute thing Haley has begun saying. When she's adamently trying to make a point or be defiant, she will fold her arms, kind of smirk, and say, "So fair!". It comes out just like "So there!" and is a combination of that phrase and "No fair." Pretty funny. Also, we were talking last night about going out on the boat on Saturday. Haley, who had been digging in our swimming bag earlier yesterday to find her swimsuit, interrupted our conversation to let us know we were out of sunscream. Gotta love that kid.

OK, That Was Random...

The title of this post is one of Cameron's sayings, but it seems fitting in this case... The other day, Haley, Kelsee and baby Haleigh were outside. Haleigh (who is older than one year and younger than two) was repeating everything Haley said. You know how little kids are, just thrilled with the newfound skill of forming real people words. Anyway, I guess Haley finally got tired of it. Haley: "Baby Haleigh, why do you always have to compete after me?" Kelsee: "You mean "repeat after me"." Haley, rolling her eyes and sighing: "Haleigh, why do you always have to copy me?" ----------- Speaking of Cameron, I find infatuation of him by the feminine gender to be wildly funny. As I've mentioned before (or maybe I haven't mentioned it before, but since I'm not going to reread my posts, just trust me on this), he's got a girlfriend and waiting list is the position is ever vacated. I know of four girls close to his age who have placed themselves on this list. Oh, and two that are a little younger. Haley's friend Alyssa (who's six) gives Cameron gifts. And the other day, I was reminded that Kennedy (who's four) has become enamored with Cameron. We were at the Watsons' to celebrate Mom Kappes's birthday. Bunches of people were sitting outside, but Kennedy was only interested in getting Cameron's attention. "Cameron, look at me!" she says and then eats the leaves off a shrub. "Cameron, watch what I can do!" she shrieks and then proceeds to jump in a mud puddle. Kris said that Cameron might be on his way to replacing Troy (from High School Musical) as her most talked about boy. Well, duh. Troy never comes over to visit. Anyway, it's wildly funny because he's a riot to tease. --------------- I was going to tell a story about me, but it's completely escaped me. Lucky story. -------------- Changed up my playlist a little. Added some of The White Stripes (thanks, Jared): Icky Thump and Seven Nation Army Dropped some of the songs by the ladies (Avril and Nelly) Added more Megadeth: Trust and Burnt Ice Added Led Zeppelin: Immigrant Song and Black Dog Added some more grunge: Alice In Chains (Man in the Box) and Soundgarden (Spoonman) Even added some German metal: Amerika by Rammstein -------------- Just once I'd like to have a presidential election where I liked someone. ------------- Bird-Magic! Celtics-Lakers! NBA Finals on NBC! ------------- Speaking of sports, other than those associated with the other horses, is there another person on the planet who doesn't want Big Brown to win the Belmont? (By the way, Kentucky's state song is better than Maryland's and New York's.)