Little Chefs

My husband left me for a week of warm weather and gambling.  Or, wait, scratch the gambling, just warm weather!  He went to Las Vegas for work.  I always wondered why there are so many trainings, seminars and the sort in Las Vegas.  It seems like any sort of Tribal (Native American) training going on, Las Vegas is seven out of ten dates to choose from.

I've been to Las Vegas several times for my job, but this is his first time going for work.  We decided that even though it's for a week, the hotel is paid for by the company and basically I need some Vitamin D, that I'd just stay home with the kids and dogs, so we weren't stressing about how cold it is, running out of fuel, water freezing, etc. 

 (a couple of these photos are from Instagram.  Check out my other ones!  Finnskimo)

The weather in Las Vegas is supposed to be 60-70 all week.  I just heard the weather forecast for Kotzebue and we have a "wind chill warning" which happens when the wind chill is FIFTY below zero or more.  Lucky me.

Anyway, yesterday my youngest came back from her Spring Break trip in Anchorage on "the morning flight" which meant that on Sunday morning, I had to get up at 7:00 am to pick her up.  I was excited about going right back to sleep.  She was excited not to. 

So, I asked her if she wanted to make some Blueberry Swirl Coffee Cake by herself.  And of course, she said yes. 

After about an HOUR of waiting for her to measure things, and double check her recipe, I was getting annoyed.  I mean, really annoyed.  "Do you HAVE to check again, you don't remember it says TWO TEASPOONS OF VANILLA??!"  I was even standing above her and saying, "Seriously, girl... hurry up..."  Then I took a break to read Facebook, cause I was annoyed with how long it was taking just to mix the ingredients.  The FIRST status on my newsfeed said this:

"When do you learn best? When the person teaching you is relaxed and smiling or stressed and scowling?"

I almost cried.   

So I went over to her, apologized for being annoyed and told her that I was proud that she was making a Coffee Cake all by herself.  She said to me, "Oh that's OK mom!  But can you help me pour the milk cause it's new and I don't want to spill it..."  

I am constantly need reminders in life.  And I'm always amazed that they come at the exact right time I need them.  

I tried all day to remember just that simple statement.  It's hard sometimes to be a parent.  I'm always making mistakes and learning new things, and I do try to be a good mom, good wife, good sister, etc.  Sometimes I just want to curl up into a ball because I think I'm not doing good.  Then my kids fight over who's going to sleep in my bed because Dean's gone, and I know they still love me!  

We took the Coffee Cake out of the oven and it looked, smelled and tasted better than mine, so I know I must be doing something right.

P.S.  Dean and I are working on a cookbook that, I swear, we've been working on for years.  It's a compilation of my grandma's recipes, my mom's, my aana's and our own.  It's gonna take forever, but until then, I probably won't share as many recipes, just cause I need to save some for the book! haha.