It's Bacon!

So, I had one of my less proud parenting moments today, but it was too hilarious not to chronicle for the purpose of looking back someday.  I doubt it will be nearly as comical to those reading who weren't present...but I hope you'll still enjoy reading it.

For lunch today, I put potatoes in the oven to bake while we were at church.  When we returned home, Jason and I started preparing the "fixings" to trim our potatoes...including Jason's personal favorite, a plate of super thick-sliced bacon (I didn't make that up, that's literally what it said on the package. And, in case you're wondering, it was purchased in response to a certain member of our household's previous complaints that he was dissatisfied with the "flimsy" bacon the fridge had been stocked with).

Half-way through lunch, we realized that Jason's precious bacon had never made it out of the microwave (it seems that thick-sliced bacon takes TRIPLE the time to cook, and after the third re-heat, we forgot all about it).  So, Jason retrieves the bacon and doles out a slice each to his two offspring (both of which have inherited their father's love for fatty, fried pork) who quickly consume their rations.  After a couple more moments, J returns from a second trip to the kitchen with a slice of his own.  Eli (who, you'll recall had already scarfed his bacon down) immediately zeroes in on the Daddy's bacon, and asks Jason for more.  To which Jason (jokingly) replies that he can't have any more, that all of the rest is for Daddy.

At this point, Eli (who took Jason's response quite literally) completely wigs out.  He starts whining in a high pitch voice and crying (real tears) that he "just wants s'more bacon".  If you know Eli, you know he is a happy-go-lucky, laid back kid, who seldom whines...so our response to this uncharacteristic behavior was more amusement (Did he really save up to have a tantrum over a bacon shortage?) than anger/frustration/disappointment.  Then, he abruptly stopped the waterworks, assumed a determined look in his eye,  climbed down from his chair, climbed up into the empty chair beside Jason, stood up, took the bacon out of Jason's hand, smiled a triumphant smile, looked Jason in the eye and literally giggled, "hee-hee", and went back to his chair to enjoy the spoils of his victory.

Like I said, you might have had to be there to fully appreciate it, but we were all in tears from the laughter.

My Daughter, the Flutist

 For dinner Wednesday night, I had planned to make one of the kids favorites (which is why it's a good go-to Wednesday night meal...no time wasted on fussy eaters when we have to rush to get ready for church), "Eggy Pie", aka quiche.

Norah asked if she could help cook, as usual.  But this time, she requested to flute the crust.  I thought to myself, "Sure, why not. It's just for us.  What does it matter if it looks a little funny?"

 Little did I know, my N has been watching very closely all these times we've made eggy pie together...I didn't even have to show her what to do...and she had perfect fluting technique!

 

Her crust edges looked better than mine usually do.  No wonder she was beaming with pride when she finished!  That'll teach me to doubt my four year-old's culinary skills!  Hmmm...I wonder if she would be interested in taking on the turkey this Thanksgiving...

From the Mouthes of Babes

After teaching the story of "Jacob and Esau" in Children's Bible Hour tonight, I decided to quiz Norah to see how well she was paying attention.

A: Norah, which of the twins was Rebekah's favorite?

N: Jacob.

A: Good.  And which one was Isaac's favorite?

N: Esau.

A: That's right.  And which one was red and hairy?

N: Esau.

A: Uh-huh.  And which one was a good cook?

N: Jacob. He made some stew and he made Esau give him his birthmark.

A: (laughs hysterically and debates over whether to correct this misunderstanding, or let it ride in hopes of equally amusing future Bible story teachers)

Recently overheard while eavesdropping in the car...

N: Mommy, when I grow up, I want to be a queen.

E: Mommy, when I grow up, I want to be LIGHTENING McQueen.

(Another day..it seems that Eli frequently dreams of what he'll be when he grows up while riding in the car)

E: When I grow up, I want to be a dinosaur.

N: Eli, you can't be a dinosaur when you grow up.  You have to stay a human.  You can't be an animal if you are a boy.

E: (with a little more edge to his voice) But I want to be a dinosaur when I grow up!

N: Eli, you can't be a dinosaur because dinosaurs are extinct.  So, if you are a dinosaur, you will ex-STINK!  Just pick something else.

