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A Good Idea Gone Bad…

Melissa Beene Ford/ Uncategorized

My kids love *NOTHING* more than to help me in the kitchen. So yesterday, while BF was out mowing the yard, we decided to surprise him with Pioneer Woman’s Chocolate Cake. Now, KB and I share some similar cooking habits. We like to use every dish in the kitchen, AND no baking project is complete without flour and batter coating every available surface.

Which is ok. Its all about the quality time, working together on a project, after all.
KB loves to work the mixer so I put her in charge of that while I measured out the ingredients.
She goes hog wild with that thing sometimes. But bless her heart, she tries SO hard and wants so badly to do a good job. She mixed her little heart out.
Poor little Baby A wanted to help SO bad, poor little baby sister who so often has to just sit back and watch big sister have all the fun. “I wanna make, momma! I wanna make, momma! I wanna make, momma!” So, what could I do but come up with a project for her to do.
I put her in charge of … ahem…’cooking’ the pinto beans.
(A little tip for those of you vying for my coveted Mom of the Year award: leave jumbo knives within reach of your two year old. Guaranteed to win you MOTY points).

I gave her two mixing bowls and a couple of measuring cups and spoons, and a pound of pinto beans, and she went to town, pouring the beans back and forth, scooping them out, spooning them back in. She had a ball! You can imagine the end result.
But I figured, even if we throw away a few pinto beans…small investment, right? And clearly less mess than if I had let her play in, say, a bag of white flour. I’m not crazy. Well, not completely.
That cake? It was pretty dang good. Particularly after I had done so well on my diet yesterday, eating two cups of broccoli for lunch and whatnot. So by the time that cake came out of the oven I was especially ravenous, which really makes chocolate cake taste SO much better.
And this morning, as I busy myself scrubbing cake batter out of my under-counter lights, and pick pinto beans out of every available crevice in my kitchen (she even ever-so-creatively filled my terra cotta fruit display with pinto beans, when I wasn’t looking), Baby A is chilling with her pretzels in front of the tv, watching Between the Lions on the DVR. In her beloved Bunny Slippers. Which you really can’t see in this picture because I really need a decent camera.
So was it worth it? Hmmm. At least I have chocolate cake to look forward to after I finish a half-day of cleaning my kitchen.

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Comments

  1. mgirl says

    September 9, 2008 at 5:04 pm

    Oh, the "messes" are SO worth the time you get with your blessings! Someday soon I hope to have the wonderful privilege of making and cleaning up LOTS of messes with my lovely blessings!

    Reply
  2. Whiterock says

    September 11, 2008 at 10:57 pm

    Oh my! You are SO BLESSED to have such sweet little helpers [and the patience to let them *help* you]! LOL! <BR/><BR/>WR

    Reply

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About Me


Hey there... I'm Melissa! Texas girl. Mom to three + one goldendoodle. Believer. Old house fanatic. Creating a happy + healthy home with purpose is my passion. I'm so glad you're here!

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I don’t know who’s big idea it was to strip 80 I don’t know who’s big idea it was to strip 80 years of paint off of this door down to the wood and start over… but that person has no business starting new projects. 😅 My neighbors must have thought this project would never end. *I* thought this project would never end. 😰 If you’re thinking of doing this yourself? Just don’t, ok? Throw the whole door away and buy a new one. 😂🤣 Just kidding.  Old house weirdos like me… we can’t just do things the easy way. Anyhoo… after some trial and error, @sherwinwilliams Celestial is what I landed on, and I have to say… I like it. Periwinkle-ish blue looks great with the yellow house and will look even better when the azaleas are in bloom. Was it all worth it? That’s not important right now. 🤭 Will I do this all again in two years? The magic eight ball says… without a doubt. 👏🏻 I’ve already picked the next color. #gluttonforpunishment #somefoolsneverlearn #oldhouselove #oldhomelove #makinghome #southernliving #gardenandgun #azaleadistrict #tylertx
Spring in the Azalea District makes the winters in Spring in the Azalea District makes the winters in an 80-year-old house completely worth it … what broken pipes, icy hardwood floors and drafty windows? 🤔 I forgot already. #comeonspring #azaleadistrict #tylertx
Happy Saturday ☀️ Happy Saturday ☀️
Salt Lake City is always magical ✨ Salt Lake City is always magical ✨
2022 had its highs and lows for sure, but scrollin 2022 had its highs and lows for sure, but scrolling through my pics from the last twelve months made me realize how blessed and content I am. Prosperity, love, and peace have been ours in abundance, in spite of the pain of losing my dad. The second picture is the last picture of him… the last time I saw him. 💔 But God has been good to my family this year and 2022 is ending far better than it began. 😄 #2022inreview #thanksforthememories
Who wants a Christmas tour of my home? 🙋🏼‍ Who wants a Christmas tour of my home? 🙋🏼‍♀️
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That’s it. That’s the tour. (Slide two). 
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It’s a new trend I’m starting: bare Christmas tree. Lowe’s tag still attached (so quirky and unexpected)! Christmas ornaments still in boxes. Coming soon to an Anthropologie window display near you. 
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Every year I think, “next year I’ll do better. Next year I’ll have it together.” And then, here we are on the SIXTH Christmas that we’ve been in this house, the sixth Christmas I’ve dragged our chaotic bunch of Christmas mess out of a chaotic garage I still haven’t unpacked from our move six years ago. 
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Maybe this year is the year I’ll organize it all and put it back neatly so that by Christmas number 7, it will be smooth sailing. People will flock to my social media to see how I’ve pulled everything off SO PERFECTLY. Next year will be my year. 
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Seems every year there’s less and less bandwidth for all these things. There’s more grief and stress, less money. More demands, less grace. 
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I put this sign on the wall in my office so I could keep it in front of my eyes: Love. Joy. Peace. And all that. I am SO unlike Jesus most days. So lacking in all of these character qualities. And that’s WITH waking up most mornings and spending my first 30 minutes with God Himself. 
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How lost would I be without that? Geez. I can’t fathom. I REQUIRE being transformed by renewing my mind every single morning, and even then, responding to people and life with love, joy, peace and patience doesn’t come naturally. 
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It’s the goal, though. 
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This weary world needs that from us Believers during this season, more than ever… even more than an Anthropologie-window-display worthy Christmas home tour. 
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I’m working on both.
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