Saturday started with a cross country meet and a soccer game in the morning and then morphed into yard work in the afternoon and ended with friends over for dinner in the evening. It was a full day!
Sunday started with Mass. Then home for breakfast and playing with the little ones. By late morning I was preparing food in anticipation of watching the Patriots game. We are a football family. There is nothing better than a lazy Sunday afternoon in the fall watching a Patriots game and eating some special food. Since today was the first game of the season, we did some extra special food for the game. On the menu was taco dip, pigs in a blanket, coconut chicken, chili, and, for dessert, cupcakes made from Jay's mom's beloved recipe. It was a yummy way to enjoy some family time. Since the Patriots won the day was even better!
With a large family, everyone in the house knows that if they want to enjoy the food, they need to move fast once it comes out of the oven. Sometimes it's like a feeding frenzy! If they don't get a plate early, they may be out of luck!
Everyone in the family has their favorite foods. Today, I tried to make sure everyone had something that they enjoyed. Andrew is my pickiest eater. His two favorite foods are bacon and hot dogs....I know, definitely not the healthiest but we keep working on him! Pigs in a blanket are one of his all time favorites. The kids know that if they want to eat more than a couple of these treats, they need to move fast. Jon made the comment today..."Hey, since Andrew's wrist is broken and he only has one hand to work with, we might have a fighting chance to get those pigs in a blanket!"
Jon was especially hungry today. (Must be all that soccer!) The first batch of coconut chicken had barely come out of the pan before he filled his plate with most of it! I sprinkled the seasoning on his chicken as he walked past me!
Mike likes it all so he was thrilled with the spread. Jay, too. Sarah was most excited for the cupcakes since she has been talking about chocolate cake all week. She helped me make the frosting. She even put the extra frosting into a tupperware and put it away. Of course, this clean up had ulterior motives....Sarah hid the tupperware deep in the fridge so no one else would notice it and she could keep the extras for herself! Because, really, what's better than a spoonful of frosting!?!
After the game, I spent some time outside with Luke and Kate. There was a cooler breeze with the hint of fall....perfect afternoon weather. It was so nice just to be outside.
My loving husband finished cleaning the kitchen while I was out with the little ones! Then he played basketball with Mike. After a while, Luke noticed they were outside and ran out to play, too. Peter followed him outside to wander around the yard.
I opened the front door to check on Peter. Luke was standing next to Jay holding the basketball. I yelled "hi" to him and he yelled "hi" back and then told me that he was playing with Daddy and gave me a hearty wave and an adorable smile.
Jay told me later that when I shut the door, Luke looked up at him and said, "That's my mommy. She was checking on me. Mommy loves me!"
Yes, she does, Lukie...very, very much!
