One of my very first blog posts ever was on my children’s love of kidney beans.   It is now 3 years later and my girls have moved on to baked beans.  Seriously, the love my daughter has for baked beans can NOT be overstated. 

Last week I figured it was time to try the kidney beans out on number 4.  (let the playgroup  mocking begin).

What do you mean I shouldn’t eat too many at once? 

and the verdict is?

Looks like we have another bean lover here at the circus.  Though truth be told, I have YET to find a food this guy doesn’t like to eat.  He will gladly eat anything I put in front of him.

Look at those chubby hands stuffing his face

I seriously couldn’t stop clicking the camera

Oh, little man, you have captured your Momma’s heart

Some of you may remember my post last December (as in 2009) in which I shared one of Scott’s moments of sheer brilliance at the dinner table. 

Well, I feel the need to tell you that 13 months later and my kids are STILL eating their vegetables to spite their Daddy.  I am sure this says something of their character… for which we must spend some time rectifying, but meanwhile my mean spirited little children are eagerly gobbling up their vegetables. 

I had no idea it would last this long.  I thought for sure after a few weeks it would get old.    My son quickly caught on to the game, even quietly telling Daddy one day he knows it’s just a game he plays to get them to eat their vegetables… and still he’ll play along.  (much like Santa Claus)

The game is def best suited to my competitive second born.  I have seen her literally gagging as she tries to down her vegetables just so she can show daddy “ha, ha I cleaned my plate… your not going to eat my ears!”

There are some vegetables they prefer to others and I am not saying every day they eat their veggies without complaint.  But, over all this little game has been a huge hit at the circus.  My 3 year old will request veggies at lunch so we can e-mail Daddy and let him know we ruined our ears and when I made pizza last time, my 4 year old came in and asked “What vegetable we were having to go with it?”  

Sometimes it gets a bit old having the kids interrupting dinner multiple times to show Daddy their veggies in their mouths  and sometimes Daddy will forget and say, “Good job!” when they show him their cleaned plate… and the kids will laugh and say, “Dad, remember, your supposed to say bad job b/c you don’t want us to ruin our ears!”

  Just last night at dinner our friend said, “How long do you think this is going to last?”  I have no idea… but I do know that it worked… my 6 yr old now genuinely likes broccoli and they are all much more willing to try out new vegetables. 

It became quite clear to us that our little man was ready to try solid foods when he started opening his mouth like a baby bird anytime we were eating with him on our lap.  We couldn’t help but laugh when he started reaching out for Daddy’s fork, mouth wide open, just begging for a taste.

Here he is holding our Smores ingredients while on vacation… his poor pathetic face seems to be saying, “They aren’t even nice about it!”

Finally, this weekend we gave him his first taste of rice cereal. 

He kept reaching out to grab onto the spoon  and try and get more. 

I have to tell you that never, NEVER have I seen a baby so excited about solid food.  He literally waved his arms in the air and kicked his feet with glee.

I can honestly say that of all my babies, he truly enjoys food the most.  When I nurse him, he will actually pause and look up to flash me this big ol smile… it’s almost as if he is saying, “Thanks Mom!” 

And this was by far, the most receptive baby I have had when it came to feeding him “solids.”  In the past the first feeding has typically been more ceremonious, lets put the spoon up to your mouth, you can get a feel for the new texture, spit it back out and we’ll snap a hundred pictures or so of this great right of passage.

Not so with this one… true, he ended up wearing quite a bit of the rice cereal paper Mache, but part of that was honestly b/c he kept grabbing the spoon trying to shove more in.  He actually finished the entire bowl and by the end all 5 of us were smiling and laughing right along with him. 

It was a precious moment that I will cherish and a sweet reminder to take joy in each bite of life.

I know that many think Valentine’s day is just a day created by Hallmark.  Others think it’s a cheesy holiday for saps.   Say what you will, I’ll jump at a chance for a date night with my hubby.  And I don’t mind a sweet card and some cinnamon heart candy either.

But, after having kids, Scott and I found it rather difficult to go out for Valentine’s day.  Since we don’t hire babysitters, we typically rely on friends or grandparents for babysitting and you can’t ask another couple to babysit for you on Valentine’s Day.  So, for a few years we just did an in home date night after putting the little one (and then ones) to bed. 

But, then one year we got an idea that we both LOVED and a tradition was born. 

We decided to celebrate Valentine’s day on the 7th instead of the 14th.   This way, we weren’t asking anyone to skip out on their own Valentine’s plans.  And the best part is, it also frees us up to babysit for a friend so that they can go out on Valentine’s day.  We love it!

This year we babysat for our very dear friends.  Since we had 5 young ones at our house on Valentine’s night, we decided to throw them their own party.  We had heart shaped meatballs and spaghetti for dinner. 

Then we did a fun painting craft after dinner.  I asked the kids their favorite craft and they told me painting.  So, I found these wooden hearts at Michael’s for $1 each.  Throw in some acrylic paint and some old tee shirts and we were set for fun!

We topped the evening off with a heart shaped cake.  (check out the recipe here…it was so fun to make).  Mental note:  need 2 tubs of icing next time!

Unfortunately, we weren’t able to go out on the 7th due to one of our many snowstorms this month.  But, we do have plans to go out tonight and I am greatly looking forward to a nice evening out with my man!

