Day 681 - Now We're Cooking with Kiddos!

Life is interesting in how nothing ever truly remains the same. The status quo continues to change all of the time. New developments lead us to grow and change in ways we never thought possible. Old friends drift apart and new bonds are created. I could go on and on and it would probably border on becoming semi-poetic (as well as semi-depressing). Therefore, I'll shift focus a little bit and approach things from this point of view: Do you have any hobbies?

It's an interesting question if you think about it. Going back to my original thought, hobbies tend to change. Mine have for sure since I became a stay-at-home dad. I used to be more apt to embrace endless hours of video games and Netflix viewing. Now, I find myself with different hobbies like blogging or reading books more often. Oh, and there's one new one that has become commonplace: cooking. 

Cooking hasn't always been something I embraced. During my pre-married life, my idea of cooking was putting a frozen pizza in the oven or microwaving a TV dinner. If I was really ambitious, I might even scramble an egg. Now, there's rarely a day that goes by where I'm not cooking a meal. What's interesting though is how through the process of seeing me cook so often, Ellie has now decided that she wants cooking to be her hobby as well. Therefore, like any good parent, I strive to encourage that all in the hope that someday when she's a teenager, I'll never have to cook again. Muhaha.

Step 1 of my master plan commenced on Friday. The objective was simple enough. We were going to make muffins. Actually, the evil plan of making muffins with Ellie was brought about mostly by accident. The night before, Bethany had sent me to the store to grab some packages of muffin mix so that she could back muffins to take to work the next day. Unfortunately for her, I'm easily confused when it comes to the quantity of something that I should procure. Therefore, I returned home with a smile on my face and enough mix for 24 muffins. As she only needed 12, Bethany suggested I bake a batch with Ellie on Friday morning.

As soon as Ethan went down for his morning nap on Friday, Ellie and I made our way to the kitchen for Operation Muffin. She pulled a chair up to the counter and watched carefully as I opened the bag of muffin mix. I then handed the bag to her and watched her gleefully pour it into a waiting bowl. Next, I grabbed a gallon of milk from the refrigerator, carefully measured out the appropriate amount, and Ellie poured it into the bowl. Then, after mixing everything together quite well, I carefully measured out the appropriate amount of muffin batter for Ellie to pour into each tin. Before we knew it, our muffins were in the oven and baking to perfection. 

Look at that excited little girl!

Muffins aren't the only thing I'm capable of teaching Ellie to make though. Our next cooking lesson took place today as Ellie and I tackled Chicken Parmesan. This is actually a pretty common meal in our household. However, Ellie generally hasn't been allowed to help with the prep. That changed today. First, I cracked three eggs into a bowl and whisked them until smooth. Then, I measured out all of our dry ingredients and gave them to Ellie to pour into a different bowl and mix together. This is where things got a little messy.

I took a piece of chicken and dipped it into the egg, making sure to cover it on each side. Then, I moved the chicken to our bowl of dry ingredients, rolling it several times to make sure it was well-breaded. After that, I repeated both steps before placing the chicken on a cookie sheet. After a few more example pieces, it was time for Ellie to have a turn. As she placed her first piece of chicken in the egg mixture, I watched her face crinkle slightly at the feel of the egg on her fingers. It didn't faze her for long though as she then moved it right into the breading and repeated as necessary. By the time we were all said and done, Ellie had proudly breaded five or six pieces of chicken. What was even more impressive was that one couldn't even tell the difference between her chicken pieces and mine. Further proof that my master plan is coming along quite nicely.

MMM, chicken. And yes, Ellie is still in her pajamas. She really wanted a jammie day!

Wow, this was a really interesting blog. I started with this nice, sweet little paragraph about the changing nature of life and transitioned into an evil plan about training my daughter to do all of our cooking. I could probably rewrite that first paragraph to make everything more cohesive. However, I really don't want to and therefore, I'm not going to. Everyone's just going to have to be ok with that, ok? #DaddyWrite

Day 678 - Daddy's Weekend Off

It really doesn't matter what one's job is. A person needs a break every now and then.

