The Story of Tom Turkey

For the record, I can't make this stuff up, y'all.  Promise.  If you're expecting a sweet story about a cute little turkey named Tom, you're in the wrong place.  And if you don't like seeing raw turkey bits, well, sorry.  Oh, and sorry for the bad iPhone photos, we were doing this at 10pm.

This Thanksgiving, the Frink Four packed up Phyllis (what we fondly call our vehicle) and headed north - to Cleveland, Ohio, to be exact - to visit my sister-in-law and family.  I think it's fun going up there, there's snow, Trader Joe's nearby, and we do a lot of cooking.  This year, Melissa ordered a fabulous turkey (Tom) from a local farm and there were grand plans of brining Tom.

We did all those things you are supposed to do to a turkey - untied the legs and pulled out the innards.  You know, engaging in a good old fashioned anatomy lesson.  Reminiscing about the time I was in Paris and ate a chicken heart, thinking it was a potato (it was delicious, by the way.)

So, to brine a 23lb turkey, you need a brining bag (cause that bad boy ain't fitting in a big stock pot.)  This was a thin, flimsy bag - you'd think that 3 college-educated individuals would have seen the error in this plan when we opened the bag box.  Nah, we just pressed onwards, like the newbs that we were.  

Once the ingredients were added, we were instructed by the fine folks at Williams-Sonoma that we needed to add water until Tom was covered.  

Now check out Brian's hand there...see how much plastic is leftover after filling it up with like 3-4 gallons of liquid?  That should have been clue #2, but again, no, onward-ho!

A regular trashcan tie didn't cut it.  We had to break out the zip ties - clue #3 right there.

Because we were smart enough to put Tom (and his bag) in the sink to add the liquid, we somehow had to get him from the sink to the pan (to take downstairs to the basement so he could bathe in an apply bath for 24-36 hours!).  And by we, I really mean Brian, as is evidenced by my poor photo documentary skills.

You have to say this next part in the voice of Judy Gellar on Friends...

It did not.go.well.

Why yes, that is 3-4 gallons brining juice all over the floor.  Why yes, it was a huge sticky mess.  And we couldn't stop laughing.  

So, the next day, we got a REAL brining bag...and since time was of the essence, as we lost out of 12 hours of pertinent brining time, innovation was necessary to get the liquid cooled in time.  Good news - it's 22 degrees out - cooled faster than the fridge ever could.

And when one does things correctly, with the correct materials - it all works out according to plan.  

Tom cooked well, tasted delicious, and made from some of the best tasting gravy ever.  In typical form, I was too preoccupied with eating to actually take a bad iPhone photo of the finished product, but I'm sure you have an idea.

So it was said, and so it was done.  The story of Tom the Turkey.

"Mom, you can just buy one..."

Our house might as well be an advertisement for Disney Jr. this Halloween.  Kaylynn has insisted (for almost half a year now) that she was going to be Princess Sofia the First for Halloween.

Ben has fluctuated for a while.  A hippo.  Jake (the Neverland Pirate...) Mickey Mouse.  I think we've settled on Jake.  Jake is easy.  Jake I can do.

Sofia on the other hand.  I haven't dived into the realm of princess dresses.  I've honestly been avoiding it.  

As Kaylynn said, "mom, you know you can just buy the dress from Target, right?"

Yes, dear.  I do.  But I like making your costumes.  And I won't get to do it for forever.  So...

I bought a pattern off Etsy.  It's a very well-thought out pattern. And the dress is cute.  But, I need simple!  

So...I winged it.  I wang it?  Wait, that doesn't sound right...winged has to be correct.  I'm sure someone will let me know if it's not.

And it didn't turn out too bad, if I say so myself!

It's a 2 piece, which is easy for her to get on and off herself - major perk!  Don't think I used enough fabric glue, but it held together for the church carnival and trick-or-treating, which is really what we wanted.