Celebrating Valentine’s day, not on Valentine’s day so that we can babysit for our friends is a tradition that totally works for us.  Visit here or here for more fun picture posts!

We have had a wonderful couple of days here at the circus celebrating Jesus’ birthday.  We decided to spread the celebrating out over several days rather than cram it all into one day.  On Christmas Eve we went to the Children’s service at our church at 4:30.  Then we went to Boston Market for our now traditional Christmas Eve dinner before heading back to church for the candlelight service at 6:30.  We then went home to change into our Christmas pj’s, read Luke 2, put up our advent calendar piece, and leave cookies and milk for Santa.  Christmas morning we had both sets of grandparents here, Great Grandpa, Aunt Karen and baby Eli.  The kids were up a little after 7 and the revelry began shortly after.  We took our time opening presents and enjoying our time together.  We then had a pot luck brunch followed by more playtime.  On the 26th the gang all came back for a more formal Christmas dinner followed by birthday cake and ice cream for baby Jesus and some game playing with Aunt Karen’s Wii. I really appreciated getting to spread the celebration out over several days rather than try to rush it and cram it all in on one day.  I am also so thankful for our extended family.  It’s now Sunday night and I am looking forward to having Scott home for the entire week.  We hope to enjoy some great family time as well as tackle some projects around the house. 

Hope you all had a wonderful and merry Christmas!

My husband is a genius.

Pure genius, I tell you.

We were sitting around the table the other day at dinner.  Nothing out of the ordinary.  The kids were complaining about eating their green beans. Like I said, nothing unusual.

Then Scott asked my son, “Do you know why parents raise kids?”

“Because their fast.”

Pause…Confusion…

“No, not race, raise, as in, why do they have kids and help them grow up?”

(Ok, I have no idea where Scott is going with this and what it has to do with beans).

Then my son throws a zinger, to what Scott was posing as a facetious question.

“So they will bring glory to God.”

(OK seriously, what do you say to that?)

Pause…regroup…eat a few more bites of dinner…time for a different approach

(I still have no idea where Scott is going with this).

“You know something parents really love about kids?”

“What?”

“Their ears”

(What the heck Scott?)

“Parents love to eat their kids ears.”  Scott then pretends to reach over and take a bite of his ear.

My son giggles.

Scott goes on to say that ears are really best when kids reach about 8 or 9.  Those are the best ears.  It’ll only be a few years and his ears will be ready.  My son covers his ears and giggles. 

(I  have no idea where Scott is going with this).

Scott goes on to say that when kids eat their vegetables it makes them taste really bad.  Parents don’t like ears with vegetables in them. 

The kids each take a bite of their green beans.

(What a genius!)

Much giggles and veggie eating and pretending to chew ears ensues from here. 

I wonder if it will really last though.

2 days later I’m serving up some stir fry.  The kids see a bunch of veggies in the pan and start to complain.  I remind them that these will be perfect for keeping Daddy from eating their ears.  Seriously, their smiles are huge and they can’t wait to eat their veggies.

We sit down for dinner tonight and do you know what my kids eat first?

Their vegetables.

“Daddy, look, I just ate 3 peppers, bet you won’t like my ears now?”

Daddy pretends to be distraught over this, “Nooo, not veggies…. please no!”

The kids giggle and continue to devour their veggies.

At the end of dinner, Daddy says, “Mommy, please don’t make vegetables for dinner tomorrow.”

My son says, “Mom, can we have broccoli tomorrow?”  (My kids HATE broccoli).  I ask the kids if they really want broccoli.  My son gives an enthusiastic yes while my daughter says, “I really want green beans!” (their second least favorite veggie).

Didn’t I tell you he was smart?  He never ceases to amaze me.  I have no idea how long this will last, but I will gladly put up with the cannibal talk around the table as long as my kids willingly eat their veggies without complaint.

Dinner time….the family all gathered around the table, enjoying a delicious meal, talking about the day, laughing and enjoying one another…statistics say that families that consistently eat dinner together tend to raise healthier, more well behaved children, then families that don’t.   So, what are we doing wrong?

More often than not the Circus Family eats breakfast and dinner together as a family.   More often than not our dinner “hour” is more like a dinner hour and a half.  I wish I could say it as because of our scintillating conversations.  However, my kids are what I fear the slooooowest eaters on the eastern seaboard.  (unless it’s dessert or some other food they particularly enjoy).  But give them chicken and you can pretty much forget about doing anything other than getting ready for bed after dinner that night.

This causes great frustration to my husband and I.  The kids and I typically wait for Scott to get home so we can eat together.  This means we usually sit down around 6:00 for dinner.  If the kids stretch things out the average 1.5 hrs than we aren’t getting up till around 7:30.  Leaving us no time for that walk around the neighborhood, or trip to the park after dinner.  It’s usually just time for a little playing on the floor and then teeth brushing, fluoride, and bedtime stories.    Scott would love to have more time to spend playing with the kids rather than watching them stare at their plates. 

We have tried various tactics to shorten the time around the table.  They have worked to various degrees.  My question for you all, is “how long?”

How long does dinner typically take your family?  Am I alone on this or is it merely par for the course at this stage of our family life?