Baking with Mommy

Today Kate and I spent most of the day in the kitchen preparing for Thanksgiving tomorrow.  We are going to my Mom's for Thanksgiving tomorrow, and I was in charge of making the chocolate pie, red velvet cake, apple cobbler, and rolls.  I was excited that this year Kate would be able to help a tiny bit...partly because of her new Learning Tower.

Back Story: I had been wanting a Learning Tower for a few months. Nick and I had discussed it because they're so cool but we didn't really have the $199.99 to spend on that, nor did I really want to spend that kind of money on one.  But it was one of those things that if we could...well I wanted to.  Kate would love it, and she could use it for many years since it's adjustable.  So last Wednesday on a whim I decided to stop at Goodwill, only I went to one that we don't normally frequent.  I always walk through the furniture first, and what do I spy sitting there?  A LEARNING TOWER!  I almost passed out.  There was no tag, which usually means someone is already planning to buy it and is walking around with the tag so I panicked a bit and had the cashier make an announcement to have whoever had the tag bring it up front or the item would be resold (to me!).  Then I waited 5 minutes like a good girl and no one came up front...so they re-tagged the Learning Tower for me.....for $15.  Yes...FIFTEEN DOLLARS.  Guess what?  It was HALF PRICE DAY!  So I got Kate a $200 Learning Tower for $7.50.  I ROCK.  I still can't figure out why someone dropped it off at Goodwill.  Hello, Craigslist?  Or a baby resell shop?  I certainly won't be dropping it at Goodwill when Kate is finished, I can assure you.

So now back to today.  Kate helped me make the cobbler, since that only required me to dump a few things into a pan.  She added the apples for me.

 She just couldn't get them all out by beating on the can (I forgot to poke an air hole in the other end...oops) so I gave her a spatula to get the rest out.  You know the best part about using a spatula to get apples out of a can?

 You get to lick the spatula once you are finished with it.

After finishing the cobbler I had a bunch of stuff to make that she couldn't really help with that easily.  So I moved her across the kitchen to the sink, filled it with a little bit of water and dishwashing soap to make bubbles, gave her some cups and a spoon and let her go to town.  I also covered the tower with a towel and put a couple of towels on the floor, because I knew girlfriend would be pouring water everywhere.

 May I just say that yes, I realize now that I set my child up to the counter at the sink which is also where the large block of very sharp knives is located which didn't even occur to me until I downloaded the photos to my laptop and spotted the knives instantly.  In my defense, I don't actually think she could reach any of them but I will definitely move them next time.  She was too distracted by bubbles.

So thank you, Learning Tower, for providing an hour or so of fun for Kate.  Sadly, the sink playing fun had to stop when I turned around in time to watch Kate dump a glass of soapy water on her head, which promptly sprayed a large portion of the kitchen floor with soapy water.  Seriously.