Barbell guy

Thought I should feature one of Joseph's school projects too. This is . . .

Barbell guy. Made with recycled materials. He loved doing this, and was quite proud.

Aerodynamics

This afternoon the boys played a football game with Claire, their babysitter. During halftime they went into the "locker room" and told her they were working on their strategy so she couldn't come in. Whereupon they cut off a bunch of their hair so they could run faster.

Past, Present, and Future

This is a project that Charlie brought home from school. There are three sections: Past, Present, and Future.

Past:
I am a baby.
I crawl.
I drink.
I cry.
I am a baby.


Present:
I am six.
I read
I play t-ball.
I walk.
I lern.
I am 6.


Future:
I am therty.
I play B-ball.
I drink bere.
I am a dad.
I am therty.

One less

We're finally one less tooth here in the Maddux family. It took awhile, but Joseph was the first to lose a tooth, at 6 years and (almost) 3 months. We knew it was loose, but didn't realize it was about to come out. Neither did he, apparently. I noticed something looked a little funny as I was talking to him this afternoon, and when I went over to investigate we were both surprised to find that the tooth was already gone! He didn't even know it had come out! Luckily, we were able to find the tooth and salvage a tooth fairy visit. Rumor is that she may even pay a premium for the first tooth.

Down. Set. Hut.

At the silent auction for the boys' school, we bought attendance at a flag football party. It was held this weekend. They played on a real football field at the high school, had real coaches, did football drills, and played an actual game. The boys were two of three kindergarteners in a group of older kids. They got right in there, and had a great time.

One of the hosts got the event on video, which can be seen here.

Salad boy

Charlie was in charge of making the salad for dinner the other day.

I think he ate half of it before we ever sat down at the table.

Is that normal for a 6-year-old boy?

Helen's first (and last?) dance recital

Excited to get started

Got my ballerina crown

Warming up

Wait, maybe this wasn't such a good idea

I think I'll just sit with Dad instead

Rainy Saturday Mornings

Are great for playing with train tracks.

Dinner - Safety First

Chef Joseph

Last month the boys' school held "Chef's Night" in conjunction with the monthly PTA meeting. Kids were supposed to cook a healthy food, which would then be "judged" by some local celebrity chefs, Lance Feagan of the Glass Wall, Monica Pope of T'Afia, and Annika Tycer of Kraftsman Bakery, Gravitas, Textile, etc. (I use the term "judged" loosely, as there were no awards or rankings.)

Joseph has always liked to help us cook. And he's pretty interested in the ingredients that go into food. I, however, really can't cook a lick. So the kid is at a bit of a disadvantage. But in conjunction with our occasional forays into the South Beach diet, I've found a recipe blog I like - Kalyn's Kitchen. The meals are healthy, low-carb, not too difficult, and usually turn out quite well.

I suggested that the boys bake a "breakfast casserole" for chef's night - an easy, healthy breakfast option. Charlie said great, but Joe insisted that he wanted to make something else: twice baked cauliflower, a recipe I had gotten from the aforementioned website. I wasn't planning on them making two different things. I didn't pick them up from school until 4:30 and they were supposed to have their dishes back at school at 5:45. But he really wanted to, so be it.

And . . . Joe's twice baked cauliflower was a HUGE hit. There was a certain buzz about the dish, and parents kept bringing friends over to try it and telling me how they couldn't believe their kids had just eaten cauliflower. Even more exciting, at the end of the night when the celebrity chefs talked about the various dishes, Monica Pope specifically mentioned Joe and said she loved it! She even signed his recipe, which he had written out by himself. The next day, she mentioned it as her Facebook status.

Then today, I hear from the chef's night organizer that Monica Pope was so enthralled with his recipe that she adapted it for a cooking class and featured it on her blog. Monica's entry is here. And the original recipe that Joe cooked can be found here. It really is delicious.

P.S. Charlie's breakfast casserole was also well received. It is a variation of those described here. We usually use chopped onions, chopped zucchini, Canadian bacon, and cheese for the kids. We often add spinach and mushrooms to half of it for us.