Mama Midnight

Our street has enough cats to populate a small town in Kentucky. Most of these are street cats, but our neighbors across the street have a really sweet cat that our kids call Midnight. Several weeks ago Midnight, who the kids always thought was a boy, had kittens. The kittens stay inside the house, but they've just recently worked up enough courage to peek outside. I love the first picture of the curious kitten and the second picture of Midnight being a good mama and watching her baby.

With the birth of the kittens the usual barrage of questions has begun..."Daddy, why do you have to be allergic to cats?" "Can we keep him? We promise we'll keep him on the balcony." And on the upside of having the Stray Cat Strut lived out on our street, I've yet to encounter one rodent anywhere. Go, cats!

Are they me?

Are the new earrings me?

I was walking on the street with Annie today when I ran into a really sweet teenage neighbor. She's as cute as a button, and she always dresses really trendy. Today when I saw her I commented that I liked her earrings. They looked really great on her. I asked her where she got them, and she told me she got them in a city that's about 6 hours from here.

About that time she started to take the earrings off, and she handed them to me. I insisted that she keep them, but she insisted that I take them. It was a battle of wills, and she won. She would not take no for an answer.

Now I have to confess that when I admired the earrings, I was saying they looked good on her. I'm not sure how they will look on me, but now I own them. For years I only owned 2 pairs of earrings - 1 set of gold hoops and 1 set of silver hoops. However, I'm happy to say I've expanded the collection and have several pairs with additional color, but they're almost always hoops because that's the most comfortable. So these new earrings will really stretch me (not to mention my lobes).

These are by far the largest earrings I've ever owned. There's a small circle encompassed by a large circle with a total of 10 dangly things attached. I have 2 pictures below to demonstrate how different these earrings are than my usual ones. On the left are my new earrings. On the right are 2 of my favorite pairs of earrings. The silver loops are comfy. The pink dangly ones are the longest ones I own (until now, of course).

So how do you think the new ones will look on a 36-year old mother of four?

Dangerous Man

David takes Tae-Kwon-Do on Fridays after school. Mike picked him up, and when they entered our apartment building one of our favorite neighbors was there and hopped in the elevator with them. This was their conversation:

Neighbor: (noticing David's outfit and intimidating yellow belt). Oh, David, where have you come from?

David: Tae-Kwon-Do.

Neighbor: Oooooh, you are a dangerous man.

elevator beeps and door opens

Mike: (as he exits the elevator) Yes, a daaaaaaaaaangerous man.

This neighbor of ours has a good sense of humor, and I'm thankful to have some fun neighbors.

Emma the Photographer

Today I was downloading some pictures from my camera, and I discovered a whole slew of mystery pictures. Soooo, this is what happens when a 5-yr. old gets ahold of a camera.

Emma needs to learn some sneaky skills...the self-portrait and 5:17 p.m. made solving the who and when too easy.

World's Best Hummus

Yesterday my 11-year old son said to me, "Mom, would you please make some of that hummus?" A couple of years ago I never thought I'd hear those words from my son! So, I'm going to share the world's best hummus recipe right here on this blog. Kid approved.

WORLD'S BEST HUMMUS

2 15-oz. cans of chickpeas (I used fresh)
2 large garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup tahini (sesame paste)
1/3 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice (about 1 large lemon)
1 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 cup water or liquid from can
salt to taste
1-2 T olive oil
paprika (sprinkle on top before serving)

Chop chickpeas in food processor. Add the rest of the ingredients (ecept paprika) and puree. Stir in more water or oil if needed until smooth.

We like our hummus with crackers or pretzel sticks. It's also a good dip for raw veggies.

Together at Last

We've heard this song in our home, oh, maybe 600 times. The girls take turns with the roles. So, here's Daddy Warbucks and Annie in Together at Last.

Little Girls performed by Annie

Meet Miss Hannigan as an 8-year old.