The Taste Of Love

My Aunt Elaine makes the best chicken pot pie ever.  She has given me her recipe and I have attempted it several times.  Each time gets better than the last, but I still can't quite get it as good as hers.  I made it tonight and I must say that it was exceptionally good.  As we were sitting at the table, Jonah asked for seconds.  When I put some on his plate he asked what I had put in the pie.  I started listing off the ingredients (chicken, corn, potatoes, peas, carrots...) when he interrupted me; "But what is it that makes it taste so good?"
I smiled and winked and said, "Well that is all the love I put in!"  Jonah then picked up a large peice of the crust and said, "See this yummy part Daddy?  That is called the love!" 
I thought Joe was going to fall out of his chair laughing and I suddenly could not see past the tears that filled my eyes.  If any of you knew my Grandmother, you know why this affected me so.   Granny Faye's favorite part of anything was the crust.  You could always tell when Granny had been into any pie because the crust would be missing all the way around.  She would claim that it just fell off, but we all knew what really happened.  It is strange that simple things like pie crust can make me miss my grandmother the most.
Tonight I am thankful for family recipes, laughter, and sweet memories.  However, I am most thankful for the four little boys who constantly bring those sweet memories to life while creating new ones of their own.  I never look at pie crust without thinking of Granny Faye, and now I will not be able to look at it without thinking of her as well as Jonah's definition of love.

Put Put

A few weeks ago in the midst of our car hunt, we found ourselves in Savannah on a Saturday evening.  We all of a sudden realized that we had been spending so much time taking care of business that we had not taken the time to take care of the business of our family.
It was apparent from the snapping at each other and the whining going on that it was time to take a step back and re-evaluate our priorities.  We just so happened to drive past a fun park that had a sign up advertising an early bird special.  I pulled in to the parking lot and we spent $20 for the entire family to have several hours of more fun than we have had in quite some time.
We started off on the go-cart track.  The two younger boys were too little to ride, but that did not stop Noah and I from having a blast!  From there we went to the playground equipment, the indoor arcade, and put-put golf.

This was the first time that our kids had ever played put-put and I think it was the first time for Joe and I since my college days.

Believe it or not, Jonah beat all of us at put-put!  Micah was by far the worst as he kept throwing his ball, but Joe was not far behind him!

We all left with smiles on our faces and memories of good times in our hearts.  I am so thankful for my boys and for a husband who realizes the importance of family togetherness.

False Teeth And Deviled Eggs

Today at the dinner table, while comparing whose teeth were "sharper", Uncle Roger took out his false teeth and showed them to Noah. The look on my son's face was priceless. Memories came flooding back of when I was a little girl and my Uncle Bill took his teeth out and showed them to me. I remember spending hours in front of the mirror trying to get my teeth to come out. I was sure everyone would be impressed when I learned how to do that trick.

It is amazing that the older I get, the more I want my children's childhood to be like mine. I grew up surrounded by both my Mom and Dad's very large families. As strange as they all were (and still are) I would not change that for anything.

I love that now my family has dinner every Sunday at my Grandmother's house, surrounded by lots of other family. Amidst all the chaos and arguing over who ate the most deviled eggs, my children are not only experiencing the love of their family but are making memories that they will hopefully cherish for a lifetime.