Every week I plan to show you my harvest from the tomato plants. I envision these beautiful photos of plump, sun-ripened little nuggets of the summer. The kind of tomato photos that draw me to magazine covers (and to buy them) like my exuberance over the Christmas toys at Costco.

But here’s why that can’t happen…

The elder adorable picks them as soon as they have a hint of red, but are still mostly green.

And then he reduces them to rubble.

This was the fruit of the heirloom “Mortgage Lifter”.   I haven’t had the opportunity to try one yet, but they look pretty delicious.

Accessory to the crime.

We spray off with the hose after this, because these delicious (so I’m told) tomatoes are wicked juicy.

And then he hands me this…

Somehow in their pillaging, they missed these…

I’m going to pick them in the middle of the night.

Well, I’m not beautiful (hey, I’m happy with “cute”), and I’m not skinny (my 10 pounds of post-baby – which was, ahem, 2 years ago – is now somehow 15), but I do have an adorable who eats.  (Please don’t hate me after this.)

And eats a lot.

And if I ate like he did, I wouldn’t have to worry about these 15 pounds.

Because he really LIKES good, healthy food.

The Running Man made him dinner:

Seriously.  Isn’t that so pretty?  Salmon, avocado/black bean/corn/lime salsa, carrots/broccoli/sugar snap peas, tomatoes, and blueberries.  I just had to document it.

Those food pyramid people who like all the different colors would be so all over the Running Man.

And then…

This happened.

As much as I’d like to, we can’t take credit for any of it.  I think it’s innate.  I can give that same adorable steamed broccoli as a snack while he’s watching Dora and he will finish it and ask for more.  Sometimes for thirds.

But now we use it to our advantage.

That same adorable is obsessed with getting bigger and faster.  So we call this good, healthy stuff, “fast food”, as in “food that makes you fast”.  So if he’s not finishing it, we say things like, “Well, I guess you don’t want to be fast.  That’s okay.”

And we tell him he grows only when he eats “fast food” and sleeps a lot.  Because when you sleep, you body takes all that good stuff and stretches out.

He’s going to have us committed someday, won’t he…

Here’s how I know we’re just lucky with our eldest:

This is the youngest adorable’s plate pre-dinner.  See the light serving of salmon?  We know what we’re in for here.

A few pieces of salmon gone, but otherwise just tomatos and blueberries.

And I know I should be grateful for it!