And this guy went easy on me.  While he did waver from Jake & the Neverland Pirates to a hippo to "I just be myself", he let his big sister talk him into a construction worker.  Easiest costume ever.  Thanks, Big B.  I owe you one!  **note, he said 'struction worker, everyone at school called him Bob the Builder. He has no idea what/who Bob the Builder is, but every time someone at school asked if he was Bob the Builder, he happily replied, "yup!"  Yeah, he'll be whatever you want if you give him candy!

Then He Was 3....

(a post full of ellipses)

Just like that, sweet Ben went from a tiny, sweet (early) baby to this...



At 3, Ben...

...loves triceratops

...thinks ketchup is a square meal
...is a complete and utter mama's boy

...refuses to be potty trained

...is a master fit-thrower
...loves the color orange (despite our Aggie roots)

...always answers "great" when asked how he is, or how he slept

...is a puzzle master

...has a major sweet tooth and is a candy fiend


Happy Birthday, sweet Ben!

St*ff My Kids Say, 1st Ed.

Since this is a family joint, I'll refrain from the foul language and call this "St*ff My Kids Say".  (The asterisk is just for effect, people!)

I think we are all in agreement that kids say some crazy stuff!  I need to keep a journal of it, Sherry-style, but I'm not so good at having a pen/paper around, even when I need it.  So, Facebook and my iPhone do the trick, in a pinch. 

And because I need to record it someplace else besides Facebook (in case I just get fed up with all the political garbage people spew on it daily and delete my account...seriously, why can't we all just post cute pictures and funny e-cards and be done with it?!) the blog wins the "back-up" spot.

So without further adieu, here is "St*ff My Kids Say, 1st Ed."

And in case you are new, K is the 4 year old girl, B is the 2 year old boy.  No, I'm not hiding their names, it is just easier to type.  :)  Laziness at its finest.

At the fabric store with the kids and I just asked for a yard of fabric:
K: what's a yard?
Me: it is a unit of measure
K: is it a non-standard unit of measure?
Me: a what?
K: non-standard unit of measure. You know like when you measure something with something that is not a ruler.
(seriously, are we raising a kid-genius?  A doogie-ette? Nah, they probably watch too much tv)



Me: Hey, were you two in the bathroom?
K: Yup
Me: What were you BOTH doing in there?
B: Oh, you know. Just dwinking chocwate milk and stuff. 

What's stuff? Turns out, it was sneaking binkies and coloring with markers on the bathroom stool.  

Brian: Ben, let me teach you something. Women are crazy and hormonal. Ben, what are they?
B: hippos. 
Brian: NO. Never say that. They are?
B: cwazy and homonal.
K: I'm a woman.  Womans are girls.

Brian: That's right.  And you know what you guys are?  Crazy and...

B: homonal

K: (crying) I don't like that! That is not fun and not nice!!
(yes, I know that is a terrible thing for my husband to get my son to say, but dang it if it wasn't hilarious at the time.)


K: Ben, do you know what? When I get bigger, I am going to ride a school bus.
B: when I get bigger, I'm going to ride one, too. And you know what, I am even going to drive it.
K: no you're not.
B: well, when I am really bigger.
K: actually no. You aren't.

My daughter, the dream crusher.


I am scrubbing my face with one of those microderm abrasion scrubber things before church on Sunday, while Kaylynn watches. She's watching me in the bathroom more and more, asking about my flat iron and make-up. Not sure I like it. 
K: what are you doing that for?
Me: I'm scrubbing my face.
K: why
Me: It makes me feel like my face looks better. Takes the dead skin off.
K: do you have to do that now because you are old?
Me: Yup. Mama's old.
K: well, you don't look old to me.
Me: I love you! You can tell me that every day. How old do you think I am?
K: umm, let's count (she starts at my feet and moves towards my head...) 1, 2, 3, ...15. You're 15 years old.
I am so glad she has no concept of age. I love her little innocent mind.

