A Little Extra Love

Will enjoys helping me in the kitchen, but only with "big picture" tasks, like carrying plates to the table or licking the bowl. He couldn't possibly be bothered with actually gathering the ingredients for and combining them into the batter that will eventually be licked from the bowl.

Hallie, on the other hand, likes the detail work. She loves to help measure out ingredients, stir the batter, place the cupcake papers in the tins, and set the timer on the oven.  When it comes to setting the table, she'll take 10 minutes just to arrange the napkins, and even then, they won't be positioned anywhere near where the four of us will actually sit.

A recent table setting a la Hallie.

Meanwhile, Will was blowing up his whoopee cushion
to put on Tom's chair.  Big picture stuff, people.

"He's coming!  Quick!  Act natural!"

I always bake on Friday afternoons, and this last Friday afternoon was no exception.  Hallie and I decided on apple pie, and 30 minutes later we popped our finished product into the oven.  Usually at this point I start cleaning up the kitchen and Hallie runs off to color or play with with her dollhouse or dress up like a princess.  But for some reason on this Friday, Hallie felt like someone needed to keep an eye on the pie while it cooked.  So she sat here:

For at least 20 of the 45 minutes the pie took to bake.  She even made Tom, who was home that afternoon because of a bomb threat on campus (another story for another time), sit in the kitchen and watch the pie with her.  And when we finally ate slices of the pie, it was as if we could taste the extra love she put in.