For many, I'm sure that being a stay-at-home dad sounds like it would be somewhat of a dream. I know for a fact that there are many dads out there who would absolutely love to be with their kids day in and day out. For me though, it really is a job. While yes, I love Ellie and Ethan, it can be trying at times to be around them nonstop. I see them at their best and I definitely see them at their worst.

That's the very reason why this past weekend marked something I had been looking forward to for months and why it was such a welcome reprieve from the day-to-day grind.

For those of you that don't know, this past weekend marked a much anticipated bro-down with some college friends. Now, this wasn't any old bro-down. No, this bro-down found six of us crammed in a buddy's minivan, traversing across the state to picturesque St. Louis. 

While we all have remained close since college, there have definitely been times that we've gone months without communication. That's no longer the case through the magic of 'Marco Polo'. Since downloading it this summer, our group of seven has rarely gone a day without being in communication with one another. 

In fact, it was through 'Marco Polo' that the idea of a bro-down first came up. It started with the idea of us going to a Royals game. Then someone suggested doing a road trip to St. Louis to take in a Cardinals game. Finally it morphed into us getting an Air B&B and staying overnight so that we could spend the better part of two days hanging out, saying dumb things, and catching up.

I won't go into painstaking play-by-play detail but I'll hit the high points. The first stop once we all made it to St. Louis was our home away from home for the night: what seemed to be a former storefront converted into a small apartment. Yeah, it was tight but it was all the six of needed for the night. Following that, we headed to Schlafly Bottleworks for burgers. It was also home to one of the best sodas I've ever had in 'Ski'. If I had to describe it, I would call it a Mountain Dew with extra bite.

I could eat one right now...

After dinner, we headed to a grocery store to stock up on snacks before heading to the City Museum. If you're not in the know, the City Museum is less museum and more giant playground. After spending a couple of hours getting lost within the confines of the building all while crawling on our hands and knees, it was time to head back to our new home.

Once there, we settled in and made ourselves at home playing board games, eating ice cream and other junk food, and watching lots of college football. Once 1:00 am rolled around, we decided as a group that maybe it was time to get some shut eye. However, that common sense suggestion was quickly curtailed as we instead all laid in our respective beds telling crazy stories, reminiscing about old times, and laughing way too hard. I think I was one of the last ones to doze off around the 2:00 hour.

The unfortunate part of staying up too late like that is that morning comes way too quickly. As we all have kids, we all suffered from being accustomed to them waking us up early. By 7:00 am, we were all out of bed and enjoying a wonderful breakfast of omelets made in bacon grease. Wonderful tasting, not wonderful for us.

We had to be packed up and out of our Air B&B by 10:00 am. However, the Cardinals game didn't actually start until 1:15 pm. Therefore, that left us with some time to kill. Just as everyone knows, when six adult males have time to kill, there's no better alternative than going to the Saint Louis Zoo!

Once we arrived at the Zoo, we just kind of wandered aimlessly through the Butterfly pavilion and the African trail before it was time to head out. Like any good husband would, I took the opportunity to begin snapping pictures of various animals to send to Bethany. And like any good mother would, Bethany took the opportunity to show them to Ellie. And like any good daughter would, Ellie swiped Bethany's phone and asked Siri to call me without her mother's knowledge or permission. 

I took a picture with a bug quilt. Why? I have no idea.

So there I was, walking around the Zoo with my college bros, talking to my daughter on the phone while waiting to head to Busch Stadium. Actually, talking isn't really the right word here. Instead, Ellie was continually telling me how much she missed me and how badly she wanted me home right that second. In fact, Bethany was able to confirm exactly how much Ellie had missed me. Spoiler alert: it was so much that she cried about it!

