Mmm, mmm, wings.

I'm not gonna pretend that I don't love food and love to eat.  Love.

And my latest obsession...wings.  Just good 'ol buffalo chicken wings.  And in my quest to make them half-way healthy and actually taste good, I think I have finally found a winner. 

And a side note:  I don't fry things.  If we eat something fried, it's because we bought it that way.  Which also doesn't happen much.  So, that was the kicker...how do you make wings good without frying them?  Because honestly, they are goopy and slimy and slippery and just generally not appeasing if you don't fry them and get that crispy goodness.

I now have the answer to your slimy wings.

• Preheat broiler on high.
• Place your naked wings in large pot and cover with water.  Bring to a boil.  Boil for 10 minutes.
• Place wings on broiler pan in oven for 5-6 minutes or until they began to brown and bubble.
• Flip wings and broil for another 5-6 minutes. 
• Toss wings in your preferred sauce (ours is just Frank's Hot Sauce and a little butter to tone down the spice).
• Place on foil lined baking pan and return to the broiler for a couple of minutes.

The result:  crispy, tasty, yummy wings.  And I'm not lying when I say they are as good as fried!  Or better.  But that may be just because I prefer things not fried.
My only complaint...I've now dirty at least 3 or 4 pots and pans just to cook a chicken wing.  That's just ridiculous, but I'm willing to deal with the dirty to get good wings.

Photo Credit.

P.S.  I'd give credit for the method if I could remember what the name of that little insert magazine thing that comes in the Sunday paper is called.  But I've got wing-on-the-brain...

It's still happening.

So I know that back in November we sprung the news that we were adopting again and then haven't said much about it since...

Rest assured.  It's still happening.

Just be patient, ok?  If I can be patient, you should be able to as well....

Ok, so maybe I'm only outwardly patient.  But my insides are most definitely not being patient!  But let's not talk about my insides...

I had a long conversation last week with the Korean coordinator at our future (hopefully) adoption agency.  The long and short of it...as I've explain before, the South Korean government is decreasing international adoptions, hoping to cease totally by 2016.  There are thousands and thousands of children waiting to be adopted.  Yes, in SK and all over the world.  And frankly it makes me sick to think that there are children that may never know the security of a family due to government legalities.  (That statement goes for all countries, even our own.)  Some agencies that work with South Korea are just at a stand still right now as they try to catch up with the few amount of referrals that are coming through.

So that's where we are. 

It's not a lot of news, but at least it's somewhat of an explanation.  We will continue to wait and be patient (argh!), praying specifically for the Lord's timing to bring home our baby girl.

-------------------------------------- 

Check out the Voice of Love website, which is just one initiative that is speaking up for the orphans of South Korea. 

My only prayer is that they are heard.

Belated December Review

Yeah, I know.  I'm almost a month late with this. 

A quick run down of the events during the month of December.  Mostly because my brain is too tired to fully recount the details of each happening.  I could probably give you normal people details.  But I only know how to do things with a touch of sarcasm.  Which requires more brain power than I'm willing to give up right now.  Your lucky I'm typing and drinking a cup of creamer with a touch of coffee at the same time.  And yes.  I meant to say that.

We made our annual trip to Southern Lights at the Kentucky Horse Park.  We had a blast looking at the lights and Charlie and Grace rode a camel.  Yep.  A camel.

Check them out two years ago in the same spot...is it legal to make your kids stop growing??

Notice the death grip on Grace.  He's scared to death.  But he would never tell you that.

He wasn't scared, but why does he look like such a big boy here??  Sniff, sniff...

My favorite picture from the evening.  Sam, just grinning away.  And Charlie.  Who was too worried about what that llama may do to look at the camera.  At least he was smiling.

We took several turns around town to view the Christmas lights.  The first time was just in my parents neighborhood with the boys and cousin Tristan.  What we thought would be a nice, calm ride in our pj's before bedtime turned into a wrestling match in the cargo area of my car.  A nice wrestling match, but apparently there is a reason we tie the kids to the seat when we get in the car.  The second time around was in a limo.  (Thanks Matthew & Emily!)  With candy and hot chocolate.  If you are thinking "what a sticky mess", you are correct.  But I can't think of a better way to look at Christmas lights with four of your best Alabama friends!  And two sticky kids.

Although the boys know the real reason for Christmas and that all the rest of it is just for fun, we tried our darnedest to make sure they knew that this is a season of giving.  So we made our own "Wish List".  Don't get all worked up...it wasn't a wish list for them, it was a wish list of things they wanted to do for others.  And while we didn't get to everything on their list (mainly because the only constructive thing Charlie contributed was to vacuum the house of every single person he knew), we did take the time to do several things to give back to others and I hope the boys remember that when they think back on our Christmas traditions.

