Move Over Gorden Ramsey

I've said it many a time.... "Let 'em help, hose 'em off later!" At our house there isn't much "helping" involved. Adam wants to "make" and he wants to "make" all by his very self as he likes to say. So the only thing I do is measure everything out for him, plug the mixer in and let him go. He even cracks his own eggs. Now after a minute or two of mixing I take over to get it mixed and then he takes back over for the next 15 minutes. We like to get things good and mixed. We made fall cookies a couple of weeks ago. We pulled out Grandma Linda's cookie cutters, played with them (all 150) for an hour or so, and finally agreed on 6 good ones. Since Daddy-O is a scrooge until after Thanksgiving, I had to promise the moon and stars that we would be using the Christmas cutters very soon. Adam wanted to use them NOW. Jace played Hell's Kitchen nicely by himself on the floor while Mama and Big Brother got quite messy.

Yes, that is Woody's head on the body of a snake. You see Woody needed a body after his head fell off after being glued 3 times. The snake needed a head after being bitten off by Big Baby. We are all about recycling over here!

Been counting my blessings this season as I tend to do towards the end of the year. Don't get me wrong, I am thankful all year round, but something hits me come November. I'm a huge lover of tradition. I love the feeling of the familiar. So in these early years of the boys' lives I decided that I would instill that into them. Not sure how I am doing as Adam is a whopping 3 and his brother barely out of the womb, but I am determined. I am determined for them to feel the way I do when I am in the kitchen watching my Mom, sitting on the floor of my sister's living room talking, walking into the church that I grew up in and everything is the same. I want them to be excited for the Sunday donut run with Dad, baking holiday cookies with Mom, going to visit family and having those favorite toys that you only get to play with at their house. When Adam was cutting cookies this time he looked at me and smiled, just smiled. I like to think that he is remembering these times I let him "make" all by his very self, that he is storing these memories to share with his kids someday. I can only hope...

Jacer Brody was so ready for cookies. He was entranced by the oven light, which we turn on every time we make. So I am hoping that he too is starting to store some of this away.

Some cookies got the royal treatment when it came to sprinkles. Adam enjoys the whole process but this sprinkles have to be his favorite. You know that he doesn't ever actually eat what he makes. Never has. He will sample, but a bite is all we can get out of him.

So! Onto the title of this post. Many of you may remember when Adam was around Jace's age he took a great interest in the goings-on in the kitchen. We called this exploration of the tools of the trade Hell's Kitchen. The reason for naming it this was that there was A LOT of banging and screaming and sometimes even crying. This has stuck over the past 2 years and now JB is obsessed with Hell's Kitchen. My kitchen is almost always in disarray and we have to not only wash things after we use them, we have to wash them BEFORE we use them as well. I started leaving a few things of the greatest interest to them out; a couple of big bowls, couple of small pots, and a variety of spoons, spatulas, and even the mixer. This however did not work as Jace liked to pull everything out of the cabinets.

It is quite cute to hear Adam ask, "Mom, can we play Hell's Kitchen?" It pulls at my heart strings in a way and I to relent. See, this old house doesn't have a dishwasher! GASP! Yes, there are still homes in the US of A that do not! And we have thrown the idea around but aren't sure how long we will be here so, I suck it up, roll up my sleeves, and don the prettiest pair of rubber gloves you have ever seen! Because of this no dishwasher situation we are in we went against my motto of "let 'em play" and put locks on the cabinets. No, not just the one with the chemicals in it. All of them.

Nothing is safe anymore. And JB has figured out that there is no lock on the drawer under the stove. So while I am not washing every single cooking utensil we have, I am still doing some extra. They both seem to gravitate to whatever room I am in, so I am glad that they find the kitchen so fun. Often times Adam will bring a pile of toys and play at the kitchen table. He did this mostly because Jacer couldn't mess them up. That has now changed as you can see. JB can reach the table.

So, move over Gorden Ramsey as I just may have the next Masterchef under my roof. One day these boys will do great things. I am not quite sure as to what those things will be, but I really don't care.