Bake Sale!

Happy Friday!!

I am a toddler teacher at a Montessori school here in Birmingham.  We operate on a school schedule which means it is SuMmEr!  We have summer camps throughout and this year I am actually working a lot with the camps.  For June there was an art camp for my toddlers!  We painted and painted and painted and painted!  If you have never had 11 two year olds for two weeks and painted everyday, I suggest you DO IT!  :-)  There is something amazing about watching a child experience painting with spaghetti noodles or spray painting a shirt they can actually wear home or making coasters for Mom and Dad.  Their little eyes light up the moment the color hits the canvas. 

This week I am working with some pretty exciting preschoolers in a camp called Healthy Habits.  What does that even look like for 3, 4, and 5 year olds???? For me it looks like cooking and talking about food.  Cooking?  With a 3 year old?  With real knives and hot convection ovens and real food?  YEP! That's right!  This week we have made yogurt parfaits, fresh guacamole, mini pizzas, juiced fruit to make popsicles, and roasted potatoes.  More is on tap for next week too.  My kids love it.  When asked to help me cook, they jump at the chance and almost race to see who can get in the chair next to me first --- after they wash their hands of course. 

Healthy habits all begin in the kitchen.  I love to cook, bake, and all things kitchen.  When WDD and I started dating and shortly thereafter got engaged, he learned exactly how much I loved the kitchen.  After work everyday I would head to his house and we would cook dinner together.  Once we were married, he was in for the shock of his life.  Pancakes for breakfast.  Homemade bread.  Sautéed vegetables.  The works. 

WDD's mom always has some sort of sweet goody baking and his dad makes it all from cheese cauliflower to pizza on the grill.  He, however, never really made a whole lot more than reservations. 

In the past two-ish years we have learned a lot about each other and our likes/dislikes in the food realm.  At first I sort of shunned WDD from the kitchen.  It was MY domain.  MY happy place.  As time wore on I learned how fun it is to share that with him.  To come together to make a delicious meal we will then eat together, how great is that?!  Pretty great, I tell ya. 

I yearn to pass along the joy of cooking to our future children.  I see flour all over the cabinets, eggs dropped and broken on the floor, butter in a heaping pile, and smiles, lots and lots of smiles. 

WDD and I are hosting a bake sale to help aid in getting that Baby Doop home.  We have been blessed beyond measure already by the outpouring of love and support, but this is a long and trying process that includes many many fundraisers and hard work.  Take a look!  Give us a shout! Eat some amazing food!