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Bruiser Rapson

I made her pose like this. Yes, I am exploiting my child.

Tuesday as soon as Sophie walked in the door from school, she said, “Mom, um, something happened today. I accidentally punched Ellie (not her real name).”

Uhhh…accidentally? How does one accidentally punch someone?

Well. They don’t, turns out. After lots of coaxing, I got the whole story from Sophie. She and Ellie (Let me stop here and be frank. Ellie’s name has been changed to protect her because, quite simply, her parents did NOT follow the baby-naming guidelines set forth by Jenny’s Life Klass.) were fighting in Literacy Centers over a book. 

Hey, at least it wasn’t over a boy. Books are worth fighting for!

Ellie had the book and Sophie wanted it and Ellie got punched in the chin.

Sophie had to move her behavior clip down to yellow which is only like first-offense, so I guess she didn’t wallop her too badly.


At home, she had to write Ellie an apology note AND her punishment was no screen at all whatsoever for three days. No TV, LeapPad, iPad, computer, etc. Let me tell ya, that hit her where it hurts! But hitting another child is NOT ok. I was both shocked and horrified when I realized what Sophie had done. I know she must’ve been really frustrated, because I’ve honestly never seen her be mean to another child. I’ve seen her have a disagreement, but never be mean or violent.

So, anyway, the next day, the note was delivered, Ellie forgave her, and all was well. She even wrote Sophie a note back that said they could still be friends.

Let’s hope Sophie’s retired her golden gloves for good!

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What’s your go-to Thanksgiving recipe?

This year, in an unprecedented event, we’re having Thanksgiving at our house. (and also at my grandma’s, and also at my mother-in-law’s, but really, what’s a holiday without spending half the day in a car?) I’ve never prepared a big holiday meal like this, and I’m kind of nervous about it. I’m mostly nervous because I am envisioning it in my mind the way Thanksgiving looks on Pinterest, and it’s not going to live up to that. Obviously. I should REALLY keep in mind that the people I’m feeding have subsisted on take-out dinners from Bob Evans for each Thanksgiving in recent memory.

But still. I want to make it good.

I’ve been compiling a list of ideas on Pinterest, although now that I look at it, my Thanksgiving board contains exactly two recipes and a whole bunch of ideas for centerpieces. So it looks like we’ll be eating only creamed onions and low-calorie pumpkin pie, but at least the table will be pretty.

I’m planning to cook a turkey (which I’ve never done before so that should be interesting), of course (because the time I ordered ham from Bob Evans, Kate had a heart attack that we weren’t having turkey on Thanksgiving and the closest I could come at the time was buying cold cuts and sticking them in the microwave. She was not amused), and the amazing sweet potato dish from Pioneer Woman that I made last year, along with her mashed potatoes, but that’s as far as I’ve gotten.

So tell me, friends, what’s your favorite thing to cook (or eat) on Thanksgiving?

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Cooking with my #LittleChefs & a cook-along chat

Last week I told you a little about my work with Chef Boyardee on their Little Chefs eCookbook. This week my kiddos and I tried out a recipe together! We cooked a Chef Boyardee recipe using Beefaroni, called Cheeseburger-roni. We had a great time cooking together, and the recipe was fast and easy!

We cooked together in preparation for a fantastic event on theMotherhood.com tomorrow afternoon that I hope you’ll join me for! It’s a “Cook-Along” chat on the “Fun with Flavors” chapter that I contributed to in the Little Chefs eCookbook. It’s a 30-minute text chat and we’ll have lots of great flavorful ideas for you! Check out all the details below!

When: Thursday, November 8, at 2 p.m. ET.  It will last 30 minutes.

Where: The Motherhood – here is the link to the page where the class will be held: http://bit.ly/TcCMzR

About the class: Have picky eaters? Try creating a new, quick and easy recipe WITH them!  Introduce them to fun new flavors, like dips and spices, and encourage them to help you pick ingredients and create meals. Little Chefs are more likely to eat food they helped you cook! For more tips and tricks, join us in this fun and informative Cook-Along.

To participate, just click the link above, log into The Motherhood using your member ID (if you don’t have one, it’s easy and free to sign up), and chat away in the text-based comments. We’ll also have a video feed running during the half-hour Cook-Along, so you’re welcome to show up simply to watch if you’d like!

The Cook-Along is sponsored by Chef Boyardee, and it is hosted by The Motherhood.  You can visit Chef Boyardee online at http://www.chefboyardee.com/ or on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/chefboyardee.

I’ll be there with several other bloggers to co-host the class, and I hope you’ll join us!  The fabulous people who will be co-hosting with me are:

Jennifer, The Suburban Mom http://www.thesuburbanmom.com
Kerri, The Maven of Social Media http://themavenofsocialmedia.com
Sarah, In the Trenches of Mommyhood http://www.sarahviz.com
Shannon, The Mommy-Files http://www.themommy-files.com

I hope you’ll join us for this fun, creative 30-minute chat! We’ll give you some great ideas to get your picky eater into cooking and EATING the meals you make for your family!

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I am being compensated for my work on the Chef Boyardee Little Chefs project.

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