K started telling me how when she moves out, I'll need another little girl at home. "Because I'll be far away, but you know, I'll come spend the night with you sometimes." So I asked if she thought she needed another little brother or sister. She said, we'd probably need one of each (Brian asked me later - why are you talking to her about this?!) Anywho, so I asked her, if she had another sibling, what she'd name it. She said her sister needed a cute name, something like "Katelyn". I told her that it was a little too close to her name, so she said, "Rose" is cute, too. So I asked about a brother, and she said, "well, what do you think?" I said, "I asked you what you thought." She sat in silence for a second and said, "Star Rocket would be a great name for a little brother. Don't you think that's perfect?" I said, "Kaylynn, that is the best name ever." She said, "well, when I was a kid (?????) daddy used to take me outside to see the stars every night and when he didn't, I would freak out."

I don't know how she moved from Rose to Star Rocket, but IF we ever have another little boy around here, don't be surprised if his nickname is Star Rocket. 


B: "but I already brushed my teeth, daddy."
Brian: "no, you were eating toothpaste, that is not the same thing."

And I'll end on a sweet one...

As she's walking out the door to go to school - "Bye mom! Don't forget to eat lunch! And don't forget that I love you!"

Fun with Boxes

Why do we waste all this money on cute, eco-friendly (and some not-so-eco-friendly) toys?  They have been in the play room for well over half an hour, just chillin' in the boxes.

That's all I got today, folks. Happy Monday!

Traveling with Kids

We're traveling folk here at the House of Frink. Kaylynn took her first plane ride at 9 weeks and we've pretty much been going ever since. Before the age of 4, she flew to Cleveland, Portland OR, Virginia, Seattle, Santa Fe, and Portland ME. I tried like the dickens to get her overseas with us, but Brian put his foot down. Ben hasn't been quite so lucky, only making it to Santa Fe & Maine, but he's definitely clocked up some hours in the car. Traveling with kids is not always the most fun, or the easiest, but I think in the long run, it is worth it. Here's a few tips that I've amassed through the past (almost) 5 years of kid trips. For flying: 1. Pick your flight times to coincide with either naps or eating. Let's face it, I'm happiest when eating or sleeping, so why wouldn't our little ones be the same. This also helps with babies, as the swallowing action will help prevent ear clogging. If you just don't have the luxury of picking your flight times (the cheapest flights are always at weird times, right?!) pack a binky for the babes or have a sippy of water on standby. 2. iPads or in-flight sat. tv can be your best friend. Yes, I know, too much screen time is not good, but honestly, on airplanes you are in tight quarters, no one wants the kids there to begin with - they are just worth it. You can call be a terrible mom if you want, but I swear by them! Also, United lets you buy DirecTV for $6.00 on some flights - money well spent in my mind, even for the adults. My money-tight husband is quick to whip out the credit card to make it a better flight. 3. In tight situations, don't forget to consult the SkyMall magazine. Not for shopping, though. Tear those pages out and turn it into seat-back basketball. No joke, when Ben was like 14 months old, we spent 45 minutes on a plane letting him throw a piece of paper into the seat-back pocket. Cheapest. entertainment. EVER. For cars: 1. If you're planning on driving, I'd say knock out as much as you can on day 1. Wake up early and hit the road running. On our trip to Colorado a few weeks ago, we left at 4am. While this may have sucked at the time our alarm went off, our kids fell back asleep in the car, waking up in time for breakfast. We plowed through 16 hours in one day and our kids were champs! 2. Section out your trip into "toy time", "screen-time", and "nap-time". Maybe our kids have driven with us enough to know our schedule, but we typically say no to screens (iPads, dvd's, etc.) until 10-11am. In the meantime, we encourage them to color, look at books, look for animals out the window, or just chill. I always go buy a few new colors, color books, or reading books. They LOVE these Melissa & Doug water coloring tablets - and they are reusable! Score! Sometime around 10:30-11, we allow screens until lunch. Previously, we would travel in my mom's car, which has an entertainment system in it. This go around, we have a new ride (sans entertainment system) and bought an iPad holder for the seat-back. It. Was. Awesome. Finally, no fighting over who gets to hold the iPad!! Pair them with bluetooth headphones (or corded ones like we did) and mom and dad can listen to music in peace! After lunch comes quiet time. They typically don't sleep too well in the car. So if we get an hour out of each of them, I consider it a success. But for some reason, after naps, they are pretty content to just "be" for a while. We'll take it. 3. Take breaks. Not only for them, but for you. Even if it's just to get a candy bar or a cup coffee, it's worth it. 4. Treats are good. I'm the first to admit that when it comes to candy/junk, I'm kinda mean about it. Do our kids get it - of course! But they'd take it every day and I'm not into that. However, when it comes to car rides, sometimes you just need it! Case in point, while heading to Breck, we stopped at a Starbucks in Pueblo for a last resort potty and caffeine break before hitting the mountains. We treated the kids to cake pops from there and I think they were pretty excited about that. Cake pops are something that are typically reserved for birthdays or preschool celebrations around these parts. Did they keep the "are we there yet's?" away? Nope, but they broke up the day, nicely. These aren't the be-all, end-all tips for traveling, and we are by no means experts, but I do think that we've been around the block a time or two and kinda know what we're doing by now.

