...kids say the funniest things

Acacia (8) - Playing at the park - brilliant 3rd grader

Shawndrea (2) - Be awnry as usual - but yet so adorable

Tamika (5) - sharing her icecream with her clothes

Me (23) - WHAT!?! Can't I have fun @ the park with my cousins too???

Mother's Day Weekend

Mother's Day weekend was a BLAST! Following the "Walk for Life" event on Saturday (see post below), we jumped in the car and drove 3 hours to Newton, KS where my grandparents live for about 24 hours of good ol' family time. We had a TON of fun and all my cousins were there too. Of course what is Mother's Day weekend without food...right! Yea, so on Saturday after arriving my parents took my grandma to dinner at Ryans, none other than an ALL YOU CAN EAT buffet!!!

ALL YOU CAN EAT BUFFET - A glutton's heaven a.k.a. an oversized feast offering every type of high-fat, high-calorie menu item your heart could desire.

"What's that? You would like Extra Cheesy Mac N Cheese, Mashed Potatoes with white gravy, Fried Chicken, Cheese Pizza, Tacos, a dinner roll with honey butter & Steak? Sure thing, help yourself..."

Don't forget it is complimented by a dessert bar that is equally tempting.

So my cousin's have never been to an All You Can Eat Buffet, they've spent a lot of their little lives between foster homes and families houses due to unfortunate situations. Right when we walk passed the buffet bar to our table, Acacia, my 8 year old cousin immediately pipes in with, "They have EVERYTHING here." She then goes to make her plate and returns to the table. Well this is where it cracks me up - the waitress approaches our table with a basketful of freshly baked dinner rolls. Acacia looks around and then very softly and innocently says to my grandpa,

"Are they trying to stuff us?"

I enjoyed every minute of the laughing and joking that followed that curious question! How fitting is that statement of a buffet. The thing I found most interesting by it though is the sense of almost disguist that accompanied the question - it was as if she was offended by the abundance of food that had been offered to her all at once. THIS IS AN 8 YEAR OLD WE ARE TALKING ABOUT HERE! I wish I could get disguisted by the wide variety of food myself - if America could as a whole, we'd be in a much healthier state.

I think buffets fall right in line with America's self-indulgent, impatient, "convenient or it's unacceptable" mentality that has become apparent in our food choices, media, stores, finances, living arrangments and so on. Now I'm not saying a buffet is "the devil," haha, however, it is sad that children in South Africa receive two meals A WEEK of mashed pumpkin for food, yet we're in America sitting before our smorgasbord of food and upset if they run out of our favorite dish(my friend Audrey went on a mission last summer to S. Africa and reminded me of this today because it's so easily forgotten by us who have every food imaginable easily at our disposal). It really is sad when we think about it...has our stomach become our god???

Off of the "heavy" now, onto the food choices I made @ the buffet (the good & bad - haha):

• Tbls sweet potatoes
• Corn on the cob
• Steamed Broccoli w/ spaghetti sauce
• 2 servings seasoned green beans
• 2 servings mashed potatoes (w/ skin) <-this was my downfall. :(
• Fresh Pineapple
• Melon (cantaloupe & honey dew)

On Sunday they barbecued and made ribs, cheeseburgers, hotdogs, potato salad, mac n cheese (my favorite food if I haven't mentioned that before), baked beans and cherry cheesecake.

While they all enjoyed themselves freely I had the blessing of partaking of the following, lol.

• Blackened Cajun Grilled Fillets (2) - 100 calories 3 g of fat 17 g protein per fillet
• Steamed Broccoli (a lot) - 30 calories 0g of fat per serving
• Ranch Dressing (yes friends, I ate ranch dressing on my broccoli - why does it have to taste so stinkin' good!?!) - 110 calories 11g of fat for 2 tbs - I had at least 2 1/2 servings. *gulp* AY!

Verse of the Day:

Matthew 5:6 (NKJV)
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, For they shall be filled.