What a week....

OK, DH was gone last weekend. And there were some high points, and some low points. We did NOT get off gracefully to school- either Friday or Monday. Less said about that the better...Friday, we did have our pizza party, and watched Dora's World Adventure (got it from Netfllix), and then did an impromptu shopping trip to Walmart to pick up some stuff- woo hoo, what a Friday night! :)
Saturday it was supposed to rain a little (and it did, but not much), and the yard was a swamp, so we went over to a nearby town to go shopping. We went to Best Buy where I got an external hard drive (can you say digi-scrapping obsession? Those kits take up so much space! I was burning them to DVD- but now I can keep them organized better :) We're thinking of upgrading our computer sometime too...and can use that to help us transfer stuff). And the kids bought some candy (at Best Buy? It was by the check out lanes! LOL) This was maybe not a good thing. We went to Joann Fabrics next- I had a pattern I wanted to buy, and wanted to get some fabric for it. The girls were doing ok- but then Rebecca spilled her can of mini M&M's on the floor...and I had to pick them up and throw them away...boy did we have a meltdown. I thought we were going to leave, but we muddled through some how. I let both of the girls choose some fabric for me (I steered them toward the stuff I wanted...and fortunately, they had decent taste :) ). Then we went to Panera for an early lunch- yummy! Things went pretty smoothly there, and we went to the mall for them to play at the indoor play area for a while. Things were going ok- until R. came over and announced she'd had an accident- #2. Ugh. And I'd left the diaper bag with her spare stuff in the car, since she's been doing so well. We went to the family restrooms and cleaned up as best as we could, but then had to go out to the car (which did not go over well!). Finally got out, and got R. changed, then we went over to a friend's house, to see her cute baby, celebrate her birthday belatedly, and let the kids play with her older son. I think everyone had a good time :) We went home and had dinner, and I let the kids crash for a while in front of Dora, then we had an early bedtime.
Sunday- I made waffles! My first time using my waffle-maker (DH usually makes them). I have a yummy recipe for overnight waffles, so I made the batter when we got home on Saturday. We played around the house for a while, then went to a little coffee shop for a snack/early lunch, and then to Lowe's to get some stuff for the yard. The girls had a short nap, and then we went out to work in the yard. I'd been out there earlier- and it was a beautiful day...but our yard is a swamp! We've got so much clay in our soil, it takes for ever for it to drain. I was wearing my crocs, and they were just flooded with muddy water. I had to ask Isabelle to run up and get me a towel to wipe off my feet so I could go back in the house. We had lots of foot baths that week!
Monday- I had to get the girls to dance lesson (Isabelles, but Rebecca came along for the ride). I got them there on time...but kept getting work related phone calls...annoying when you're in a noisy studio trying to entertain a 3 year old.
Tuesday and Wednesday were fairly uneventful. Thursday was hell. It was DH's birthday, and I left in such a hurry, I forgot to wish him happy birthday! :( I left the house at 6:45 to get to work because I was swamped (covering for someone out of town) Got thing wrapped up in time though- it was the girls school Easter program last night. DH was making dinner while I was running around organizing things. I was out in the laundry room (which is off the garage) and was hurrying back inside- I slammed the door really hard...and my little finger (right hand of course) got caught in it. Oh man...agony, I just started crying and couldn't stop, I was afraid it might have been broken (and was definitely cut- got it stopped with pressure and a bandaid). DH wanted to take me in to get an x-ray, but I didn't want to miss the girls program. (Now, I don't think it's broken, but it's still pretty sore- can't really use it yet- thank goodness it wasn't my index finger). Isabelle came up to me and said "Mommy grownups aren't supposed to cry" And we had a talk about how everyone cries sometimes (all while I'm sniffling profusely). And then she gave me a big hug and said "I love your hugs". And I love that kid :) We got to the program and the kids were great- Isabelle insisted on wearing one of her dress-up crowns :) They had a lot of fun- they both enjoy performing.
And then yesterday for date night! DH picked an asian fusion restaurant- he had sushi, and red bean ice cream for dessert. I had some really yummy pan fried cod, served with asparagus, mushrooms, potatoes and shrimp in an herbed butter and creme fraiche sauce. I'm drooling just thinking about it. I had espresso gelato for dessert- very potent! Yum! Then we went to a nearby bar that makes lots of specialty martinis-DH had a vanilla one, and I had a raspberry truffle one. Oh so good! Only one drink though, since we had to drive home, and were both pretty tired. It was awesome to get out by ourselves though!

The weekend recap

Better late than never, right? :)

Last weekend was spent in St. Louis with some wonderful ladies just generally having fun. Despite a slighly rocky start (missed my exit on the freeway, and was on meds for thrush- darn antibiotics!) the weekend was great. I don't remember the last time I've willingly stayed up so late (and I've never drank that much in one weekend- what can I say, I'm very tame :) ).

