Dinner from Cook's Country #2 and Sammy the light maestro

First off I made a yummy dinner tonight courtesy of Cook's Country again. I made Spanish Chicken Cutlets with Yogurt Sauce.  The boys wrinkled their nose at it and managed to eat all the bites I requested (or else I bring out the can of dog food). Mike and I enjoyed it very much. The chicken was nice and tender - dredged in the yogurt sauce and then panko bread crumbs, and the yogurt sauce was tasty.  I used greek yogurt which is a little richer than the average plain yogurt. I tend to prefer the Greek yogurt. On the side I cooked some quinoa in chicken broth and after it was done I added about 1 1/2 tsp of lemon juice along with some sauteed zucchini, shallot, and orange pepper (sauteed in olive oil).  The quinoa was well liked by everyone.

Now on to Sammy

Going to church with a toddler is always an adventure - there is no such thing as a toddler that can sit still in his chair.  At least I have never encountered one. We tend to let Sammy wander a little bit. He usually makes his way back to us so we let him do a couple of rounds.  This is where Sammy is the politician - he likes to smile at people, inspect their items on the floor and make his farewell.  He never stays too long in one place, just enough to make the person he is visiting his friend. 

This Sunday we were a little late and ended up sitting in the back. Sam started going around the gym area (where we sitting) and we were watching him warily, ready to stand up at any moment.  Sam has recently discovered that there are some light switches that he can reach and that is a temptation too great to pass up. You can guess what happened. All of the sudden the lights were dimming. Sam had hit the light switch jackpot!  Lots of light switches in a row and he was hitting every one of them.  The speaker during church said over the microphone, "someone's little boy is playing with the light switches."  Yep, that was our little man. Mike dashed off to scoop up the little criminal (or politician - in some cases it could be interchangable).

The good thing is, that is not the most embarrasing thing that has happenend during church. Ben peeing all over the podium while giving a talk during primary was pretty good.  Or I think it was Gabe that asked loudly why his penis gets hard when he has to pee was pretty fun too.

I can't wait for whatever happens next.

I'll apologize ahead of time for what you will read next

I debated whether or not to write this next entry... it's funny and humiliating in that kind of way in that you will want to cover your mouth, gasp, and giggle a little.

Last Wednesday Gabe, Sam, and I went to the zoo with Blake and Marin (little Quentin came along too).  The weather was perfect so we couldn't resist spending the day outdoors.

While sitting down having lunch there was this nice man, an employee of the zoo, cleaning up the picnic area. The boys were playing with him and he was teasing them back. Marin and I chatted and ate our lunch not really noticing what the boys were doing. UNTIL I heard Gabe yelling, "MR. BROWNIE!!!  COME AND GET ME MR. BROWNIE!!"  My ears perked up when I heard that because it sounded awful strange. "Gabe come here... why are you calling him Mr. Brownie?"  Gabe's reply, "Because he has brown skin."

"No no no.  We don't call people by the color of their skin. Do we call Daddy Mr. Whitey?"

Gabe - "No."

Me - "Please don't call him that anymore."

Gabe continues to YELL "MR BROWNIE!"  The only way I could get him to stop was to yell back, "STOP GABE!!"

I was mortified to say the least. Yes, the man was brown as Gabe observed, but it is not like Gabe hasn't seen someone with brown skin before.

Then, to top that off about 3 minutes later Gabe says, "Mom I just saw a ninja!!"  Very loudly of course. He was referring to the woman wearing a burqa. It was a good day for explaining ethnic differences.

Aye, aye, aye. I don't think there is much more I can say about that!