And The Mother of the Year Award Goes To...

So most of you know that I've been doing "pre-k" at home with Cade.  It has been going wonderfully.  We usually focus on letters and practicing writing them.  Cade has been learning so much and I've been so thrilled with his progress.  In fact, the other day we were practicing the letter "R" and he decided to write it on his own without tracing mine first.  He did it perfectly and then decided he wanted to write the word "STOP."  (He knows how to spell it because he likes to point out every single stop sign we come to and shout, "S-T-O-P!") He just sat there and wrote it.  We haven't practiced S or T or O or P.  He just did it.  I was shocked.  It was a day that I felt like I was doing a great job at this "teaching my children" stuff.

Like I said, most days we do letters.  Some days we do other things, like learning about plants.  Or like the other day when we learned about hot and cold and how that can affect water.  I thought a great lesson for that would be to make some Jell-o.  Ali was not tired at all, so I thought she could stay up a little longer before she went down for her nap and help us.  We started off by putting a bunch of ice cubes in a pot, then turning on the burner and watching the ice melt, then boil and turn to steam.  I don't know how many times I emphasized that the burner was HOT and to never, ever touch it.  So far, so good.  Both Cade and Ali stayed away from it.  I even showed them my nasty burn I just gave myself last week reaching in the oven.

We poured in the Jell-o mix and they took turns stirring.  As it was nearly dissolved, I took the last turn to make sure it was ready to pour in our pan.  As I did, Ali was convinced it was still her turn and, being the stubborn girl she is, reached out to hit something in her anger.  Of course, it had to be the scalding burner.  Thankfully, she only got two of her fingers.  I immediately ran her over and put her hand under cool, running water, then put the Jell-o in the fridge.

A few hours later she still sat with her hand in a cup of water, refusing to take it out.  I had planned on making some bread, so while the kids watched a movie (Cade was getting sick and spent the next day puking), I started the bread.  Soon it was time to make dinner and since the kids had had a rough day, I planned on putting them to bed early.  I got the bread dough in the pans and was on the last step of letting it rise.  We ate dinner, but Ali still refused to take her hand out of the water.  I knew she couldn't sleep like that, so we ran out to the store to get some burn soothing cream.

By the time we got back and I got the kids in bed, I realized I completely forgot about my bread.  It had risen an hour longer than it should have.  I went ahead and baked it, and it tastes fine.  Other than the fact it is about 2 inches tall.  The top was so enormous that the whole loaf just completely squashed.

So, to sum it up - Ali got an incredible lesson about hot and cold, my husband got flat bread to attempt making sandwiches with, and Cade spent the next day watching movies all day while vomiting.