Home-schooling

Jack is crouched on the kitchen floor, alternately rocking a ladle and a measuring cup back and forth and dropping them both, and seeing how they move differently. He decided to do this while I was emptying the dishwasher. He is currently engrossed in the way the ladle rolls. Ta-daa! A physics/science/whatever lesson.

Har Har

"What heck the that is??" says Jack. Evidence that I don't cuss too badly around him! :)

New Shoes

Jack: Hey Mommy, these shoes are not good for me.
Me: Why not?
Jack: My-cause they are bad....
Me: Yes, but what's wrong with them? Do you have more words you could use?
Jack: Mommy, these shoes are not yummy.

Counting

"Mommy, I counting the flowers! Flower, flower, flower, flower...."

Corned Beef

This St. Patrick's Day, I used the America's Test Kitchen recipe to make corned beef at home. It essentially consists of rubbing a brisket with some herbs and spices, and a LOT of salt.

Seriously, I think it was a half-cup of salt alone....

Note my lovely assistant, and the monstrous pile of fat I had to trim from the backside of the brisket. The tricksy butcher hid it on the underside! Next time I know to ask him to trim the fat before packaging it up.

I bought this gorgeous piece of brisket and couldn't wait to try out the recipe. After five days of brining in the fridge, it was ready. I boiled it up with some cabbage and carrots. It smelled so good!

We dug in, and -- yuck! Too much salt. WAY too much salt. I had rinsed the meat thoroughly before adding it to the pot, but I guess that wasn't enough. Next time I think I'll cut it down by half, and maybe give the meat a preliminary boil, then swap the water out for fresh stuff before adding any veggies.

Conclusion: Better luck next year!

Going Out

Evie and I were recently invited to a ladies-only tea party for a friend's birthday. I decided to throw on a little makeup... and this was so different that Jack was fascinated.

Watching (and having his own makeup applied -- note the tiger face in the following pics!) was quickly not enough. He had to help! :)

Multitasking

Jack is picking his nose with one hand while biting the nails on his other. What talent! :D

Hungry, Hungry Preschooler

I recently found out that jack is no longer classed as a toddler. This makes plenty of sense when you think about it. He is running, jumping, climbing.... We even recently made a foray into animal walks! That's right, he can "bear walk".

This is what I get when I ask him to bear-walk for the camera. Cooperative little booger, huh?

With all this physical activity comes a heck of an appetite. But he doesn't necessarily tell me that he's hungry. So how is a mama to find out that instead of three chicken nuggets she should be preparing six, with a side of apple slices and cheese?

In a word: "ransacking"

I was just in the kitchen preparing the aforementioned chicken nuggets. In the 60 seconds it takes, Jack had opened the silverware drawer, demanded a straw, then a "white thingie," then his knife, before he settled on a spoon. And that was just his opening act!

He also managed to open the fridge twice, rummage through my gadget drawer, crash into me four times and almost brain himself on another cabinet door (yes, that he had opened himself and then forgotten about). When he's hungry he literally ricochets through the kitchen, grabbing anything he touches, until I manage to lure him out with a plate of food.

It's one of the few times when my "growing bigger" boy reveals that he is, in fact, still only 2 1/2 years old. There is something charming about a boy who completely loses composure in the anticipation of a good meal. :)