Taking the Scenic Route

Sunday Supper

Sunday night I made a roast with potatoes and carrots and invited my folks over for dinner.  Mom & Dad have had a rough couple of weeks and I knew they could really use a relaxed, home-cooked meal and some ‘Zane time’.  While we we set the table, we put mom to work making gravy because she makes the BEST gravy.   We bought the roast from Sams, and like everything from Sams, it was huge.  We ended up splitting it up into two pans so we could fit lots of carrots and potatoes into the pans.  It did make it obvious that cast iron cooks differently than stainless steel.  I LOVE my cast iron…the roast looked better, the potatoes and carrots had a beautiful roasted taste and look to them.  The other one was good, but the cast iron one was spectacular.  Wow!  I would have never believed there was such a difference.

  While waiting for us to put the final touches on supper,  Zane and Dad were playing with our coasters.  (it is a set we got from Zach’s dad’s family for our wedding…Mary Englebreit teapots…the set has two each of different teapots.)  Zane was lining them up, matching them Dad was teasing him by flipping the teapots upside down and such and Zane was enjoying the goofiness and then changing how he lined them up.  (Dad would flip one upside down or move it out of pattern, and Zane would make them match).

Zane is wearing Dad’s hat here.  The first two things he often does when he sees this grandpa is snag his hat and try to take the cell phone out of his pocket.  He has done that since he was a little tiny guy.

After dinner, Zane showed Grandma his computer.  Grandma spent an inordinate amount of time watching Zane press letters over and over and over again.  I glanced over there to see the entire screen filled with “W”s at one point.  One of those things that is only exciting when you really love the kid that is doing it.  Later on in the evening, he drug Grandma to the kitchen, opened the fridge, and she got the first hand view of the egg obsession.

Zane:  “eggies! eggies! eggies!”  (Quick note here:  Zach used to call them eggies when he was this age too.  He was so obsessed with eggs that he named his pet cat “Eggy”.)

Grandma:  (not wanting to cook, presenting alternatives to eggs) “Yogurt?”

Zane:  “nooooo”  (he lifts his voice as he says this, then tugs her hands toward the eggs)

Grandma: “grapes?”

Zane: “noooo.  eggies!”

Grandma:  “cheese?”

Zane, somewhat exasperated:  “no!  I want eggies!” while pulling her hand insistently towards the eggs, then an enthusiastic “eggies! eggies!  YES!”

Being too cute to resist, Zane got eggs.

He held the eggs and watched carefully as Grandma cracked the eggs into the bowl.

Watching the eggs cook.  mama note:  it is so nice to have a solid chair for him to stand on so I am not worried about the chair collapsing (folding chair) or trying to hold onto him.  It makes the whole process a lot safer and more enjoyable.

Zane insists on peppering his eggs.  (and then the grown-up helping has to scoop pepper off the eggs in the really thick parts.) 

After finishing the first two eggs, he insisted on more eggs.

Zane participates in the cracking more this time around.  There was one egg lost in the attempt because this time, instead of resisting the hand moving down to crack the egg, he enthusiastically participated and the combined force obliterated the egg.  I really wish I could have captured the look on his face when that happened.

Of course, it wouldn’t be eggs without hot sauce.

After dinner, he demonstrates his counting ability on the placemat.  Notice the egg leftovers…that is the remains of FIVE eggs.  Also notice that none of the left over peices have dots of hot sauce on them.

It was a fun night.  Life is really good right now.  Zach is doing well in school & got invited to collaborate on the study, finances are ok, everybody is healthy, and we got the table and chairs that will make our lives a lot nicer.  It is so much easier to enjoy the simple things in life when you aren’t stressed about the big things.