Who is this for Anyway?

Well, we just had our scout space derby. Joseph had a great time designing and painting his rocket. When the night finally arrived, you could tell the boys were all really nervous about their rockets actually flying down the line.....wait - my mistake - let me start that line over. When the night finally arrived, you could tell the DADS were really nervous about the rockets, and whether or not their rocket would make it down the flight line(or at least make it further than 5 inches). The boys... well, they had fun just being there and watching the rockets. Do you ever wonder who the scout activities such as pine-wood derby, boat regatta and space derby races are for? I do.

It was a great night!!! Joseph was excited because his rocket was one of two rockets that made it all the way to the end of the line. Way to go Joseph!

Look at those nervous dads :)


All the way to the end!!

Take a guess!

At first glance of the two photos above, what were your thoughts? Could you figure out the story behind them? Let me tell you the tale.

It was a warmer than usual afternoon and Miriam was getting ready to go to school. Miriam and Taylor were sitting at the table eating a snack, or trying to at least. For some reason on this particular day, Taylor decided to tease his sister which NEVER happens. (snicker snicker) Because it was such an unusual occurrence, Miriam was even more bugged by him and let him know it. The result of the outburst was Yogurt flying across the table and splatting onto the kitchen floor.

Very calmly (this part is exact truth) I walked over to the sink, wet a rag and started to return to the scene of the mess. Upon arriving I heard "mmmmmmm". Looking at the spot where the mess had been (notice the "had been") there was Taylor lapping up the blobs of yogurt.

Is there a lesson to be learned from this story? Of course there is a lesson learned. The Thad Kendell family will never need to get a dog. We have Taylor to lap up our messes and he seems to enjoy it. It is quite convenient if you think about it. Better breath, eats the same food as we do, can take him everywhere with us, and much less hair shed.

Ruprect

This morning after his bath being the big boy he is - wanting to do everything on his own (except using the bathroom- diapers are still his #1 choice), Taylor decided he wanted to comb his own hair. I think he did a fabulous job in a Ruprect-esk sort of way. For those of you who are wondering just whom this Ruprect is, please visit your local movie rental shop or even Walmart and get yourself a copy of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. The likeness is uncanny.

As the pie thickens

Welcome Back! As you can see, I tried the pie again. Please take notice of how many fork pricks I made in the crust. Then, also notice - the pie crust still puffed and shrunk. What the?! sigh* About the filling. It thickened!!! I must confess, mom and dad came to visit and brought a different recipe for me to try. Since it turned out, I can just say the other pie recipe was defective, not me :) To end, the pie was delicious and I will be o.k. not making a pie for quite a while.

Pie- part 2

The banana cream filling process began. I carefully read and re-read the directions to make the filling. Things were looking up. In fact, I was getting really excited to eat this pie. As I neared the end and had five minutes to go I started wondering if the liquid I was looking at in the pan would actually thicken up. HMMMMM.

R- hi mom it's me again. Is the filling for the pie supposed to be like runny milk?

M- did you add any thickener?

R- yes, 1/2 cup of cornstarch.

M- well that should definitely be plenty.

I won't go on through the rest of the conversation. Just imagine me being very frustrated and maybe a little dramatic and you'll get the picture.

I had to leave with the kids to meet Thad in bountiful so I decided to just pour the liquid into the pie crust and hoped it would set up. We arrived home a few hours later. As you look at the picture of the pie I will answer your question. Yes, the bananas are floating. Now you know - sigh. Miriam was actually sad I dumped the liquid pie down the drain. Thanks Miriam :)

And in my head it would be a beautiful pie crust!

The conversation went something like this:

Rachel - mom, when you cook a pie crust are you supposed to prick the bottom and the sides with a fork?

Mom- yes

R- I forgot the sides and pricked the bottom and everything went puffy and shrunk. It looks horrible. (add a little more drama when you read this)

m- giggle giggle hee hee

R- It isn't funny.

M- Oh it isn't? Sorry.

R- Great, now what am I going to do?

M- Nobody will see the crust, just make the filling and it will be great.

So I settled down and took moms advice and decided just to hide the crust( which looked hideous but tasted delicious I might add) with the banana cream filling. Things were going to be just fine. Please go to part 2 of banana cream pie.

happy Valentines Day!

It has finally happened!! The Kendell family is out of the stone age. We recently got ourselves high-speed internet, and now we are blogging. I guess when I say we are out of the stone age I should probably say partially out of the stone age. We still don't have television and we got rid of our cell phone this month. Anything to save a buck - right?

We love you all and hope you have a wonderful Valentines Day!! Hugs and kisses!!XOXOX

One more thing - I gave up on trying for a nice picture so you get what you get. Sorry :)