Now Picture That: Just Me and Her

When I was cooking with Firecracker on Sunday afternoon, magic was swirling. I can honestly say it was one of the most special times the two of us have shared. There was something about it.

Before we even started measuring and stirring, I could sense Firecracker's mounting enthusiasm and hopefulness when the setting started presenting itself. Easy Rider went out with his parents to sort heifers, Little Man crashed in his crib, and the little Punky baby had been fed, changed, played with, snuggled, and was ready for chill time in her swing with the ever entertaining green fish.

To Firecracker's oldest of four children brain, all of this translated to it being just me and her. She kept saying to me, "I'm soooo excited Amy!! It's just us!!!" And at first I thought, well no it's really not just us. I mean there was a baby. In a swing. On the counter. And a toddler. Sleeping. In his crib. And a preschooler outside. With his mom and dad.

But then I quickly realized that to Firecracker, none of that mattered. Because she knew she would have my attention and she knew we were going to do something. That being putting together a taco salad.

It was not a difficult or complicated task. Especially since Sil had done all the chopping earlier that morning. But it was something. Something we worked through together. Just the two of us.

Christmas music was playing through the speaker system and candy cane striped socks were on my feet. My one niece was zonked out in her swing on the counter and my other niece was jumping for zealous joy. Excuse me. Who gets this life?

And we laughed and we laughed some more at our silliness of smelling onions and the accidental flip of the spatula which ended with taco salad being thrown on the counter and into the sink. You would think I would not have been a fan of the entire huge mess we had going on by that point. But it didn't bother me a bit. We were having too much fun to stress about mess. I even said to Firecracker after she spilled, "Oh yeah?! Well watch this!" As I scooped up some of the spill and threw it farther.

Her reaction was priceless because she knows throwing lettuce and cheese around a kitchen is not how I usually roll. But, cleaning up our disaster area later was absolutely worth it to see her face of delight and awe in the moment. And even though we took the time for goofy antics, the taco salad still successfully came together. Although at that point, I wouldn't have cared if it would have been terrible tasting.

It's not always about the end. Sometimes it's about the excitement of what happens along the way.

After the taco salad was tucked in the fridge, I helped Firecracker get ready for the 4-H meeting. While I was doing her hair, she kept saying, "Is it looking okay?" I kept replying with, "Would I let you look weird?" Then we'd both laugh some more. We had some serious magic going on. Me and her.

Turns out, the girl had it right all along. It was just us.