Before I knew it, it was time to hang up as we were heading downtown to Baseball Village and Busch Stadium for the Cardinals game. We first grabbed some lunch at Baseball Village while enjoying a little trash talk about our fantasy football teams. Then, finally, the moment we had been waiting for had arrived. That's right, we received our free Cardinals winter hats as we entered Busch Stadium. Oh wait, no that wasn't it. No, we arrived at our seats and experienced a brand new stadium (for most of us).

FREE HAT!!!

Just as quickly as Ryan Braun hitting a grand slam in the top of the ninth leading my friend Brian to storm out in anger, our trip was over and it was time to head home. Don't worry though, it was such a huge success that we're already doing some preliminary plans for the sequel sometime next year.

I'm still partial to 'The K' but Busch Stadium is a beautiful place.

One great thing about getting away like that is that no matter how long or short the length of time, I'm still happy to get home and see the family again. What's super nice is that the next morning hug from Ellie confirmed she felt the exact same way. #DaddyWrite

The bro-down squad (clockwise from top left): Joey, Chris, Kevin, me, Nathan, and Brian (aka Teddy)

Day 673 - Time to Think

Anyone out there like disciplining their kids? I didn't think so. I could probably make an ill-suited Adrian Peterson with a switch comment here but I'm not going to do that.

I'm sorry for writing that last statement, Adrian. Don't hurt me.

Obviously, no one enjoys disciplining their kids but it does serve a purpose. I think it's something along the lines of helping our children to grow into healthy, well-adjusted adults who contribute to society in a positive manner. Either that or parents just want to keep themselves from going nuts when society devolves into something straight out of 'Lord of the Flies'. 

As a parent, you know you must be doing a good job when your children start punishing themselves for their actions. For the record, hopefully I'm not the only one who feels that way.

For this little story, allow me to flash back to yesterday morning. Ethan was in the midst of his customary morning nap and Ellie was happily playing in our family room. As for me, I was taking care of some much needed business. And yes, that is code for using the bathroom. 

Since Ethan had already been asleep for over an hour, I decided it might be smart to leave the door ajar. That way I could be absolutely certain that I would hear everything coming from his room across the hall. That turned out to be a very good idea as there I was, reading through all of the daily news, when I heard Ethan beginning to fuss. Since it was just that, fussing, me ceasing my personal business and running to his rescue was not an absolute priority. For Ethan's older sister though, that was not the case.

When Ellie heard the minor fuss that her brother was creating, she came bounding up the stairs and flew into the bathroom. She then looked at me with a very concerned look on her face before saying, "Ethan's awake. He's crying." My response? "Oh, honey. I want to see if he won't go back to sleep before getting him" which is code for I need to finish what I'm doing here. With that, Ellie backed out of the bathroom, announcing that she was closing the door while doing so. Despite my protests, Ellie still continued to do so.

Now, the next part of this is all speculation as I can't be entirely certain. Shortly after Ellie closed the bathroom door, I heard what I believe to be the unmistakable sound of a closed door opening. That sound was accompanied by an increase in the tempo and pitch of Ethan's volume. In other words, he started screaming. That sound was followed by what I imagine was the closing of a door.

The next thing I knew, Ellie had joined me back in the bathroom with a guilty look on her face. I looked at her and asked, "Honey, did you open Ethan's door?" Her response was "No, I didn't." To that, I responded, "Are you sure?". Ellie's reaction to that? "I'm going to go to my room and think about what I did." And with that, Ellie disappeared down the hall into her room, closing the door behind her. 

She finally reemerged about five minutes later to find Ethan and me in our living room. As she slowly made her way down the stairs, Ellie looked at me with a shy look on her face and said, "I've been in my room thinking about what I did." Try though I might, I couldn't get any more information out of her.

One thing is for sure. Bethany and I have reached that stage of parenting where Ellie is willing to punish herself for what she perceives to be her transgressions. It certainly makes our jobs easier and isn't that what parenting is all about? #DaddyWrite

I've got to have a cute baby picture, right?

