Thank goodness for friends, because where would we be without them? But more specifically, thank goodness for friends like our beloved Renee, because she really saved the day for us. For the first time in her life, I had to miss one of Brailey's important events, a cooking contest called the Future Chef's Competition put on by the school district a couple of Saturdays ago. After exploring every avenue possible, including changing our work schedule, finding someone else to help Brady, begging my mother to forgo her house sitting job and come over and losing a lot of sleep, I broke down and asked my friends for help. And if I was a whole lot smarter, that is what I would have done in the first place. Because even though I thought it was the biggest, most inconvenient and crazy thing to ask for, my friends Renee and Kim didn't even bat an eyelash. So Renee, whom Brailey loves, took Brailey to the cooking competition and took all these pictures for me. And then, she was going to pick her up and drop her off with my Kim, who had baseball opening ceremonies and her son's games all day long. However, mid-morning Kim's daughter came down with a horrible flu bug, and so not only could Kim not attend the day of baseball, she couldn't take Brailey. So we had no choice but to ask Renee if Brailey could stay with her all day, and even though her oldest son (Brailey's classmate since second grade) was having his birthday party that afternoon and her youngest son had games to play, she didn't even hesitate to take on Brailey for the remainder of the day. And Brailey had the best time ever hanging out with Renee and playing basketball with the boys. And you can't believe all the stuff she learned at the cooking competition. Oh my goodness! I think she is almost ready to take over for The 4 B's. Each school was assigned a chef to assist them with making their recipe, and I am still hearing about things he taught Brailey. She loved every second of it! Her best friend Carrie came by to show support and brought her some special decorations for their table (is that a wonderful bestie or what?!) and you can see how happy Brailey was in these pictures. I asked her if she missed her mother, and she said, "No, not really!" Yes, that stung, but it also make me feel less guilty, because she was in great hands and she felt completely comfortable. Renee is the absolute most generous and thoughtful person you could ever meet - she even brought all three girls from Buena Vista snacks. Brailey was in better hands with her than with her own family!
She didn't win the competition, but she came home with a bag full of goodies and a lot more cooking knowledge. She and her grandma (my mother) came up with the recipe when my parents came to stay with the little B's back in February. They worked hard to come up with the perfect mixture and Brailey has been practicing the recipe ever since. She was thrilled to be in the main competition She got to keep the hat and apron, and now she wants me to find her cooking lessons. What can we say? I'm happy to have a future chef in our household, because we all know that is not my forte. Thank goodness the cooking gene didn't skip another generation!
