life is like a pudding cup {brussel sprouts recipe}

 

{b/c the crunch is almost more important than the whipping cream. thank you holly!}

.....

this morning i cut everyone's hair and made pudding cups.

2pm church means we have LOTS of time for extra stuff.

like haircuts and pudding cups.

so all day brennan kept opening the fridge and staring at the pudding cups.

it was so cute.

he kept telling me how his favorite part of this entire day was pudding cups,

and how he just couldn't wait to eat his pudding cup after dinner.

so he ate all of his brussel sprouts and lasagna, 

and could hardly contain himself while i swirled his whipped cream and chopped nuts for his pudding cup.

for the next five minutes it was absolute silence.

THEN...

the following occured:

1. brennan drops chocolate pudding spoon onto the CARPET under kitchen table.

{DANG CARPET under my kitchen table. it was bound to happen.}

2. get hot rag to clean pudding off of carpet.

3. while cleaning up spoonful of pudding, 

brennan drops his ENTIRE chocolate filled pudding cup 

onto the CARPET under my kitchen table.

{DANG CARPET under my kitchen table.}

4. i declare i'm calling jaren tomorrow to have the hardwood installed.

{we are laughing, and then telling brennan to be serious now, give him serious eyes look.}

5. get the oxi clean spray in the laundry room and scrub out half of the chocolate pudding,

leave half of pudding stain soaking in oxy clean.

6. brennan finishes his pudding cup, i go rinse out rag.

7. go back to cleaning up pudding, see some pudding blobs,

decide to eat pudding blobs

{don't want to rub it in deeper, and why waste good pudding?}.

8. and then all of a sudden i'm tasting oxy clean.

b/c i forgot i had already sprayed them with oxy clean two minutes before.

and that's when it hit me.

things can always be worse.

and then you go back and think hey, that first worse wasn't bad at all compared to this worse now.

when the spoon fell we were so bugged about having to clean up a spoonful of pudding from the carpet.

whining about our carpet under the kitchen table.

and then when the pudding cup dropped, that spoonful of pudding didn't seem so bad anymore.

and then when i was eating pudding sprayed with oxy clean, 

cleaning up pudding off of the carpet didn't seem so bad anymore.

and so i looked up at my kids and sean and i said,
"life can always get worse, so no matter how bad you think things are, 

things are actually pretty great b/c just the way they are. 

because in five minutes you might be eating oxy clean and cleaning up TWO pudding cups 

instead of just one."

they all looked confused, but it made me a little bit happier that all i was worrying about tonight was cleaning up pudding cup off of my carpet and tasting oxy clean in my mouth.

WINNING!!!

and in the words of the great stephanie nielson, 

"heaven IS here."

it

really

REALLY

is.

even with carpet under my kitchen table, pudding cup on my carpet, and oxy clean in my mouth.

b/c that is the cutest little sack of potatoes line up to bed you've ever seen!

:):):)

"it feels like you're cutting my skin off. are you cutting my skin off? you're like an evil scientist mom...{quietly mumbles the following}...i knew this was a bad idea. this was a BAD idea. are we done yet? why did we have to do this?...ok, i like it. i look like Cade." 

-brennan 4.10 yrs old

 .........

BRUSSEL SPROUTS

{my dad's way}

1. cut brussel sprouts in half. 

{i also like to cut off their stem end a little too}

2. drizzle extra virgin olive oil in pan, 

and place brussel sprouts flat side down on pan.

3. chop red onion, mushrooms, bell peppers, and garlic-- 

sprinkle over top of brussel sprouts.

4. cut four raw bacon slices in half, 

and then chop into 1/2" squares, layer over top of veggies.

{my dad cuts most of the fat off, 

but i like the fat so i leave it on, plus it's less work for me.}

5. turn pan to medium heat, let sizzle for about 7 minutes 

to brown bottoms of brussel sprouts.

6. use spatula to saute veggies for about another 5-7 minutes.

{we like ours a little crunchy, 

just make sure the bacon gets cooked.}

7. serve hot {in my opinion it can be your entire meal, but tonight it was a side to our lasagna.}

ENJOY!!!