Weekend Wrap-up

The weather was gorgeous this weekend and we had a good time to go along with it. On Friday morning, Kelly, Calleigh, and I headed out for my usual activity of yard sale-ing. I found some clothes for Calleigh and a few for Camden - - apparently Camden is the official (or as close to official as you can get) name of baby Brace. Sidebar for a moment. Weirdly enough, Duncan and I and then Shawn and Camille, both couples completely on their own, had come up with that same name for a boy a number of years ago. It was entirely possible that if Calleigh had been a boy, we would have named her that. I don't know that it was still at the top of our list if number two turned out to be a boy but either way, Shawn and Camille have obviously beaten us to it. But back to Friday...Shannon had been doing a class at work and got out very early so she joined us girls for lunch. After a Calleigh nap, we then headed over to the cousins for waffle night. Shannon was in charge this week since Megan was working the 3 - 11 shift all week. She tried a new technique of keeping the waffles warm in the oven so that we could all eat at the same time instead of making them to order. This proved to be a much better option and it was a delicious meal. Mmm, I think I'm starting to salivate right now as I think about it. The key to a good waffle meal is that you have the sweet with the waffle and then you have the salty with some stripples and hash browns. Makes a big difference.

On Sabbath, Kelly came to church and Sabbath School with us. At Sabbath School, there are two little sisters, Macy (3) and Marley (15 months) that are almost exactly two years to the day apart in age and I have been paying particular attention to them since we'll be having the same. They wore matching dresses this week and I couldn't help looking at them and feeling the excitement about Calleigh and the daughter to eventually be named wearing their matching outfits. I wonder at what age they'll rebel against that?

For lunch, all the cousins and Yully came over where I tried out a new recipe, I think successfully. As I was heading up to my nap, Megan was asking if we had some ingredients for brownie delight which we did. When I got up from my nap there was a note on our door that we could go over to their place for the dessert but we ran out of time...I had made plans with the girls (Kelly, Shannon, Megan, Tiffany, and a friend of Tiffany's) to have a girls night out at the movies. We opted to go see "He's Just Not That Into You." I decided to meet them there and since they were running late, I was to go into the theater and save seats. I have to tell you, I did feel a little self conscious going into a movie with this title and my pregnant belly sticking out. I wonder if some people thought I was this poor, pathetic, knocked up girl. I was quite relieved when they arrived - - also because I felt like Elaine Benes trying to save 5 seats in a rapidly crowding theater. I was quickly cheered when each of the girls pulled out a different part of the brownie delight in these little containers from their purses. Sweet! I hadn't been to the movies since last June so it was nice to get out like that and I thought the movie was pretty good too. Ginnifer Goodwin is adorable.

This morning Duncan went to play ultimate (Frisbee) and Kelly and I took Calleigh to the Farmer's Market before going to First Watch. I was able to mostly contain her in her stroller which was a good thing.
When Duncan and Elaine had taken her there before, they had let her roam free and the first thing they knew, she was stealing a cherry tomato from one of the booths. Anyway, we timed our arrival at First Watch just right because the others were just sitting down when we arrived. The others were Ron, Elaine, Toni, Terry, and Seth. Toni and Terry were just passing through town on their way back from Uncle Terry's parents in Avon Park. If the amount of time Calleigh has talked about First Watch is any indication, she seems to like it there a lot. On Friday while we were driving around to the yard sales, all she could talk about was First Watch. Of course, it's not like she's actually ordering anything off the menu there. I bring food with me for her most of the time - - mainly because I don't like to pay for meals for her. They always include a drink in the kids meal which jacks up the price and there's no reason that she needs a drink. She has milk at home and that's it.

While Calleigh napped this afternoon and Kelly went to Thrift-Ko, I finished the taxes. Since we have the rental property and stock, I used Turbo Tax and it's so nice to have a program do everything for you. Plus, I love to watch the little ticker at the top as it goes up and up with the amount of your refund. Of course, every year I'm always so nervous that somehow something will have changed and we'll owe a bunch of money (which, in fact, right after we got married and didn't have a house, did happen to us). Fortunately, that was not the case and we'll be getting our nice refund on February 20, so they say. I know, I know. We're giving the U.S. government a free loan on our money. I'm the first to admit that. However, the way the interest rates are right now, it's not like we would be making a bunch of money on that money if we had gotten it all along. Besides, what price do you put on the joy you receive when you see that ticker with a nice positive number on it and you know it will soon be in your bank account?

Duncan decided to walk to our room for his own little siesta at about 3:50 and as I warn about, Calleigh woke up. When it gets closer to end of nap time (4:15 - 4:30) she becomes a seriously light sleeper and will wake up very easily if someone makes noise upstairs. I don't know if it was getting up a little earlier or what but she was in a bit of a foul mood for the rest of the day. Despite this apparent mood, we headed over to Waterford Lakes to go to Bed, Bath, and Beyond (to get some new k-cups for our coffee maker) and to go to Old Navy (since they were having a sale on baby clothes). She wanted to do nothing but run around the stores. Even the allure of sitting in the back seat in the cart did nothing for her. At Old Navy, she found a little kid umbrella which Duncan opened for her and then she walked around the store the entire time with that umbrella resting on her shoulder and wouldn't give it up (yes, Duncan tried several times). Somehow he was able to distract her enough when we left so that she wouldn't make a scene when the umbrella was put back on the shelf.

As we came out of the store, we noticed this little train passing us. It had about four cars on it filled with the little kids and their parents. Calleigh was enthralled as you can imagine. It quickly moved away from us and she had a fit that we weren't following the train. I did catch a sign that said it was loading near such and such a store so we took off for there. Sure enough, you could pay $3 and get a 10-minute ride through the parking lot. So Daddy took Calleigh on a ride while Kelly and I waited behind. She picked out the blue car to ride in (maybe because it matched her outfit??!) and as suspected upon her return, she did not want to leave that train. Fortunately a sticker from the lady conductor cheered her up. I have a feeling we'll be going back for more rides since it operates every day.



Shannon came by after her shift and picked Kelly up to stay over at their place. They're going to Disney tomorrow and Tuesday so goody for them (that was my sarcasm there.)

I think that's about all the news that's fit to print as they say. I will say that I'm feeling pretty tired so I'm going to call it night (well, after a nice bath of course).