Overheard...

Garrett: "Hey! Wait a minute dinosaurs don't eat people food, aanndd, I'm a dinosaur. I can't eat this!"

Garrett and Gabriel are attempting to be picky eaters. It WON'T happen, and I'm more stubborn than they are. It's just flat out an important life skill to appreciatively eat what is presented to you; especially for boys that will go on missions someday and be fed who knows what. I'm very frustrated right now because they aren't even consistent with what they like and don't like. There are days I'm feeling feisty and will serve something I figure they won't like because I'm up for the battle, they'll gobble it down and ask for more. Other days I'll be feeling tired and weak so I'll serve something they've liked in the past so we can have a quiet easy dinner, they'll freak out and refuse to eat it. F R U S T R A T I N G ! ! Several months ago I made a decision-- They Will Eat What They Are Served Or Get It Again The Next Meal. I refuse to fight anymore. If I, or anyone for that matter, take the time to prepare food for these ungrateful critters they can eat it. Although, as long as Mom doesn't make it, they seem to like it...poor Mommy. I DO NOT like to cook, when they start complaining it makes me crazy. We all sit down, they can eat or not, but at the end of the meal if their plates aren't empty I put them in my "Mommy's Refusal to Eat Mitigation System" ziploc bag and put it in the fridge. The next meal I pull the plate out of the fridge and present it back to them. :+) They LOVE (wink, wink) my new system. We still have plenty of screeching dinners, with lots of "tummy aches", "I'm gonna throw up" threats, "it's no good, I think it's rotten" complaints and my favorite from Gabriel, (take a little taste) "I think this has soy in it I better not eat it". Yeah nice try, this is a soy free house. I will win.

This morning Stephen made chocolate chip pancakes. I have a good husband, he does this pretty much every Sunday he doesn't have meetings. The boys were so excited...till I pulled the dinners they didn't finish out and served those to them while we ate yummy pancakes. We already finished our dinners. Garrett only had a few bites left and was debating having a full stand off or just a token protest. He came up with his dinosaur theory.

Nice try bud. That was about all the fight he put up. He got pancakes before church. Gabriel didn't get his till tonight after an all day standoff. We knew he was hungry, but also very stubborn. We will win.

On our way to church we heard this from the backseat....

Gabriel: "Hey! My nose whistles!" He thought it was so cool. Now that is a talented child. We all have our February allergies kicking in.

Garrett: "No, No, No, I eat that at Nanny's house. She picks me up from school!"

Garrett: (crawling on all fours) I walk like this because I'm a Tregosarus-Rex! ROAR!
Me: Do you mean a Stegosaurus?
Garrett: Yeah! Stegosaurus Rex! ROAR!

He's so into dinosaurs, and if you can mix a carnivorous T-Rex and an herbivore Stegosaurus, then they're tons better!

Anytime we eat after dark the big boys "see" and talk about the Omninore out in the backyard. This happened last night.

Garrett: Gabriel, does the Omninore have eyebrows?
Gabriel: (looks out the window into the blackness) No those are just hands coming out of right here (puts his hands at his eyebrows)
Garrett: Ohhhh, it looks like eyebrows.
Mommy: Garrett come get your last bite.
Garrett: Did you see the Omninore?
Mommy: Yep, you better eat this last bite before it gets you.
Garrett: Ok! (down the hatch it went)

I thought they'd been mispronouncing Omnivore, but they're pretty consistently referring to a specific kind of dinosaur they've imagined up. I'm going to have them draw it in separate rooms and see what each of them comes up with.