assembly and pancakes

Yesterday morning, right as Corgan and Lily were leaving to catch the bus to go to school at 8, Lily hands me an envelope and says, "Here, this is for you."

"To the Parent's of Lily Smith", is scribbled across the front.

Corgan then says, "Oh, yeah, I got one, too", and gives me his.

I didn't think much of reading them right then; emailed to me the day before was a pancake recipe that I had started to make with Blake and Cade. Sometimes I am that super-great mother who cooks with her kids. Most of the time they just get in the way and I get ticked and tell them to go do something more interactive and stimulating such as watching t.v. But yesterday morning I was super-great.

Anyways, a few minutes later, just after I had Blake add the wet ingredients to the dry ones, I opened one of the envelopes.

"Dear Families, 

I am excited to be writing you today because I would like to include you in a little secret that concerns your child.

Your child will be recognized as a STAR Student at an assembly next Tuesday, 2/21/12. This assembly will occur in our gym on Tuesday morning from 8:30 until 8:55 and we invite you to join us for this recognition."

Blah, blah, blah....Sincerely, the Principal.....I didn't really read the rest of the letter.

What I did do was look at the clock and it read 8:05. Oh, snap!

Blake and Cade were awaiting their pancakes and the four of us needed to get dressed and look presentable in less than 15 minutes. I go into fast mode and quickly pour out one batch of pancakes on the griddle, grab some clothes for the boys and myself. I go back to flip the pancakes and notice that they have barely cooked at all. What the heck?! Aaron had just mentioned a few days earlier that we should probably get a new one, we got the griddle as a wedding present (thank-you Maria Worton Bybee!...how awesome is it that I can remember who gave us that? pretty awesome.)  So the dang pancakes weren't cooking. I grabbed a skillet out of the cupboard and turn the stove on high, and throw the pancakes on that. Go in the bathroom and wipe the flakes of mascara off from under my eyes and throw on some more. Glamourous, I know. I then opened up the fridge to grab some milk and notice the light was out, and like a good math teachers' wife, put 2 and 2 together and realized that the circuit was out.  Ran outside to the box thingy and flipped the switch back to the "on" position. But by that time, the pancakes were already done on the stovetop. Told the boys to hurry and eat, that we had to leave. Put their shoes on while they're eating. Roll up a pancake and dip it in some syrup and take a bite....then I had to pause and have a moment. It was a really good pancake. I'm not a pancake type person, french toast is where it's at, but these pancakes were really good. After I had my moment with my food, I throw jackets on all of us and out the door we went at 8:22.

And per usual, whenever I'm in a hurry, every single grandma this side of the Mississippi decided to be driving in front of me. I then spend the entire car ride screaming in my head for them to drive faster or get out of my way, sprinkled with a few appropriate curse words. I've learned my lesson about vocalizing my occasional swear word in front of the kids. Parrots, they are.

We find a close parking spot, and into the gym we four went, just as the elementary kids were being herded in.

I'll turn around now so you all can pat me on my back.

It was a nice little assembly to be at and watch my two little elementary schoolers get their little awards.

{can you tell which one has taken sports pictures before?}

And to top off the day, I find out last night, that yesterday was National Pancake Day. Even when I'm not paying attention, I do awesome things.

Like my STAR Student kids, they were STAR pancakes. After we came home, an hour after mixing the batter together, I cooked up the rest of 'em. Still good. I can't give you my awesome kids, but I will give you the awesome recipe.

Featherlight Buttermilk Pancakes Source: Cooking.com
Active Time:  20 Minutes Total Time:  20 Minutes Makes about 18 pancakes
Cooking.com Tip: The secret to making these amazing pancakes is the lumpy batter. So whatever you do, do not overmix the batter! To cook the pancakes, use a heavy large griddle. A very low-sided griddle, makes sliding your spatula underneath the pancakes and turning them over easy. The griddle's large surface area allows you to cook a large batch of pancakes each time. INGREDIENTS 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 1/4 cup sugar 2 teaspoons baking powder 2 teaspoons baking soda 1 teaspoon salt 2 cups buttermilk 2 cups sour cream 2 large eggs 4 teaspoons vanilla extract 3 tablespoons unsalted butter Additional unsalted butter Pure maple syrup, warm
DIRECTIONS Whisk first 5 ingredients in large bowl. Whisk buttermilk, sour cream, eggs and vanilla in another large bowl. Add to dry ingredients. Stir until batter is just blended but still lumpy (do not overmix). Melt 1/2 tablespoon butter on griddle over medium heat. Pour batter by 1/3 cupfuls onto griddle, spacing 2 inches apart. Cook until bubbles break on surface, about 3 minutes. Turn pancakes over. Cook until bottoms are golden, 3 minutes. Transfer to plates. Repeat with remaining batter, adding butter to skillet as needed. Serve pancakes immediately with butter and warm maple syrup.