Mother Bought A Coconut...

Whenever Xander comes grocery shopping with me, there are some standard areas where he needs to go. First and foremost is the toy department, where he checks out the latest in action figures and Legos, does a little begging, and compiles a mental list of toys he can't live without. Other hotspots include looking at the fish over in seafood, and checking out pineapples and coconuts in produce. Only this time we actually brought a coconut home.


Xander was chomping at the bit to get into that little brown ball. He pestered Joe and I until finally last night Joe hacked it open. He gave Xander the glass full of coconut milk and told him to have at it. What he had was one sip, followed by a water chaser. The coconut milk was a no-go. I think Joe drank the rest of it.

Next came an actual chunk of firm white coconut, which Xander nibbled on. (I did too, but I have to say I'd rather have it honey roasted. It's much tastier that way!) Once again, my son was underwhelmed by the taste of the coconut. I can't blame him - the raw stuff does nothing for me.

All in all, I'd say Xander was fairly disappointed in the whole thing. I don't know what he thought it was going to taste like, but clearly it wasn't anything he was hoping for. Still, now he can say that he's tried coconut. I wonder when he'll start asking for a pineapple...

Week In Review

It's been an entertaining week for the Brunos, which started on Sunday with dinner at our friend Nancy and Josh's house. It's the first time we've dined together that hasn't been in a restaurant, and they went all out. Josh BBQ'd these huge steaks (which were insanely delicious), and Nancy made twice-baked potatoes from scratch. Even Xander ate one! We'll be seeing them again on Saturday at the motorcycle club's annual dinner at the Heartbreak.

Tuesday we picked up our rental car (our regular car is having some issues at the moment). They gave us a Kia Optima and I'm now doing almost all of the driving because Joe just can't fit behind the wheel. Watching him try to get in the other day was hilarious! Hopefully our car will be back on the road next week sometime.

Wednesday we had dinner at Eli and Krissy's - corned beef and cabbage dinner number one. The kids played, the grown-ups hung out, and Joe immediately became addicted to something called Angry Birds on Krissy's Droid. Dinner was good, and followed up by a giant cupcake made with rainbow colors. It was delicious!

Yesterday was St. Patrick's Day, so there was lots of wearing of the green and more corned beef, just for us Brunos. Joe had it cooking in the crock pot all day and it was delicious! Next year we need to get a bigger corned beef or something, though, because there's not even a crumb left. Xander at corned beef both days, and some potato. I'm so proud of him for trying new food!

Today it's already warm, though we do have a wind advisory. It's a big conference day at work, and Xander normally wouldn't have had school but they used up all their snow days. Sorry, buddy! I've been up since 6am because Joe was snoring so bad I couldn't get back to sleep. It's going to be a long day!

Salad and PARP

The big news of the week is this: Xander ate salad! Yes, he willingly and without complaint ate something that was green. It was a big moment for the Brunos. As you can see, he didn't really have that much he had to eat. We did find out that he doesn't like bacon bits though. Now I wonder what my chances are for broccoli. LOL!

In other news, PARP (Parents As Reading Partners) started this week. Xander's school does it every year. At the end, he gets to join in an ice cream party and gets a coupon for a free book. So what we've been doing is having him read a book to us, and then one of us reads one after. On the first day it was Joe reading The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins. The other night he followed that up with How the Grinch Stole Christmas. (Can you tell we're big Dr. Suess fans?)

I'm happy to report that Joe qualifies for unemployment, so that's a relief. (If you didn't know, he was fired last Friday from Hospice.) We've been talking about making some big life changes, but it's all still in flux right now. As always, we Brunos like to keep things interesting! LOL!

He Knows What He Likes!

Xander is a very picky eater. There are countless food items he just refuses to eat, including almost all vegetables. Lately, though, he has been branching out a little bit. When we were at Crossgates Mall this past Friday, he enthusiastically agreed to share an order of sesame chicken with me. We had one fork to share, so of course he gave me all the tiny pieces and took the big ones for himself. :)

Then, after a brief nibble to taste the cheese wrap Joe got from Taco Bell, Xander decided that was his new favorite food and ate half of one.

This was all followed up with the old favorite, Orange Julius. Xander only likes the original orange flavor, though Joe and I have been branching out to try some new ones. Blackberry Blueberry? Awesome!

Xander's old standby, the PB&J, is still going strong. I've been trying to make him try more things, but usually he'll only do one tiny taste and then he gags. Maybe when he's older he'll do a complete turn around and eat everything. One can hope!

Action-Packed Saturday

Most weekends, the Brunos just sit around at home and go grocery shopping. Nothing too exciting. This past Saturday we left the house at noon and didn't get back until about 8:30pm. Woo hoo, livin' the night life! Okay, not really. Here's what we did...