Finally, this one made me choke up a little...it's not funny, but it's so sweet,  I definitely don't want to forget it.  Saturday was a really full day for me.  I had errands to run all over town (on a home game weekend, which meant they took far longer than if I would've gone any, other day), then came home to an empty house (my wonderful Mom R and Grandmother had N&E ALL day, God bless them!) and cleaned what looked like the wreckage of a natural disaster, in effect, restoring peace, calm, and cleanliness to our house, then finished up some overdue sewing projects.  By the time Jason got home with the kids, we were all worn out from a fun (and/or uber-productive) day.  We fed and bathed the kids, Jason was getting Eli ready for bed, and I was doing the same with Norah.  It was at this point that Eli came up to me, gave me a big, calf-high bear hug, and said the words that I know I will treasure for years to come,

E: "Thanks for all of the wonderful things you do for us, mom."  

I was completely floored.  Well, to be honest, I thought he had to have been delivering a message from Jason.  So, I asked Daddy if he had prompted the sweet boy, and he declined the opportunity to take credit, saying that he wasn't even sure what Eli had told me, but that whatever it was, was straight from Eli's own heart.  I stooped down and gave E another, big hug and told him thank you...he probably had no idea how much his simple statement meant to his haggard, old mother, but I can guarantee you I'll be holding onto it for a while!

The Big Reveal 2010

Step 1: Get a couple of cardboard boxes. Cut out some "windows" and glue on the "engine".

Step 2: cut out some "wheels" and give them a good painting.  Cut out and paint a "slow moving vehicle" sign while you're at it.

Step 3: Acquire some John Deere green paint.  Helpful hint: Lowe's can color-match your son's prized toy tractor.  (Don't disclose how ridiculously overpriced said paint was)

Step 4: Add a bright yellow pinstripe, a John Deere logo, set of straps, black-painted paper towel roll smoke stack, a couple of dollar store tap (head) lights.  Glue on the aforementioned wheels and slow-moving vehicle sign...

Step 5: Insert one very happy little boy, and you just might have the cutest little tractor driver in the state of Texas.

When Eli started (at random) telling people that he wanted to be a "tractor driver" for Halloween a couple months back, my wheels started spinning.  If you know me well, then you know I LOVE coming up with fun, creative costumes for my kids, so deep down, I'll admit, I was stoked at him for thinking outside of the box (little did he know the box would BE the costume)

Truth be told, the REAL step one of this operation was "Get husband on board with the idea".  Jason procured the boxes and did most of the work for Eli's costume.  He even cut a hole in the top of the engine, just under the smoke stack so that people could drop candy down it, and it would fill up the box below.  Eli LOVED showing that feature off at our church's Trunk or Treat! His cute smile and unique costume got him tractor loads of attention (and photo ops).

Norah, on the other hand, went with a more cliche costume request.  And, if I'm still being honest, I cringed when (after flip-flopping between a good 15 ideas) she finally landed on "Tinkerbell".  I decided if I didn't want her to get lost in the sea of other Tinkerbells out there, I'd just have to do my best to make her stand out :)

 I couldn't find any Tinkerbell patterns that I liked, so Gramps and I found a shirt pattern that fit her, and made the rest up as we went along.  (Although I will admit, I nearly pulled out my hair figuring out how to make her shoes!)

Still, I think it turned out pretty great, and Norah made a particularly pretty pixie.  And most importantly, she LOVES her costume.  She has worn it some nearly every day since I finished it a couple of weeks ago.  (I had to wash it TWICE before she even wore it to Trunk or Treat!)

Her favorite features were her shoes (whew!  It was worth it!) and her wings (which she LOVED pointing out to everyone, were painted with glitter glue, so they would sparkle)

Thanks to a donation of left-over fabric from a friend (who was Tinkerbell last year), her costume was almost completely free.  (Briarcrest Cleaners donated the hangers for her wings...I didn't have any wire ones on-hand) and I had to buy a pair of .50 knee-highs, also for the wings, so thankfully, that helped balance our Halloween budget after Eli's green paint almost broke the bank.

One other fun surprise for Norah, was when she reached Trunk or Treat, one of her favorite friends, "Mr. Foree" (our preacher) was dressed as Captain Hook. She was so proud to take her picture with him in their "coordinating costumes".  It was a fun year.  And, believe it or not, Norah has already decided what she AND Eli will be next year--and I LOVE her idea...and Eli even says he's gung-ho!  (I'm still trying to decide if I should go ahead and get started now while the fabric is all clearanced out, after Halloween, or if it's too much of a gamble to think that they'd not change their minds 20 times by this time next year!) Time will tell!