Thursday, November 30, 2006
Monday, November 27, 2006
The Parties Story
I need to write this one down before I forget!!
Chapter One: The Anniversary Party
After months of planning on her part, Grandma's party day was finally here on Saturday the 25th. The party was supposed to be from 1pm to 3pm, so naturally we all arrived at 8:00am-ish to get set up. The Botanic Gardens were absolutely beautiful and the weather was just warm enough that I needed a sweater when the breeze blew, but was warm in the sun. We set up tables in the party room, arranged flowers and photo frames on the display tables. When we got to the wedding table, the one where Grandpa made a gorgeous backdrop to hang Grandma's wedding dress, someone discovered that the weedding pictures had been left at home. Only the most important box of photos! Luckily, Uncle Tim had just left and was able to turn around (however stressful it may have been with two boys in the car!) and got the boxes and still arrived on time for pictures. Everyone was freaking (except for me and Melody) for a few minutes until Tim saved the day. Way to go!
Picture time! They hired a professional to take family pictures out in the gardens. BEAUTIFUL!!!! I can't wait to see them, but I did get a glance at my family shot on the photog's digital and it was a great shot with the sun behind us making a kind of halo around our family. I think Caleb was even smiling. Everyone was great for pictures, and it went much quicker than I imagined it would. So we had a few minuutes to stroll around and look for snapshot backgrounds. Melody took a few great ones of us and we got a good Christmas card pic. I took a few of her and Naeole, including one disgustingly cute kissy picture. (Puking at the romanticness)
Family Time before the party! Grandma and Grandpa both wrote out how to have a fifty year marriage. Their tips were not-surprisingly similar to each others! After a few tears, Grandpa presented Grandma with a beautiful diamond necklace, more tears. My favorite part of that was when she read his note out loud and he said "I love you Mrs. Willis." So genuinely sweet!
Party time! People started piling in at 12:30 so about 12:50 we opened the buffet line. You should have seen the line to sign the guestbook and get in the door. It was amazing. Lots of mingling, taking pictures of strangers, showing off my son, the first great-grandson, and a bit of eating! 3 o'clock rolled around rather quickly and we packed up and got out of there by 4:30.
Ran home to clean house for party #2!
Chapter Two: Baby Shower
There was not nearly so much drama this time. Shelley brought a huge vat of yummy chicken spaghetti, of which there was hardly any leftover, Tammy brought the bread and salad, and I brewed about five pitchers of tea. Special thanks to my sweet neighbor for letting me borrow her coffee pot! (Not that she'll ever read this, but still) The food was perfectly organized, and I think everyone enjoyed the menu. The gift opening was also fun, and we didn't play any silly games. Cake was cute and yummy and almost not big enough! I really should have made cookies or something to help the cake go further. I think there was one piece left, and they were small pieces. All in all, a great party. I hope the guests of honor, Angela and Tim, feel the same! thanks to my Aunts and mom for bringing everything. All I did was clean the kitchen and straighten the house. It was the best kind of party to have at your house- the kind you do basically nothing for!
The End
The Car Story
Since we left W'house a day early, we had no real plans for the evening so we decided to stop by Carmax in Arlington. Looking for an Explorer or a Trailblazer with a third row seat (no particular reason except nonspecific future family growth)We saw three that suited our price range, so I emailed the sales dept when we got home. On a whim, the next morning we washed and vacuumed our Highlander (yeah, the one we bought in February of this year) and took off toward Carmax again. Greg drove the pretty maroon trailblazer while I sat in the back with Caleb, then we switched. I nearly wrecked the stupid thing, and Caleb cried the whole time... we took it as a sign that this was not the vehicle for us! ha. So, on another whim, we decided to drop by the Chevy dealer and ask about prices on new Trailblazers. Much to our dismay, the salesguy told us they no longer make EXT trailblazers with third row seats, "but we do have the Tahoe, which is a much better ride anyway." YEAH RIGHT. Well, one red tag clearance price and about four hours later, we drove home in a brand new Tahoe. Yeah, we are ridiculous. But there is that third row seat!!
The Thanksgiving Story
Cousins
Caleb's first Turkey leg! (no, he didn't actually EAT it!)
