Super Dud

Sabbath was not a Super Dud fortunately.  In fact, it was a rather interesting one.  The first thing was that they were honoring Pastor Barb for 25 years of service at the church...a feat that they said was probably a record as far as a pastor being at one church (I wanted to interject that it was not, in fact, a record because my father has been at the same church for like 28 years but it probably wasn't the right time to mention it).  Pastor Barb presides over children's ministries so I've "worked" with her quite a bit on the Sabbath School front and she's a wonderful lady.  During each of the services they had all the kids come up front during the presentation.  This was very nice with the only hiccup being that during 2nd service while I was in the mother's room trying to nurse Brady, one of the classroom of kids, I would say about 8 - 10 year olds, all piled in while they waited to get on stage.  Major distraction!  I was behind a curtain and all but one boy kept peaking around it.  I don't know if he was trying to get a glimpse of the unmentionables or what.  What age does that start?  I guess I'll find out soon enough.

Allen and I taught Sabbath School and just as we were getting into our groove (okay, Allen was getting into his groove), we had to break to go on stage for third service with the kids.  The girls seemed to enjoy the operation not because they wanted to honor Pastor Barb, per se, but so they could stand at the front of the stage and have every one look at them.  Afterwards, we went back to teach the second half, or really the last six minutes of Sabbath School but most of our crowd left.  I'm going to say it was because of the crazy schedule and not because of our poor teaching.  Duncan ran the computer with the songs for us and fortunately Cory and Amanda Reeves along with boys Noah and Jake, our good friends from Georgia, were in town for the weekend so Amanda could hold Brady.  This presented a very funny exchange that Amanda had with someone else from Sabbath School:

Nick: "Amanda, did you have another baby?"

Amanda: "No, this is Corey's."

Given that Amanda's husband's name is Cory, this makes for a very strange sounding comment!

If you look real hard you can see the girls front and center.

When Sabbath School got out I was saying goodbye to a couple who were there with their son. I hadn't noticed them before so I asked if they were new to the church.  They said they were and then the husband said I looked familiar and was kind of looking at me strangely and then asked if I was from around there. I said no, I was from the northeast and then clarified Boston area.  He said he was from that area too.  I said, well, maybe we went to the same school and that I went to Cedar Brook School.  He said he went to Cedar Brook school too.  I said I was 36 and he said he was 36.  So yeah, it turns out that we went to the same elementary school although he didn't go at the same time I was there because he went to public school too.  His name is Raphael Medina.  I was blown away that somebody could recognize me from when I was in like 8th grade (do I really still look like that???  Please say no.)  It turns out that when I looked in my AUC yearbook, he went there too so we must have crossed paths in college as well or something.  Anyway, it was just interesting to see someone from those days.  

After lunch, I was very much looking forward to my Sabbath afternoon nap but Dewey started really whimpering.  I had noticed the day before that when I picked him up he started yelping like he was in pain.  When we looked a little closer, we noticed that one of his shoulders had a lot of swelling or a lump or something.  Obviously this was rather disconcerting.  So by Sabbath afternoon, it really seemed to be bothering him.  I didn't think it was a good idea to wait for the vet on Monday since he was in pain so fortunately the vet takes walk-in appointments until 4:00.  Duncan took him in which I meant I was on kid duty. ince Calleigh generally doesn't nap, this meant I wouldn't really be able to sleep much but I figured I needed to just deal with it since poor Dewey was hurting.  They ended having to do an x-ray to rule out cancer or what have you and very thankfully, they didn't see any masses or any other serious things.  Basically they thought it was muscle related and would get better on its own.  They gave him some paidn meds so that made for much happier times.  It's been interesting since then though because this bad bruising has appeared on his chest and then underbelly.  Whatever he did, it was pretty serious.  

