In search of a recipe . . .

Dylan has made some good friends at one of the medical groups he frequents. One of these women is an awesome cook. She has sent Dylan home with some out-of-this-world guacamole. It was so spicy, and it made an awesome burger. She also sent home some Pepsi chicken she made, and it was delicious. I instantly wanted more. It was also very spicy, yet had a sweet taste too. Around the holidays she makes tamales with this chicken and I am wishing we bought more than a dozen. The one problem is that she will not share her recipes, and she doesn't have any plans to open a restaurant any time soon, so I'm on the hunt. I've found several recipes for Pepsi chicken that were basically this:
PEPSI CHICKEN
Printed from COOKS.COM
1 cut-up chicken
1 stick butter
1 can Pepsi
1 (20 oz.) bottle ketchup
Salt and pepper to taste
Melt butter in electric skillet. Place chicken in skillet and pour Pepsi and ketchup over chicken. Cook at 250 degrees for 2 hours.

But, the spice is not in any of the recipes I find. I've thought about adding Cayenne chili powder to the recipe on my first attempt, but wanted to see if anyone out there had any suggestions. She might use a chili sauce instead of ketchup . . . hmm I really don't know. Any clues? Anyone?

New names

I've become my mother and my grandmother. I'm constantly getting my boys' names mixed up, and I often run through 3 wrong names before calling each by their given name. Well, ever since Dylan and Nathan were little I found it easier to just call them "Thing 1" and "Thing 2". Then "Thing 3" and "Thing 4" came along. Well, Dylan Sr. happened to be in Florida for work last week and they were having dinner at Universal Studios (I know, poor thing) where he happened to find these t-shirts. Perfect! Who would have thought they'd have things 1-4?

Just what I needed

I, just like all of you, have taught my children when they are young about opposites. Open, shut. Dark, light. Hot, cold. Well, it seems I've taught William too well about big and little. Just a minute ago, he grabbed his little diaper-clad bottom and said, "I have a little bum!" Then he came up to me and swatted my behind and said, "Mommy has a big bum!" Thankfully, he then asked, "Where is Daddy's big bum?" I replied, "Sitting at an airport, waiting to come home." At least I wasn't singled out.

a hodgepodge of things

Dylan has been missing the boys this week, so I told him I'd post some photo's. Too bad I'm not getting them done until the day he gets home;) The first is of William with his new glasses. They are a darker blue, a little more round, and to my eyes they are a little more blurry. He is a tad bit more farsighted than before. But I think he looks very cute in them.
Next is Michael. Here he is after a day of kindergarten, just plain tuckered out. But he did get to drive the swather today and cut hay out at my parents farm. He was excited that he actually steered all on his own.

Then there's Nathan. This is him after I told him to stop procrastinating and start taking notes for his Biography project on Neil Armstrong. This is his "You caught me" and "I'll do what you say, mom," smile.

Here is Dylan. I wish I had a close-up of him, but this was taken tonight at an awards ceremony honoring a few kids who were chosen out of the district for Honors Choir. He likes to dress up in a tie. I'm sure that in a few years from now, he'll be sick of it.
Well, here they are. I'm sorry I didn't get them posted sooner. We love you, Dylan, and we'll see you soon!
By the way, I have no idea what I did to get the pictures like this!

Ready to go!

We recently ordered new bike helmets for the boys in order to get ready for some family rides. When the doorbell rang and the boys saw that it was Fedex, they were tearing open those boxes in no time. Michael even decided to put Williams' on his head even before it was out of the package! They are chomping at the bit to go for a ride, but we're still waiting for the bike trailer to come. So a few more days of noses being pressed to the windows . . .