soulful celebrations

It's a good thing it's a leap year, or I wouldn't have gotten this post written during Black History Month!  Despite my lack of blogging, we have been celebrating black history month with our tradition of soul food weekend meals. 

Our menus have included some now familiar foods like greens, fried catfish and black-eyed peas and some new recipes like 7-up cake, red beans and rice, candied yams, and baked honey pears.  This year, we bought our first recipe book, An African American Cookbook: Living the Experience by Phoebe Bailey.

I'm happy with our choice.  The recipes are easy-to-use and have ingredients that are mostly commonly found at the grocery store.  Each section (meats, vegetables, desserts, etc) is divided into two sub-sections of "traditional" recipes and "other favorites".  And the recipe book is peppered with black history, poems, and quotations.
With the cookbook, I expect I will be more likely to try new recipes throughout the year.  There are a lot of salad recipes to try something new for picnics this summer!

I really enjoy our soul food celebrations because the whole family prepares the meals.  Bryan loves to cook and try new recipes, and of course the kids are always eager to get sticky and sample!

In addition to our food celebrations, we have also purchased a few more children's books that celebrate black history and culture. 

Lydia's favorite is Dancing in the Wings, by Debbie Allen and Kadir Nelson.  This book is a little long for a 3 year old, but it is a cute story about a girl who got teased because she was so tall, but became a talented ballerina. 

three for three

A couple weeks ago (life is going faster than blogging these days...) Daddy packed up the car and Brett and Lydia and they all went to his parents', so Reggie and I could have some quality time at home. 

We went through the same routine that we have now done 3 times in 18 months.  I rolled up all the area rugs. When I went to get Reggie dressed, I sat him down and told him he was a big boy now, and big boys don't wear diapers.  I dressed him in a shirt and undies, and, with a trash bag in hand, we went through the house and threw away all the diapers we could find.  Five days later, we called the 3-Day Potty Training program a success! ; )  (Life got a little chaotic when everyone was home after only 1.5 days.)

I always enjoy the one-on-one time with the kids.  Here are a couple videos from our weekend.

 Here is a 30-second clip of Reggie's 30-minute hoops session - wish I had that much energy!

When Reggie earned his reward - a baseball and glove, he wanted to know where the bat was...oops!

Hooray for Reggie!  We are so proud of our baby...err...I mean - Big Boy!

before and after: bookshelf

I love it when I manage to start and finish a project in the same day!  This little shelf was Grandma Lil's.

 Lydia picked out the paint and now it's a bookshelf fit for a princess!

thanks for the mess

The kids are going through this phase where they think they only need about 7 hours of sleep a night, but-it's obvious from their emotional state and behavior choices-that they need more.  Even Mom is a better Mom with 8 hours of sleep.  We have tried all sorts of sleeping arrangements, and the best we've come up with is having one child go to sleep on a sleeping bag in the hallway, and then putting her/him in their bed later - because sharing rooms is not working.  This morning, I woke up with ideas of how we could make 3-beds-on-one-level into 4-beds-on-one-level. 

And then I heard my congested son -who had joined me in bed a half hour ago-ask me to pass him a "teenex".   Ugh.  Time to face reality that sickness had reentered our home after only a 2-week hiatus.  No school for Brett today.

The house had been left a disaster from yesterday's chaos, so my first goal of the day, after a cup of coffee, was to get the kitchen back in order.  With all the interruptions (did I mention we're 3-day potty-training Reggie this week?) I think I had been unloading the dishwasher for an hour when I heard from the living room, a familiar Ella Fitzgerald song come on and a sweet little voice saying, "Let's dance, Brett!"

And when Reggie joined the dance and proved three's a crowd, I was happy to steal a dance with my son. That's when I was reminded that I love this mess.

adoption isn't just for parents and kids

Our kids are fortunate to have lots of people who care about them in their lives.  Aunties, uncles, cousins, grandmas, grandpas - all who love them very much.  But -due to geographic distance - we have no extended family active in their daily - or even weekly...and often not even monthly...lives.

Enter Bonnie.  Bonnie is our babysitter, but much more than our babysitter.  Bonnie has been consistently in their lives since they can remember.  I think she was the third person I called when we decided to adopt Reggie - right after Grandma and MeeMaw.  She, and her husband, have participated in their birthdays, dedications, and other special family days. Last week, when I was getting ready for work, I realized that -while many moms feel guilt and stress over putting their kids in childcare - I feel Bonnie actually enriches their lives.  And they agree - there are no tears when Bonnie comes, only sometimes when she leaves!  No, "babysitter" just isn't the right word for Bonnie.  My kids have adopted her as their local grandma.  And-I know because she tells me-the kids are a blessing to her as well.  I suppose the way grandkids are blessings to grandparents.

  You just can't have too many grandmas.