Sweet potato pancakes...off the cuff

One of my favorite things are sweet potato pancakes. We had some left-over roasted sweet potatoes in the fridge the other morning, so I decided to whip some up. I took the peel off before mashing, as large pieces of peel in my pancakes aren't appealing. (Peels on my roasted potatoes for dinner, however, are VERY desirable, and very nutritious.)


I used about half the potatoes I had left; I think I should have used them all.


I've done this before, sans recipe, and they turned out great. This time, they turned out so-so.


Flour, baking powder, cinnamon and a dash of nutmeg, milk. Turns out I forgot to add the oil. (Actually, we normally put melted butter in our pancakes.)


Did I mention this was a school day and I wasn't fully awake yet?


Nothin' but the best to top our sweet potato pancakes!


Why does she have the camera out at this hour?! Woman, just let me eat in peace.


Andy showing off his toonie that the Tooth Fairy left for him.


So they weren't the best pancakes ever, but they were warm, shaped appropriately, and had syrup on them. I distinctly remember being in Mamaw's kitchen in Dothan, Alabama one visit. I requested pancakes for breakfast. Now, pancakes were made with some regularity at home by Dad, and at my other grandparents' house outside of Chicago, by Papa. But at Mamaw and Papaw's house, eggs and bacon were the norm in the morning. So on this particular visit when I asked for pancakes, Mamaw got out the flour, baking powder, sugar, and eggs. What? No Bisquick? No Hungry Jack mix? I think it was the first time I had seen pancakes made from just the basic ingredients. Mind blowing, it was.

Sam turns SIX!!

Sam turned six years old earlier this week.


We had his party at the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame, where they have lots of interactive sports activities, and reasonable birthday party prices.

I spent a lot of time in the front area, where the cake, presents, snacks, coats, and more importantly, my purse were. But I ran around a few times to take some pictures.

Waiting patiently for a turn.


Climbing the never-ending climbing wall.

Trying out skeleton.


The putting green.

Wheel-chair racing.

The mini-curling table.


Singing Happy Birthday to the guest of honor.


His party was a couple days before his actual birthday. So on his real birthday, he was special helper at school, and we made whoopie pies (kinda like giant, homemade Oreos) to hand out as a special birthday snack in class. I saved four for us at home; he had fun sticking six candles into one whoopie pie.


Plus, we had LOTS of leftover birthday cake, to boot! Happy Birthday, Happy Boy.

My Computer Companion

I printed this large picture of Sam out on 8x10 paper from his Christmas concert and glued it on to some cardboard for strength. Then I taped it onto the little drum that he used as they sang Little Drummer Boy, and sat it on one of our speakers. It looked like him standing there with his drum around his neck - so cute! But, alas, he did not like it. At some point I'll tape this picture back onto the drum, and it will be a permanent Christmas decoration that I'll be able to enjoy each year as I remember his kindergarten performance. But in the meantime, I kind of enjoy him hanging out with me as I surf the net. :o)

Lotsa snow!

We've been getting a LOT of snow the past few days. The boys decided to try their cross country skis in the back yard yesterday. I think Andy stuck to the side of the house; here was Sam's attempt.



At this point he looked up to me in the window and informed me that it wasn't working very well.


There has also been a good deal of snow-shoveling.



I got to stay inside to un-decorate the tree. You can see the tree lights reflecting in the window.

Sam displaying the jump/lounge chair that he built.

And in a few hours, everything will be ready to shovel again!

Sam lost his first tooth!

Cheese!


CHEESE!!


He likes sticking his tongue in the space and saying, "Look! I have a pink tooth!"