Although we’ve been back in our house since Thanksgiving week, and we’ve had a few god-daughters etc. stop by after church and so forth, we have not really had any “serious company” – the kind you decide to CLEAN for – until today. Thus it was with great hustling and bustling, hurrying and scurrying, that we made final preparations this morning for the 1pm arrival of “a few” of the Jezek crew, whom I had invited to come over and observe a bread baking demonstration. I say “a few” because, of her family of 10 children, Laura only brought four along today – the two older daughters, Grace and Faith, Peter (around Jacob’s age, and rivaling him in mastery of Star Wars minutiae), and Timothy, the adorable 9-mo. old Gerber Poster Boy. Out of an abundance of caution about overwhelming us, she suggested we should “build up to” the whole family — lol! With kids as well behaved as hers, I told Paul we could handle 20!!
I had to run pick up just a couple of items for the bread, and timed it so as to bring back a quickie lunch for us before their arrival. I dropped Megan off across the parking lot at the Del Taco so we could save time, and had her pick up the lunch while I ran into the Wal-mart. Unfortunately, when I reached the van, I discovered that I had failed to place the canola oil on the checkout belt, and thus had walked out without paying for it. I was already in a rush, and I knew that Megan would be waiting for me outside Del Taco, so I jumped in, raced over and picked her up, and then drove around and dropped her off at the Wal-mart door with the receipt, $5, the jug of oil, and instructions to run in to customer service, explain, and pay so we could get home. (I sent her in because she is much faster on her feet than I am.)
I then proceeded to drive around in circles for around 10 minutes, then finally found a parking spot near the entrance where I could BOLO. Still another 5-10 minutes before she finally came out, having paid (and been thanked profusely for her honesty), and relieved to be done with the Friday-at-Wal-mart lines.
Fortunately, quesadillas are quick and easy to eat, and we were finished just in time to send Laurent to pick up Malinda and Efrain, and then welcome our guests.
We had an absolutely marvelous afternoon, chatting about homeschooling, families, and our histories; mixing and baking; playing with babies, and of course eating some hot-from-the-oven bread with butter (one simply must).
(hover over the upper right hand corner i to see captions)
Megan took it upon herself to propose we keep the girls for a double-over-nighter, and return them to their family Sunday at church. She even made sure that we have plenty of clothes to share with them before introducing the idea. How could I say no? 🙂 It was agreed between the mothers, and when the bread was finished and it was nearly supper time, we happily said farewell to Laura, Timothy and Peter, and sent them home with bread. As I type these words, there is a grand hoo-hah going on in the girl’s room, and I’ve no doubt it will continue late into the wee hours.
Friends are good. I am content.
Next time it must be the BOYS!! 🙂
Stacey
10 Feb 2012mmmmmm…… I wish I had smellovision because it always smells so delicious!
Annette Heidmann
10 Feb 2012Ahahaha! Haven’t heard that word in a few decades… 😀 You’re right. It does. You should come over and I will bake you bread. 😀
Linda
10 Feb 2012That’s a LOT of bread!
Annette Heidmann
10 Feb 2012Yes, there is no question you are correct. However, it goes remarkably fast when you are giving it away… for instance I think I’ll be handing out at least 5-6 loaves on Sunday at the B-day party for my mother in law. I’ll probably be baking again before the end of next week. 🙂 That’s ok, I owe my honey a batch of RYE bread anyway.
Pauline Holston
10 Feb 2012That bread looks, smells and tastes so good! I’ve said it’s like desert!!!!