The weekend - sneeky mama and having fun

Well, first I'll start out with Sneeky Mama.

You know, with Kenzie, veggies were never an issue. She ate them. I remember when we first adopted her, I'd go to a McDonald's and order a salad, and she'd eat the salad I had bought. She loved veggies.

Not Jia. If it isn't starch or meat, she won't touch it hardly. We got her to eat steamed cauliflower once - she dipped it into spaghetti sauce. But that's been it.

So, I decided to get sneeky with veggies. I cooked a large carrot (chopped into very small squares) in water in a small pan until it was almost mush. Jia happens to love Cream of Chicken soup by Campbell's, so I made that as well. Once the carrots were soft enough, I took them out of the water that was left and mashed them up really well. I added the water to the soup can and added enough water to make the soup. Then once the soup was mixed so it wasn't lumpy, I added the carrots. Yes... the carrots were bright orange in the soup - but Jia didn't notice anything funny... thank goodness! I also added some baked chicken and some rice to her bowl of soup - and she gobbled up two bowls of it.

I did basically the same thing to spaghetti sauce she uses for spaghetti and her chicken. Next, I'll do mashed peas. When you got a kid that hates veggies - you gotta be a sneaky mama to get the good stuff down them.

Having fun? Well, January 1st, we always travel to a mall that we like and go shopping. Of all the years I didn't have any money - and the bargains were huge - I could kick myself. But we took the kids to a little play area they had for the little ones. LOL! Kenzie was sitting in a small space ship that barely held her - and Jia decided to get in beside her.... as you can see, Kenzie wasn't so happy about it. Jia was oblivious to it all... or maybe she thought it was funny that Jie-jie was whining about having no room to sit... No matter what, you can see Kenzie wasn't all that happy with the situation, as you can see...




Here's where some people might say we're bad parents... Roy and I laughed at these pics and the situation. Kenzie has been such a princess all her short little life, she can't imagine that the world doesn't revolve around her wishes and whims... Jia is a wake-up call, and Roy and I have both agreed that she is going to give Kenzie a perspective on life that she otherwise wouldn't have had if she had been an only child.

Yesterday, we went to an IU women's basketball game. I gotta say - the women play really well and are exceptionally entertaining. IU really should be proud of their women's team. The shame is that not very many people attend these games - and more people should. The women could use the support and they play their hearts out - they play to win. They have an exceptional coach, too. Yesterday they played Iowa, and beat them handily. I don't know if Iowa is a mediocre team or if IU is an exceptional one, but I dearly love the games and Kenzie does, too. Yesterday was Jia's first IU game, and she was getting into it. I wish I'd had video of her shaking her poms and cheering the team on! She mimicked everything I did, including holding her fist up in the air when they'd make a basket. She's mama's girl.