Nursery bruiser

So last week Nate got kicked out of nursery. MY Nate, who is such a sweet (albeit busy) little guy walked around to all the little boys in nursery with a smile on his face and then smacked them until they were in tears. They tried putting him in time-out on a chair but what 20-month old will stay put in a chair, even without a room full of kids and toys. So after he had all the boys in tears they finally brought him to me and Scott and both of us were surprised. Not that Nate never hits, but we've not seen him that aggressive before. Anyway, he ended up leaving church early with Scott so he could go home and sleep it off.

Needless to say, this week I dropped him off with a little trepidation. I had told him beforehand that he needed to be soft to his friends in nursery and then made sure the nursery leaders knew that his keyword when aggresive is "soft". Almost always if you tell Nate to be soft he will start gently stroking the person on the head or arm.

So I was extremely relieved to be told that he did great today and needed no reminders. In fact, all on his own he walked around to the other kids and would gently stroke them on the arm or head. I'm sure in his head he was saying "soft".

I love this soup!

I had been craving french onion soup ever since I had a bowl at Le Madeline in Austin, so tonight I decided to make it at home. Oh my gosh! It was so good! Fortunately I have enough left over for lunch tomorrow. The kids even ate theirs (served without the onions), which was a pleasant surprise. Throw enough cheese in something and serve it with a side of toasted cheese baguette and they're up for just about anything, I guess.

Here's the recipe:

French Onion Soup

2 Vidalia onions, sliced into thin rings
2 Tbsp. butter
1 Tbsp. olive oil
2 cloves minced garlic
4 cans beef broth
2 bay leaves
1tsp. worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
black pepper to taste
swiss cheese
shaved parmesan cheese
1 french baguette

Melt butter in stockpot over medium heat. Add olive oil and sliced onions and cook for 25 minutes until onions are brown and caramelized. Add garlic and cook for 3 minutes more. Add next four ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes. While soup simmers, slice baguette into 1 inch slices. Butter on both sides. Broil until golden on one side, then turn baguette slices over and broil until golden on the other side. Top baguette slices with parmesan and swiss cheese and return to broiler until cheese is melted. Ladle soup into serving bowls, heap with desired amount of swiss and parmesan cheese. Top with baguette slices.



This takes 45 minutes to make, but it's not a high-maintenance recipe and you have plenty of time while cooking it to make a salad or panini to go with it. We ate ours with fresh fruit and extra baguette slices.

When I thanked Scott for tolerating my french onion soup, he said it was the least he could do, seeing how he had made his famous chili macaroni for dinner the night before. Here's the recipe to that one:

Chili Macaroni

prepare one box mac n cheese according to package directions
add one can of chili
stir and serve!


The kids like this one better than my soup. Heathens.