Weekend Happenings

It was a wonderful and lovely weekend at the Roberts House. Most of it anyway! Friday night was a bit miserable as I had QUITE a migraine. Only the second one I have had since I went off the birth control pills in September...so that is great. But it was a doozy and for a time I was certain that I might die! My dear friend invited all three kids to sleep over at her house. This was lucky for them as I was EXTREMELY sensitive to both sound and light by that time. We were sitting in near darkness and everyone was speaking only when necesary and only in whispers. Max made the comment that it was kind of like a big power outage. Only you had to be very, very quiet. This dear friend also brought me some ibuprofen, as what I had been taking was not even phasing the headache. I was pretty close to throwing up by that time (and I really don't DO that...not gracefully anyway), so the situation was rather dire. I got the kids out the door, got the ibuprofen swallowed and then just lay in the dark waiting to die. However...the medicine kicked in and the headache and nausea soon backed off and I was able to tolerate one small light across the room. I headed on to bed and slept rather well and woke up to a beautiful Saturday. After retrieving the kids from my dear, dear friend's home (did I mention that she is SUCH a dear friend?!), I had a lovely walk with the dog in the warm March sunshine, then spent an hour laying by the pool, watching my funny little daughter attempt to swim in the frigid pool. I could not for anything convince her that it was still just too cold...so I finally gave in and let her have at it! She tried it over and over again...but never managed to get her head wet. Not able to stay in past her waist for more than 10 or 15 seconds. But she tried!

After her sleepover adventure that little girl was exhausted and took a rather lovely and long nap for me that afternoon! I had to wake her up to get ready for the evening's activities. Those included attending the youth production of the dinner theater at church. They put on a performance of Narnia that was quite magnificent! The only catch was that as we arrived and were standing in line to be seated, we noticed that the tickets indicated an OUTDOOR performance. We had all missed that previously...my friend and I. And as we were seated I began to fret about being chilly and thinking about how miserable it was going to be once the sun set. There were no outdoor heaters. Just the people under the stars. Poor Clara had on a short sleeved little dress. Both boys were in short sleeved knit shirts. I had on a 3/4 sleeved t-shirt. Oh yes. We were going to freeze all right. So I made a split second decision and left our friends there with all my kids and Chris's mom too...and I made a mad dash to Kohl's and hit the clearance racks in rapid fire succession...snatching up all sorts of warm things in the various needed sizes. I was in and out in 10 minutes flat. In that time I managed to purchase two ladies sweaters, two girls sweaters, two hooded sweatshirts, one ladies t-shirt blouse, and two watches! It was power shopping at it's finest! Then I returned to the play...which had not started yet....and we thoroughly enjoyed the rest of the evening!

On Sunday, we attended church. I have discovered that if you sit on the very back row of the church it is not nearly so loud. This is a relief to be sure! I am not the least bit hard of hearing...but I am quite certain that the microphones there are set for someone who is! At times, the noise level and pitches can really become quite painful! After church, we had lunch at Chili's with Chris' mom and stepdad. The kids were SO happy about that...and afterwards we all found ourselves to be QUITE sleepy. So we took a little nap. Later in the afternoon I met up with Mary in the park on the tennis courts and we practiced hitting a few tennis balls around. We are taking some tennis lessons right now. It's been fun...and rather funny! I haven't played tennis in about 14 years...and it shows! But we are having a wonderful time with this terrific little instructor that Mary found for us! I love listening to him because he sounds a lot like Sebastian, the crab, from The Little Mermaid. I find him to be just mesmerizing to listen to!

Sunday night I got all the kids bedded down and all tucked in and my Chris arrived back in from Europe around 10 P.m. or so. He fixed my website for me...I had royally screwed it up! Then we watched some t.v. and just collapsed! The kids were thrilled to see him Monday morning and we had a big family night, t.v., barbecue thing Monday night. And then...unfortunately, Chris was off and out of town AGAIN early Tuesday. He is in Colorado now. Due back late tomorrow. I am so hoping that that is the end of his travel for a time. Something tells me it is NOT...but a girl can hope...right?!

We leave for Montana in a couple of weeks. It will be nice to see everyone and Clara is just crazy excited about being old enough to go to ski school this year! Chris's sister Kelly and her two girls will be there as well. Clara and Ava are just a year apart and just adore one another...even though they have never really met when they can remember it! It will be so nice for them to be able to spend a few days playing together! I can't say that I am really looking forward to the cold. Cold is not really my thing. Like...AT ALL!!!! I am not even planning to take my ski stuff this year. I just don't like it. I tried to like it. I tried to learn it. But really...it scares the hell out of me and I just hate every second of it. I practically hit the ground and just kiss it to death every time I finish the green/easy slope without dying. Chris and the boys are MUCH better skiers than I am. I know that I will NEVER get beyond the green slope...that one is just plenty scary enough for me! So it is a drag anyway for anyone to have to stay behind and ski with me. I'm just going to spare everyone the pain and inconvenience of missing out on the skiing they really love just to keep me company! I much prefer to stay warm and dry and just hang out behind in the warm lodge by the fire. I have NO problems with that one! NONE! This vacation is all about them! I am excited to see Chris's parents and his sisters Kiersten and Kelly...but I will be greeting them on level ground without long sticks attached to my feet! It will NOT be at a ski lodge...Amen!

And now we are into the new week already. Time sure flies these days. Monday, at ballet practice, we got to watch the girls dance. We get to do this once a month. And it literally brought tears to my eyes to see Clara dance her little dance to Edelweiss. It was so very beautiful and sweet. That girl just exudes grace and beauty when she dances. My friend made the comment that she has never seen anyone light up the way that Clara lights up when she dances. Her whole face just smiles and glows and you know that she is dancing with her heart and soul. It was so beautiful to see her out there. I got just a little bit teary eyed...no one even noticed. Or so I thought. On the way home Clara asked me..."Mommy, did you see me dance? Did you think I danced beautiful?" And I replied "Oh yes...you were so very beautiful." And my Clarabelle said..."Is that why you were crying there Mommy? Because you were so happy to see me dance? Because I was beautiful?" Oh no.... BUSTED!!!! And I had to tell her..."Yes, my sweet. That is why I was crying. You were just so beautiful dancing there." And she really, really was!