Goodbyes, anniversaries, and silliness

Wow, what a great weekend we all had! Although looking forward to our anniversary on Sunday, I couldn't first see past the fact that Kimber's family would be leaving on Saturday. About Thursday night, I realized our kids were not going to get to say "goodbye." Drat. After 4 and a half years and LOTS of time and activities together I should've at least planned to get them together once more. I usually avoid goodbye's with cowardly relief, but the kids shouldn't have to suffer my aversion to tears (my own, that is - the rest of you are welcome to leak all you want). Ah well, Friday was going to be super-busy for the Granges and I didn't want to go stand in the way (see-excuses). Luckily, Kimber called and asked if we would like to keep their kids while they were doing the dirty work of cleaning and fixing up the house. Yea! So we got to play with Sam, Kayla, and Kiera one more time before they headed out on Saturday. I got some great pictures!

It was a really fun day and now I don't have the usual sense of guilt I suffer from after skipping out on saying goodbye to someone. Thanks Kimber!

For once, the kids were already packed because I had gathered so many outfits for the commercial shoot on Thursday. I just added pajamas and underwear (and, of course, blankies) and they were set. It was the perfect weekend for them to visit Mom and Dad because their new American Girl dolls had just arrived and their cousin Grace could also visit and bring her American Girls.

The rest of the weekend passed quickly. Chris and I ate out, shopped, watched movies on Netflix - it was great! Sunday officially marked 12 years married for us, and I guess it's fitting that I got to go sailing for the first time, considering what a big role we would like it to play in the next few years of our lives. It was so hot Sunday that the yacht club called off the race, so we just went out for fun with some others. Hot hot, but neat.

Monday afternoon I drove to Talullah and picked up the kids from my mom (Thanks SO much!), then pretty much dumped them at home with Chris and took off for my OTHER bookclub - the BB Queens. I was in such a hurry I forgot my tiara and boa - uh, drat! This month we read Willie Morris' Taps, the first of his books I've ever picked up. I wasn't quite finished with it (See my post regarding recent busy-ness!), but I'm really liking it. I have a feeling it's going to end tragically, but until then, I'm loving it. Anyway, Morris' widow, JoAnne Prichard Morris, attended our meeting to talk about the book and of course, Willie. I am flat-out amazed sometimes at what a small world the Delta and surrounding regions (i.e. "hill country") can be. It seemed everybody at the meeting knew most of the other random names people threw around. It's just a very interconnected culture. And nearly everyone had a "Willie story" or thirty...
Back to Chris and the kids, apparently they managed to have fun without me:

I generally find pictures like this when Chris has been using the camera. Apparently, he uses the camera to check for cavities in his back molars, or maybe he's checking for boogers, I'm not sure....

So, great weekend! Today (Tuesday) I signed Rachel up for gymnastics and Caroline up for ballet (Xpress), so next week the fun begins! It's a strange feeling to realize I just signed away all my Tuesday's for the rest of the year, since both their classes will be on that day. Sigh. I'm relieved that Katherine and Elizabeth both want to get involved with the Girl Scouts this year - I have the belief that it will involve less time and effort on my part (famous last words, I know!). Daniel doesn't want to give up any more of his precious out-of-school time yet.