Grandparents
Caleb's swing on the back porch - and the only thing that made little mr. grumpy smile.
We spent thanksgiving this year in Whitehouse at the Rice's. It was the first time I can remember having Heather, Marchall, Janell and Isaac there too! It was great to have the whole family with all the grandkids at the same place. Heather's dressing was really good, even though I HATE dressing, and the Greenberg smoked turkey and the HoneyBHam were good too. The best part was they were both fully cooked so we didn't have to worry about that. yay.
We went Tuesday afternoon and Greg worked in the car while I drove. Caleb slept the whole way like we planned for him too (it was nap time). We arrived fine, Greg worked some more, and all was good until 4 am when Caleb woke up screaming and wouldn't go back to sleep. Greg and I took turns cuddling him on the reclining sofa until about 6:30 when I tried to put him in bed with us and it just didn't happen. So up for the day we got! (Luckily for them, Heather's family wasn't in town yet) OK, fine another good day, sans naps of course, Heather's family arrived Wednesday evening, the kids had fun together, and bedtime. Caleb went down good and we all justhoped and prayed it would last all night. Like and alarm clock, 4 am he was awake and screaming again. This time he wouldn't even cuddle with us, and the kids were asleep in the living room so we were stuck in a 10x10 bedroom full of antique furniture trying to NOT wake up the whole house. After about 45 minutes of off and on crying, Heather peeked in the door and came in to try to help. 5 minutes later there was Pam, follwed shortly by Marhall, Jerry, and both kids. SO, at 5 am we all decided to give it up and start breakfast. Caleb was ready to play anyway, so he Janell and Isaac played with him while I went back to bed for an hour or so. We decided before 7 am that we would be coming home that day and not staying Thursday night like we planned, all for the sake of sleep! Caleb has slept gradually better since we got home, and right now as I type it is 7:56 am and he is still asleep. I know it sounds like I'm whining but when he sleeps from 9:00 to 8:00 on a regular basis, it's rough getting up four hours early!
OK, whining is over.
Caleb's first Turkey leg! (no, he didn't actually EAT it!)
Grandparents
Caleb's swing on the back porch - and the only thing that made little mr. grumpy smile.
We spent thanksgiving this year in Whitehouse at the Rice's. It was the first time I can remember having Heather, Marchall, Janell and Isaac there too! It was great to have the whole family with all the grandkids at the same place. Heather's dressing was really good, even though I HATE dressing, and the Greenberg smoked turkey and the HoneyBHam were good too. The best part was they were both fully cooked so we didn't have to worry about that. yay.
We went Tuesday afternoon and Greg worked in the car while I drove. Caleb slept the whole way like we planned for him too (it was nap time). We arrived fine, Greg worked some more, and all was good until 4 am when Caleb woke up screaming and wouldn't go back to sleep. Greg and I took turns cuddling him on the reclining sofa until about 6:30 when I tried to put him in bed with us and it just didn't happen. So up for the day we got! (Luckily for them, Heather's family wasn't in town yet) OK, fine another good day, sans naps of course, Heather's family arrived Wednesday evening, the kids had fun together, and bedtime. Caleb went down good and we all justhoped and prayed it would last all night. Like and alarm clock, 4 am he was awake and screaming again. This time he wouldn't even cuddle with us, and the kids were asleep in the living room so we were stuck in a 10x10 bedroom full of antique furniture trying to NOT wake up the whole house. After about 45 minutes of off and on crying, Heather peeked in the door and came in to try to help. 5 minutes later there was Pam, follwed shortly by Marhall, Jerry, and both kids. SO, at 5 am we all decided to give it up and start breakfast. Caleb was ready to play anyway, so he Janell and Isaac played with him while I went back to bed for an hour or so. We decided before 7 am that we would be coming home that day and not staying Thursday night like we planned, all for the sake of sleep! Caleb has slept gradually better since we got home, and right now as I type it is 7:56 am and he is still asleep. I know it sounds like I'm whining but when he sleeps from 9:00 to 8:00 on a regular basis, it's rough getting up four hours early!
OK, whining is over.
