Ring the Dinner Bell

The only person I know who still calls the noon meal "dinner" is Big Pappy.  Dinner makes me think of a big meal at noon that farmers ate because they worked so hard during the day that their bacon, egg, biscuit, and gravy breakfast is all worked off and they need some more energy.  The best I can tell from my Little House on the Prairie books, at supper time a dinner eater would just have leftovers...possibly the cornbread all crumbled up in some buttermilk.  Well, of late, our schedule has been such that the concept of "dinner" has become a part of our normal routine.  I have to say that I like it.  My body likes not having that big heavy meal at night.  We don't work in fields...Woody still has his desk job and the kids and I just kind of hang out during the day, but it is still good.  By the way, we don't eat buttermilk and cornbread at night.  We eat what normal folk eat for lunch: PB&J, Mac and Cheese and the like.  I prefer just a bowl of cereal, but my kids do not. 

This day was chili day.  See why he has to have a bath every day?  The only down side is that he has several hours between lunch and bath time.

The dinner hour is some of Hope's best quality time with Dad.

After lunch, unless Will has had a morning nap, he goes down for a nap and Hope and I do school.  Today she was learning about bugs.  Insects to be exact.  Do you know that insects have 3 sections to their body, 6 legs (so a spider is NOT an insect), 2 antenna, a hard shell, and 2 wings?  Well, they do.

Drawing the parts of an insect.  Too bad it is cold out, wouldn't a bug collection be the perfect activity here?
So that's more of our daily routine.  Do you like routines?  Woody breaks out in a cold sweat at the mention of the words "routine" or "schedule."  I like them.  I'm a firm believer that kids like them too.  I bet Woody even did well with a routine as a little kid.