The toothless gourmet

Having a one-year-old who is still toothless, yet loves food, I have to be creative. Thank goodness for food processors. Last night Zoodle got to share our meal of potato, chili, cheese, and salad.

Depending on the combination of foods, Zoodle's pureed meals fall at different places on the looks-like-dog-food spectrum. Last night's was definitely one of the more appetizing-looking ones. (Really, it was.)

And does he like it? You be the judge.

At some point, though, that round little tummy gets full to the brim. Then Zoodle finds alternate uses for the food--tonight he ventured into the field of face painting.

When Zoodle finally has enough teeth to chew more foods, I'll enjoy not having to do so much food processing. But I sure will miss that gummy smile.

PotLUCK!

Tuesday night, my good friend L. had a potluck at her house for the church. And the potluck really lived up to its name.

Lucky me--I got mommy time! Zoodle was sick, which is not exactly lucky, but The (Wonderful, Kind, Awesome) Engineer stayed home with the kiddos, and my church potluck turned into an adult, social experience for me. When I heard crazy noise upstairs where the kids were playing, I didn't even care about the racket--I was just thrilled I didn't have to go up there to check it out! (Turns out they were playing "hail storm.") I talked to adults, stayed out way past the kids' bedtime, and didn't have to change one diaper or negotiate one toy-sharing incident. Heaven.

Lucky me--I partook in the potluck without contributing. I wasn't sure if I'd be going at all due to Zoodle's fever, so L. bought the sour cream that I'd volunteered to bring. When I was about to leave, I called her to find out what they still needed--and was told to just bring myself. I feasted on L.'s amazing chili, plus plenty of side dishes, homemade iced tea, coffee, and dessert. And I didn't even have to cook or shop.

Lucky me--I got to watch American Idol with other fans of the show. As we ate chili and chocolate chip cookies, we discussed Lil's song choices and Adam's leisure suit. Great times.

Of course, I brought my camera so that I could share my lucky night with bloggers. When I saw a kitchen full of food and smiling people, I hit the power button and was greeted with the message, "NO MEMORY CARD." Oh, well--my luck had to run out sometime.

April Fool's!

We kids had a blast growing up, finding ways to entertain ourselves using very little money and lots of creativity.  A lot of that was due to my older brother Sean's ideas.

One year Sean had the idea that we kids should take advantage of April Fool's Day to set up some surprises for our parents.  At some ridiculously early hour, we all three crept out of bed and very quietly got to work.

First we took rolls of toilet paper and very thoroughly TP'd the inside of our house.  From a wrought iron railing, to the ceiling fan, to the countertops, to the windows, to the furniture, and so on--there was toilet paper everywhere.

When my parents got up, they were greeted by the streams of tissue all over their living room.  They took it well and laughed at the sight.  (Why shouldn't they?  They knew it would be the kids doing the clean up!)

Then we revealed to them our second surprise.  We loved watching Let's Make a Deal on TV.  So, thanks to Sean's creativity, we created Let's Make a Meal.  We used boxes covered with paper and decorated with large numbers for curtains 1, 2, and 3.  I think we had baby food as prizes (due to the "Meal" theme), along with a new car!  The car, of course, was about two inches long and was made by Hot Wheels.  Sean was the host, and I'm guessing Becki and I played "models," presenting the prizes to my parents, the contestants.

That morning is one of the high points of my childhood memories.  From the covert preparations we made for days in advance, to the early morning set-up, to the delight of our parents, it was an exploration of childlike creativity on the silliest day of the year.

If you've ever had a particularly memorable April Fool's Day, I'd love to hear about it!