Day 670 - "That's Unfortunate"

Over the past year or two, I've really gotten into 'Dude Perfect' on YouTube. It started simply enough with me searching for fidget spinner trick shots. Before long, I was going back and watching their entire catalog on YouTube. I still excitedly tune in every other Monday when they release a new video just to see what's in store. It also helps with being a fan to know that they are super strong followers of Christ and aren't afraid to share that part of their lives. 

As time has gone on, they've stepped away from trick shots somewhat and embraced a variety program format. Part of that variety program is a fake game show called "That's Unfortunate" where the loser suffers through weird punishments like flying to Wisconsin for literally no reason or waiting in line all day at an amusement park without riding anyrides. 

I would provide you with a link of the videos here but unfortunately they're all twenty minutes in length. Therefore, enjoy this gif of the dancing 'Dude Perfect' Panda.

This is all relevant because today I suffered through my very own version of "That's Unfortunate" and you can be quite certain that it was unfortunate.

I should begin by letting you know that the day didn't start off unfortunate. For one thing, I woke up knowing that I was going for a nice walk with the kids today. I even skipped the gym and everything as I knew I would get good and sweaty on a walk. Not long after Bethany left for work, I put Ethan down for his morning nap and Ellie and I took part in some extended craft time. We also got some reading/snuggling time on the couch which is always pretty great.

Once Ethan woke up from his nap around 9:00, it was time to get everyone dressed and loaded up for our little outing. Normally when we go on a stroller ride, it's based around making a trek to a local park. That was partially the goal for today. However, more importantly, we were heading to the Casey's down the street to put air in the stroller's tires. The spring and summer of shifting temperatures had taken their toll on our tires' air pressure so it was no shocker that they were a little flat.

Of course, no trip to Casey's would be complete without a quick stop to see the Humpty Dumpty statue perched on a fence near the gas station. If you care, on this occasion, Humpty was dressed as if he was ready for school. The ensemble was completed by the chalk board, crayons, and pencils adorning the wall beside him. After a quick visit, we headed across the street to Casey's.

When we got there, I wheeled the stroller up next to the air pump, informing Ellie that she was welcome to hop out and watch. All was going well until I took the valve cap off of the tire only to find that the valve stem had retreated inside the structure of the wheel and I was unable to pull it out on my own. With no alternative, I loaded Ellie up and we strolled next door to O'Reilly Auto Parts to borrow a set of needle-nosed pliers to aid me in our task.

Once back at Casey's, it took me no time at all to pull the valve stem to an acceptable height. I then turned on the air pump and placed the nozzle on my tire. Rather than hearing the soothing sound of air filling my tire, I instead heard the unmistakable sound of air leaving my tire. It just so happened that the nozzle on the air pump was broken. Instead of filling up my tire with air, all I did was release the last of what was left in it. Say it with me now; "THAT'S UNFORTUNATE!"

At this point, I knew I had an interesting little adventure ahead. Obviously with a completely flat tire on one side, there was no way Ellie could ride. Instead, she would have to walk over half a mile back to the house. Not only that, but I really didn't want to tear up the wheel and tire on our stroller by driving it with an epically flat tire. Therefore, I had to get creative. While lifting up on the handlebar with my right hand, I had to push down on the left side. Essentially, I was driving the stroller with it slanted at an angle up in the air.

I don't know if you've ever tried to push a three-wheeled stroller for a half mile with only two wheels touching the ground. I can attest that it is no easy feat. Couple that with the fact that Ellie was little to no help and you have the makings of quite a little adventure. Between her attempts to help push the stroller (but really just putting her weight on the handlebars making it harder to push) or her desire to walk in front of the stroller while traveling at an inconsistent pace, it was a pretty long trip home. When it was all said and done, the walk had taken twice the normal amount of time as a result of all of our little rest breaks.

For the record, the stroller's tire is still flat at this time. If I'm being honest, I'll probably forget it's flat until the time comes for us to go on another stroller ride. With the utmost certainly, I can definitely say "That's Unfortunate!" #DaddyWrite