Why my dinner was not what was expected...

I will be honest....I don't love to cook.  I liked to cook more when I wasn't pregnant and didn't own a business, but now, not so much.  I try to have a fish sticks, mac & cheese and peas night only once a week, but that still leaves me with six days out of the week to figure out what the heck we're going to eat.  The thing I really hate most is thawing out stuff...I don't know why.  I hate to wait.  I am a spur-of-the-moment kinda cook, I guess.  Anyway, this past week, I have been working a lot to get my embroidery orders done, and we've had take out quite a lot.  So, this week I decided to cook something every night of the week.  I had fresh ground meat and potatoes, so I decided to make meatloaf, homemade mashed potatoes and a veggie.  I love my meatloaf, and the whole family loves it too.  It's one thing I do well. 

Before Bart even left with the girls for the gym for an hour, I had my potatoes peeled and cut, and my meatloaf was in the oven.  I had to run to Hobby Lobby to pick up one piece of fabric, so I could just boil my potatoes when I got back. 

Baby Farrell had another idea though, as she continues to suck all sense from my brain.  I drive down to the Hobby Lobby, and as I go to grab my wallet and keys out of my purse, I realize I forgot my wallet at home AGAIN.  This is the second time in one week!!  What!?!1  I needed this fabric badly, so I drove all the way home, get my wallet and go back to Hobby Lobby to run my errand.  This set me back almost an hour.  By the time I got back to the house, I started boiling the potatoes and I threw the quickest veggie I could find in the microwave:  carrots.  I am way behind here! 

Soon after, Bart arrives with two starving girls...

Potatoes are not close to being done, so I served them carrots and meatloaf, except as I am cutting my meatloaf, it seems really soggy???!!  I still don't know what happened, but apparently, I didn't read the recipe correctly, and I put too much milk in it (for the first time in five years).  Bart actually spit a little of his back onto his plate during dinner...politely OF COURSE (yeah right)!, because it tasted funny.  And the carrots??  They were freezer burnt and tasteless too.  Ella put one in her mouth, chewed it, and spit it out as well - YUCKY!  It was a disaster!!

Ten minutes into our "meal," the mashed potatoes were finally ready.  Those at least were a hit, and even the girls, who rarely like mashed potatoes, scarfed them down (probably because they were starving!) 

A little sidenote:  Ella is all about helping in the kitchen right now.  If I am cooking, she wants to stir.  If I am adding items, she wants to pour them in.  If I am serving, she wants to serve. 

Since the pot of mashed potatoes were on the table, I decided to let her serve everyone seconds on the mashed potatoes.  She plopped a spoonful onto Bart's plate and then onto her plate, but the glob of potatoes didn't quite come all the way off when she served hers.  So, she swung the spoon back and forth to get it off....shooting a big dollop of potatoes behind her.....right at Amelia's face. 

In her eye to be exact.

I could contain my laughter no more.  I was laughing.  Bart was laughing.  Ella was laughing, and Amelia was screaming!  She started to rub at it, getting it more in her eye and all over her face.  I finally helped her wipe it all out, but it was just what this disastrous dinner needed to make us all laugh as a family.  It's moments like this that instead of crying (which don't get me wrong, sometimes I do!) I laugh...hysterically, and embrace the chaos and craziness that is my life.