Great, Great Commercial

I love it. Simple concept yet powerful message:

A Tinkle and Three-Phrase Morning Routine

We've weaned Zac off diapers for a while now, but we're getting somewhat regular bed-wetting accidents that we decided we just need to wake Zac up ourselves to go to the bathroom.

Since I get up very early for work, part of my morning routine now would be to carry a sleepy little boy to the bathroom, let him empty his bladder, and carry him back. After laying him down, I would always hear these three phrases coming from a sleepy little voice:

"I love you, dad"

"Goodbye, dad"

"Have fun, dad"

Oh, that just makes me want to jump back in bed and snuggle the little dude! Those three phrases just made the morning routines worthwhile!!

Happy Chinese New Year!!!!

The university's Chinese Students and Scholars Association had their annual CNY gala and this year, Benji participated in a dance. Their dance was the opening act! It was really cute to see Benji on stage. Proud of the little guy! He's on the far left.

Though this video was recorded in HD, I didn't have the right software to deal with HD clips yet. Sorry! Tell Apple to quickly release iLife '10.

What is Chinese New Year?

At Chinese class today:

Teacher: What is Chinese New Year?

Benji: A party with Chinese.

Creamy chicken vegetable soup

Okay, here is recipe number two. The recipe called for turkey but I used chicken and it was just fine.

Ingredients

• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 3 cups diced small red potatoes
• 2 cans (14-1/2 ounces each) chicken broth
• 2 cups cooked cubed turkey breast
• 2 cups frozen mixed vegetables, thawed
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon white pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon poultry seasoning
• 2 cups heavy whipping cream

Directions

In a large saucepan, saute onion in butter until tender. Add potatoes and broth. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Stir in the turkey, vegetables, salt, pepper and poultry seasoning. Cook 10-12 minutes longer or until vegetables are tender. Stir in cream; heat through (do not boil).

Beef and cabbage soup recipe

It's been super cold here lately, so this has been the week of soups. A friend asked me to post my recipes... so here is recipe number one.

Beef and cabbage soup

1 lb ground beef

1 medium onion

1 cup diced celery

1/2 green pepper chopped

2 tablespoons canola oil

2 teaspoons salt

2 tablespoons sugar

1/4 teaspoons pepper

1/2 teaspoon paprika

1 28 oz can whole tomatoes chopped

1 5 1/2 oz can tomato paste

4 cups water

2 beef bullion cubes

3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley

2 cups raw potatoes diced in small squares (peeled)

1 cup raw carrots diced

1/2 of a head of cabbage finely chopped

Optional: chili pepper to taste

In a large soup pot, saute ground beef in canola oil. Add onion, celery, green pepper. Stir until onion is transparent and meat has lost its redness. Drain off oil. Add the remaining ingredients except cabbage. Mix well. Simmer covered for 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Add cabbage and simmer covered 1 additional hour, stirring occasionally. This soup is meant to on the thick side, however if it is too thick add 1 or 2 cups of water if needed.

SNOW

The last few winters here in Arkansas we have not had good snows. This year seems to be making up for it! We had a white Christmas and now another snow last night. The boys had a blast this morning - sledding down our steep driveway, having a snowball fight with Daddy, and attempting to make a snow man. The snow was a little dry for building a snow man, but I managed to get a tiny one made. It doesn't take much to impress kids who have grown up in the South - even a small snow man is pretty spectacular to them.

The boys sledding

Benji did this over and over down our driveway

Benji

Brutal war of snow balls - Daddy pounding Benji

This time Daddy got it in the face...

Benji packing another one

Zac doing his best too - but he didn't think the pounding was all that fun and just watched that part rather than participating

King of the jungle

We were packing up Christmas decorations this morning, including the Adorenaments (ornaments representing different names of Jesus). I thought it'd be a good time to review some of the names. When we got to "Lion of the tribe of Judah," Benji said, "Lion of the tribe of jungle."

A good cookie recipe to try

The boys and I made these cookies last Friday and we have all really enjoyed them. I needed to type up the recipe for a friend, so I thought I'd share with everyone.

Chewy Chocolate-Raisin cookies

1 c. golden raisins, coarsely chopped
1/2 c. brandy (I didn't have any on hand so I just used water)
1 1/2 c. flour (I used whole wheat pastry flour but all-purpose would be fine too)
3 Tbsp. cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp. gr. cinnamon
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. coarse salt
4 oz. (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup light-brown sugar
1/2 cup honey
6 oz. white chocolate chips
1/2 c. fine sanding or granulated sugar

Bring raisins and brandy to boil in a small saucepan. Remove from heat, and let stand for 20 min. Meanwhile, whisk together flour, cocoa, 1 tsp. cinnamon, the baking soda, and salt. Preheat oven to 325. Beat butter and brown sugar with a mixer on medium speed until pale and fluffy and bout 2 min. Add honey, and beat until creamy. Reduce speed to low, add flour mixture, and beat until combined. Drain raisins, discard liquid. Add raisin and chocolate to dough. Mix to combine. Whisk together sanding sugar and remaining 1/ tsp. cinnamon. Scoop 2 Tbsp. dough. Roll in cinnamon-sugar mixture, and shape into a ball. Roll in cinnamon-sugar mixture again to coat completely. Repeat with remaining dough. Transfer to parchment-lined baking sheets, spacing about 2 inches apart, as you work. Bake until just set and starting to crack, 18 to 20 min. Let cool on sheet. (Cookies can be stored at room temperature for up to 3 days.)

My beautiful new quilt

I mentioned on Facebook a few weeks ago that I like this quilt but was unqualified to make it. To my utter surprise, my friend Ruth presented it to me this evening for my Christmas gift. I am so grateful for her hard work and her sweet gift. It just might be the sweetest gift I've ever received. Here are two photos of her handiwork.