Daddy Date Fail

This week was the monthly daddy-date week. When it was finally Ami's turn there was no question on what she had planned.

*Close Car Door*

"How are you Ami?"

"It is going to be a lot of fun to ride the elephants."

"Excuse me?"

"I would like to go to the zoo so we can ride the elephants. That is the most fun date ever."

"I don't think we get can do that at the zoo."

"Why not?"

"Let's do something else! How about looking at toys?"

"Dad, I think you should know I like elephants."

"And I like BMW 335s, but we don't always get what we want kiddo."

Look At The Moon!

Part of Maggie's current schooling has been learning the phases of the moon. In the evening before bed, she sometimes goes outside to check what phase the moon is at. Tonight she went outside and noticed it was snowing...

... five minutes later she and the other kids came in to report that they could not find the moon.

Probably should have checked for that...

So Susanna fell asleep sitting in her high chair at the dinner table.



While I finished up the dishes, she startled awake.

I smiled at her. Instead of her usual smile back, she started chewing. Then spit out the bit of pizza that had been marinating for the last 30 minutes, approved of the option, and sent it back down the hatch.

Probably should have checked for that.

Halloween Costumes

This year...


Maggie went as a cheer leader;


Tim rehashed the penguin outfit;


Ami planned on going as a "witch-a-bear";


But ended up as sleepytime bear, both in costume and real life;


and Susanna went as


A witch,


The Stay-Puff-Marshmallo-(wo)Man,


A cow,


A pumpkin,



A fish,


and a stripper in the night-light district...

A Matter of Taste

"AArrrggghhh! Ami, get up here now..."

"What Dad?"

"What is this?!?"

"A drawing I did for you." She said with her most sugar-sweet voice.

"This is not a drawing, it is vandalism! You tagged your bedroom door with a ballpoint pen." (It was actually pencil.)

"I know."

"That is not okay!"

"It is nice."

"It is - wait, what???"

"I like it."

"Ami, look at that door over there, see how nice it looks. How wonderful and clean it is. That is nice, this is not nice"

"This is prettier. My door looks good now. It is not boring like your door."

*flabbergasted silence* (David)
*Laundry sock stuck in mouth to prevent laughter* (Melissa)

"Isn't it beautiful?" Ami sang, "I'm a pret-ty pret-ty prin-CESS."

*David walking away in annoyance* "Melissa, please get Ami the magic eraser."

This Week's Family Home Evening: Validation

You'll need to turn off the music at the bottom. Great video and message.

Got parrot?

Yesterday Tim saw an individual with a prosthetic leg.

"What's that on his leg Dad?

"It is a substitute leg, because his real leg was injured."

"What happened to his leg Dad?"

"I think he lost it in a battle during a war."

"Oh...

... So - he's a pirate - right?"

"Nope, he's just a viking, he still needs a parrot and a ship."

"Oh."

Redemption!

For over eight years of marriage Melissa has endured various facial expressions, from puckers, to plugged noses, from eyes-shut-tight in horror to over-active gag reflexes, from subtle comments to not so subtle group-chucking-on-the-table at some of her experiments and efforts to follow recipes in the kitchen. (Those of you who have followed the blog know of the infamous comments “Wow, this tastes good! Dad, did you make it” and other similar slams about those rare exceptions.)

The scoffers can now eat their words!

On Friday, our neighborhood had a “Chili, Soup, and Bread Cook-off”. Melissa submitted a chili, a rye bread, and a soup.

We won’t mention that her chili took last place and the judges referred to it as “Gerber Chili” and “An atrocity at the table”...

Her bread would have been in the top two, but was disqualified from competition because David was one of the three bread judges.

And her soup...

looked like yellow-liquid poo. Only those forced to be judges tried it...

until it took first place in the soup competition.

Then it disappeared within two minutes.

This was the fourth attempt at making a sweet potato-type soup. When David saw that Melissa brought another attempt, he groaned and made some side comment about wasting perfectly good sweet potatoes.

He got to eat those words. Literally. One of the tasters referred to the soup saying, “It tastes like a sweet pumpkin pie right out of the oven, sitting by a warm fire between autumn and winter at home with no responsibilities or cares in the world.”

Necessity is the mother of invention, and the fact that a few ingredients were missing from the cupboards lent to the winning of the following recipe. Let’s see if you can guess what ingredients were replacements for what item. Feel free to put your guesses in the comments section. Enjoy!

2 Tbsp flour
2 Tbsp butter
1 1/2 Cups chicken broth
1 1/2 Cups water
1 Celestial Seasonings Gingerbread Herbal packet (steep in the 1 1/2 Cup water listed above for 5 minutes)
2 Tbsp brown sugar
3 Cups cooked sweet potatoes
1/2 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
2 Cup milk
salt to taste

Perhaps we should add "food coloring to disguise" next to "salt to taste".