Delia and I started our fun weekend together on Friday with the Relay for Life, an annual event put on by the American Cancer Society to raise money for cancer research. I'd never participated, but I signed up to help the Starkville Chamber's team. Each team is supposed to have a member walking on the track from 5pm to midnight, so we signed up for an early shift.
There were tents set up all around the track and it was really a lot like a big tailgate. Everyone had food for sale, and all money went to a good cause.
Delia was all decked out!
Her boyfriend Silas, from her class, was there!
The first lap is walked by cancer survivors and is really cool to see. However, they didn't start walking until around 7pm, and Delia was already rubbing her eyes, so we left right after we watched them make their lap. My friend Kristi (in the green) was in the survivors group! She wrote a book about her experience with cancer and you can get it
here on Amazon!
Go Kristi Go!!
There is a ceremony at 10pm where they light luminaries in honor of loved ones. I got one for my friend Erica's dad, David, and one for Gery Cummings, who was on our church's website committee with me. He just passed away in the past month. Even though we couldn't stay until 10, my PR intern Ellen was writing a story on the event and she got some pictures for us. And, the ladies at the luminary table pulled David's for us to see before we left.
This is a close up of the luminaries, which stretched all the way around the track. Really neat. I will definitely participate in the Relay next year.
On Saturday we got up and went to the farmers market after the rain stopped. There isn't much produce there yet, but there were lots of pretty tomato and pepper plants. I only had $10 and I spent it on a jar of homemade granola (which Delia tried and loved) and 2 bars of handmade goat milk mint soap (which Delia loved to hold). Then we ran to Kroger to get ingredients for homemade ice cream, which we signed up to bring to the young adults' church picnic. Delia saw a woman coming out of Kroger pushing the buggy that looks like a red race car and started freaking out. I had to stalk the woman to her car and put Delia in it after she got her groceries (and kid) out of it.
I made 2 batches of ice cream while Delia napped. That should have been easy, but one of my recipes made way more than my little 1-quart ice cream maker held, and a lot of ingredients somehow ended up on the counter and the floor. Our church owns a lake about 4 miles from the church building and that's where we had our cookout. There was a big pavilion with lots of tables, a huge grill, and running water!
There's Delia's boyfriend Silas again! Sharing is not Delia's specialty and in this picture she had just shrieked for him to let go of her walking toy.
I didn't get many pictures of all the other kiddos that were there - 12 I think! - because Delia was being a little clingy. In this picture, we had gone down to the water to watch some of the bigger kids catch frogs and tadpoles.
Look at that tiny ponytail! I am not good at putting Delia's hair in a rubber band. It always makes her cry. But it sure is cute!
She had a good time. When we left, she was exhausted and covered in Cheeto dust and ice cream sticky. Mmm what a delicious baby! She liked that ice cream too. She held on to her ice cream cup and spoon until she fell asleep on the way home.
Mother's Day breakfast together. Delia tries very hard to use utensils to eat now. Almost...
Got it!
Hanging out after church. Delia loves to wear anything of mine: shoes, watch, bracelets, headband...
"Is it straight?"
She is a very girly girl and loves her shoes, hair bows, and new outfits. One morning she brushed her hair with her toothbrush all the way to day care.
Oops. Less than ladylike.
Sweet patootie.
It quit raining long enough for us to go on a quick Mother's Day outing to Barnes & Noble. It's so nice, I just like to walk around in there sometimes.
Delia found some books already on the floor that she could stack and re-stack.
We went to the kiddie corner and read a teeny book at a teeny table.
And we rode the escalator up and down 4 times!
Sunday morning we all went to Restaurant Tyler for brunch. It is by far my favorite restaurant in Starkville and the chef was recently featured in Southern Living. He makes the best grits on the planet. We had fancy waffles and omelets. Delia ate everything we put in front of her!
Strollin' downtown...
in the sweet new dress that Nana brought her!
Sunday night we cooked grilled pizzas. What? Who does that? I found the recipe here, on AllRecipes.com, complete with an instructional video. Here is Mama patting out the dough that we made from scratch!
Toppings ready to go out to the grill, including fresh oregano and basil from our little garden. Chicken, steak, veggies, feta... mmm. Good short cut: most of our toppings were cooked the night before for fajitas.
Grady brushed the grill with oil, then cooked the dough right on the rack.
When they get nice grill marks on them, you turn the crusts cooked side up and add your toppings.
"Who's making my pizza? Can I have peas on my pizza?"
Then it's back to the grill to cook the bottom of the crust and melt the cheese.
YUM-MY!
"Grilled pizza is GOOD!"
Happy pizza-covered baby
Delia and Nana playing "Get that finger out of your mouth!"
