Coffee Break with Liz and Kate » Entries tagged with "kids"
Kate’s Escapades – Picture Perfect
(Simple tips for taking a great family portrait)
It’s that time again. The annual event that often strikes fear and doubt into even the most confident and pulled-together of parents. Of course, I’m talking about family holiday portrait time. Luckily for you, through many years of trial and error with my own family, I’ve come up with some easy tips for surviving family portrait day. And as a bonus, you may even get a photo that you’ll be happy to send out to your friends and family. If you’re super duper lucky, you’ll like the results so much that you’ll even be brave enough to display your new portrait on your own fireplace mantel. Here are my tried and true tips for taking a great family portrait: 1. Select your clothing It IS important to coordinate the clothing. Having a … Read entire article »
Filed under: Headline, Kate's Escapades
Liz’s rant: You’ll shoot your eye out!
Can you guess how our family kicked off the Christmas season? If you think it involved A Christmas Story, you’d be right! Except that we didn’t watch the movie. On Sunday afternoon, Colton and I, along with Mom, Dad, my brothers, sister-in-law and nephew, hit the road and headed to Actors Theatre in Louisville for the stage version of the story I consider a staple of the season – a classic Christmas story (ergo the name?) that’s a must-watch at least a dozen times between Turkey Day and Christmas. We were convinced that it would be a great afternoon, leaving us with plenty of Christmas spirit and even more to talk about. It didn’t hurt that our tickets were on the first, second and third rows, either. Most of us were … Read entire article »
Filed under: Headline, Liz's Rants
Liz’s rant: The numbers game
I realize that as you read this, blood may very well shoot out of your eyes. But in the interest of getting the word out on what I’ve come to refer to as “bubble math,” I can’t help it. At this point, I can’t even muster a “sorry about the bloody eye thing.” It started innocently enough last week, during a routine homework assignment. But as I would learn, things were about to take a spiral into the abyss I will simply refer to as the numbers game. They call it mental math. I call it insane. This new mental math takes, for example, this scenario: 93-42. (It always starts so innocently, doesn’t it?) First you subtract the numbers in the 10s spot, leaving you with 5, then you subtract the number in … Read entire article »
Filed under: Headline, Liz's Rants
Kate’s Recipe of the week – Cake Ball Pops
This week’s recipe is one of my all-time favorites – Cake Ball Pops. They’re little balls of cake mixed with frosting and covered with chocolate and sprinkles. What’s not to love?! They’re kind of like cake, kind of like candy, and super decadent and delicious. Sure, making Cake Ball Pops will take a tad bit longer than the typical recipes I feature, but take my word for it, they are worth the extra effort! Ingredients: Cake mix Tub of frosting Chocolate to melt Sucker sticks Prepare the cake mix according to package directions using any of the recommended pan sizes. When cake is done, crumble while warm into a large bowl. Stir in the frosting until well blended. Use a melon baller or small scoop or your hands to form balls of the chocolate cake mixture. Insert sucker sticks into … Read entire article »
Liz’s rant: College-bound
Last Friday was the big day – the day I moved my daughter into her dorm at college. Luckily, the drive was only an hour or so. On arrival to her new “home town,” we were greeted with numerous signs, welcoming the students. A fast food restaurant piped in a local radio station, that devoted its broadcast to all things campus. We topped off the drive with a wait in a line of cars in a parking lot adjacent to campus, waiting for our turn to get to the dorms, unload and move out. It was quite a site to behold, as ROTC members and anyone ‘lucky enough’ to have been part of early move-in converged on the cars, grabbing boxes and lamps and chairs and flat-screens. (Who knew so many … Read entire article »
Filed under: Headline, Liz's Rants
Kate’s Escapades – Quirky Observations
I’ve just returned home from a wonderful two weeks at Liz’s house. We did plenty of playing around, but also squeezed in some concentrated effort on a cookbook we are making, In the Kitchen with Liz and Kate: Practically Painless Recipes. (FYI…We’ll be taking pre-orders within a week or two, and they will be available for Christmas.) While there I couldn’t help but notice some quaint and quirky observations about the differences between my current state of Utah and my former state of KY. Observations: I’ve noticed the famous KY rolling stop is still the accepted, and preferred, means of stopping at a stop sign. When you are done drying off after a shower, you still feel completely damp. In the battle between my hair and the humidity, the humidity is clearly the victor. This is … Read entire article »
Filed under: Headline, Kate's Escapades
Liz’s Rants: Backpack blues
T-minus 9 days until the first day of school and we’ve received my third grader’s teacher assignment and school supply lists. Before “serious” conversation can occur, let’s dispense with the preliminaries, shall we? First came the question of why my kids had 67 days of summer break, while Phineas and Ferb have 104. And they asked the question as if I knew the answer, when my head is jello after a two-month break from school. I say, what’s wrong with the year-round system. (Of course I say that primarily to get their reaction: “Mohhummmm!”) Let’s start with Hannah. Oh, the excitement of her freshman year in college. A new backpack, a syllabus for every class, typically requiring the purchase of textbooks and a notebook or two, and countless hours of campus bookstore … Read entire article »
