A Weekend of a Different Type

First off, thank you all for your supportive comments (and outrage) at what happened at the mall yesterday. I appreciate it. The whole thing really upset me and it's nice to know it would have upset you as well. As I said - some people suck. Some do not though so in the spirit of "moving on and moving forward" I thought I would share some photos, and stories, of the weekend.

We actually managed to have some sunshine! Believe me, no one is more surprised than me by this turn of events. I am beginning to think the sun will *never* come out - we've been bogged down in dreary, rainy days for...well...just about forever now. It's getting on my nerves and that is saying a lot. And as an extra bonus, my sister along with my brother-in-law, great-niece and great-nephew came to to visit!

Saturday morning my friend, Brenda, and I went out bright and early to see what treasures we could find at garage sales. Years ago, before she moved to California (and back again) we would often go out to garage sales together so it was like old times and I really enjoyed it. We did manage to find some good deals - I picked up two Video Now players, headphones and about nine Video Now DVD's (all Kelton's favorites: Sponge Bob, Jimmy Neutron, Fairly Odd Parents and Scooby Doo) for....are you ready for this? FIVE DOLLARS! And yes, they work. The kids are beyond thrilled and I am more than happy I didn't pay retail price for them because well...they aren't at all what I expected. For all the hype of a few years ago, I was surprised to see how tiny the image is and the fact that it's in black and white really kind of blew me away. Black and white? Wild. But hey - for $5.00 I'll take it. And when the time comes to say goodbye to them I will know we got our $5 back a few times over. :)

I also picked up a box of 4T winter clothes for $5.00. This box included a brand new, unopened package of Hanes underwear and a brand new pair of HealthTex socks. Both marked well above the $5.00 total I paid for the box. There are a few really cute shirts (including a Christmas shirt!) and a couple pairs of pants that should work well for Kaylen. Whatever we don't/can't use I can donate and I still come out waaaaaaay ahead! :)

And yes, there is more. For another $5.00 I bought a decent sized box of boys pajamas in Kelton's size (both current and the next size up). Kelton LOVES pajamas. If we would allow it, he would buy a new pair every time we went to a store that sells them. That said, he would also wear them 24/7 if we'd let him. I knew it would be a huge hit for him - and it was.

I found an Angelina Ballerina DVD ($2) as well as cute little, in good condition, ballet shoes ($0.75) for my little wanna-be ballerina.

So all in all - I did pretty well. After hitting the sales both Brenda and I were hungry so we stopped at one of our favorite places and grabbed a bite to eat. After dropping Brenda (and her treasure trove of goodies) off my phone began ringing. It was my great-niece calling to talk with Kelton to let us know they were almost to our house. Fortunately I was only a few minutes away and I pulled into the driveway just moments before they did.

Oh the excitement! The kids went in every direction imaginable and the fun began! Since it was a nice afternoon, we spent a good bit of time in the yard. Then there was swimming to be done at their hotel, then back to our house for a dinner of pizza and then Mikayla (who is 7) spent the night with Kelton.

Dakota and the pupsters.

Tractor driving Playing dress-up.
Ring around the Rosie while looking at themselves in the mirror.
Pizza Time!

We had a huge thunder and lightning storm roll through just as we were getting the kids to bed. My two fell to sleep without a care but we ended up sitting next to Mikayla for an hour before she finally drifted off. I have to admit, if I was a child at someone else's house during a big storm I would have been scared, too.

The next morning the kids played and then settled in for some Martian Matter fun. They really had a good time and the fun kept going from there. My sister, BIL, and Mikayla's brother, Parker, arrived a while later and we visited a bit before it was time to say our goodbyes. It was a quick visit but so, so nice to have people come see us. It's rare and always welcomed!

Playing Martian Matter

The rest of the day went by easily. Dakota and Kaylen went out to pick up a few groceries to carry us through to shopping day and Kelton and I stayed home and watched "The Adventures of Shark Boy and Lava Girl" which Kelton absolutely loved. Later in the afternoon I was checking out CraigsList, as I am known to do, and finally found the style of bar chairs I've been keeping an eye open for (and at a very reasonable price! $20 each!) for a long while. A couple of phone calls, two trips to bring them home and removing about 3 inches in height yesterday (Thank you Dakota! You sure know how to work that circular saw! ) and they are perfect!



Monday morning found poor Kaylen stuffy and congested. We all lounged around for a while and then finally started moving forward with our To Do list which included shortening the new bar chairs. After that - the day slide steadily into a funk. The kids got crabby and sassy and both Dakota and I were feeling restless.

We ended up at the mall where things did not improve. The final straw was removing the kids from the Disney Store in an all out tantrum over not getting what they wanted. Never mind the fact that they both picked out two books at the Borders Express store that was going out of business (and had 40% off everything). So - we left the mall and headed for home.

Fun times, I tell you. Fun times! I guess that's life though - fun and good times mixed in with not so fun and not so good. Today is another day though and anything is possible. :)