Brace yourselves, ladies and gentlemen! We have officially entered the era of the HARD QUESTIONS brought to you exclusively by our 5-year old son BENJAMIN! YIKES!!
Poor Lamar had to field the first set of questions about where babies are kept in a mommy’s tummy when Ben caught him off guard a few days ago. Luckily for Lamar, Ben didn’t ask the follow-up question as to HOW it got there in the first place! Oh Lawd’ have mercy! I am NOT ready! (hahaha)
But I was not spared the barrage of questions as he immediately began with the 20 questions as soon as he got home from school today. For some reason, Ben is asking a whole lot of questions about DEATH lately. It probably started last month at Uncle Milton’s funeral when I explained to him that everybody has to die one day and I guess it has been on his mind ever since. It will probably continue full throttle on Saturday at Aunt Ann’s funeral too. But today, I got the honor of having to answer the following little gems:
What happens to astronauts when they go to outer space and die?
Do they have a house in space?
Where do they bury them in space?
Did I have an answer for him? You betcha’ I did! No problemmo! Mere child’s play for the kid! I had solid answers ready for him and didn’t even break a sweat! HA!
But I must have appeared a little cocky or something because Ben went away and came back a few hours later with some more doozies that (I must admit) made me scratch my head a little. Like I said, Ben has a little bit of a fascination about the topic of death. But guess who’s on his HIT LIST??? SANTA CLAUS!
The conversation went a little like this:
Ben: Mommy? Is Santa HUMAN?
Me: Umm…yes Ben. Santa is human.
Ben: So Santa will die one day?
Me: Yup.
Ben: Do they have ammabalances in the North Pole??
Me: No Ben. They don’t have AMBULANCES in the North Pole.
Ben: (with a worried look on his face) But how will the ammabalance rescue Santa? Do they know his address? How will they find his house?
Me: Don’t worry Ben! They don’t need AMBULANCES. The elves know C.P.R.!!
Ben: (looking relieved) Oh! Okay.
Ahh! Crisis averted! It’s just another day in Superhero MOMMY land!
Last week was the winter solstice which signals the beginning of winter. For me, we’ve been in winter mode ever since the beginning of the month when the temperature started dropping below 50 degrees. My children know me well. They know not to even THINK about asking mommy to go outside with them when it’s cold out! On Sunday, the thermometer registered 26 degrees and Gabby accidentally forgot who she was talking to when she asked me if I wanted to go outside and play. The look on my face must have said it all because she quickly said, “Oh that’s right. Mommy doesn’t do cold.” GOOD GIRL!
So being trapped in the house by the cold, what’s a girl to do? Answer?? BAKE!!
I’ve already baked 3 batches of Christmas cookies and a wide variety of casseroles and such. And have been officially declared by all three of my children as (to use Ben’s words) “the BEST COOKER”!
But today, I took my baking to a whole new level when I found a clone of the Cinnabon cinnamon buns that I love so much that you find at the mall or at the airport. I was a little skeptical at first because copycat recipes sometimes don’t really taste like the real thing. And just by looking at the recipe, this was going to be no small feat! This thing was going to take nearly all morning to make baking them from scratch and using yeast and bread flour.
But hey! I’ve got time on my hands. Why not give it the ole’ college try? I pulled out my rolling pin and my baking pans and got to work.
For the record, can I just state that the icing for the buns is SPOT-ON! It tastes EXACTLY like the Cinnabon icing! Heck! I’d eat the icing just by itself! It’s just that good! To make sure I didn’t waste any, I really slathered the icing on too! HA! And can I also go on record saying that you will certainly become a fattie trying to eat a whole one of these puppies! I was able to exercise great restraint and only eat HALF of one and that was a miracle considering how good those buns had the entire house smelling!! And even though this was my first attempt at doing cinnamon buns from scratch, I think they came out pretty good! What do you think?
Absolutely NOTHING GOOD can come of this. Stuck in the house in winter with some warm cinnamon buns and a glass of milk?? Nothing good can possibly come of this! And can I just state for the record, that when I die, I want one of these babies in my hand!!
Some may call it a blessing. Others may call it a curse that I’m home alone with 3 kids and a dog in the house all week for their Winter Break. School is closed for Vanessa and Ben and it didn’t make any sense to send Gabby to daycare with her siblings at home all day, so all three are here playing with their Christmas toys and eating me out of house and home. By week’s end, I’m sure they will be starting to get on each other’s nerves. Or has it already begun???
Check out this conversation I just overheard between Gabby and Ben.
Gabby: (sounding annoyed) BEN! You already played with that! It’s MY turn! Ben: No it’s not! You were playing with something else. I’m playing with it now. Go back over there! Gabby: Nah-uh! You had that truck and that car out already and I want to play with Elmo now! It’s MY turn! Ben: Nah-uh! Stop it Gabby! I’m playing with him. Gabby: (in a tattle-tell voice) I’m going to tell Mommy on you. You have too many toys out. Ben: (sounding defeated) Hmmph! You’re so BOSSY!
Last night, we met up with the Big Man at mall. It’s interesting that this is the FOURTH time we’ve had pictures taken with this gentleman and from the prices that he was charging to take pictures with him, being Santa Claus (or as they both used to say “Shanta Kwas”) is a nice little side hustle! Shoot! It made me want to put on a beard and a belly and muster up a little ho, ho, ho for some DOUGH!! (ahem…but I digress!)
Benjamin has been quite the little busy bear at school and at home lately with his little mischevious butt and as a result, he was a little nervous about sitting on Santa’s knee and having to answer the dreaded question: “Have YOU been a good boy this year???” **DEAD SILENCE**
Gabby, however, felt quite confident about her year and proceeded to rattle off her prepared laundry list of items that she wanted Santa to bring her. Ben obviously didn’t want to press his luck and kept his short and sweet. (Smart boy, HA!) Santa must have made a lasting impression with Ben because he ended by promising Santa that he would be a little better. (Hmmph! Just a LITTLE, Ben? A LITTLE??)
What a difference age makes. While other parents had to contend with screaming babies and leary children, we got our Christmas picture in one take! But Gabby and Ben have never met a camera they didn’t like! (smile) They’re growing up so fast, aren’t they?
There were a few things from Vanessa’s baby days that I have kept because they were so gosh darn cute. This little red dress coat is one of them. I remember the big cheesy grin Vanessa used to have when she put on her new dress coat for church. She looked so CUTE! And you know me! I couldn’t bear to part with it. So I’ve kept the coat all these years and found it in a box just the other day. And guess what! Guess who can fit it? There must be some magic in that coat because Gabby got the same little cheesy grin that Vanessa used to get when she put it on too! See for yourself!
This is the video tribute that I created for Vanessa’s 15th birthday. The song is a beautiful song by the talented artist India Arie called “Beautiful Flower”. (Thanks India!) When I first heard it, it reminded me of Vanessa and it says everything that I want my daughter to know. Enjoy! -ABM
It’s hard to believe that my baby boy is a KINDERGARTENER now! Can you believe it? Where is time flying to and why is it flying by so FAST? Before I know it, Ben will be ready for college (and he’s already smart enough too! HA!) He’s all excited about being a “big boy” and riding the school bus. I thought his face was going to stay plastered in a wide toothy grin forever! In Harford County, the first day of school for kindergarten was a kind of dry run. The kids only go for half a day and the parent has to stay the whole day with the child. So I went to school with Benjamin to help him get adjusted to his new routine and the next day, he was ready to ride the school bus with the BIG BOYS. He was so proud! And he did very good. Next year, Gabby will make her entrance on the kindergarten scene! (One down….One to go!)
The conversation went a little like this:
