Dinner - Round 3

Saturday night was Madison's turn for the meal. It also happened to be Valentine's Day and she wanted to come up with something special for that day.

So, she brainstormed on the "red" idea. Spaghetti was her choice. With it she wanted bread. Originally we were going to try cutting the french bread into heart shaped pieces, but that proved difficult. In the end she opted to "tie-dye" the butter (as she put it) and turned it pink for the bread.

She cooked most of the meal herself. The hardest part, I think, was trying to help her hold the wooden spoon the right way and show her how to cut with a knife in the most efficient and safest manner for her. She's left handed and I'm right handed. There was a lot of trial and error on both our parts, but I think we are figuring things out for her. We definitely have a "right-handed" kitchen though!

We tried to tell her a "watched pot never boils..."

Checking for "al dente"


For dessert we picked names from a jar and had to make a sundae for that person.

Maddie has been BEGGING to get whipped cream. She said her goal was to be able to hold it up to her mouth and spray it in. She even suggested it as a birthday gift to her so that she could do that.
Grandma made that wish come true...

Of course - if one kid has to do it, the other must follow suit...

Three for three delicious meals so far. No pressure for Mike, huh?

Wrestlemania '09

A few nights ago our evening started by watching Jake to see his latest flexibility tricks...

Then Jake and Mike got around to a little father/son bonding.
Not to be outdone, Maddie joined in on the mass chaos.

I sat on the side and waited to take people to the ER. Luckily that didn't happen.

I'm not sure who won in the end.

Not to leave her out...

If you've been seeing all the recent posts regarding Jake lately and wondering why Maddie hasn't been in the mix, it isn't from lack of trying.

I think we're starting to reach an age where she avoids anything potentially embarrassing. That, and she's realized her mom may be slightly on the weird side by always having a camera available.

Case in point - last week Maddie had to have a couple teeth pulled at the dentist. As we were driving there she said, "You aren't going to take any pictures, are you?"

Nice Hair

Jake loves to style his hair in a mohawk after his shower. He just thinks they are so funny and lately he's wanted to grow his hair longer to part to the side so it has made mohawks easier to style. Tuesday without even knowing, he accomplished his mohawk mission.

He came home from school, took off his hat and we found this:

Actually, now that I look at it, he looks more like the Road Runner. I guess he'll have to keep working at it.

Hat's Off

I finished Jake's second hat. This was the original hat he requested, but I didn't think it would fit him.

I was right...

Mike asked what I was going to do now. I said I was thinking of giving up the whole hat idea. He disagreed and said:

"I think you should make hats for kids in the hospital. You can advertise that you can make any size....just not the size they request."

100th Day

Yesterday was the 100th day of school. Jake was poking through the refrigerator, telling me all about it and a couple special things and projects they did for the day. During all this I was going through his school things and listening, but not looking at him.

Then I turned around....

Jake's Turn

So, last Saturday was Jake's turn to cook us dinner. First I asked what he was serving - he informed us it would be a surprise. I informed him I had to go grocery shopping so I needed to be "in the know".

He said he wanted Hot dogs...and bacon. I actually entertained the thought of a recipe I have that twists croissants and bacon around a hot dog, but we nixed it. Then he said he really wanted to make hamburgers on the grill. I said that sounded like a good idea and to butter dad up to help him. Then Jake added, "great! And we'll have sausage too!" Mike didn't want to turn on the grill yet so that was vetoed. We went back to his original idea of scrambled eggs, sausage and buttered toast. For dessert we were going to have Dairy Queen sundaes because they were cheap.

The mad scientist steps up to his laboratory....

Jake was VERY excited to crack the eggs. He did a good job too - everything stayed in the bowl.

Mike and I helped him keep everything on time. This may not have been the safest way to be working around the stove:

Jake getting to take over the range on his own...

And his final creation set out for everyone to enjoy.

It was a delicious meal. I don't really care for scrambled eggs too much so this may have been Jake's revenge for all the veggies I force feed on him. But, Jake and I loaded them with ketchup, Maddie and Mike loaded theirs with syrup. My mom silently ate hers au natural and hoped to keep it all down after watching us create these concoctions.