Mama Cooks

(Disclaimer - I disavow all knowledge of the home pictured below. My own domicile is calm, tidy, spotless and there are no bits or baubs strewn about. Thank you.)

So, I absolutely love reading thepioneerwoman.com. It's a blog, it's fantastic...and she has her own cooking blog now, too.


In the spirit of that, my father shot pictures of me on Wednesday night while I was finishing up his dinner. (Poor man - he's heading off on a cruise on the other side of the world for a few weeks...so, I invited him and Mom over to see their granddaughter one last time before they go. It's the least I could do!)
(Thanks, Rhodes, for these fantastic buns!)(I love cobbler! This one didn't turn out...REALLY a lot of juice. I took it all apart today and thickened everything up and baked it again. Delicious! Who says you don't get do-overs in the kitchen?)
(It was soup night.)
(This is the veg and bacon after cooking in chicken stock.)

(Then you grimace and get your milk open. Costco has new jugs here. I love them! They fit so much better in my fridge.)
(Add a bunch of milk to your soup. Yummy!)
Yeah, that disturbed me, too. I swear it's a never-been-used diaper. BBJ was unpacking my diaper bag for me.
You know how she likes to share!
After dinner, Grandpa taught BBJ how to push her little push-car around...and around and around and around.

(She has issues with corners...like a sheep. She can't back up.)

This was her second bout of round and round and round. The first bout was at least 20 minutes. She's getting a little tired!

(Yeah, we blame the "machine" when we get stuck in a corner. Don't you just love her gravelly, deep voice?)


And this is just because my little genius has figured out that, every once in a while, when she picks up a little black device and screams, "Da?!", Daddy will talk back from inside the little device. (Not to be confused with her bathtime tonight - she mastered hiding her toys under little bowls. She hid her duck. We said, "BBJ? Where's your duck?" She lifted up the bowl and screamed, "Duh!" I'm not kidding. My kid said "duck", right? You'll back me up?)

(Did you hear that note?)
Today we went to visit Grandma Mary, because, you see, today is Thursday and that's just how it is. BBJ was pretty good. She slept most of the way there. She slept most of the way back. She did, however, perfect her scream. Sitting on my poor grandmother's bedroom floor, BBJ decided to express her surprise. (Don't ask me what surprised her - she's 13 months old! Her own toes would surprise her if she noticed them.) My sweet little thirteen month old hunkered down, took a good deep breath, looked me in the eyes with big wide eyes and said, "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!" I'm not sure what the note was, but I'm pretty sure I haven't hit it in a few years! My poor sweet grandmother...oh dear. (See the above video for a sample of the sound...)

BBJ slept most of the way home...which meant she was in no mood for her nap this afternoon. Luckily, Daddy had a dentist appointment this afternoon and was able to get home just in time to wrangle BBJ while I taught piano lessons.
(He's indoctrinating her early. Go, Sharapova! This was the point where BBJ stood up on top of her push car and started screaming, cheering Sharapova on. Great...unless you're trying to teach a little girl how to play a new Christmas carol for her recital. Hmm...we've got to work on your timing, kid!)
(Daddy thought this pose was just too...ANTM to pass up!)
Oh, and Daddy just couldn't get any love tonight. He asked for a kiss. "No!" "Fine, then I'll kiss you!" He never even got close...she just kept giving him this look.

Good job, Daddy! You got one in there.