Monday, November 20, 2006
To Do
"No pictures please paparazzi!"
I meant to put this in my blog from earlier today:
MY CRRRRRazy schedule for the next, oh, month:
Thursday 23rd- Thanksgiving of course (Whitehouse)
Friday 24th- scramble back home and clean house like a madwoman
Saturday 25th- 50th anniversary celebration ALL DAY
Sunday 26th- baby shower at my house
Monday 27th- ahhhh, take a short break and then start putting up Christmas decor
Wednesday 29th- Happy Birthday Cody!!
Friday 1st- Bunko Party at my house
Saturday 2nd- Journey to Bethlehem Dress Rehearsal
Sunday 3rd - Choir Musical in both AM services
Wednesday 6th - Pick up Tiana from DFW
Thursday 7th - JTB
Friday 8th - JTB
Saturday 9th - JTB
Sunday 10th - JTB
Friday 15th - dinner and drinks with bunko girls
Satuday 16th - Sunday School Christmas party
another lull in the activity until...
Sunday 24th - CHRISTMAS EVE!!!
Money Stressssss
I have to get it out... I just spent $220 on a carseat for Caleb... and I have this awful pit in my stomach now... Like I just spent our life savings away... I always get that when I order things online, I guess I'll feel better when I get the big huge $220 box on my front porch. OHMYGOSH
Who needs a job when you have a boy??
PICS AT BOTTOM!!
This might be the quietest moment I've had in 5 days!! And I'm finally alone. Greg took off Thursday and Friday of last week and it was great having him around. But I'm glad for some me time every now and then!
I just got finished cleaning up a broken jar of prunes from the kitchen floor. Talk about nasty. It HAD to be the one type of jarred food I buy that stains, too. Not the pears or the applesauce, or even the peas. The good thing was I got to get out my nifty Hoover Floormate and do some serious floor cleaning! woohoo
We knocked the crap out of the Christmas shopping last week, and even wrapped a few! Then Friday we spent doing house chores, and I painted a chair-rail border in the bathroom with a neat stamp... then decided it needed a little more, so Saturday I taped a pattern on the wall and Sunday I painted black stripes!! It sounds horrendous, but it turned out cute. I think the pic does it justice. I do need to do some touch ups before the baby party though.
Saturday we went out to my grandparents to help them pull their potted plants into the greenhouse, and knew that they were having their septic tank pumped that morning. When we got there discovered that their toilets were still all clogged up and no plumbers were answering (it is hunting season and football too!) So Greg got to dig a hole and find the clog in their septic system line. YUCK! So now he's a plumber.. without the whole buttcrack thing.. hehe. When we (I say "we", although I did almost nothing.. I held Caleb the whole time because I couldn't put him down on the floor after it had been stepped on after sloshing around in a bathroom with an overflowing toilet. GROSS) got that situated we made it back home in time to have Thanksgiving dinner with our neighbors out in their driveway. It was a potluck street gathering thing and it was pretty fun, although and little chilly for my liking. I got to see my neighbor's new used piano, and I almost cried out of sheer jealousy. That is THE ONLY THING ON MY CHRISTMAS WISH LIST THIS YEAR!!
Sunday was church. We had to pick Caleb up early from the nursery because they said he was acting "not like himself" which means he whined a little, which is not normal at all for him. Greg said, "That's the bad thing with having such a perfect baby - if he so much as fusses they call us since it's so rare." He WAS acting funny, but he didn't have a fever and I couldn't think of anything I ate or he ate that would be bothering his tummy, and he wasn't snotty or overtired, so it was a mystery. I think we figured out it was the fact that he hates overalls. Seriously, we had to pick our child up early from the nursery because he was cranky about having to crawl around in overalls. His legs kept getting caught and then they would pull down on his shoulders and generally annoy him. I guess the crying part was he wanted everyone to know about it!!
This morning I ordered a cake for the baby party, and did my grocery game thing. Then there was that shattered prune jar.
Still left to do before noon tomorrow:
Finish washing and folding laundry
pack my stuff
pack Caleb's stuff
try to fit it all in one suitcase
Journey to Bethlehem practice tonight
touch up the bathroom paint
eat all the leftovers in the house and finish drinking the milk (hard to do when you can't actually physically drink it)
This might be the quietest moment I've had in 5 days!! And I'm finally alone. Greg took off Thursday and Friday of last week and it was great having him around. But I'm glad for some me time every now and then!