Monday the 8th had been my mother-in-law's birthday, so Saturday we drove down to her house, picked her up, and whisked her away to Oneonta. (I know, big thrill there!) We took her to two consignment shops and the Salvation Army - I'd never been there and was surprised how big it was and how they organized all the clothes by color. Xander somehow convinced Jean to buy him a bunch of toys at the SA, and I got him a couple pairs of pants.

We followed this up with a late lunch/early dinner at Applebees in the mall. Xander was having a hard time keeping secret that we'd asked the waitress to do the birthday thing after we'd finished eating. We all stuffed ourselves (you don't even want to know the obscene amounts of food my husband ingested) and Xander was more than happy to help Jean finish off her birthday dessert.

From there we headed - in increasingly bad weather - to Destiny and Jeanine's house. Jeanine had a table full of desserts, including her famous and totally sinful brownies, and we hung out for a few hours there admiring baby Layla and just catching up. Xander especially had a fun time playing with Mo, and is beside himself with the promise of a future sleepover that will involve a tent and a bonfire.

The ride home was miserable. The rain had turned into heavy, slushy snow that was nice and thick on the roads. Joe drove 20 mph home, sometimes less, and it was hairy in a couple places. But we survived, we had a great day, and helped to make Jean's birthday special. What more can you ask for?

9 Days 'Til Christmas Eve!

Christmas prep is in full gear at the Bruno house!

On Saturday my pal Amy came over and we baked cookies all day. We each made four different kinds of cookies, and I have to say that my peanut butter batch is mostly crumbs already! Guess those came out really well this year. Xander was even eating one on the way up the driveway this morning to catch the school bus. :)

Sunday we got our Christmas tree, though picking one out in the pouring rain wasn't very much fun. Xander didn't like any of the trees in the lot - he said they were all too small. Ah, a boy after my own heart! We ended up with a very nice one that might even get decorated today.

Biggest fun was yesterday, when Amy and I headed up to Albany to do our Christmas shopping. It's our yearly holiday tradition, along with the cookies. We did Crossgates Mall, Colonie Mall, and Toys R Us. I spent almost all of Joe's bonus check, but crossed almost everyone off my list by the end of the day.

Now I just have to wait for remaining items to come in the mail, and get Xander to clean up the living room so I have room to wrap everything. Bring it on, Christmas! I'm ready!

The Farmstand is Back!

I am happy to report that the Forgotten Acres Farmstand is back in business! The last few years they haven't been open, which was really sad because Xander loved taking walks up there and getting apples. But now they're back, and we all took a walk up to pick out some corn for the BBQ, and some other veggies that Joe wants to experiment with.

Xander was especially glad to be able to pick out an apple, which he ate on the spot. And there were a whole bunch of pumpkins there already, which he had to examine and carry around just for fun. (Xander calls the farm stand the Farmasty!)

Joe picked out three bags worth of veggies, plus a watermelon and some other kind of melon. I have no idea what he intends to do with them, but since he does most of the cooking I guess I'll just have to wait and see. It sure is nice to be able to take a quick walk up the street and have all the veggies we need, farm fresh!

Family Flashback: Weenie Wagon

Oh, how I hated the weenie wagon! Why my mother got it into her head to get this is beyond me. But I was stuck working in it with her in the summer (1987), parked down by Stamford pool or Jamesway in Oneonta. It was just a small little trailer, and we'd be in it all day in the heat, with boiling weenies. Mom gave all the hot dog variations dog names, and we branched out to include candy as well.

I can remember panicking every time Mom left me alone in the wagon because I had a hard time making change (especially for the woman who bought a weenie and paid me with a 50 dollar bill). I remember hooking up with Deaf Jeff that summer when we were parked by the pool, and wishing I could hook up with some of the guys when we set up at Aunt Marge's auction barn. I remember running up to Grand Union to get chicken wings to share with Mom (hot dogs lost their luster after awhile).

Mostly I remember being relieved when Mom sold the weenie wagon. I never missed it!

Love Me Some BBQ!

Our cool temps and morning frost have morphed back into Summer temps again. Yesterday it was around 85 degrees, sunny and just gorgeous. So naturally it was the perfect day to BBQ.

Joe dragged out the trusty Weber Q and grilled up some burgers and dogs (Nathan's hotdogs only for this girl!). There's nothing like the smell of BBQ drifting on the wind! Hopefully this will be the year we finally put in the little BBQ patio next to our front steps, so the BBQ can stay out all summer. Right now we have to drag it out of the house and down the steps every time we want to grill.

Love me some BBQ, and that's no lie!

Pancake Master

Xander is the new Pancake Master at our house. He loves helping me make them, even though he generally fizzles out after about four. He mixes up the batter, spoons it into the pan, adds the chocolate chips, and does the flipping. The only think I don't let him do is turn on the stove, because I don't want him getting used to fiddling with it.

It's nice to have a helper, and I hope that I'm starting Xander out on the right road to make him a life-long cook. Having his Daddy do most of the cooking doesn't hurt, either!