Two Recipes in One Long Day

I'm inspired by reading recipes on other friends' blogs. I baked today so I thought I would post the details.

Normally meat loaf takes me about 10-15 minutes to prepare because of chopping up onions. My eyes start watering the second I remove the peel and to be sure we can all digest the onion (Silas and Micah may take after me when it comes to eating onions) I have to really dice it finely. Chocolate chip cookies take me less than 5 minutes to whip up if I put the brown sugar in the same place in the pantry every time. Today it was, in fact, where it was supposed to be. But both recipes took nearly an hour to complete, and that wasn't including baking time.

9:45am- put Micah down for nap/start getting out ingredients for meatloaf
9:50- drain can of tomatoes/help Joel find Silas' shorts to go to the hardware store
9:55- start to peel onion/discuss why Silas is not going with Joel to the hardware store (he wouldn't put his shorts on)
9:56- answer Silas' question: "What are you making, mom?" with "I'm making meatloaf for lunch"
9:57- answer Silas' question: "What are you making, mom?" with "I'm making meatloaf for lunch"
9:58- answer Silas' question: "What are you making, mom?" with "I'm making meatloaf for lunch"
9:59- answer Silas' question: "What are you making, mom?" with "I'm making meatloaf for lunch. Please don't ask me anymore."
10:05- finish dicing onion/tell Silas not to throw onion peel on the floor
10:06- answer phone. It's Joel who can't find what he's looking for at the store
10:10-dump in raisins, spices, eggs, bread crumbs and onion
10:11- bring a crying Micah out of bed to play with Silas
10:13- hollar at Silas to stop pushing Micah
10:14- hollar at Micah to get off of the train tracks Silas is trying to play with
10:15-realize ground beef is still frozen and put in microwave to thaw
10:17- hollar at Silas to not touch/push/hit/hug/kiss/help MIcah anymore
10:18- pick up a crying Micah who has fallen off a step stool and hit the playroom wall
10:25- answer Silas' question: "What are you making, mom?" with "I'm making meatloaf for lunch, remember? You're not supposed to ask me anymore. And please don't hug Micah right now, either."
10:28- mix up meat with bread crumb/tomato/onion mixture
10:30- Joel comes home
10:35- meat loaf goes into the oven.

The chocolate chip cookie attempt was a little more simple. It went like this:
mixed up flour, baking soda, salt with creamed butter/sugar/brown sugar/vanilla/eggs.
Went to get Micah up from his afternoon nap.
Had to give Micah a bath/wash sheets/blankets/clothes because he pooped and then took his diaper off.
Strapped Micah into booster seat/gave both kids a snack so they wouldn't go anywhere.
Mixed in chocolate chips and proceeded to bake.
They were the best chocolate chip cookies I've had in a long time.


I'll start posting pictures again when mom's camera comes back from the shop.

I'll tell you why it's been over a month since I've posted: Micah. 

The child has no fear (except an initial fear of balloons. Even this seems to have passed) and as of yet, no limit to the motor skill development acrobatics he's willing to experiment with. His most common attempt is (I can only assume) to see how far he can lean over to get something off a table or desk while standing in a chair. I've seen him attempt to defy gravity over and over. I used to think that the effects of gravity would soon defeat his will to try things at greater heights than any 18 month old should. And I don't think it isn't that he doesn't understand. Micah just doesn't seem to care how many times he gets hurt. 

For the most part, all Micah's falling and crying has helped Silas to become a more caring and compassionate brother.  Other times it's difficult to determine if Micah got hurt on his own, was hurt by Silas, or if Micah cannot make a board book open to the page he wants. Tonight there was even a combination of two. Micah wanted to show Silas a page with bouncing balls. I know this because he had already shown it to me 90 times, saying "ball" 3 times per showing. When I came to the playroom to find out why there was so much screaming, I saw Micah waving the little book in the air. Silas, also very red-faced, complained "He keeps putting that book in my way." 

I'm not sure why the picture is sideways. I did everything that's worked in the past to rotate it but what you see is what you get tonight.