Grateful for my Tribe

The boys (minus John, sigh) and I spent a lovely afternoon -and evening- with a bunch of mama's and papa's and babies and kids, feasting and giving thanks for the friendships and support that we share with one another. I am blessed, blessed, blessed for the people in my life. Thank you all for the beauty you bring to this earth...

Everyone brought something brilliantly delicious! Our menu looked something like this, and I'm sure I'm forgetting something, but, just to get your salivary glands going...! Everything home made, heart made:
quinoa loaf
veggie pasta bake
fruit salad
banana bread
pumpkin pie (2, one specially made for those gluten free eaters)
spring rolls with peanut sauce
rice noodle pasta dish
roasted sweet potatoes
eggplant/sweet potato/zucchini layered dish
pita bread
hummus
leafy green salad
wine
sparkling cider
more wine

And boy, can we put some food away when you throw a bunch of us together. Sheesh. It's almost embarassing (if I didn't love food so much, mabye!) But, we do love our food! The kids nibble and snack as they pass through the dining room, and the adults seem to stick close to the grazing field. Fourteen children played together quite happily, ranging in age from 12 months to 7 years. Another noteworthy bit is that of those 14 children, only 3 were girls! Must be the water?

Sage and two of his buddies thought it was just the perfect time to take a bath, and so they did. They were so cute, 3 little guys in the tub. The played with the sharks and turtles and other fun toys together, until they were done and ready to move on to something else.

Stone is really into borrowing things when we leave people's houses, but wasn't having any luck striking up a deal tonight, so had quite the meltdown as we were leaving. I helped him into the car, took off his boots so he didn't do too much damage to the dashboard as he was kicking it, and turned on a mellow song to try and help him sooth. Intense, but he did calm down, and I held his hand the whole way home, after he decided to let me touch him, that is. Whew, he was angry. Coulda been because he didn't eat anything there; he's much more into playing than eating that one! I offered several times, but he wasn't havin' it! Once home and cuddled on the couch with me as I nursed Sage to sleep, he said he was hungry. He requested his favorite, egg sandwiches. He always likes to have 2 eggs, on folded pieces of bread, so he ate them and promptly fell asleep.

Saylor decided to have a couple 'yolky' eggs, too. He actually ate a couple of times at the festival of food. He gobbled up the eggs and while I was cleaning up the humidifier for tonights use, saw the spicy black bean burgers in the freezer and said he'd like one. He's usually my light eater, he'll eat/try anything, but he eats so little at a time.