Maple Pecan Pie Bars

Channeling my Southern roots Irish grandmother tonight.  Miss you Mamaw.

Volunteer Work

I spent a few hours volunteering at the hospital this afternoon. In
return I got to meet a ton of ridiculously cute toddlers and take this
gorgeous bouquet home. Not a bad trade at all! ;-)

(Photo taken by Logan!)

Clock's Eggs

Growing up, my parents used to make "Clock's Eggs" for my brothers and I. I'm sure Clock (my grandfather) made them for us too, but most of my memories are in our own kitchen, on a weekend morning, with my brothers eating plate after plateful (they loved the eggs 10x more than I did).

Fast forward just a "few" years, and my dad decided to make some for the boys when they were babysitting a couple of weeks ago. Logan and Callum LOVED them, scarfing down three helpings each. What's amazing is that they refuse to eat any other type of egg (like scrambled) but this method makes them taste sooooo different! (not) :)

So what's the deal with Clock's eggs anyway?  How are they made and why do we call them that?

My grandfather ran a Chinese restaurant for 50+ years, always inventing new things to serve. One of the things he liked to do was cook eggs super thin and flat like a pancake, then slice the "pancake" thinly, using those thin slices sprinkled as garnish on several of his dishes. My dad learned how to cook, working in my grandfather's restaurant, and I'm sure picked up this neat little side dish while there. Who actually first thought to serve it to us kids as a breakfast dish, I'm not really sure. But that's what we ate all the time as kids and why we called them Clock's eggs.

If you want to try making them, it's really simple. Beat up a couple eggs in a bowl, I add a little garlic powder, salt and pepper while beating. Fold that into your small frying pan (with a bit of oil or butter coating the bottom). Here's where many will then mix the eggs to create their scramble. Don't do that, just let it cook a bit, then flip over to cook the other side of the "pancake" as well. It might puff a little while cooking but it's ok. It'll lie flat once you remove it from the pan.

Slide from the pan to your chopping block and slice the circle, lengthwise, into the thinnest strips you can possibly manage. The thinner the better, because somehow they taste better (and are more fun) for the kids. :) I sprinkle a little salt all over the top before I begin slicing but my dad (and grandfather) use "Clock's Seasoning". I don't have any, but it's essentially a mixture of salt, garlic and msg, I believe. (Don't judge. We're Chinese, which means everything tastes better with msg!). ;-)

Don't turn the heat too far down because chances are you, or your kids, will ask for several more after the first helping. Enjoy!

Loganism of the day

Remember, best friends share.

(to Callum, talking about each other)

Senorita Catherine

We went to a Taiko concert with my parents and Catherine this afternoon, then enjoyed a delicious dinner afterward. Catherine always brings a good book for the boys when she visits,  so Logan insisted she read it to them outside after we left the restaurant. So cute! :)

Big brother move

Smashing his little brother. Yeesh!

Tackle!

Broken finger? What?

And the diagnosis is...

...crush injury with a distal fracture of the finger. His fingernail is hanging on by a thread - but he's a tough kid and doing great! :)

We're "celebrating" with some frozen yogurt while we wait for his meds (he needs to take some antibiotics since it's a fracture with an open wound).

Universal pain assessment

According to Logan: red was at school, orange was on the car ride to the hospital, pink was waiting in the ER and blue is now, after being seen by the doctor. :)

ER visit

Logan had an accident on the playground this afternoon. His fingernail  got caught on something as he was riding on the see-saw. :(  His doctor asked me to head to the ER since it hadn't stopped bleeding after ~30 minutes.

So, now we're soaking and cleaning it while we wait to get x-rays, just to make sure nothing was crushed. 

Funny how their minds work

After Logan heard Jon won't be home until late Thursday night, he said:

So you came home Monday night because you missed us, but Daddy isn't coming home until Thursday night because he doesn't miss us?

So tempting to respond differently, but I was nice and said it was because Daddy had to work.  ;-)

Loganism of the morning

Mommy, my brain hurts. I think my brain is all dried up.

