Witch Hazel's Healthy Snacks

We were all sitting down to snacktime and having Nutella for the first time. Henry was a bit skeptical that Mama was encouraging him to dunk little crackers in chocolate for his "healthy" snack.

Henry: Mama, what IS this? Chocolate????
Mama: Nutella. It has hazelnuts in it too.
Henry: HAZEL? Like WITCH HAZEL?? Did she MAKE this???

(Great, now I'll NEVER get him to try this since he thinks it's a witch's brew).

Mama: No, it was made in Germany. People read about you in Germany on Mama's blog, Henry.
Henry: Oh, OK. (tries a TINY bite): This is GOOD!

He ends up LICKING the snack container clean.

Julia Child's chest

Henry has discovered "The French Chef" cooking show. He calls it "Bon Appetit."
We were watching the first episode (in black-and-white) where Julia Child makes French beef stew with red wine. He was intently watching the chopping and sautéing, taking it all in.

Henry: Mama, what are those? Olives?
Mama: No, those are onions.
(Abrupt subject change, or so I thought)
Henry: Mama, do girls have hair on their chests?
Mama: No.
Henry: Is Julia Child a girl?
Mama: Yes.
Henry: Well, if she eats those onions, she WILL get hair on her chest!

We will never know.

Attention-Seeking

Henry was eating breakfast while I was sitting on the living room floor as Kat happily meows and tangles a brush in my hair. No idea what game we're playing but she seems content. Henry, however, has noticed not all eyes are on him.

Henry: MAMA! How come you're in there wit' Kaffryn an' you're not giving me GOOD ATTENTION? Huh? Huh? Huh?

Mama: I'm RIGHT here, Henry! You have my attention too.

Henry: Yeah, but it's not A LOT!

A Whole Flock of Birds

Henry left for school trying to stuff a blue wooden block into his fleece pocket.

Henry: Help Mama! I have to take my Baby Bluebird with me an' he's too FAT to fit in my pocket! He has to stay with his MAMA!

Then on the way out the door, I heard him discussing Baby Bluebird's family in detail with Dada. Apparently he has a sister, Baby Redbird and there are 4 sisters, 5 brothers and 6 Mamas.
That's a lot of birds.

Henry's BORED stream of consciousness

Since the kiddies and I have been together a lot lately (I lost my job recently during a mass layoff), I've had lots more material to write about, but subsequently less time to actually write.
Henry just lost interest in his latest activity and charged over to me while I was posting. He's taken an interest in my blog since he's discovered it's largely dedicated to him and loves to hear the stories.
Reminds me a bit of Peter Pan listening to Wendy's stories.

Henry: Mama! Whatcha doing? Writing about me? I HATE posts-es. Let's play a fun game on the computer together! How about you get me a cold and yummy treat because I'm a FRIDGERATOR!

Well, duty calls.

Monsters under the Bed

Ever since Henry watched that episode of "Berenstain Bears" about jealousy and the Green-Eyed Monster, he's been TERRIFIED to go into another room by himself. Tonight was especially trying and I remembered some parenting tip about helping kids deal with irrational fears by handing them a baseball bat and telling them to aim for the family jewels.

I did not have a baseball bat but we do have a kid-sized rolling pin. Tucked Henry into bed tonight with the rolling pin and repeated the old "there's nothing to be afraid of" line and that he could sleep with this if it made him feel better. A few minutes later I heard "CRASH!" and ran into Henry's room to find him standing in his doorway, rolling pin in hand.

Henry: I heard something an' it scared me so I hit the floor wit' THIS!

Green-eyed monster beware

I'll Cry if I want to

We took the kids on a little adventure after church and we pushed it a bit with Kat's naptime.

 It was actually Henry that started the chaos on the way home when we turned instead of going up a hill, which was apparently where he wanted to go, regardless of the fact that it was NOT the way home.

Henry starts that dramatic tearless cry when Kathryn shows her support for Big Brother by joining in too.

Henry (crying abruptly stops): KAFFRYN! You're NOT sad! You want sad? I'll GIVE you sad!!