Kid stuff & soup supper

A couple weeks ago, I had the pleasure of attending an award ceremony at Tate's school.... I knew he had earned a few reading awards, but I had NO IDEA that he would receive so many- 

Most kids earned 1 or 2, some kids 4 or 5. Tate earned 7! I was so proud. His teacher made a big deal about it and by the time his name was called and he had to go to the front of the auditorium to collect all his certificates, his face was bright red!


We went out for ice cream recently and who did we stumble upon, but Elsa and Anna from the movie Frozen! It was a little odd that they were just walking around, greeting people in character (clothes and voices) but Macy loved it. Here she is with Anna, pretending to have reindeer antlers like Sven-

 When I tried to take a picture of Macy with Elsa, my phone froze up! How odd, right? We all giggled that it was due to Elsa's magic powers that could freeze up my phone.

Macy and Belle take a little break from playing in the backyard-

One more thing... a few weeks ago, Brian and I got invited to a "soup supper" and it was the coolest dinner we have been to in a long time! There is a local family who opens their home for dinner every Thursday evening, from Jan 1- St Patricks Day in March. They have been doing this for 10 years now. Each week they make 3 giant pots of soup and wait for people to come... Sometimes 2 people come, once they had close to 50! People bring dessert, wine, bread or their own pot of soup to share.

This family is incredible. They decided years ago to build a big house, so that they could all live together- grandparents, two daughters, their husbands and kids- most of whom are now in college. The house is a home. Sure, they have their own basketball court, gorgeous pool in the backyard and an amazing kitchen. But the highlight of the house, is the dining room. They have a table that seats 20 and it is the focus of the house- because they love to eat, together.

Apparently one of the daughters read about this "soup supper" idea years ago in Real Simple magazine and wanted to start it herself. Now, Brian and I want to start it too! The whole evening felt like an episode of the tv show "Brothers and Sisters" to me, minus the drama. There were probably 30 people there that night, everyone so friendly and dynamic in their own way.