I rinsed the beans

Dear Family,

We're having 13 Bean Soup with turkey tonight.  I slow cooked the 13 "beans" in a liquid that included over a quart of the juices from the turkey bones that simmered overnight.   It's going to taste so good!

As you know, beans have a magical power that is collected in the water as they cook.  For the most part, this magic is considered black magic and in consideration for you, I took extra effort to drain and rinse the very heavy and hot pot of beans over the kitchen sink. 

I know how much you will appreciate this act of love because you have expressed many times your distaste for extra work (or any work) and undoubtedly know the sweat and tears I could have shed over the task.  But don't worry.  Other than temporarily  loosing vision through my fogged up glasses, it was no trouble at all!  

Thankfully, I did not shed the tears and exert the energy to avoid the extra time, because it would have made me more tired than just draining and rinsing the beans actually did!

So what all of this means is that you will have a nice dinner and your tummies will be full without as many severely unpleasant and embarrassing intestinal reactions.  All because I love you!

Or...it's a purely selfish move based on too much exposure to your delicate systems.

Either way, bon appetit!

Love, Mother

What's for dinner?

Joseph just asked, "What are we having for dinner?"

To which I responded, "Soup."

"Is that like pancakes?"

"SOUP."

"What is soup?"

"You'll find out."

Really? Have I failed the child so badly that he doesn't know what soup is? Yet another reason I won't be receiving any coveted parenting awards.

Oh my gosh! Squash!

That was Rebekah's remark as I walked out of the food storage room with a spaghetti squash in my hand.

I'm not anticipating a postive response to tonight's menu.

Lefty

I asked Daniel if he wanted to open the cans as I made dinner tonight. He was quite excited to do it. I handed him the can opener and left the room for a bit. When I came back, I noticed that he had taken the entire tops off three cans with the can opener! I asked him to show me how he'd done it.

This is when he picked up the can open in his left hand and placed it OVER the lip of the can, instead of to the SIDE. It never even occurred to me that the appliance would work that way.

Do they even make left-handed can openers?



The can looses a lot of its strength when the entire rim is removed...it squeezes very easily. I'm sure there is a great physics lesson in there.

I didn't realize that my oldest son didn't know how to use a can opener. I wonder what else he needs to learn?

Rebekah and Joseph had to help stir the dinner. Awesome teamwork!

April Fools!

We started off the day with yellow milk. It looked a lot like egg nog. I didn't have any though, so I don't know if my eyes would have tricked my tongue on that one. Chad said the kids stared at it for a bit.

Daniel wore his shirt backwards to school, but then I found out later that he turned it back around once he got there. I guess the pressure was too much for him. He's like his mom in that he loves to be the center of attention, but only intentionally. I think he was afraid of being laughed AT.

Chad took the girls to work with him yesterday morning so I could go shopping with just Joseph . I think he played an April Fool's joke on himself and the receptionist with that move. However, I was grateful for his sacrifice. It really did give me a wonderful break. Thank you, Chad!

I was shopping specifically for milk, TaxCut, and ingredients for my April Fool's Day dinner. I spent over $215. Obviously, I didn't shop strictly from my list!!

I went to FamilyFun.com because I remembered they had some good recipes for April Fool's Day a year or so ago. All my recipes for dinner came from their site. I only wish I was so creative!

For dinner, we had green beans, meatloaf, french fries w/ketchup, mini corn dogs and purple milk. The mini corn dogs were not tampered with and were added to the meal to have something somewhat healthy. That tells you a little something of the dinner!














Green Beans












Softened Jolly Rancher Chews expertly shaped into a bean resemblance. I'm sure Chad knew something was up with those right away since I detest green beans and never buy them.

Meatloaf













Essentially, it's chocolate rice crispy treats with bits of dried pineapple and red and green fruit roll ups. By the time I got a chance to put it out, it had cooled considerably and was extremely difficult to slice.

French Fries with ketchup













These are bread sticks cut into 1/4" strips and rolled in sugar before baking. The ketchup is seedless strawberry jam stirred until smooth. I could have used less sugar on these. Daniel decided he preferred real fries to these sugary ones and didn't finish his. I should always expect surprises.

The purple milk was just tainted with food coloring. I have to say, it plays quite a trick on your mind to drink colored milk. I kept expecting to taste a "mixed berry" flavor and Chad even thinks he did! We are weak-minded people! I'm glad cows just make white milk.

Here are some pictures of Rebekah eating the fake food and Leah was showing off her corn dog...another food that should be put into the Fake category.









Here's Joseph thinking he's been pranked, too because everyone else is at least tasting something and all he gets is a germy pacifier!

Have I been Punked?

Last night was my single parent night. Chad was in Las Vegas. I made an easy dinner of tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches. Before we even had prayer, Nathan had bumped his bowl twice, spilling soup each time. Leah and Daniel were determined to act out a Punch and Judy the entire dinner, and we'll not even mention how much Rebekah was enjoying her food!

When Leah went to the sink to put her bowl in after dinner, she missed. It took me a while to get there, but when I did I found a nice pile of dishes, soup and soggy saltine crackers. About the time I'm wiping up soup and cleaning the floor, I'm thinking, "Have I been Punked?" I replied to myself, "No, you just have 4 kids!" Maybe that's equivalent. I think it's the best prank I've ever pulled on myself!

So much for an easy dinner!