My kids are a little weird.

Actually, my kids just eat a few weird things. Not weird like "why is that kid eating play-doh" weird, just strange for 6 and 4 y/o. "N" is a pretty normal sort of kid and her food tastes generally follow suit. She loves pancakes, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, apples and sweets, but she is strangely obsessed with sushi. I mean bat-nuts-crazy about it. It's pretty awkward when she is shoving past perfect strangers in the grocery to get to the sushi bar, chanting "sushi, sushi, sushi!" "C" is fairly normal also, but he's always had a very adult palate. Even at an early age he's liked things like salad, blue cheese, brussels sprouts and my green smoothies. So when he started eating my homemade soups as a toddler, I wasn't that surprised. But, it's turned into a full blown love. And there's a bright side. Now "A" has someone to eat split pea and ham soup with and I have a pho lunch partner.

Balance.

Isn't that what most of us are trying to find? For myself, balance is something I struggle to find for myself all of the time. Early on in my new career as a stay at home parent, balance was something I didn't care about having. I was so engrossed with having very young kids and a super busy spouse, that it wasn't even possible. Now, my kids are downright old! My wife has a job that she enjoys and it provides us a lot of flexibility. My balance now begins and ends with cooking. It allows me to be very creative and also to expose my kids to a wide array of foods. I've been blessed with great eaters and I think that my love of cooking has something to do with it....or not...who knows. Tonight's dinner was a little bit of a show off. It's some of my most favorite flavors, but I have to admit, I was thinking about this post as I was planning the menu. This blog will have a lot of food and food pictures. I will try to supply you with recipes as well, but I can't promise it will happen every time. Tonight's dinner: Beef Roulade with braised fennel and Brussels Sprouts Salad

"I'm good enough. I'm smart enough. And doggone it, people like me."

What the heck am I going to write about? I've spent the last few weeks contemplating whether or not to even start writing a blog... again (see dadinterrupted.blogspot.com) and, during that time, that one thought has consumed my thoughts. Posts need to be special. They needs to draw people in and keep them coming back for more. But, let's be honest. I'm not that interesting. But, that's what I've got. So, this blog is going to be about me, my family, and my probably fairly normal life. A little about me: I am a lot of things. I am first and foremost, a husband. My wife "A" and I have been together for almost two decades and I really don't have a lot of memories that don't involve her in some way. Without getting too mushy, she is my heart and we do almost everything together. Secondly, I am a dad to two amazingly beautiful children. "N" (6 years old) is a brilliant, vivacious, and happy young lady and "C" (4 years old) is a handsome, charming, and enthusiastic boy. But, what makes me at least a little unique is that for the last 6 years, I have been a stay at home dad to them. I am also passionate about cooking, running, traveling, sports, beer and many other things, so this blog will be about all of these, plus some things that I haven't gotten into....yet. I hope you'll come along for the ride, give me feedback, and forgive me when life gets hectic and I am gone for a while.