What do you do with left over pie crust?

Dad has become a big fan of Martha Stewart's pâte brisée lately - the all-purpose savory crust, useful for tarts, quiches, and pies that already have a really sweet fillings. But he errs, as ever, on the side of liberality, and makes too much.

Fortunately, Aunt Margie, within the week, sends the best kind of educational tool: one that teaches letters and helps make cookies. Now Barritt knows what to do with the leftovers.**


** PS: A tip you won't ever find in any Martha Stewart Cookbook or Martha Stewart Living; this is solely a Barritt Chambers technique. Because the pie crust is over 40% butter, the hands will inevitably get greasy. In order not to sully a handtowel or, heaven forbid, a paper towel, you may simply wipe your hands on the wall, as B has demonstrated above.

***PPS: This really works best if you are renting the house you live in.

2008 - Thus far a mixed bag

There has been some significant goodness to fall upon the C family since January 1. For instance:

• Annabelle turned from zero to one, and we had a big brunch to celebrate
• Barritt, according to Ms Laura, one of his teachers, has turned the corner with potty training
  
• Caroline has reached new echelons of knitting; she is knitting more things than you'd imagine
• Matt, instead of the C-, or possibly F, he expected for Criminal Procedure, received an A- (but this only leaves him disenchanted about the current system of tenure based pedagogy, as he is sure that the professor must not have read his exam)

But, we've never been this sick at the same time; at least one of us has been sick since 12/30. Thus far,

• 4 of us have had a stomach virus
  
• 4 of us have had sore throats
• 2 of us have had croup
• 2 of us have had RSV
• 2 (at least) of us have had ear infections
• Matt thinks he has tuberculosis, or some other 19th century disease

So for now, we hunker down, watch some Thomas movies, and listen to the Juno soundtrack a lot. But if you want to do something with us, maybe we can meet you at Walgreens. We've been hanging out there a lot too.

the Party Train . . . . with music!

The first couple pics are from the cake B helped make on Thursday, the actual birthday; the rest are from the party today. Holla!

Happy Birthday to Me!

As Requested

Pictures from Christmas morning (there were very few, as we were all in need of a hair-washin') and the BarnHardt-attack a few days later.

"Is this lead free, mom?"

"This one is definitely lead free."

Neither of these need a caption.

Kelley, challenging the proposition that the cape was made for Barritt, and Jay, showing his gang allegiance. I'm not sure if that signifies that he is loyal to the Westside of Greenville, or the Westside of Myers Park. Regardless, he is hardcore.
Later that night, Jay and Caroline won free tickets to the gun show.

2008 - great expectations - dashed!

We had high hopes for 2008. We already knew it would be the year Annabelle will begin to walk, the year we move and the year we become solvent.

But thus far we are not off to the best start. The kids entered the year with a nice stomach bug, replete with vomiting and portents of copious diarrhea to come in the following days. However, in that brief window between the kids' vomiting and their certain future malady, Dad, undeterred and selfish as ever, headed out into the wild for the first WBL of the year at 10 a.m. on 1/1. While there was a certain satisfaction in the ride, the 40 degree temperature and 20 mph winds do not suit his lazy proclivities, and he was left feeling spent and cold for the remains of the day.

So, in an effort to get the kids out of the house for the first time in a few days, and to quench B's undying thirst for playing at a train table, we headed out to Barnes & Noble. Barritt, satiated, was nonetheless hesitant to leave. After a few tears, all was well with him, when Mom and Dad turned to one another. "Does your stomach hurt?" each asked the other in turn. Damn, brace yourself.

The virus completed its assault of all 4 Chamberses by the waning minutes of January 1. We are now all over stage 1, and the kids are in the midst of stage 2. All this goes to say, if you need to contact any of us, we will definitely be home for the next couple days.