"Why Do You Even Try?"

What happened to this week? It has gone by way to fast! It was not our "spring break" as it was for most people. We had a break last week when Grandma and Grandpa were here. One of the many reasons I love homeschooling...we get to make our own schedule! Anyway, it was still a quick week. We did get a lot accomplished though, so that is a good thing. I am determined to get things situated so I can have a day to sew. I have tons of fabric ready to make "stuff" for Callie, but it's hard for me to stop and sew when there are so many other things on the to do list.

We had company last night. Our youth minister from church is a huge basketball fan so he and his wife came over to watch March Madness. His wife is going to school and cuts hair, so she cut the boys hair while she was here. Can't beat that! We had a good time. It was nice to enjoy the basement. Of course Todd won't let anyone eat down there so they watched the games on the tiny TV upstairs until they had finished eating.

I have learned not to try to go overboard when having company. It stresses me out, then we don't ever have company! So, we were just doing pizza and salad. Kellen wanted to make the dessert, some kind of gooey brownie you put with ice cream. That was fine, I helped him since it involved boiling water and we've had several burns recently:( So, we got it made, I went upstairs. After about twenty minutes, I thought I could smell something burning, of course the dessert had spilled over and was burning all over the place. This is why I don't bake. I really don't like to bake. I think I don't have the patience for it. Had I stayed around the kitchen, I would have known that it was burning sooner and wouldn't have a huge mess to clean up! But I had things to do! Luckily, Todd works for Sam's and I caught him before he left so he brought home some dessert. When he walked in, he looked around the kitchen, opened the oven and said "why do you even try?" (the title of this post:)) Now, this may sound like he's not being very nice, but I know it's true. And, he was laughing. It is a fact in our house, I always burn something. We have not had a holiday without the lingering smell of burned food. Once when we were moving and looking in the paper for houses, I mentioned there was a log cabin. Todd immediately said, "no way, you would have that burned down in a week!" I could do a whole blog on things I have burned, going way back! Luckily, Todd and Kellen like burned meat because there is usually some to be had. I don't think I am a bad cook, I just really am impatient. And, in my defense, just about the time I get an oven or stove figured out, we move. Anyone that has moved a lot knows that all ovens/stoves are different. It takes a lot of trial and error to figure them out. Our oven here is ancient, like everything else we haven't ripped out. No self-cleaning feature! We happened to go range shopping last weekend, so maybe there is hope in sight. No, I am not burning food to try to get a new range. Even Todd can realize this range is on it's last leg!

Anyway, our guests were very gracious, they said they thought our house smelled good. Please! They didn't seem to mind the frigid temps since we had all the windows open. What nice friends we have!

Callie's first spaghetti dinner. She started out with her "toddler" food but thought what we had looked better! She loved it!

Callie is my big helper in the kitchen. She is always wanting to help with something. Yesterday when I was washing the salad stuff for our company, she decided she wanted to help. She went into the dining room, got a chair, pushed it into the kitchen. There is a step from our dining room to our kitchen, she knows she can't step down without holding on. So, she pushed the chair off the step, then stepped down, then pushed the chair the rest of the way. It was so funny. Then she proceeded to get set up at the sink to help. She is so smart! I had to find something for her to do after all that work so I let her put the greens in a baggie. She was so proud of herself! I am probably using up all of her usefulness too soon, about the time she can really help she'll be tired of it! Then she just messed with the water and dishes and stuff. She was done when she started trying to suck the water out the dishrags! Yuk!