Making the kids earn their keep

On Sunday, we had John (a friend from Calgary who lives here now - he came to Zambia with us in 2001 and we visited him while he was living in Geneva in 2004) and his wife Anna and their friends Dan and Monika (who we had also met in Calgary) over for brunch.  It's really fun to have some old friends living here in Houston!

I made a little buffet of make-your-own breakfast burritos, fresh fruit, french toast with a pecan and brown sugar sauce, and rhubarb muffins (adapted from this recipe - see my recipe notes below).  I was super prepared and managed to get everything made without any last minute rush or burning anything!  However, I forgot to take pictures of anything to share with you. I did remember to snap a quick one of a lonely leftover muffin later in the day though, so at least I am offering up some sort of visual!  Unfortunately, this little muffin looks pretty boring, but I can assure you they are super tasty!

And while I'm at it, here is the actual recipe I use for these muffins:
1 cup white flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 - 1/2 cup milk, depends on batter consistency
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup finely diced rhubarb

Riley, who is still teething her molars and has been a less-than-stellar eater the past 6 weeks or so, ate a ridiculous amount of scrambled egg and Leighton devoured several slices of the French toast.  I guess Roy figured after everything they ate, they needed to earn their keep, so he put them to work in the afternoon.  They raked and bagged leaves in the front yard and then used the leaf blower to clean up all the needles that were blown off the tree above during the storms late last week that were covering the driveway.  Then the real work fun started and they washed the car.

Here's Riley checking out the instructions.

Guess she figured it was a good enough product so she tossed it in her shopping cart to put it "up, up, up" so "baby help" pay!!

Leighton did a great job soaping and rinsing the car.

And, of course, Riley needed a turn too.

Guess she didn't read the instructions quite so carefully.  Nowhere on there does it say, "Aim the hose at your Mommy and spray her and her camera."

As a reward for all their hard work, the kids went to the back yard to play with the other hose and completely soak themselves with water and giggles before dinner (yup, we fed them again - they earned it!).