As you know, we can’t seem to stop comparing our two beautiful little girls, which means we’re constantly walking down our Zoe memory lane, with little Ella as a reluctant participant. Which is how we ended up with this picture of Ella with an EMPTY box of butter:

In contrast, the first kid got this:

The whole stick of sweet cream, salted butter. Seems appropriate, right? First kid gets the fresh stuff: the expensive stuff you THINK you need (which most of the time you don’t): all the extra clothes you just can’t live without (which they grow out of before they can actually wear); and the obsessive attention and help you think they need (which they are probably better off without).

But hey, such is life.

Speaking of butter, we made some last weekend! My husband is ridiculously difficult to buy for (if he wants it, he buys it, and he likes trying new, unusual things), so last Christmas I bought him a butter making kit from Fab.com (a great site to find unusual things). Guess where that kit was this Christmas? Still in the pantry.

Best laid plans. So as I’m trying to find ways to do more with our first child, I decided we would have fun making Daddy’s butter kit. The instructions are quite easy: just buy a pint of heavy cream, shake it in a jar for 15 minutes & squeeze out the butter. At this point you may be thinking something I was NOT thinking: 15 minutes is a long time and Mommy will be the one shaking that jar.

Zoe made it for 42 seconds, which is a long time to a 4-year-old, then said “Here, Mom. You do it.”

Realizing what the next 14 minutes was going to be like, I had to think fast. First, let me thank Sharon Strauss for singing a cappella Taylor Swift’s new (apparently) super hit “Shake It Off” to me at work just two days prior. Yes, she knows all the words, and No, I had never heard it.

One dollar and twenty-nine cents later, Apple was richer, I was poorer and Zoe was back shaking the jar. Now she didn’t make it 14 minutes (and we did have to listen to the song three times), but we all got a great workout AND some fresh butter to boot. It was pretty yummy if I do say so myself.

After the shaking, Bart jumped in to seal the deal. Turns out we hadn’t shaken quite hard (or quite long?) enough, but after 30 seconds of Daddy shaking, it was ready to squeeze, form and pop into the fridge for everyone (except little Ella) to enjoy. YUM.