Let's Run Away...

...and never come back.  At least that's what we were telling ourselves after a wonderful trip to Colorado at the end of July.  Thanks to some very generous family friends and some continuing education classes for the hubster, we had a great little family/friend vacation to Breckenridge (with a couple day stopover in Denver).

First of all, let's just say that all of our kiddos are traveling rockstars!!  We left ETex at 4:00am.  Yup, that's right.  In the morning.  After going to bed at like midnight (us, not the kids), waking up to start driving 16-17 hours was difficult.  Met up with the rest of the crew for lunch in Amarillo [side bar: it's probably just me, but I can't think of Amarillo without singing George Strait's Amarillo By Morning.  Perhaps that's a side effect of growing up in Texas.]

(this iPad holder is awesome.  It'd be more awesome if I wanted to shell out the cash for bluetooth headphones, but I didn't.  These corded, ear protecting ones will work just fine)

(probably can't tell, but this is a giant wind turbine propeller.  It was ginormous!)

When we finally rolled into Breck - I think we fell in love with the weather instantly.  Something about going from 100 degrees to 65 degrees in 16 hours will do that to ya.

Each day was glorious.  We could take walks in the evening without sweating!

Even mundane things like eating at Chipotle are better in the mountains.

Picnicking by the river. Water was freezing.  But we braved it for a family photo.  First one since Christmas, I presume.

We braved the rec center for swim lessons.  Kaylynn had 4 good days - Ben had 2.  Every other day he flipped out.  Not sure why.

One day, we had to take him in a white t-shirt and a diaper.  He was not thrilled.  But he got in the pool.  Have I mentioned that I'm a sucker for little boys in white t-shirts.  Or this little boy in a white t-shirt.  Probably because it reminds me of his dad, who wears white t-shirts.

We headed up the Gondie (gondola) or as my kids called it, the "oval gondowa" to the fun park.  Still not sure what this place was called, but the Alpine Slide and coaster were awesome!

Ben took naps on the chair lifts. Did a little fishing. Or rock throwing. Or picture taking in the mountains. OH, and geocaching! And we fed chipmunks organic cheerios. They weren't fans. They were jealous of chocolate sprinkled donuts. :) And then we made it to Denver for class, where we saw awesome urban gardens and ate sushi. Denver's not bad, I tell you. We were all bummed to head back to Texas. If we could just run away and hide out without no one knowing where we were - we'd do it. So if we ever go missing - look for us out west.