Well, it’s Thanksgiving Week which means we’ll be hosting the eighth annual Dare Challenge dinner at our house. (If you want to read about the past dinners, go to the search window at the top of the page and type in “Dare Challenge.”)
Folks in our church have signed up to provide all manner of deliciousness to help feed these wonderful young men which I truly appreciate since in the early days, I did almost all the cooking myself. This year, every dish is being provided. Woo hoo!
In the meantime, here are some recent happenings in life.
A couple of days ago, I took a stroll through one of my favorite local shops which features everything from vintage items to new, artsy jewelry and bags.
It’s one of those places you can’t rush through; you have to go into meander mode as soon as you walk in the door. I hope you enjoy your own meandering through this photo tour.
A few days before that, I went to the downtown waterfront with a young woman in the church who I am mentoring. The day was perfect and the wind was unusually calm; I am not used to seeing the water so smooth.
In closing, I wanted to include a question that Meagan mentioned on FB today. But first, a couple of photos.
Three Smith boys. Noah-6 years, Grayson-16 months, Andrew-3 months.
What Meagan was saying on FB is that Grayson is allergic to corn, soy, dairy, and nuts; they give him terrible eczema all over his body. Meagan is looking for ideas for foods that a toddler can eat without those ingredients. If you’ve had any experience with that, leave a comment below or, if you have additional info to share, email me at smithellaneous@yahoo.com and I will get you her contact info.
What about you?
What are your plans for Thanksgiving? Staying home or going away? How many will be at your dinner? Do you have a particular dish you are famous for in your family?
We will be at home, just the two of us on Thanksgiving day since everyone but me has to work on Friday. Then on Friday afternoon, our kids and grand kids will arrive and we will celebrate the holiday over the weekend. Stuffing with sage has to be the family favorite so I am planning on making a BIG batch!
Your pictures of the water are amazing! So calm and serene….love them!
Have a happy and blessed Thanksgiving!
Lee Anne,
I LOVE stuffing. I’ve never had sage stuffing but it sounds delicious. Enjoy the food and the fam!
Glad you enjoyed my pictures; it was SUCH a gorgeous day I just had to grab some shots.
I’d suggest as much unprocessed food as possible. Which in the UK at least is not cheap or particularly quick unfortunately. My kids are tweens now but we still have a lot of steamed veg, chopped fruit, plain meat and fish, homemade desserts, lasagna (diary free), spaghetti bol. shepherds pie (which could be batch cooked ahead of time and frozen in portions – which I hated spending the time doing, but blessed the freezer every time I opened it in the middle of a crazy week). It did get a bit repetitive, but it doesn’t last for ever! The kids didn’t know any different – we simply didn’t buy processed food for the house. If the kids had a hot meal at day care we also did quick teas…things like omlettes, tempura’d veg with dips, hummus and pitta, things on toast, savoury pancakes (and sweet!). I think I was fairly lucky in getting non-fussy kids, now they are older we do the same kind of things, but cooked in styles from around the world to give variety…lots of asian, mexican & indian inspired dishes.
Wendy,
Thanks for the great, practical advice. It sounds like you are quite the creative cook. I especially love that you have taught your kids to eat healthy without making a big deal of it; just prepping and serving the food with no fanfare and helping them know that it’s the normal way to eat.
And Asian, Mexican and Indian inspired dishes? You can have me over any ol’ time! 🙂
I hope Meagan is able to find some ideas for that sweet boy. The pictures of the smallest Smiths are precious! Your waterfront pictures are wonderful, as always. What a very cool shop you meandered through. So many interesting things…I remember using the “vintage clothes pins” to make angels in Sunday School when I was young. I’m so happy to hear that you will have so much help for Thanksgiving. I always enjoy hearing about your Dare Challenge visitors. We will be eating with local family as we usually do. Wishing you all a wonderful Thanksgiving!
Sue Ellen,
I bet you never knew when you played with those clothes pins all those years ago that they would be worth something a few decades down the road. Just seeing those pins brought back so many memories . . . as did many items in that wonderful store.
Happy eating and enjoy your family!
I have no real advice to give to Meagan with the food allergies, but would recommend she talk with a licensed dietician. They may be able to help her find foods that are toddler friendly and allergy free for her son to eat.
By the way, your grandchildren are adorable.
As for Thanksgiving, we are going to my husband niece’s on Thursday to celebrate Thanksgiving with some of his family. Then on Saturday, we will be hosting Thanksgiving at our home for my family.
Wishing you and your family a Happy Thanksgiving!
Richelle,
Good for you; you get to eat TWICE! 🙂
And seeing a dietician is a good idea. Meagan is doing such a great job of collecting information and making it work for her family; not an easy task! And I have to agree the grandkids are pretty cute!
I do not have any information regarding different foods he might eat, but I have a grandson who has a problem with eczema when he was younger. His rash was terrible and she use Doterra oil, lavender. It helped control rash wonderfully. Loved the pictures of your boys. We will be home for Thanksgiving, sharing it with our daughter, husband, and her four daughters and our son, wife and son and daughter. Will be a house full, but so much fun. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving as you minister to the men from Dare.
Cathie,
How wonderful to get to be with husband, kids, kids-in-law and grandkids for Thanksgiving! Your hearts will be as full as your plates.
It’s good to know about the Doterra oil; I LOVE the smell of lavender and I love knowing it worked so well for your grandson.
Did you edit your post? I would have sworn that when I read it first thing this morning you said Andrew was the one with allergies. I don’t have any words of wisdom for Meagan as I’ve never had food allergies and neither has any of my close family.
