When You Have "Foodie" Friends

How did this even happen? How am I friends with people who don't eat meat?! Well, have you met these girls? Because they rock. And I'm so glad they're in my life...for nearly ten years now. Wow. And...they didn't start out as foodies...but I do appreciate everything about them. Just as they "appreciate" that I buy cheap food at Wal-Mart and have to bring my child every time we get together.

We've been getting together to watch Season 1 of Glee as part of Jamie's quest to convert DeAnna and I. We're really a pretty easy sell. I am just loving the excuse to get together with them. I feel like I have to beg them to keep inviting me as I'm not a foodie, live far away, have a child, and my child always has to come along...and he may have fed Jamie's dog bread...which is apparently not allowed! So, for all of the above reasons, I was secretly dreading when it was my turn to host. Christy sent me some links to recipes and helped me come up with the idea to do a pizza. I have a great homemade dough recipe from Alton Brown that we make in my classes at school. (See, I cook at an 8th grade skill level!) The kids stinkin love it. But this occasion called for no ordinary pizza as instead of red sauce and meat I used hummus, veggies, and yes, a little monterey jack cheese. I tried to be sensitive to vegans and left a section without cheese.

I also tried to give lots of organic options to make up for my lack of foodie knowledge...

It turned out pretty good in my opinion...which I guess really isn't saying much. :)

My pretty friends were so polite and ate my food. And even picked Cade's toy up off the floor after he threw it 27 times.

And tolerated his distractions...probably because he is so dog-gone cute!

Always a fun time with my blogging friends. You've gotta love convos that start like, "I really loved your last post about..." or "so, about those footie pajamas at Christmas..."
And only once, as I started to throw some lettuce away and I saw a cringe and then in unison they said, "You should compost that!" did I have to laugh about my lack of hippiness (in comparison). Love them.

And today Cade and I are just relaxing and tackling a few remaining chores/projects to wind down the break. Like cleaning out the freezer.

All this breast milk is from July and August. I'm pretty sure they say it's good in the freezer for 3 months. This was obviously from a time when my body was making WAY more milk than he was drinking. And fresh is better than frozen so very rarely do I tap into our supply. I know, I know. Seems like a waste. Matt wants to sell it on the black market. I'm sure I should just compost it?

Cade's First Christmas!

We spent a little over a week in Great Bend bouncing back and forth between our families for Christmas celebrations. It was another great holiday, and extra-special with Cade! Tried to take lots of pictures but, as always, I just end up with random snap shots. Here's our Christmas in pictures!

We kicked off our visit to GB by taking in the annual Vespers service by the high school choir. MaKenzie had a solo and did a wonderful job.

The Vespers service is very rich in tradition so I really enjoyed the performance and even reminisced a little about when I was in the choir and show choir...10 years ago...

Aunt G Dawg on duty

The fam decided Cade's hair needed styling




Dad even had an opinion about it...




We affectionately referred to MaKenzie as "Christmas Barbie" for the holidays as opposed to just "Malibu Barbie" like usual...

He chews on EVERYTHING...it's like he's a beaver sharpening his teeth or something



Presents? For me?!

I tried to make a few a little easier to open...but he still was pretty indifferent about the whole thing. I knew he wouldn't understand but I really thought he would want to at least play with the wrapping.

Not so much...notice the meltdown face


G Dawg spoiled Cade rotten with lots of toys and an awesome KSU football jersey!




Christmas Eve PJs at the Keeley's were hilarious!

Now I can match Cade!

Christy

Beth

Cindy & Lukas

Cade must have been VERY good this year...or atleast since May...when he was born.

Christmas Day breakfast

Matt and I

Lukas & Cade

Presents!

All mine?

Do not try to take these from me!!

This may be his favorite thing he received...the hammer to a peg pounding bench. He chews on it all the time.

He loves this singing basketball goal...

But isn't quite ready for the concept of shooting...much to Matt's frustration :)

Another great holiday season in the books! I enjoyed getting to relax and even made it to the gym to workout a few times and also was able to connect with some high school friends!
Megan and Emma came over

You can tell they live up North! SO cute!

Now we're just soaking up these last few days of rest and Cadeness. It will be hard to be away from Cade when normal life resumes. He's changed so much in the last week it seems! We came back to KC and he is all over the place with his quick army crawl and into EVERYTHING! Baby-proofing to come...soon!
Hope everyone had a wonderful and restful holiday!

Finally...

A smiley face indeed on the school calendar. Farewell students, see you January 5th. Some professions may get large Christmas bonuses, but I'm content with the handmade gifts and a calendar that looks like this. I love my profession.

Comb-overs & Christmas Sweaters

Matt's team organized a festive Christmas photo shoot. I tagged along because we weren't sure if they would have anyone there to actually take pictures for them. (You can't really count on college guys to think through the details). Much to our surprise they had arranged for an MNU booster with all of his professional photography gear to capture the moment for them. Cade and I were still glad we attended as it was hilarious.



Getting a little awkward...



Cade wonders if this is normal. I guess we shouldn't be worried by the comb-overs and women's sweaters...it was all in the name of team bonding. :)