Mom got engaged.  To my dad.  Yes, they are already married.  But now she has an engagement ring.  After 32 years of marriage.  Can I get a collective "awwwwwww"??

Cliff got a guitar.  He's just pretending here, though.  He has no idea how to play.  The ribbon is just his version of Rambo.  I don't think Rambo plays the guitar either.

Sam got the two things he has asked for repeatedly.  A bike.  And Cars legos.  Which I had to put together.  Why are legos rated for a 5-year-old almost too hard for a 30-year-old to assemble??

No, we don't normally ride our bikes in the house.  It was a special occasion.

And Charlie finally got his giant Bumblebee Transformer.  That he's been eyeing for over 2 years now.  I still don't understand Transformers, but he's happy, so that's all that matters.

Family.  Just family.  Love them.  (Someone from the Cook side of things wanna send me a pic??)

Thanks to a superduper generous church member, we enjoyed Christmas at The Galt House Hotel.  KaLightoscope was an interesting display of Christmas lights that apparently took 200 people over 9 months to create.  That's impressive.  And so was this huge gingerbread house totally made of candy.

See that look in Sam's eyes...we got him outta there fast!  Before that gingerbread house started disappearing.

So, that was a round-up of Christmas 2011.  Sam has already started asking when we can have Christmas again. 
But unfortunately it's because his Mater broke and he's trying to figure out how to get another one sooner rather than later...

I don't miss meals. Ever.

In a span of the last 9 months, I have had two separate occasions where someone else decided that our cars should crash into each other.

Back in April, someone came around a curve while I patiently waited with my blinker on to turn and barrelled right into me, never even slowing down.  Going about 55 mph.  Lovely.  After several weeks of not being able to open the tailgate of my Explorer, we got that fixed.

And then Friday, while minding my own business, it happened again. 

Except this time I was turning left onto a fairly busy, main road in Louisville and after patiently waiting for my green arrow, someone else ran their red light, plowing right into my drivers side door.

Here's where I'll tell you that I am terribly thankful for my big SUV, no matter how much it costs to fill it up, because this guy was driving a tiny little car and while it still caused quite a bit of damage, I'm fairly certain things would have been a little different if he had been a bigger car or truck.  The point of impact was squarely on my door, but because he was so low and I was so high, the bottom of my car took the brunt of the impact.

We had to have the Explorer towed and I earned a ride in an ambulance with the other cars passenger.  Her arm was broken, among other things.  And fortunately my hand was just bruised up and swollen pretty good and not actually broken like originally thought.

Now, I remained cool, calm and collected throughout this whole ordeal.  I answered questions from the EMT's and police officers.  I provided the needed documentation regarding insurance and registration.  I made the appropriate phone calls.  I was in total control.

Fast forward 30 minutes.  I had been strapped to a backboard and fitted with a neck brace.  All totally unnecessary, since my only problem was my hand/arm.  The EMT agreed with me, but they have their protocol.  As they rolled me into the ER, I just lost it.  I started crying and flipped out the EMT who assumed that something was actually wrong with me.

Wanna know why I lost it at that particular moment?  Other than been fastened to a terribly uncomfortable board and just needing to wiggle a little, those tears were all because I was hungry. 

Yep, hungry.  This whole ordeal made me miss lunch, and my friends, this girl just doesn't miss meals.  I was shaky, a little queasy and had now lost total control of my emotions.  All because I didn't get lunch.  The EMT rushed off to get me some graham crackers if I promised to stop crying.  I did manage to get myself under control and by the time Kenny and Nicole made it to the emergency room I was in much better shape and awaiting x-rays.

Now we wait to see if the insurance adjuster deems the car fixable.  And just deal with the whole mess of insurance claims, police reports, body shops and rental cars.  Which I can more than deal with, while being thankful that the Lord kept me totally safe and allowed the boys to be at school, instead of with me.

Now, don't worry.  When we left the ER, Kenny treated me to a Chick-fil-a kid's meal, per my request. 

It doesn't take much to please me, folks.  Just don't mess with my food.

And please stop running over my car.

Big boys. Tiny mama.

Can we talk about this picture?  (Ignore the poor quality.)  I mean...look at it.  I'll give you a minute...

How in the world did my boys get SO BIG??  I guess I haven't had a picture of us all standing lately, because I had no idea Charlie was almost taller than me.  I knew he had grown, but geez...he's barely a little boy anymore!!

I am really, really not okay with this.

The real pics.

So, there 'ya go.  Way too many pictures.  And there's way more HERE. 

I may be obsessed.  With these boys. 

But can you really blame me??