Tomorrow I will drive about 115 miles to pick up my parents for Thanksgiving. Wednesday I hope to find my mom a new pair of shoes – she’s a little picky as to what she wants – nothing too heavy in weight and doesn’t want any that have a pattern in the tread. She has a pair of Skechers that has tread she doesn’t like. Wednesday afternoon I am picking up barbecue from a local barbecue place and that will be our Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday. It’s only the three of us so not worth fixing a big meal and both of them love their ribs. I will pick up a pie at Hen House, the grocery store I go to most. I’ll make the return trip Friday. Saturday I need to check visitor packets at church. Sunday I’ll go to Sunday School but skip church as my brother’s philharmonic orchestra has a Christmas concert along with their community choir.
That is great that your church ladies have contributed all the food. You’ll still have a lot to do to get ready – tables, etc and then cleanup. Happy Thanksgiving!
Phyllis,
Yep, I sure did edit! 🙂 It occurred to me about an hour after I hit Publish that I had accidentally typed in the wrong name.
I think it’s a great idea to trade out turkey for ribs. Steve’s not a big turkey fan so he’d be all about that! Enjoy. (And I hope your mom finds just the right shoes.)
Prayers for Grayson and parents. I know your luncheon with the Dare Challenge guys will be a blessing. I will eat at my sister’s house but not sure about Jim. May have to bring him a plate back. My coconut cake and icebox fruitcake were always good but have not may either this year. String bean casserole was one of my dishes but my sister requested I make potato salad. Happy Thanksgiving to all. ??
Ann,
I hope you enjoy every bite of Thanksgiving and that Jim does too, whether he eats at home or at your sisters.
Thanks for the prayers for Grayson.
Yay! The Dare blog is coming next week 🙂 I think it is so wonderful that you do this each year and that the Church ladies have all pitched in to help out with the foods. I will be going about 2 hours away to my daughters home for Thanksgiving. Started out as just 8 of us, then 11, then 15 and now up to 18 of us. She keeps adding those who need a place to be for Thanksgiving. I had a couple of great nieces that were dairy, egg and soy free. Mom worked hard using alternate flours etc to make their meals. I would think if Meagan kept it at the meat, veggies, fruits and nothing mixed for him, that would work too. My nieces did outgrow it, so I sure pray that Grayson will too.
Wendy,
I love that your daughter keeps adding those who need a place to be. You definitely raised her right! It means so much for everyone to have a place to be at Thanksgiving.
Allergies definitely require a bit more thinking for moms. I do hope Grayson outgrows his allergies, like your great nieces.
Hooray! The Dare Post is coming soon! Happy thanksgiving to you all! Love all the shop pictures, I could spend forever in there looking at every detail.
I have been there with the allergy issues with my oldest son. He was allergic to many foods (eczema also) and eventually outgrew most of them. I had to keep it very simple and clean. No mixed foods at all. At one point, when he was younger than Grayson, all he could eat was mashed potatoes made with water(yuk), lamb, peas and breast milk. I felt like I breastfed him forever to give him the nutrients he was missing. He did not react to anything I ate, thank goodness. The hardest part was finding foods that were filling so he wasnt hungry. All other vegetables and meats were out, as was diary. Since Grayson’s allergies are a bit different, I dont have much to offer in the way of suggestions. My son did end up being an overall “allergic” person. He has seasonal allergies, with allergic asthma and has a bad allergy to wasp stings which required 5 years of allergy injections when he was in elementary school. Now, at the old age of 34, he still gets flaming red hot cheeks if he eats sweet potatoes. Carrots are still suspect as well.
Thanksgiving is quiet this year for me. One of my sons is hosting the big meal for family and friends nearby but it is just too much for Sarah so we will stay home. I’m feeling a little bit better so I am more than happy to be thankful for our stable health and just enjoy the parade on TV.
Thank you for your kind words on my last post, it means a lot. I look forward to your Dare pictures 🙂
Lesley,
Thanks for the good food advice; I know Meagan will be reading these comments.
A quiet Thanksgiving spent with a sweet daughter you love is a blessing in its own right. Enjoy the parade and the time to continue getting stronger and feeling better.
I can’t wait for the DARE post! It’s one of my faves all year.
I so enjoyed meandering through that shop with you. It’s definitely a place I’d like to get lost in for a bit.
Up until a few days ago, I thought it would just be me and my 4 year old son, Matthew for Thanksgiving. I was getting used to the fact that it would be different since my Dad and sister moved 5.5 hours away. But, a few people are going to a couple’s home for Thanksgiving and we were invited. I’m looking forward to it. I’m not sure how many will be there- at least 9 of us. So, that will be fun! I ordered a ham for Matthew and I at a local meat shop and I will bring that as my contribution.
I don’t have any answers for Meagan, but I will pray for them!
Have a blessed week!!
Krista,
How fun that you and Matthew will get to eat Thanksgiving with a larger group of folks! Hooray for you and hooray for them for inviting you. And bringing a ham will be a perfect addition.
Enjoy!
Well, apparently I clicked the post button before I was finished. Those darling faces – Nathan’s is cute too, what treasures! I’m sure Meaghan is very busy with those boys. Wish I had a suggestion or two regarding those allergies. Hopefully someone will be able to help.
Sharyn,
Yes, I agree. Those are some VERY darling faces!
We will be going to our daughter’s home (only 6 miles away) for Thanksgiving. So far she has not let me know what I can bring. Usually her husband will deep fry the turkey, so not sure how it wil be cooked this year. We just back from Branson and your photos remind me of a place I was able to meander through. Definitely places like that cannot be rushed through. Have a wonderful and blessed Thanksgiving!
Sharyn,
Six miles is not too bad of a road trip for Thanksgiving! 🙂
Glad you were able to do some Branson Meandering.