We call that a headache Logan. And yes, you might be right. Sometimes we get headaches when we don't drink enough water, so you should drink some water at school today.

It could also be because Callum was crying so loud.

----

Ahhh yes. Happy to be home! ;-)

Home sweet home

Just landed a bit ago and driving home now to pick up my boys. Can't wait to squeeze them tight! :)

Typical

Trying to enjoy a nice family moment and there goes the big brother, being a butt. ;-)

The wonders of technology

We had a great time exploring the streets of Malta today. When we got back, my parents called us via FaceTime so we could talk to the boys.

They were super cute, as you can see here. Callum kept asking where I was (and unfortunately, got pretty upset so we had to end the chat early); Logan was just having fun goofing off in the background. Apparently he's been asking my parents why Mommy and Daddy are off having fun without them. :)

Card Carrying Member

We're now members of the Dragons Club - Dragonara Casino for the next 8 years. Mwahahahahaaaa!

Going out to paint the town red

Or maybe just get some dinner. ;-)

And this is the view to our left! :)

We made it!

26 hrs uptime. Just got our room, settling in and resting because we are beat!

We have an enormous, gorgeous suite right on the ocean. This is our view to the right.....

Onto Germany!

Just boarded our flight to Germany - no, Jon isn't pissed, he just never smiles. ;-)
(And I caught him red-handed scarfing down my pretzel snack).

Hi Logan and Callum! We love you!

Here we go!

With only 4.5 hours of sleep, ready to rock a long day of travels to Malta!

It's our first time away from the boys for so long, and so far away too. I'm nervous and excited and already missing my boys.

Wish us luck!

Angry Birds hooded blankets!

Knight in shining armor

The earliest we have been ready for Halloween! ;-)

Multiple birthday celebrations

Last night we had pizza and went to a movie with friends, to celebrate Jon's upcoming birthday (this Monday).

Tonight we had dinner with my brothers and parents, and then met at our house afterwards for cake. Jon turns 35, my brother Kai, whose birthday is also on Monday, turns 30 (the baby!), thus the 3 candles for the three decades each are (now) in.

Logan's keen observation of the night: "Daddy is an old man."

:)

Tomorrow my dad is taking "the boys" (Jon and my brothers) to the Giants vs. Dodgers game to celebrate the two birthdays.

Monday, Jon is playing golf for a charity event during the day, then he and a friend are heading up to Oakland for the Chargers vs. Raiders game.

And finally, on Thursday, Jon and I are catching a super early morning flight to Malta for a few days (our first international trip without the kids - ack!) where we will continue celebrating Jon's birthday.

Talk about stringing along the celebrations! ;-)

Late lunch

Everytime we have pizza the boys want to eat it out on the porch. It'll be interesting to see if they still insist on this practice when it's cold and rainy. :)

Dissecting owl pellets!

Me: Look at all these bones! What do you think the owl ate?

Logan: A tiny dinosaur.

My colleague brought me these owl pellets a few weeks ago to show Logan, and we finally got around to dissecting them tonight.

Super cool (bio) science project! :)

Labor Day Project

I've been collecting a myriad of arts and crafts materials with no real place to organize and store them all.

So, my project for the weekend was to get something that would help me organize the boys' closet a little better and store the arts/crafts stuff too.

I love these new drawers I got! Too bad I filled them pretty quickly. ;-)

With Ducky

Another cute one Callum's teacher sent me last week. :)

Two different styles of art

Precise and Deliberate vs. Coarse and Bold? 

Mystery Crock Pot

I had a TON of leftover tomatoes and onions from a BBQ at work the other day. So, in an effort not to lose it all, I'm throwing it together in the crock pot with a few other things to simmer for the day. ;-)

He just crawled up and fell asleep on me.

Spoiling with treats :)

Labor day weekend BBQ

We got a ton of food plus ice cream sandwiches for dessert!

Gilroy Gardens

A gorgeous day to enjoy some rides at the park. Uncle Zane has joined us for the day, since Jon is out of town this weekend. :)