Big Girl

Maggie is almost 18 months and all she wants to be is 3 like her brother. She thinks she can do anything that he does and is now snubbing her nose at all "baby-ish" things. For example:

• she hates her high chair and wants to sit in a big chair


• she does not like things cut up for her to eat (but she is a choker so it must be done)


• she wants to use utensils when she eats

These are just dinner table examples. Today I asked her if she wanted to have some black beans for lunch (her fave). She said "YES!" and then took off for the big chair. So, I let her climb up and have her lunch there. She sat there for quite awhile eating, which was great!

Then she was proud of herself and decided to go back and forth between two chairs. Here's the video...

Memorial Day

Over Memorial Day, we surprised my dad for his 60th birthday (belated) by flying to them and spending the week. My brother and family are currently living with them so 10 people in the house was a fun and full week. SURPRISE! I told me dad, "the good news is we're here all week... bad news is... we're here all week!"

Zoe, 4, and Izy, 1, are my nieces and Gabe and Maggie had a blast with them.

One of the highlights was going to a Cardinals baseball game on Memorial Day with the family (except Mom who offered to stay home with the littles, which was so great)

on the way to the game

the whole gang: Dad, Gabe, Jason, Zoe (niece), Kristen (sister-in-law), Nancy (K's mom), Marty (K's dad), and Dustin (my brother)

G tried out Z's inline skates (Disney princess), but that didn't last too long...

Another fun thing we did was go to the Transportation Museum. I used to go there as a kid, but it had really expanded since then. G was all about those huge trains.

Had to take one of them next to the Monsanto chemical car - Dad worked there for 17+ years.

Darth Vader Chart

In an effort to motivate Gabe, who is 3 1/2, we tried something new. His recent obsession with Star Wars gave me idea. Per the chart above, if Gabe could choose not to argue and to clean up his room when asked (those two usually went hand-in-hand) for 5 days then he could get a Darth Vader action figure.

To my surprise, it worked! Every time I'd catch a whiff of arguing, I'd just say, "Hey... remember Darth Vader." He was snap to attention and zip his mouth immediately! It was fantastic! I'm not saying we'll continue programs like this on a steady basis, but there was great reward for him in working to earn it. He was even more proud of it and considered it a more valued item. Lots of good lessons.

Here he is finally getting it - so happy! But then asks for someone else... funny!

P.S. - the rest of the story is that this Darth Vader was some sort of collectors item and all of the pieces came apart - very realistic. His helment, head covering, cape, light saber... it all detached. This was my choking nightmare for Maggie, who puts EVERYTHING in her mouth. Always has. So, we returned it and ordered one on amazon.com that was age appropriate with no removable parts. =)

Elephant Garlic

A few weeks ago we had a friend coming for dinner. I was prepping for the meal and realized I was missing two items. I had been to the grocery that morning, but had forgotten them. I hate when I do that. Oh well... J was out and about so I called and asked if he could bring me the orzo pasta (for the Elegant Orzo Pasta recipe - kind of an important ingredient that I forgot to buy) and some garlic. Just a head of garlic. And that's it.

He ran by the store and picked up the items. He came home and handed me the bag in the kitchen. I started unpacking it and had a great surprise as I reached blindly into the bag. I think I even let out some sort of exclamation.

"Holy cow! That is the biggest head of garlic EVER!"

And then I laughed really hard for a minute.

And it had this identification tag on it: Elephant Garlic

As you can see from the photo - it's as big as a coffee mug. Who knew this sort of thing existed?!?! And I have had seasons of being a FoodNetwork junkie. J got it because he did the math and felt like it was a better deal - which I love. =)

I used a whole giant clove in the recipe, but you can because it's much more mild than regular garlic. So there you go - Elephant Garlic. A value play, and also a great conversation piece.