Cookin for Twelve

When Andrew and I were first dating, it was a bit of a culture shock eating dinner with his family. I'm a Southern girl, so I'm used to white bread, ground beef, fried foods...you know, the delicious, artery cloggin' food. It was just something different to get used to. I had never had ground turkey before, and I will be honest, I absolutely 100% did not like it when I first tried it. It was just...different.

I had to show them how it's done Southern-style. I remember going to the store with Andrew, and the main thing I wanted to cook for them was BBQ ribs. That's the one thing I had mastered with cooking. I could make some mean ribs. We hit up the grocery store, and of course, the prices were higher. I bought like 4 racks of ribs thinking it would be enough. Chile...

I cooked for what seemed like hours! haha! I don't even remember what sides we had because the main focus was on the ribs. I'll tell ya this, I probably should have cooked more. There was Ma, Pa, Andrew, Me, Anita, Lane, Bri Bevan, and Bette. Do you know how much 9 grown-almost grown people eat? Goodness gracious. Bones were licked so clean, though, that I felt mighty proud of myself.

Now I haven't been home for Thanksgiving in about 5 years. I can't believe it's been that long, but it has. If I can't go to Georgia for Thanksgiving; I'm just going to bring Southern Thanksgiving to the desert. This time, I'll be cooking for twelve. It would be more folks, but they're living in Utah. My menu plan: collard greens, potato salad, macaroni & cheese, deviled eggs, cornbread, banana pudding, and a sweet potato pie. Somebody else will have to make the turkey and ham. I think I'll be quite busy.

I remember, growing up, my Bigma would be busy in the kitchen the night before Thanksgiving. It just made Thanksgiving day flow better because the food was already done. I'm hoping to do the same. So exciting! My stomach is growling just thinking about it. Praying that it'll turn out alright! Of course, I'll take pics!

I Love Mommy, I Love Daddy, Yes I Do

Preschool is a blessing. I never thought I'd put him in it because I mean...I'm a sahm. It's part of the Job Description, right? Stay home and teach your kiddo, which is what I would do even if I were a working mom. I have noticed such a change in Kayson since he's been in preschool, though.

• He's making his own friends. Let's face it, Kayson is not the biggest fan of playing with little girls. They trap him into corners and try to dress him up. He would rather throw a ball to them or wrestle. But hey, the liddies (little ladies) are drawn to him. Maybe it's that curly fro or those big brown eyes. Who knows really? But, he's got two friends who he talks about all the time. Their names are Evan and Darryl. Apparently, Evan's slogan is "Evan Evan, no push." (I wonder if that's what the teachers tell Evan and Kayson is a little parrot. lol!)

• He's learning all these cool songs that I have never heard! Let's face it, I'm not the most creative person when it comes to teaching a 3 year old. Most days, I haven't a clue what to do. I always had my little sister or cousins to play with and we made up on own stuff. I don't remember adults actually playing with us, but then again, my memory pretty much sucks. I have a hard enough time remembering what I ate for breakfast. (Wait...did I eat breakfast?) Anyway, I picked Kays up from preschool on Friday and he started singing me this little song, "I love Mommy, I love Mommy. Yes, I do. Yes, I do. Mommy hugs me. Mommy, kiss. I love Mommy, I love Mommy. Yes, I do." And then he repeats it saying it, replacing with Daddy. It just melted my heart. Oh, I live for those moments! 

• He's learning about gardening. They have a garden at their preschool and they get to water it everyday. There are actual living vegetables and other plants. How awesome is that? I tried my hand at gardening once and yeah, let's just say that nothing has lived so far. But, now my son kinda gets to teach me what he's learned!

• His artwork is so fly. Seriously. They do the neatest little art projects.

  

• His speech is improving!! He's starting to speak in longer sentences. Sure, sometimes his sentences are in Spanglish. (Es blue plate..."It's a blue plate.) And sometimes the beginning and ends of his sentences make sense but the middle is gibberish. Nevertheless, he's beginning to speak in sentences! So exciting!

I'm pretty sure we're going to keep him at this preschool until we move out of the area or he starts kindergarten. Even if he doesn't get another scholarship, it's so worth it.