Saturday night we met the aforementioned Reeves family and the Isidros for supper at Cafe Positano's which is pretty much where we always go when Cory and Amanda are in town.  It went surprisingly smoothly for having eight children there.  We had some tables pushed next to a little two seater booth.  Calleigh and Noah , who is a few weeks younger than she, sat together on one side and then Aubree and Jake, who is a few months younger than Aubree, sat on the other side.  Well, let me just say, they had a great time.  They got along so fantastically you would think they were dear, dear friends which I guess they are except they only see them like twice a year.  Oh how I wish they hadn't moved!  

The eyes are a bit freaky but you get the picture at least.

Sunday was a crazy day getting ready for the Super Bowl, or rather, Super Dud.  We went to First Watch as usual and then it was back home to do a couple of things and then run out Publix to get a few food items for the big game.  Then the kids and I headed out to Highland Manor, this restaurant type place that looks like a house and caters weddings, parties, etc.  I left Duncan behind who was undertaking a major cleaning of our living room, most notably the wood floors, to get ready for our company.  We went there because my friend Stacy, who got married in Australia a few months ago, was having a reception here for all those who couldn't make it to the wedding.  We had a reunion of the group from the night before as the Reeveses (Aunt Wanda confirmed that it is proper English to spell the plural of Reeves like this) and Isidros were there as well.  Calleigh and Noah were thrilled to see each and I wished I had gotten their meeting on tape.  They ran up to each other and you could see Noah act like he was going to give her a hug and then wasn't sure if he should so he kind of pulled back a little.  Then Calleigh did the same thing and then they both finally went for it and did a big hug.  So cute!  Anyway, it was a lovely venue and the food was delicious and I'm sure the kids probably overextended their welcome with the running around but we finally shoe'ed them outside. 

Calleigh at First Watch wearing Grandpa's Patriots hat...back when we had hope. 

From there, we all went to Westmont Park where Duncan met me and we exchanged cars so I could drive home with Brady for his nap.  Operation "tire kids out so they go to bed early during the Super Bowl" was underway.  It was a rousing success.  The operation that is, not the Super Bowl.  

The kid crew.  Kohlden wasn't too thrilled, obviously.

Around 6:00, the people started trickling in.  We had Ron, Elaine, David, Yully, Megan, Aunt Lori, Yully (our Yully's best friend) and her boyfriend Carlos over.  Everyone brought a little something to eat and I made some chili and cornbread.  The thing about your team being in the Super Bowl is that you don't want to miss anything...the game or the commercials.  However, when you have three kids roaming around, it's a little hard to not miss something.  But that was okay.  Everyone was well behaved and then they all went easily to bed at halftime to leave us adults to our misery.  So yeah, everyone obviously knows the Patriots didn't pull it off but that's okay.  It's funny because one of my favorite sports writers, Bill Simmons, wrote back in 2002 when they won the Super Bowl that when someone's team wins the big game, they can't whine or complain about their team for seven years.  Well, they last won in 2005 so this is the last year they Pats fall under that corollary.  But seriously, I've mentioned on here that the winning and losing in sports really doesn't impact me nearly as much as it used to.  Yes, I would have loved to have them win but as Calleigh told me in the morning when I told her the Patriots had lost, "That's okay.  We're the most important thing."  So true, so true.  Despite the loss, it was still a fun time with the family.  And was it just me or did the commercials seem really good this year?

Brady Brother took a little pre-game nap.

The national anthem

Thanks for bringing the cupcakes Grandma!  So that's why things were a different color, um down there, the next day.

Is it too late to change his name to Eli?

This past week is now a blur in my rear view mirror.  It wasn't the best of weather so we found ourselves outside only a few times.  Tuesday we met Jennifer with Evan and Kaleb at the library for story time.  We hadn't been in weeks or maybe months so it was fun to see how Brady sat there and paid attention to all the goings on.  Wednesday night the girls had Adventurer's.  I say "girls" because yes, Aubree is basically unofficially an adventurer.  She brought home a travel scrapbook that she had made this week right along with Calleigh (thanks to Allen who led out).  Duncan took them so Brady and I were able to chill at home during that time and by chill I mean, going crazy cleaning up and then running to Publix and Walgreens.

Love, love, love this picture from story time!