Filed under: Headline, Liz's Rants
Despicable Me (2010) movie review by Kate
Despicable Me (2010) Movie reviews by Kate Reel reviews for real people Rating: PG for rude humor and mild action Genre: Animation, Comedy, Kids & Family Running time: 1:35 Starring: Steve Carell, Jason Segel, Russell Brand, Kristen Wiig Director: Pierre Coffin, Chris Renaud Plot: In a happy suburban neighborhood surrounded by white picket fences with flowering rose bushes, sits a black house with a dead lawn. Unbeknownst to the neighbors, hidden beneath this home … Read entire article »
Filed under: Entertainment, Headline
Kate’s Escapades – National Doughnut Day
If you’ve come to Coffee Break today looking for my weekly movie review…surprise! No review today. That’s because the big movie opening this weekend is “Killers”, and the folks in charge at Lionsgate have decided not to allow advance screenings for critics. They would prefer to let the audience decide if they like the movie and then let the word spread on Twitter and Facebook. Imagine that! “We want to capitalize on the revolution in social media by letting audiences and critics define this film concurrently,” Lionsgate said in a statement late Wednesday. “In today’s socially connected marketplace, we all have the ability to share feedback instantly around the world. In keeping with this spirit, Lionsgate and the filmmakers want to give the opportunity to moviegoing audiences and critics alike to … Read entire article »
Filed under: Headline, Kate's Escapades, Let's Eat
Liz’s rant: The silly, crazy, goofy bands
Do you ever look at a product and think, “I could’ve thought of that!” A product so simple – and let’s face it, so useless – that its popularity defies all logic… Unless you’re a kid, I guess. And, of course, unless you’re the product’s maker (in which case, you’re a gazillionaire at this point.) What am I talking about? Silly Bandz. I think they’ve been a staple in our household for a couple of months, now. And if you haven’t heard about them yet, give it time. The Silly Bandz fad is certain to be on it’s way to a drug store near you. So what are Silly Bandz (also sold under the names of Goofy bands and Zany bands)? They’re small silicone bracelets that look like a thin hair band on … Read entire article »
Filed under: Headline, Liz's Rants
Liz’s rant: Dirtbag of the year?
Just when I think I’ve heard it all, it never fails. I hear something else. Something that defies all notions of decency, while bordering on unbelievable. Something that leaves you scratching your head, wondering where these people come from and how they’ve survived on planet earth as long as they have. Enter today’s rant, somewhere in Massachusetts, where a man allegedly offered to swap his 3-month-old daughter for beer. Or maybe it was crack cocaine. Police can’t be entirely certain at this point. Apparently, this dad of the year if you live on “Planet All the World’s an Idiot” had left his motel room/home with his girlfriend and daughter to visit the convenience store next door, where he approached the gas station’s maintenance man. The report goes on to say that this “dad” … Read entire article »
Filed under: Headline, Liz's Rants
Kate’s Escapades – Homemade Lollipops
This past weekend my daughters made some homemade lollipops for a get-together with some friends. Being treated to a delicious watermelon flavored sample made me remember how easy and yummy these suckers are. So I decided to share this with you. These Homemade Lollipops are so easy, so delicious, and so quick to make. They’re great for parties, showers, luncheons, or just for the fun of it. Give it a try. It’s so easy, I’ll bet even Liz could handle this one. m mm m mHow to make Homemade Lollipops Ingredients: 1 cup sugar 1/2 cup water 1/3 light corn syrup 1/2-1 1/2 teaspoons flavoring (1/2 small bottle) Food coloring Directions: 1. Lay out some wax paper to protect your working surface. Put sucker molds on the wax paper. 2. This next step is very important…put sticks in molds before you start cooking sucker … Read entire article »
Filed under: Headline, Kate's Escapades, Let's Eat
Kate goes on an Adventure to the Circus
Last week my daughter came home from work with some circus coupons which basically said, and I paraphrase, “If you pay a small fortune for an adult ticket and promise us your next born child, we’ll let your kid in for free”. Always a sucker for a “good deal” like that, I rounded up the troops and headed out for an evening of good, old fashioned, controversial family entertainment. Here is where I should tell you I have very mixed feelings about the whole circus thing (very similar to my mixed feelings about the whole zoo thing). At that moment, part of my brain was racing trying to remember reports I’d watched, and stories I’d read, about circus animal cruelty and how miserable the animals might possibly be. Another part of … Read entire article »
Filed under: Headline, Kate's Escapades
Liz’s rant: May the force be with you
My son has begged me to get a GPS for as long as he’s known what they are. But because of my ultra-keen sense of direction (or perhaps because I’m a cheapskate) I’ve done without. Oh sure, it’s been tempting to get one – especially after borrowing my dad’s for long trips. But it seems like a GPS is pretty far down on my list of priorities. At least it was pretty far down on the list, until I heard about a new product by TomTom. I’m sure we’ve all heard that lady who offers directions to the point that I’ve found myself screaming, “Don’t tell me what to do.” (which is usually followed by her squeaky little voice saying, “recalculating, now.” Maybe I’m the last to know about these things, but did … Read entire article »
Filed under: Headline, Liz's Rants
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