Fun weekend!

Last week was my first week out of school, and Memorial Day was a perfect ending for it! By Wednesday, I had all my chores and errands done, and I was like, hmmm, what now? Diane gave me a half day to write, and that was awesome! Three hours of writing is a beautiful thing. It makes me think if I wrote full-time, I could crank out a book in like six months!

Friday evening, Mom and Grant had a cookout, so we headed out there for some of Grant's signature burgers and some swimming and volleyball. It was fun hanging out with some of Grant's family (his two kids, son-in-law, and granddaughter, and his parents) and his friends. The volleyball bug has officially bitten my brother Kyle now, though--he's already planning another v-ball showdown for tomorrow night! For anyone who has never seen my brother play v-ball, it's like watching a weird mix of Speedy Gonzalez and Fred Flintstone--he is all over the place: diving, jumping, doing his little tiptoe serve, and constantly sacrificing the body.

Saturday, Claire and I had a delightful morning hanging out on the back porch in our swimsuits: me laying out reading my latest library book, The Book Thief , and Claire alternately playing in her "pinkle" (sprinkler), reading her own books, and messing with Shadow and Huck. That afternoon, we took the recycling over to Big Lots, where we found people sitting out selling puppies! We pretended to be very interested buyers of baby chihuahas, chi-weenies, weenie dogs, and a yorkie. (The fallback excuse: "We have to talk to Daddy about this first.") So cute! We had a laid-back dinner at Paul and Diane's that night.

Sunday, we went to church as usual, and after that, a lunch of beans and cornbread and fried potatoes (delicious and nutritious ;), and Claire's nap, we headed out to Madill to an old Mauck familiy friend's lake house for another nutritious meal. We threw everything we could get our hands on in the deep fryer: potatoes, onion rings, breaded crappie, hush puppies, and even some chicken fried chicken!! We also ate some fresh cantaloupe, watermelon, and strawberries, just to get some vitamins in there! Then we got to go fishing on this beautiful lake--surrounded by God's glory at sunset. It was awesome. Claire loved touching Daddy's fish and "helping" him throw them back in the water.

Today, I did my usual Monday house-cleaning, in fast-forward, because at three, Mom, Ty, Aunt Betty, and Uncle Mike picked me up to go watch a movie! Jay worked from home most of the day and then when we left, he took Claire out to Uncle Gary's for some four-wheeling and fishing. She caught her first fish! Night at the Museum 2 was spotty in humor and excitement, but it had its moments. The Twizzlers were excellent, as always. Ty and I committed the ultimate movie faux pas of discussing what candy we got for Mom at the dollar store RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE MOVIE CONCESSION STAND WORKER! Gah! Remove foot from mouth.

I hope all you lovely readers had a relaxing weekend!

Playmates!

I found these pics today from Claire's birthday/Mother's day weekend, and thought they were so cute! Claire had so much fun with her cousins, Carson and Kerrigan. She and Kerrigan would run after each other and then fall down together. Audrey said she heard Kerrigan saying, "Where's my friend? Where's my friend?" when she was looking for Claire!

Plus they found these chairs that they were thrilled to carry around and sit in in different places.

And here's some pics of Claire playing with her second cousin, Katelyn. She hung out with us for a little while today while her mom got her hair cut. It's so handy having a playmate and fellow stay-at-home mom right down the street! Kim and I are just starting to take advantage of it.

When Kim first got here, Claire was still asleep (having thrown a wall-eyed fit before bed and going to sleep later than usual), so Katelyn and I were playing in the living room. I went in the next room to switch the laundry to the dryer. Listening for Katelyn's activity, I did NOT hear little feet pad into the next room; I heard a metallic clang and then a chorus of "What's that what's that what's that?" Katelyn had gone into Claire's room and was playing with her tea set! Claire woke up a little bumfuzzled, but was quickly running around and laughing with Katelyn. When Kim pulled up, Claire said, "Tatie, Kim, watch Dancing with the Stars?" HA! I had to tell her that sadly, DWTS is over for a few months!

Claire's birthday party

Sunday was Claire's "main event" birthday party, with a smaller one at Dad's house the previous Tuesday, and one with just Jay, Claire and I, and a test ladybug cake on her actual birthday. But Sunday was the big blowout I had been planning for! Of course, I got NO pictures of my ladybug cake, handmade buggy Happy Birthday poster, or "stick the dot on the ladybug" game. NOPE! Once we started cutting cake, I was in full-on hostess mode and forgot all about posterity! Thank goodness for Audrey, my shutterbug sister-in-law! These are all courtesy her fancy camera!

It was so neat having both sides of the family and our friends, many of which we only ever see separately, in different towns, come together to celebrate Claire turning two! We had guests from Kingston, Calera, Coleman, Edmond, and Durant, of course, all at Paul and Diane's house in Calera! There were seven kids under the age of five, so they had lots of fun playing together. I did a ladybug theme, and even made the cake myself, thank you very much! All the kids got ladybug antenna, most of which were worn for about five seconds. I also attempted to lead the kids through some ladybug-themed games and activities, like the aforementioned stick the dot on the ladybug, ladybug musical leaves, and bug stickers.

However, this was definitely a learning experience in toddler party planning! For example, two-year-olds don't know how to stand in line and wait their turn! Or follow directions longer than two words! Basically, the kids had more fun playing with Paul and Diane's dogs and jumping on their new cellar than enacting my fantasies of a two-year-old ladybug birthday party!