Yesterday we went to Publix and then to the green playground to at least get in a few minutes of outdoor time.  I was sitting there on the ground with Brady and I could hear Calleigh talking to someone and saying "Hey, I saw her at Monkey Joe's."  A little bit later as we walked into the bathroom I asked Calleigh if she had recognized someone from Monkey Joe's (we had been there around three weeks ago).  She said yes, she remembered the girl and "I had to do a time out because I was doing horseplay with her."  Sure enough, when I saw the girl, I remembered her too.  I asked Calleigh what kind of horseplay she had been doing and Calleigh said, "Oh, all of us were going ROOAAARR in her face."  Okay then.  I guess the time out waswarranted.   

After nap time yesterday I finally dug around in the garage and pulled three bins of Calleigh's old 3T clothes.  Time to officially make the transition for Aubree.  She's only moving into that size for dresses and shirts though.  The pants are definitely way to big in the waist and probably length too.  I swear, the girls are such girls though.  You should have heard Aubree squealing with delight as she saw the "new" skirts and dresses. Calleigh didn't want to be left out so I had to get out her bins of size 6 stuff so she could look at all of it. Then I had to get down the bin of shoes that are too big so they could try all those on.  Meanwhile, Brady was happy just trying to suck on the bins.  

Just look at that mess.

"Yum."

"I"m going to try and stand up. Just you watch and see."

"Hmm, a little tricky."

"This is a little harder than I thought but so worth it once I get my mouth on here."

"FOR PETE'S SAKE.  Put down that camera and help me!!"

"Thank you.  You may proceed with your photography."

This morning was very slow for yard sales so we didn't even venture out until after Brady's morning nap.  The first one was a dud and then we were going to go to a second one but as I pulled in (no one else was there), I saw one of the homeowner's sitting there next to all the stuff puffing on a cigarette.  What a turnoff.  I started the car back up and away we went.  No thank you.

I'm hesitant to say it because Aubree didn't crawl until 11 months but Brady has been making some strides towards it this week.  He's getting up on all fours and rocking back and forth.  He seems like he wants to go but has yet to figure out how to do it.  On Wednesday he turned eight months which I marvel at because that means he's two thirds of the way to one.  Wowzers.  I'm trying to get him fattened up so he's eating three hearty meals a day including yogurt in the morning.  I have the schedule working so that he nurses before he eats his solids because I don't want him to miss out on any of the fattening breast milk.  He's nursing five times a day and it's generally only taking about 10 minutes (a little longer first thing in the morning) which is SO nice. This afternoon I gave him some tiny bits of banana for the first time and although it was hard to get into his mouth (it really sticks to the tray of the highchair) he did eat it.  No signs of any teeth.  Night time is pretty much the same with a 6:15 wake up but a 7:00 about once a week - - just often enough to give me false hope that it will be a trend.  But honestly, he never makes so much as a peep from the time he goes to sleep at 8:30 until he wakes up in the morning so I'm very blesses on that front.  

The girls are all well and good.  No great quotes this week although I did chuckle a little when we were singing "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands" for worship one morning and Calleigh asked me in a befuddled voice after it was over, "Does Jesus REALLY have the world in his hands??"  She couldn't quite figure that out.  

Have a great weekend and Happy Sabbath!  I'm so proud of myself for getting this blog posted while it's still Friday night and not Sabbath morning :)

A few closing pictures:

Duncan reviewing their new responsibility chart that they got for Christmas from Grandma and Grandpa.

We got this purple head piece microphone at a yard sale and Aubree likes to put on shows with it.

Remember these?  Such fond memories.  Does this one look like a boy to you?

Upon closer inspection, the name is Dolores.  Really?  Is Dolores a boy's name these days or is something weird going on?  Like transgender Cabbage Patch Dolls.  Bizarre.

Their new kitchen thanks to Lisa...as if she couldn't get any more awesome.  Adam and Luke had outgrown this.  

You ask them to pose and this is what you get.  They each went a different direction with it, clearly.

We call this the "Aubree face."