I just got finished cleaning up a broken jar of prunes from the kitchen floor. Talk about nasty. It HAD to be the one type of jarred food I buy that stains, too. Not the pears or the applesauce, or even the peas. The good thing was I got to get out my nifty Hoover Floormate and do some serious floor cleaning! woohoo
We knocked the crap out of the Christmas shopping last week, and even wrapped a few! Then Friday we spent doing house chores, and I painted a chair-rail border in the bathroom with a neat stamp... then decided it needed a little more, so Saturday I taped a pattern on the wall and Sunday I painted black stripes!! It sounds horrendous, but it turned out cute. I think the pic does it justice. I do need to do some touch ups before the baby party though.
Saturday we went out to my grandparents to help them pull their potted plants into the greenhouse, and knew that they were having their septic tank pumped that morning. When we got there discovered that their toilets were still all clogged up and no plumbers were answering (it is hunting season and football too!) So Greg got to dig a hole and find the clog in their septic system line. YUCK! So now he's a plumber.. without the whole buttcrack thing.. hehe. When we (I say "we", although I did almost nothing.. I held Caleb the whole time because I couldn't put him down on the floor after it had been stepped on after sloshing around in a bathroom with an overflowing toilet. GROSS) got that situated we made it back home in time to have Thanksgiving dinner with our neighbors out in their driveway. It was a potluck street gathering thing and it was pretty fun, although and little chilly for my liking. I got to see my neighbor's new used piano, and I almost cried out of sheer jealousy. That is THE ONLY THING ON MY CHRISTMAS WISH LIST THIS YEAR!!
Sunday was church. We had to pick Caleb up early from the nursery because they said he was acting "not like himself" which means he whined a little, which is not normal at all for him. Greg said, "That's the bad thing with having such a perfect baby - if he so much as fusses they call us since it's so rare." He WAS acting funny, but he didn't have a fever and I couldn't think of anything I ate or he ate that would be bothering his tummy, and he wasn't snotty or overtired, so it was a mystery. I think we figured out it was the fact that he hates overalls. Seriously, we had to pick our child up early from the nursery because he was cranky about having to crawl around in overalls. His legs kept getting caught and then they would pull down on his shoulders and generally annoy him. I guess the crying part was he wanted everyone to know about it!!
This morning I ordered a cake for the baby party, and did my grocery game thing. Then there was that shattered prune jar.
Still left to do before noon tomorrow:
Finish washing and folding laundry
pack my stuff
pack Caleb's stuff
try to fit it all in one suitcase
Journey to Bethlehem practice tonight
touch up the bathroom paint
eat all the leftovers in the house and finish drinking the milk (hard to do when you can't actually physically drink it)
Wednesday, November 15, 2006
Today is Husband Day
I am declaring today "Husband Appreciation Day" at 3436 Beekman. I just think we need to have one of those every now and then. He does such great things every day that no one even notices (including me) and it's time to say thank you! Today is also "try to take a family picture using the timer setting on the camera" day. We'll try that one a little later!
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
Movin
Here's a great video of Caleb crawling at light speed. He has started doing this lately. He sees something across the house and focuses in and then crawls a warpath to it. It's pretty funny to watch because his little legs are just going and going.
Monday, November 13, 2006
Weekend Funness
Friday, November 10, 2006
Mine is the bestest
Caleb and I went over to a friend's house last night for a girls and kids dinner. There were four of us and my husband was the only one that wasn't out of town. I'm so lucky he doesn't travel with his job much! The babies there were 8 months(Caleb), 11 months, 13 months and 18 months. And I have to say, mine was the best behaved baby of all of them! He loved playing with his friend's toys and he sat at the table like a big boy and ate his peas and pears and peach puffs and never fussed once. When I got home I told Greg how great Caleb is and how I feel so proud to have such a well behaved, laid back baby. Those situations make me proud to be a mom and reassure me that we are doing a great job as parents!!
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