Charlie's new skill.

Captured a video of Charlie talking on the phone -- I took the liberty of translating it.

Rock out.

Mindy has declared me a rockin' girl blogger, and who am I to argue?  I'd rather pinch her cute little tushie, or rub her baby belly.

 
In other "how much do I rock?" news, I recently sent a box o' goodies to Carrie, and included a baby sling for her little girl, who's about 6 months younger than Phoebe.  I had to share the picture, because the look on her face?  Priceless.

A quick little note about this picture -- the original had serious red-eye glare, so in the process of "fixing" it, I kind of gave the poor kid a cyborg-eye.  She doesn't really have a bionic eye in real life.  At least, not one that looks like that.

And now, I must pass the rockin' girl blogger torch on.  I feel ALL POWERFUL -- not unlike the Wizard of Oz.

Tortuga Loca -- she's new, and funny, and is about to embark on a brand-new teaching adventure.  And she's funny.  And, we're kind of related.  Did I mention she cracks me up?

Dotty -- she has a new baby (whose hands I want to munch), and a kick ass blog.  She's smart, too -- I think she reads books, or something.

Zebrabelly -- funny, sassy, and she spells dammit the same way that I do. 

Pretendingsanity -- she's sweet, and has some of the most adorable kids EVER.  She also has her own yarn shop, and is therefore my idol. 

Rock on, blogettes. 

I'm so crafty. And cheap.

The kids have these two little blue chairs that they use all the time.  Now that Charlie isn't in a high-chair, they eat at the table with their little chairs.  When I say they "eat at the table" clearly I mean that they squabble and smear food all over themselves.  And said chairs.

I scrubbed the chairs down, but they're pretty old and beastly.  So, I thought about spray painting them, and decided that would be FAR. TOO. EASY.  Instead, I found some faux-wood contact paper at the local Family Dollar for $2 a roll, and decided to recover the chairs, instead.

It's not as bad as it sounds, I promise.

I've done one chair so far.  This may be one of those projects that I abandon halfway through (meaning, only one chair gets covered) because it took about an hour, and there are a few air bubbles here and there.  And it's a bitch to match up all those fake wood-grain lines.  However, the kids are now fighting over who gets to use the chair, so THAT might actually motivate me to finish the other one.

Click the thumbnail to view the full-sized image.

My new favorite pancake recipe.

So, I had to share.  Because I'm nice.  Originally from here.

Pancakes!

1 1/2 cups All-purpose flour
3 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt (I use a little less than this)
1 Tbsp sugar
1 1/4 cups milk
1 egg
3 Tbsp melted butter (I used coconut oil with great success)
splash of vanilla (about 1 tsp. or so)

Directions:

In a large bowl, sift together baking powder, salt, sugar, and flour. (I stirred mine around with a fork.  I'm fancy.)  Make a well in the center, and pour in the melted butter (or whatever), milk, egg, and vanilla.  Mix until smooth.  Mine was slightly lumpy, and the first time I made this the batter was really thin.  I tested this by making just one pancake -- it fluffed up a lot once it started cooking.  The second time I made this, the batter was a little thicker.  I think it's all in how you measure the flour.

Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over med-high heat.  Pour or scoop the batter into the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each pancake.  I used less and made some "babycakes."  I know.  I'm very cute.

Brown on both sides, and serve hot.  Or, stone-ass cold, if you're mean.

Enjoy! 

Argh.

A couple of days ago I signed up for Skype -- very cool.  Mostly, I wanted to do the whole video-chat thing with Marissa's godmomma, and with my BFF and her kids.  I got my webcam and headset, and am all jazzed about it, and offered to set GM (godmomma) up with a webcam and headset too.

So.  She has a Mac.

Yeah.

I've searched high and low, and all I seem to be able to come up with is a million dollar camera that will webcam it up, and wax your floors, too.  I'm not THAT generous.  I just want a little somethin' somethin' that will show us a damn video -- it doesn't have to have night-vision capability, for shit's sake.

So, Skype has this cheap little set on their site, and really?  I wanted to avoid it.  The headset is $17, and the webcam?  $3.  Yeah, that's too cheap, even for me.  But the best part is when I'm re-reading through the "Compatibility Information" where it says:

Compatibility Information:

• Works on Windows® systems
• Compatible with Microsoft® Windows XP
• MAC compatibility
• Skype software (www.skype.com) or as supplied on CD-ROM
• Vista 32 bit
• 200 MB disk space
• PC with sound card and 2 x 3.5mm jack plug sockets
• Not Mac compatible
• Broadband Internet Connection

Um.  Really?  Well, WHICH IS IT?  Granted, it looks like something the kids made with a Dixie cup in arts and crafts class, but WILL IT WORK WITH A MAC?

I sent them a message.  We'll see if they reply.

Any Mac users out there have any suggestions?