Kitchen Disaster

This morning Gus and I were making "Feel Better Cookies" for a fundraiser at Max's school. Everything was going well until we added the flour to the wet ingredients. I helped Gus pour the flour mixture in and then turned my back to do something else. Gus turned the mixer on, but he accidently put it on full blast and flour went everywhere. The kitchen and Gus were covered in white. At first Gus was really upset about it, so naturally I grabbed my camera and snapped photos. I know, I know...I'm a terrible mother...but seriously, it was so funny and I couldn't resist capturing the moment. I wanted him to see that it was okay to laugh about it and to show him that I wasn't mad. I think his first thoughts were that he was going to get hurt by the flying powder and/or he was going to be in trouble. Once he realized that neither of those things were going to happen, he was able to laugh along with me.

Here he is right after it happened. I think he's in shock!



Close-up of his floury face:

You can see the mess it made on the counter as well:

Now he's happy after a towel wipe and a little taste of the dough:

Just a small bit of the mess on the floor. I'm still trying to get it all up. There are little flour footprints all over the house!

This is the first real mishap Gus has had in the kitchen and I'm proud of him for getting through it with a good attitude. There will be many more, certainly, if his passion for cooking continues. I hope I can be an encouragement to him in these situations so that as he grows, he'll know it's okay to make mistakes and that he just needs to clean himself up, learn from his mistake and have a good laugh.

(Apparently laughing at our mistakes is the theme of the day. See post below)

Celebrating Dr. Seuss (with poor spelling)

Today is Dr. Seuss' 108th birthday. In honor of the beloved children's author, I sent Max to school in a Star-Bellied Sneetch shirt. For those unfamiliar with Star-Bellied Sneetches, they are characters in his book 'The Sneetches and Other Stories", a Kaetzel family favorite. On the front of the shirt I stenciled a big star:

On the back, I stenciled 'Sneech', yep...Sneech, without the 'T'. Nothing like sending your kid to school in a shirt with a spelling error that is meant to honor a writer. I realized the error before Max left for school, but I let him wear it anyway. Apparently I have no shame.

Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss! Thanks for reminding us that it's okay to laugh at our mistakes.

Baby Marin!

I've just returned home from a wonderful 5-day trip to Columbus, Ohio, to visit sweet baby Marin (and her parents too, of course) She is wonderful! So precious. Take a look below and prepare to fall in love!

Sleeping Beauty:

Proud Mama:

Look at those cheeks!!

Dad is in L-O-V-E!

She has the prettiest blue eyes that just sparkle like crazy:

The Marins!

Such a sweet, happy family:

And we can't forget Clementine and Lucy!

Auction Project

I once again volunteered to head up Max's classroom auction project. This year we did concentric circles based on the work of Wassily Kandinsky, the Russian abstract painter of the early 20th century. I am so proud of how well the kids did. They worked really hard on it. Each 4x4 square is a different child's work and they combined so beautifully! Lake City Framing graciously donated their professional framing services which makes the mural look incredible. This photo is pretty terrible, it's so much more vibrant in real life...but you get the idea.

Lego Pride

My parents gave Max this Lego Hogwarts set for Christmas. 1,290 pieces! During the snow days Max built and built and built, working so hard. He did it all himself, with very minimal help from Mark or I. He finished it this morning and is so proud and excited. It's amazing to watch Max change from one year to the next. Last year he couldn't snap two Legos together to save his life. This year he built a castle. Incredible.

Congratulations Max! You worked so hard and we are so proud of you!

Snow Day Fun

Snow Days!

We have been having a blast these last few snowy days and I finally got my camera out to shoot a few pictures. Today we spent the day with the Murfin-Paz and Bellabiod families. We had so much fun sledding down the hill right by our house.

Gus and Max are ready to head down the hill:



Down they go!

And back up they go:

Jack-Jack wasn't interested in the sledding, but he still had fun:

Can you see the sledders at the top of the hill?

Here they come:

Oops! Daddy & Max are heading for the ditch!

Nothing like cookies and hot chocolate after a cold day of snow play:

Here's Jack after everyone left:

Cozy and warm on his brother's lap:

There's no better place to be.