Messy = Happy

there is a decal that is displayed above the window that faces my kitchen sink:

getting ready to make Christmas cookies (2013)

My husband thinks I picked this saying because I hate to do the dishes and often put them off as long as possible. While it is true that there are often dirty dishes in our sink, they are not a cause for happiness and the real reason I hung this decal when my babies were still babies was the dream I had of making messes with them when they got older as I passed along my love for all creative things in the kitchen. And while I have had a little sous chef from time to time, most of the work I do in the kitchen is solitary due to our current schedule. I love the process of menu planning, figuring out how to make the most out of each ingredient I buy at the farmer's market on Saturday and how to balance good, made-mostly-from-scratch meals to fuel our bodies and can't wait to pass along this knowledge to Leila and Cameron. It is well-documented that children who are involved in the the menu planning and choosing of healthy foods are more likely to eat them and I'm looking forward to putting this into practice with the help of my little students in the very near future.