Epiphany party

I'm a little behind posting this-- life has been a bit busy!  We've had several random appointments,  James had a conference at school, Lucy started a wonderful little "school" (it's only twice a month), and the kids and I got in a car accident.  Everyone's fine, and it was the other driver's fault, but I forgot how much of a hassle it can be communicating with insurance, getting the estimate, obtaining a rental car (especially with two car seats), and getting it fixed.

Anyway, here are some pictures from an impromptu Epiphany party we had with a couple of friends.  We got crafty/liturgical/goofy and had chicken with side dishes that represented gold, frankincense and myrrh (bread rolls, corn and stuffed mushrooms).  Lucy, of course, had a wonderful time.  One of her favorite things to do when people are over is to try on all their shoes.  This was a particularly amusing pair.

We also made a King Cake.  King Cakes are very popular in New Orleans for Mardi Gras.  Epiphany is the first day of the Mardi Gras season (apparently).  King "Cake" is kind of deceiving.  It's more like a big cinnamon roll shaped in a ring.  It's traditional to hide a little plastic Jesus in the King Cake and whoever finds it is king for the day and has to host the party next year.  Well, I did not hide a baby Jesus in the cake because 1. I did not have one 2. I think biting into a plastic anything would not be the best eating experience.  So, we went a more symbolic route and hid an almond in there.  

Carly and I did a lot of cooking that day!  Lucy is helping us putting on the sprinkles here.

 Charlie really loves our friend George.  As soon as George picked him up this day, he extended his arm to him to play the "bite my hand" game they play.

 In other news, Charlie has started eating solid foods.  We delayed it for a while because of his breathing issues and his development delays.  He's still not sitting up, but I decided to get out his high chair and see how he liked it in there.  He seemed pretty happy and able to keep himself upright in it, so we went ahead with some bananas.  He was very thoughtful about it all, but is enjoying it.  He seems to enjoy squash as well.  I know he looks terribly unhappy in all of these pictures but that is due to the presence of the camera, not his feelings about solids.

 I swear, he's all smiles and giggles until the camera comes out.