When your 8 year old asks

for sushi for dinner, you supply sushi for dinner.

For Hannah and I.  Riley also sampled two pieces of fish.  

This was for Riley and Joshua, though Hannah and I enjoyed some. 

We all had a little of this too.  

I am thrilled my kids are such adventurous eaters! 

This is the story

Of a mom who never cared about make-up and styling her own hair.  

Here are my girls, after getting their recital photo's.  

Yet somehow, here I am now, crafting my first ever bun in my daughters incredibly fine, and short, hair.  For her jazz pictures.  

Because life isn't crazy enough, I decided to make cookies, rather than just buy some pre made, for the Awana's awards that followed jazz pictures.  

By the way, these are vanilla butter hazelnut cookies.  And they are delicious.  Maybe the BEST cookie I've ever made.  Seriously.  

Oh yeah, and she had to wear make up.  

High school me would never believe it!

My love affair with pumpkin

The only difference in these two photo's is the pumpkin ravioli (which I forgot the in the first photo) and the pumpkin butter (which I forgot in the bottom picture).  So that's why there are two photo's that are almost identical.  

As I type this, I'm enjoying my pumpkin coffee with a splash of pumpkin pie syrup.  

Hannah and I have made exactly 3 batches of pumpkin muffins so far.  The pioneer woman has a great recipe!

Christmas Festivities

Note to readers: moving during the Christmas season is rough.  You have so much to accomplish from moving, and you have christmas visiting requirements, which make for a SUPER busy holiday season.  

Ours started with my Grandma Davis' house on the 23rd..  

The photo's are all a little blurry in spots but they're the only ones I have.

Cousins, aunts and uncles.   

My dad, helping Hannah.  

Riley, with my grandma and aunt, in her christmas best. 

Hannah, getting her nails done by my cousin.  

After we left my grandma's we went home and pulled in the driveway at the same time as David's dad.  David had to work on Christmas Eve; when he got home we piled in the car and went to my mom's for dinner and gifts.  Hannah, in more of her Christmas best.  This is actually an outfit my mom and Art got for Hannah last christmas.  

Me and momma

Dinner, yum. ; )  I took this picture to send it to my sister; ham, butter beans, corn casserole, tomato pie and mashed potatoes.  To make her jealous.  It worked.  And then I stuffed myself.  

Riley, being uncooperative.  

Ready to open gifts, especially Hannah.  

I don't even know......

Grandpa Bob being silly with Hannah's reindeer antlers.  

The Merida wig.  

Red looks good on Grandpa.  

The complete Merida outfit.  

My leftovers.  Another picture I took to send to my sister.  

Look what we found tonight

David grabbed Riley up after dinner so we could clean her up.  And noticed something unusual.  

Upon further inspection.....

we found chunks of Riley's dinner.  

That was fun to clean up.  

Hannah explores her tastes

Sunday, downtown Naperville had trick or treating for kids.  We had originally planned to go downtown with our Sunday School group but Riley's croup interrupted those plans.  So David and Hannah went while I stayed home and nursed Riley.  Before they left, David and Hannah were watching an episode of Dirty Jobs that talked about clams.  Midway through their trick or treating, Hannah looked up and David and said "I think we should get some clams daddy."  With David and I being the lover of such a wide range of food, David felt he should jump all over this.  

And he did.  

She loved the crawfish.  A little later the topic of snails came up.  

When Hannah found out you could eat snails, she looked at David and said "I think we should try snails daddy."  Of course, David and I know how hard snails can be to come by.  However, they happened to be right downtown where he knew of a restaurant that served escargot was.  

The verdict: she loved them.  And devoured them.

The restaurant also served frog legs, so David got an order for Hannah.  What do you know, she loved them too.  

So at the day's end, David has spent a ridiculous amount of money on food but made unforgettable memories with Hannah.  Hannah even caught the attention of employees at both restaurants.  One employee commented that little kids always want hot dogs and macaroni and cheese and it surprised them to see a little kid want such adventurous food.  I'd call that a pretty fantastic day.  

My understanding is that manager over at Hugo's Frog Bar will not soon forget Hannah.  He even gave her his business card, and told her that the next time she comes in, she should ask for him and remind him that she's the kid that ate all the frog legs and snails.  

The Standard American Diet (S.A.D.)

I recently read this article: http://www.thedailymeal.com/why-healthy-food-deemed-elitist, which talked about why eating properly has become synonymous with an elitist attitude.  The author opens the with a story about a friend rolling her eyes when the author pulled a kale smoothie out of her refrigerator.  I can completely relate to the things the author said in this article.  I have often said when did it become necessary for my to apologize for eating the way we should all be eating?
The author reminds readers that junk food isn't always cheaper.  And people who have access to good food that is reasonably priced will buy it.  However, marketing has turned eating well into the trendy thing to do.  I couldn't agree more.
Here's my deal: I started eating healthier when Hannah was a baby.  My tastes slowly began to change.  I began eating more and more healthy.  My tastes continue to change.

 And you know, I actually like, really like, eating the food I choose.  I like kale.

  I winter squash, it goes great with Quinoa. 

 I love soy nuts, they're good on salads. 

 I genuinely think that greek yogurt spread on a bagel is just as good as cream cheese.

  Keep in mind, however, that I eat greek yogurt 2 or 3 times a week.  I eat cream cheese 2 or 3 times a year.  My taste buds have changed.  Don't misunderstand me, I'll eat all the other stuff but when given a choice, I will choose "healthy food."  And I'll choose the "healthy" option not because it's trendy or not because I'm watching my waistline but because it is what my taste buds prefer.  Anyways, the article is a good read.  Check it out.  

Rib Night Cernock Style

Last night we had ribs.  As documented in the past, Hannah loves ribs.  

Which makes David proud.  Since Riley has been eating everything, I knew

I wanted to give her one.  

Hannah, with her ribs.

Just as I though, she loved it too.  I don't think she got

much meat off the two I gave her. 

But she certainly sucked them both clean!

I think she likes them too.