soul food saturday

Grandma and Grandpa were here this weekend to enjoy some soul food with us! We had fried chicken, mashed potatoes, mustard greens, and peach cobbler. The chicken and mashed potatoes were yummy, but nothing out of the ordinary for us. It was the first time any of us had mustard greens, and my dad said they were the best veggies he's had in a long time! The kids tried them, but didn't like them. I made peach cobbler in honor of the Georgia peach - I had never baked it before.

winter returns

soul food sunday

The menu for this week's soul food meal was BBQ Brisket, Smokin' Baked Beans, Sweet Potato Crunch, and rolls (not homemade this time!)

Brett helped make the Sweet Potato Crunch. Brett loves sweet potatoes, so I thought he would enjoy this dish. Unfortunately, he doesn't like nuts, and this had some pecans in the topping. It was enough to keep him from eating it. Lydia and I liked it though!

Lydia also liked the brisket, which was a surprise because she usually doesn't like meat. The Smokin' Baked Beans were delicious!

As usual, Bryan and Reggie cleaned their plates of everything!

February thaw

What could be more fun on a Minnesota February day than sidewalk chalk?

Puddles!!!

Reggie is 1.5!

(Yes, this is a picture of Reggie playing in the snow in his pjs. Sometimes you just have to go with the moment!)

Reggie is 18 months old already! He weighs 27 lbs 6 oz and is 33.5 inches tall. He wears mostly size 24 months now.

Reggie is a high-energy adventurous and boisterous toddler. He keeps up with Lydia and Brett in every way possible. I think his favorite games are "chase" and "hide-and-seek", and Bryan or I am always Chaser or Seeker. Reggie is also taking his first session of swimming lessons. The next two pictures are of him leaving for his first swimming lesson. (I haven't had the opportunity to get pictures of him in class yet, since Bryan always is with him in the pool, and I am always home with the other two.) Bryan tells me Reggie likes to swim.

Reggie's receptive and expressive language continues to grow by leaps and bounds, and he has even started putting 2 words together, like "Hi Momma" and "[where did] Lydia go". He identifies many animals and their sounds and has caught on to several phrases in many songs. Reggie's gross motor development seems to be right on coarse - he runs, safely navigates stairs and can ride a ride-on toy. His fine motor skills are emerging.

I have been putting of Reggie's first hair cut. It is getting really long in the back and a little more difficult to manage, but having a hard time going through that what is in my mind an official milestone from baby to toddler...and it's amusing how Reggie seems to know his position in the family as "the baby".

soul food sunday

This week's soul food dinner included fried catfish, homemade mac'n'cheese, french fries, banana pudding, freshly brewed iced tea, and MeeMaw and Papa! Bryan prepared the whole meal and, even though I'm not a fan of fish, it was all delicious! Reggie thoroughly enjoyed the banana pudding and you can't go wrong with mac'n'cheese and toddlers.

curly curls

Two things to notice about this picture:

1. Lydia has a shiner. The story is not interesting.

2. Lydia has curlers in her hair. My mom tormented me with curlers for many years when I was a little girl, and for some reason, it is now a fond memory that I want to pass on to my daughter. I recently asked my mom how young I was when she started rolling my hair in curlers and she said "2"! This was our first attempt. The curlers lasted in her hair about 5 minutes, which was 3 minutes longer than I expected!

no pictures

On game days, we always dress the kiddos up in their "packers" and usually attempt to snap a picture, and it has on occasion ended up on facebook and/or the blog. But a while back Bryan noticed a correlation between us posting pictures and an unfavorable outcome to the game.

No pictures. Just the 3 most adorable little Packer-backers and you will have to trust me.

Go Pack!

soul food saturday

We've been looking forward to our February soul food menus for awhile now!


Our menu for tonight was smoked ham, Hoppin John (thanks for the recipe, Tammy), coleslaw, and biscuits.

We made everything from scratch. The ham was a hit with everyone. Bryan made the Hoppin John and it was our first experience with black eye peas (seriously - I didn't know where to look for them in the grocery store!) It turned out good - everyone tried it and Brett ate most of his. The kids were not crazy about the coleslaw but they all tried it and Lydia ate the carrots and raisins out of it. I don't make biscuits from scratch very often and wasn't paying very close attention to the recipe. I put in baking soda instead of powder and everyone agreed they were awful!

$426

We spent $426 on groceries today. I bought frozen pizza, cheese, milk, grapes, bananas, ice cream, bread, salad dressing, and a quarter of a grass-fed cow from Zweber Farms. Last spring, Bryan brought home Food, inc. for "date night" and we haven't been eating the same since. We started buying chickens and ground beef from Zweber Farms last fall and I have a feeling Bryan will be firing up the grill for some nutrient-rich hormone-free happy-cow-life steak real soon!

In hindsight, I probably shouldn't have told the kids we were going to the "cow farm" this afternoon. At below-zero temps and still under 2+ feet of snow, they didn't even get out of the car. When we started back for the city, Brett kept asking to go back to see the cows. I didn't have the heart to tell him the cow was behind the seat in four neatly packed boxes, so I told him we'd go see the cows when the snow melted.

first day of school

Ready or not, Brett's first day of school came two and a half years before Kindergarten.

There were a few tears once he realized I was not getting on the bus with him, but his teacher was gracious enough to call and let me know he settled into the day once he got to school. (It's not like I was pacing the floor and staring at the clock or anything...)

Brett got home just in time for lunch and told me he liked school and wants to go back. He also told me he cried on the bus. He also told grandma he cried on the bus when she called to see how his day went. So I guess that was the most memorable part of the day, but hopefully now that the first day is over, it will be easier on Thursday.

The threesome is just a little enmeshed, so the morning was a bit of an adjustment for Lydia and Reggie, too. Lots of looking out the window and asking for Brett. After a while, Lydia realized that there were some advantages - she got to play with *the* CD player that is usually dominated by her brother!

Brett slept on the bus ride home, so now my best napper is in his room - not napping.