"What are we having for dinner?" *suspicion*

I just returned from our annual staff recognition luncheon, and I was set to receive a little award/gift since I recently got tenure. I have what I think is a great suggestion: instead of engraved items (which are inevitably paperweights) from Things Remembered, why not throw caution to the wind and just start giving everyone cash? I guarantee you, everyone loves cash. I don't care if it's $10. That's $10 I can put toward, oh I don't know. Yarn, for one thing. Books for my Kindle, another.

Oh well. They didn't ask my opinion, so I got a paperweight. But I will say, it's an adorable paperweight. It's shaped like a book, and it has my name on it. It's quite precious, actually.

But anyway, this post *does* have a point. I received some good suggestions on my last post regarding kids' eating habits, and I really want Henry to start toeing the line on this one. He had a swim lesson last night, which Mike took him to, so Anne and I made a quick trip to Target for a few needed items while they were gone. While there, I grabbed a box of Hamburger Helper and some ground beef for dinner. Nobody judge me, that's just the way it has to be sometimes on week nights. Plus, it's not like I can browse the aisles real well with Anne in tow. The instant the cart comes to a stop, she attempts to climb out. The little restraint? Useless. She somehow becomes a chipmunk with no bones and worms her way out of it. I can see her, struggling and working at it, while I try to shop. It's terrible. So I just grabbed the first thing I saw and headed for the checkout.

When we got home, I began browning the meat. As I was setting everything to simmer, Hank and Mike get home. Hank takes one look at the Hamburger Helper box and declares that he doesn't think he'll like this dinner, little button nose wrinkled up in disgust. I told him that this was what was for dinner, and he was going to have to try it. I put as positive a spin on it as possible:

"It's hamburger with cheesy noodles!"

He wasn't buying it.

However, he ended up loving the dinner. He even asked for seconds, which is pretty unprecedented for him. So, our first dinner success story. :) Anne will pretty much eat anything that I give her. She has a texture thing going on, so I can't cut up meat and put it on her tray. She touches it and looks repulsed. But as long as I feed her off of a fork, she eats everything. Fruit, vegetables, meat, pasta, you name it. She ate the Hamburger Helper and couldn't get enough. She'll eat crackers, cheese, and some fruit off her tray. But she definitely seems to have a meat texture issue if she actually has to TOUCH the meat.

I guess I can't blame her.