Dinner at the Faulkner's...

On Monday afternoon, Shea called and invited Granny and I to dinner. I told her I would check with Mama. While she hung on, I asked Granny what she thought about going to Shea and Caleb's for dinner.

"Do they have head lice over there?", Mama asked. I repeated the question to Shea who laughed out loud. Shea said, "No we don't have head lice. I wouldn't have invited you if we did." Then Mama wanted to know what we were having and Shea said meatloaf. Mama said she would really like to go so I accepted the invitation, asked if I could bring anything (was told no), and asked what time we should arrive.

About 5:45 we drove over and as we walked up to the door, my mouth fell open. Raiden was walking. She's about eleven months old but she's so little she didn't look old enough to be walking all over the kitchen. Shea said she'd started walking at 9 months old, just like JaLyn did.

I asked JaLyn is she had any book she'd like me to read. Her eyes lit up and she took me to her room and pulled a big basket out from under the bed. She chose three books and we sat on the couch and read. She answered contend questions very well so I know she really understood what the stories were about. The books were, Green Eggs and Ham, Have you seen the crocodile?, and a book of poems. We could have read more but Shea called us to dinner just as Caleb came in the door.

Caleb had been back to the dentist. He had a dry socket and had to have it packed. I think he will follow directions this time. (You can't smoke after having a tooth pulled - it causes the blood clot to be dislodged and causes a dry socket - which leaves the nerve exposed to air - and hurts like h___.

Shea had made meatloaf differently than I've ever seen. After making the meatloaf into a "loaf", she put it in the center of a roasting pan, surrounded it with pared potatoes and carrots. She said she boils broccoli in another pan for a few minutes and puts it in about 15 minutes before the meatloaf and vegetables are done. She also said her cousin puts in cauliflower, onions, squash and other root vegetables. I must say, it was absolutely delicious! I've asked for the meatloaf recipe too. I think John will like it as well.

She also had a fruit salad of green grapes (cut in fourths), strawberries, cut in half and then sliced thin, and blueberries. It was a perfect complement to the meatloaf and vegetables.

JaLyn ate quite a bit and then said she was finished. I played the trick I used on my children to get them to eat just a few more bites. I patted her tummy and then pointed to a place and said, "You have a little room there and it says it wants some meatloaf." She would giggle and eat some meatloaf. We got through most of her dinner like that. She thought it was so funny. Raiden is also a good eater. Shea handed her a spoon and she put it down and picked up with her fingers. Shea said she's just trying to get her used to the idea. Raiden put it down so matter- of- factly that I'm not sure who's getting used to what.

She served vanilla ice cream for dessert. We were all stuffed.

After dinner Caleb showed us his new motor bike. Bright red and really nice looking. I asked him if he was planning on riding it to work but he said no, it was too cold.

Before we left we talked about Sam's ground hog again. Then Caleb pulled out his phone and showed us a picture of an opossum he surprised at work. Someone else killed it. It was huge. He said he walked around the corner and there it was eating the cat's food. It looked about three feet long.

We really enjoyed our evening.