we like to eat together — A Familiar Path

On Sunday

August 18, 2009 by Melissa Filed Under: we like to eat together

We had a big crowd this Sunday. It was expected to be even bigger. We were missing my cousin and his family of 5 and another family of 2. But, at the last minute I asked our preacher and his family, then my sister showed up.

I think I counted 29 people.

Three of them were preachers. My uncle, who is a preacher, and his wife have moved back to Arkansas from Louisiana. We are so happy they are back close by and can now join us for lunch.

The men always race to the front of the line right after the blessing.

People eat everywhere. I have a breakfast table that seats 5 or 6 squeezed in and a dining table that seats about 7 or 8. Then the couch and loveseat fill up as well as every available chair.

I love it!

I just wish I had more room for everyone.

But then it wouldn’t be as cozy. At least, that’s what I tell myself when we’re sitting on the floor with our plate on the coffee table.

Happy 4th of July

July 4, 2009 by Melissa Filed Under: daily life, we like to eat together

I didn’t quite make it through the whole family party when I attempted to live-blog it on Thursday. Here it is Saturday and I am still thinking about stories from that night I want to tell. In particular, tragic pet stories. But they will have to wait.

I also wanted to talk about how hard it is to get a decent picture of all the kids together.

Especially when your sister zips by on your daughter’s scooter. So distracting.

And when your son bites his nails. Why so anxious Milo? Actually he and Clementine seem to be more alike than I thought. Look back at the first pictures how they are striking the exact same pose.

And when babies crawl out of the frame.

But I have desserts to bake and laundry to fold (I swear I’m going to really fold it all today and put it away.) And a baby that needs lots of attention since she got her shots. Though she is sleeping better. But keep it quiet. If she hears I’m getting some sleep she may kick things up again.

Hope you have a happy 4th of July and have lots of stories to tell and pictures to share after all the fun.

Live blogging is harder than it sounds

July 3, 2009 by Melissa Filed Under: family, we like to eat together

Taking pictures, downloading pictures, editing and resizing pictures, uploading pictures, posting pictures to the blog and writing about them takes a lot of time. So, technically, I’m live-blogging about an hour after fact.

In this case, more like 3 hours since I got way behind on posting when Tess woke up from her nap. She got her shots today and has been a little cranky.

But in my last post, I was just about to introduce you to my cousin Caleb, hair stylist extraordinaire. No family get-together is complete without him doing someone’s hair. This time he gave all the big little girls (big little?) a fancy style using the flat iron.

That’s Natalie he’s working on. She’s Jenny’s daughter. She’s very tall and beautiful and she has good hair.

Caleb can do magic with a flat iron.

Really. He could have his own infomercial.

He can make curls with it.

But they fell out so fast because this is July in Arkansas and we have humidity.

The little boys had so much fun doing boy things.

We laughed at a few more home videos. That’s my uncle Jackie on the couch and my cousin Wesley, Jenny’ brother. Whitney’s husband. He and the little boys caught a 30 pound catfish today. (Was it 30 pounds? 35? I’m terrible with fish poundage. But it was big.) The boys thought it was a shark.

And then we ate.

Fried okra, the first from the garden this year, was on the menu. Along with fried chicken, creamed potatoes, corn, beans, squash, fresh bread, salad, and that’s not even including the dessert. (Which was homemade ice cream, cookies, brownies and cheesecake).

But a friend of Natalie’s had never had okra. “What’s this taste like?” She wanted to know.

“Don’t feel bad. I don’t like to try new foods either.”

Sidenote: This girl adores hamsters and I almost had her convinced to adopt our geriatric hamster until she discovered it couldn’t use its back legs and had tumors. It was this close, I tell you.

And then, you won’t believe this, but an old preacher, I mean a pastor, not necessarily an old one, who pastored our church years ago, stopped by when he saw all our cars, with his wife for a visit. They are back in Arkansas. It’s been years since we’ve seen them.