We started off the weekend with a trip to the Budweiser brewery, which was a lot cooler than I expected. It was so pretty, with these amazing chandeliers and stained glass everywhere, even in the stables. They gave away samples too- actual glasses, not little dixie cups. Then we went to the Schlafly tap room, for a delicious lunch, and back to the hotel for some R&R before heading out to dinner at the St. Louis Fish Market and then to the Big Bang Dueling Piano Bar (so fun! Last dueling piano bar that I went to was Pat O'Briens on my honeymoon). The next day, we got up way too early and went to the Arch- hadn't been there since I was a little kid- it was pretty cool. The rest of the day was pretty relaxed- lunch then hanging out at the hotel, eating, drinking and laughing.

After breakfast the next morning, we all headed out. Uneventful drive (I found a drive-through Starbucks- yay!) and the kids were reasonably excited to see me.

Dh and the kids had a good weekend to themselves- he let them have a dinner of popcorn in front of a movie on Friday night! (actually, he's gone this weekend and we're doing dinner and a movie- but I'm serving pizza! :) ) He actually took them swimming all by himself- brave man. And Isabelle lost her second tooth- and I mean lost! She and Rebecca were playing with the little bag it was in and it disappeared! I finally found it yesterday morning, so the tooth-fairy paid a belated visit last night.

I've just been kind of draggy this week. I was still tired Monday, and even a bit on Tuesday. Wednesday I felt back to normal- did some work in the yard because it was a beautiful day- and Thurday and today I'm suffering from pulled muscles. Had a migraine yesterday too, that I worked through- TGIF!!

Soooo tired

Just got back from an awesome weekend in St. Louis with friends. Did I mention it was awesome? Yeah, I'm a bit tired- I'll post more later, but I just had a quote from R. that I HAD to post before it gets forgotten in a sleep deprived haze. "You've been telling me I'm a real person" Huh?!? I said "well, you are a real person" and she laughed and said "No, I'm not!" Hmmm...silly little girl :)

House of Strep, and playing around

I've been playing around with my blog tonight- I made a header! Yay, me! I've started on a couple of digiscrap creative teams, and I used a kit from one of them to create it, because it fitted what I wanted exactly! (credits are in the upper right hand corner).

In other news...we've all been sick :( Well...to correct that, DH and I have been FEELING sick, the girls have been acting fine (but apparently have had sore throats they didn't tell us about until asked point blank). I've been sick since Friday. My throat hurt, but the worst was overall body aches, and fatigue. I've got a huge swollen lymph node in my neck, too. I thought maybe it was strep, but figured it was probably just a cold. DH got the same thing two days later. On Monday, he was tested for strep...and came back positive (my test came back negative). We asked the girls if they had sore throats...they both said yes...and sure enough, they both tested positive for strep. So we're all on antibiotics (I'm fairly sure my test was a false negative- since I have the same symptoms, and was the first one sick). So the girls got to stay home and play outside in our beautiful warm weather today (because they don't feel at all sick, but couldn't go to school. Oh, for more sick days like that... :) )

Conversations

Is a cat better than a sister? Rebecca thinks so... We were reading the book Jessica by Kevin Henkes (we love Kevin Henkes!) this weekend about how Ruthie didn't have a cat or a dog or a sister or a brother, but she had Jessica (her imaginary friend, and then her real friend). I was talking to Rebecca about how she (Rebecca) did have a sister and a cat. And then, just for grins, I asked her which she liked better- the cat or the sister. And she said "the cat". Repeated the question in different order, with real names, changed it to "who's more fun to play with?"- the cat won, everytime. Sisters- gotta love it.

And this morning- Isabelle was going through our hair pretty drawer- we still had a baby headband in there. She pulled it out and was asking about it and said "there will never be any babies in this family ever again". And I said- "well, when you and your sister grow up, maybe there will be". She said "but maybe we won't have babies- you never know." I said "You're right, but it would be nice- when you're older- about 28". And she said "Yeah, or maybe I'll be a teenager..." Eeek! Over my dead body! Convent school, here we come! LOL.

Out of town...

We're at the in-laws this weekend- our nephew is having a birthday party (he's turning 9!). So predictably, Rebecca is sick. She got a fever at dinner last night. She's still sleeping, so hopefully she'll wake up feeling better today. I was just remembering our failed camping trip, not quite 2 years ago. After driving to two different campgrounds, we found a campsite. She was a little tired, and sat on my lap while DH and Isabelle set up the tent (that was an adventure!)- by the time it was up, she was burning up with fever. So we promptly broke camp and went back home. This year, we WILL go camping! Anyway- she recovered pretty quickly that time, so here's hoping.

In other news- Isabelle failed the middle ear impedence testing they did at school- in both ears. It's not a hearing test per se, but we've often wondered about her hearing- we've even had it tested, and figured her problems were due to intermittent wax impaction. So, they retest her in 5 weeks and if she doesn't pass then, we have to take her to the doctor. I think I may go ahead and set up an appointment for her, though. In good news though- Isabelle has been picked to say the prayer at "graduation" this year from preschool. Eek- that means we have to start thinking about kindergarden soon!