58 in January (An Otherwise Normal Day)

So, I have a bad habit. When I'm getting something out of the fridge that I know I'm going to put right back, I leave the fridge door halfway-open. And understandably, Madelyn has always tried to take advantage of the opportunity to grab whatever is stored in the fridge door. And she has always failed - until today. This morning, I grabbed the carton of milk out of the fridge and filled Madelyn's bottle, and in that time Madelyn managed to snatch a bag of pre-cut salad greens. And before I could take it out of her tiny hands, she turned the bag upside-down and toddled /squealed her way across the room, sprinking greens Hansel-and-Gretel-style all the way. So, I guess I should probably start closing the fridge door.

 [Madelyn and part of her morning mess - I think she 

was disappointed when she tasted a piece and realized that 

she'd snatched something that didn't really taste good on its own.]

Anyway, we had a great afternoon. Since it was a balmy 58 degrees outside, we spent some time in the backyard on the swingset. I know Taylor was especially glad that he didn't have to bundle up. (Madelyn didn't get off so easy - I put her in a jacket and a hat, just to be safe.)

Random thing I'm thankful for today: My children haven't totally inherited my pickiness. They tore into a bag of red seedless grapes this afternoon, and it made me happy. (I don't even like the smell of them!)

[Ew! The inside of it is green! Madelyn and Taylor are still big fans, though.]

[Madelyn: "Um, can we get the show on the road?]

[This is Madelyn's loving-this-grape face.]

Poor Taylor wasn't so thrilled when we came back inside - when we told him that he had to practice for his spelling test tomorrow. He worked at the kitchen table, with sporatic unnecessary-to-accomplish-the-task-at-hand chatter. As usual, though, everything he said was especially sweet. (He knows his Mama will never scold him for saying something sweet!) Case in point: "Mom, I miss you...you're so far away..." (Miraculously, this statement  spanned the vast distance between the kitchen table and the kitchen counter where I was working.)

He was happy to see that the ingredients for tonight's dinner included crescent rolls and cream cheese - relatively "safe" ingredients to a kid. Once he realized that it was a new recipe, though, he said, "Mmmm...now can you put upside-down pizza on top of that?" (Upside-down pizza is the only casserole-type dish that I make that he requests by name, and apparently he's convinced that any dish would taste better with upside-down pizza on top of it.)

Thankfully, in the end, dinner was a hit without making any changes to the dish. Definition of "hit" at our house: I already had all of the ingredients and didn't have to go to the grocery, Taylor had seconds, Madelyn squealed "more" in-between bites, and Richard complimented the dish. (Tonight, it was, "Wow, this is, like, flavor explosion!") So I'm definitely keeping this recipe. It took a little longer to prepare than my hungry family would have liked, but that was their only complaint. And if you're like my sister and think that main dishes without greens or strange vegetables in them are boring, you could always add some spinach or tomatoes - eek! - or something. (We settled for green beans on the side. Why taint a dish that is perfectly delicious on its own?) :-)