I am asking people why they got married over at Work It! Mom. Care to chime in?
Comments Off When it first came out on video, Matthew and I rented Transformers. I am normally a fan of action films (Hello, Bourne Identity! (And Matt Damon))(Hello, S.W.A.T! (And Colin Farrell)), but Transformers ranked a little higher. The humor slayed me. Still does. So does Josh Duhamel.
Ahem.
This past spring, Transformers showed up on the movie channel included with our satellite subscription. My brother recorded it on the PVR for us. We then let the kids watch it.
There has been no. turning. back.
While driving anywhere, I hear the peanut gallery in the back when they see other vehicles.
There’s Optimus Prime! There’s Ratchet! There’s Bumblebee!
Transformers have taken over our life.
When I picked up a copy of the Sears Wish Book, Graham and Nathan zoned in on the Optimus Prime and Bumblebee costumes. They both had birthday money to burn, so I guaranteed them that they would get to have their costume of choice.
We managed to find an Optimus Prime costume at Target during our trip to the States. Bumblebee was elusive, however. Sears was sold out, Toys R’ Us was sold out…and, well, that’s about it for Canadian shopping.
Amazon.com had it, but did not ship to Canada. Kerrianne and Chris came to the rescue (Remember them?)
I shipped the Bumblebee costume to them and they sent it here. It arrived on Tuesday, and Nathan has thanked me approximately one hundred times EACH DAY.
Without further ado, I give you The Costumes.
I called that American Gothic, even though we are not American. Or Gothic.
Nathan made a pumpkin at school.
Is it me, or is it kind of sad?
Graham made a pumpkin too.
I am so loving the grill.
We (As in Honey. And also Uncle Lance) carved pumpkins. By “carving”, I mean “using a jigsaw”.
Lance carved the one on the right.
A few more of my munchkins for good measure.
Link to your little monkeys/monsters/whatchamacallits in the comments. Kids in costumes make my day.
Thanks to all of you for your amazing comments on my last post. They warmed this Momma’s heart. However. I am taking the advice of OMSH and Jessica and blowing that post to smithereens.
I do not want to leave anything on the Internet that might hurt my children.The cute photos are re-posted here for posterity.
Cute
Miss Emily
Hey!
Proud of her bad self
***
I (vaguely) remember the months before the birth of our first born child. We read books, we talked to people, WE HAD IT FIGURED OUT.
Then we gave birth to our son and started on the journey from baby-dom to toddler-hood.
Going in, we were convinced that our kids would be Good Eaters. The would eat what we ate, lick their plates clean, and bow in thanks to the hands that prepared their meals.
Reality is a bit of a skank, no?
For Graham (our first-born) was a great eater…until about the age of one. Then he spit out nearly anything and everything that we fed him.
Being the new and naive parent that I was, I would make a separate meal for him. I was so frightened that his little tummy would starve (Hello, we are not in Africa) that I would make a separate meal for him.
This trend continued after the arrival of Nathan. He was not just picky; he has a stellar gag reflex that kicks in at the most wonderful times.
Hi! Thanks for inviting us for dinner! Please excuse me while I wipe my son’s vomit off of your table and floor.
Sigh.
When we had Emily, we decided to make a change. One meal for the whole family. None of this “baby food” for the baby. She was in the second half of her first year. She could eat what we ate. As could the boys.
This is all great…in theory. But while Graham and Emily will eat fruit, meat and starches (potatoes, rice, bread), they eschew any and all vegetables. Nathan? He is a whole other level of food rejection. We are not sure how he manages to stay alive on what he eats. Seriously.
We have heard of people who serve their kids what they have for supper (as we do). If their meal is not eaten at dinner time, they serve it for breakfast. If it is not eaten for breakfast, they serve it for lunch.
Which is fine and good if that’s how you roll. Your house, your rules.
We, as a parenting couple, choose not to do the same. We feel that we spend the bulk of our day training our kids in the way they should go.
Clean up your toys. Say Sorry, Please, Thank you.
The dinner table is a place where we all come to eat together, to share our day. We do not want it to be yet another battleground.
In my desire to get my kids to have some vegetables in their system, I bought Deceptively Delicious (Don’t judge me). I don’t use many of the recipes, but I have managed to sneak some vegetable purees into dinners that I serve to my children.
(And also to my vegetable-avoiding nineteen-year-old brother. Shhhh.)
I put cauliflower in pancakes and bake zucchini and carrot muffins that go down the hatch without a problem. This is all great and fine for snacks, but we need meals. A large part of it is that the kids do not like the same flavours that I do. Our routine is that they have to take at least one bite of each item on their plate and then tell us if it is “Yummy or Yucky”. Sometimes they surprise us and say “Yummy”, but more often than not Graham will get an involuntary shiver and Nathan will spew forth what food he actually has eaten.
Barf. It’s what’s for dinner.
We give our kids vitamins to ensure they get the nutrients they need. However. I would like to cook balanced meals that the whole family can enjoy. We keep trying new recipes in the hopes that we can find a rotation that everyone enjoys. Or at least do not upchuck all over the dining room furniture.
Nathan’s gag reflex seems particularly active when meat is involved. I think he gets that from me; if my meat is in any way “off”, I will have nothing to do with it. Matthew is totally willing to eat vegetarian meals, but I don’t know where to start. Is there a good cookbook/Internet resources out there?
Do you have any kid (And adult!) friendly recipes that you can share?
I really do not want to resort to eating Kraft Dinner and grilled cheese every. single. night. for the sake of meal time harmony.
*If you know the song in this title you are as old (and dorky) as I am. My condolences.
Did you take your husband’s name? Would your husband take your last name?
Bethany is giving away trick-or-treat bags for free! Leave a comment for your chance to win.
