Girls Weekend Part 2 of 3

One of the best parts about the weekend is that we talk a TON.  Jenn keeps a folder with questions that are emailed to everyone ahead of time.  Some of the questions are, "What was something significant that changed your life this year?" or "What beauty product did you discover?" or "What prayer request was answered this year?"  It helps us keep on topic, keep our conversations meaningful and allows us to catch up.  We have it down to a science.  With 7 women, this is hard to do in a big group setting over 2 days but we make it happen!  I leave being so thankful I heard what is going on with everyone.

We carry our conversations throughout the town that we attend.  So for example, the hostess picks out a restaurant and we go through this questions in the car on the way to the restaurant, while we wait in the lobby at the restaurant, or when we go to Starbucks.  We are also very flexible especially since Pam got sick this year with the flu and Clara needed to be nursed often.  

One of the places Erin picked was a local winery.  It was very beautiful and located on a battlefield.  Some of the women had a wine tasting and Erin packed our lunches ahead of time.  It was such a treat.  I enjoyed the LARGE truffle that you can see on the bottom photo.

Girls Weekend 2012 Part 1 of 3

Six of my girlfriends from college met up locally at my friend Erin's house for Girls Weekend 2012.  It was a wonderful weekend.  I am so thankful to my mom and husband for making this weekend possible for me (every year!)  Clara came along this year and she was a little under the weather.  My friend's helped me care for her so much.  Erin shared a bed with me and Clara and Kelly and Jenn slept in the same room as I was up with her all night feeding and coughing.  

This was the only photo I got of everyone when Pam and Christy flew into the airport.

Auntie Jenn giving Clara her nebulizer treatments.  I appreciated my friends for not being grossed out by her throwing up and being so sick!  That made the weekend so much more fun for me!

Kelly (from L.A.) and Jenn (from Philly) in Erin's kitchen.

 The famous clothing swap:  everyone sends, carries and brings in clothes that they have outgrown over the course of the year and we swap.  Everyone is pretty much within 4 clothing sizes so it works out awesome.  Some of the items always circulate back like Christy's famous "Pinecone" sweater from Abercrombie!  The swap takes HOURS and we all end up with tons of new clothing.  It is such a wonderful blessing!!!

5th child

Mother, oh Mother, come shake out your cloth, Empty the dustpan, poison the moth, Hang out the washing and butter the bread, Sew on a button and make up a bed. Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?She's up in the nursery, blissfully rocking! Oh, I've grown shiftless as Little Boy Blue (Lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo). Dishes are waiting and bills are past due (Pat-a-cake, darling, and peek, peekaboo). The shopping's not done and there's nothing for stew And out in the yard there's hullabaloo But I'm playing Kanga and this is my Roo. Look! Aren't her eyes the most wonderful hue?(Lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo). The cleaning and scrubbing will wait till tomorrow, But children grow up, as I've learned to my sorrow. So quiet down, cobwebs. Dust go to sleep. I'm rocking my baby and babies don't keep... by Ruth Hulbert Hamilton, in Lady's Home Journal. 1958.

I love my Grandparents!

Cranberry Harvest

We enjoyed time celebrating the harvesting of cranberries while on Cape Cod last weekend.  It was a wonderful time for our family to be together and enjoy each other without the daily stressed of life.  The cranberry festival was SO SO SO fun.  I would definitely take the kids again.  It was educational but also had a good balance of "fair attractions" like kettle korn and pony rides.

Pony Rides

Don't Ask Don't Tell (Vol 32)

I started to think, "Why is Clara sleeping so well, I better go check on her."  

Hair bow mishap.

Daddy Date Night

 LIMO RIDE!!!

FALL BALL!

Don't ask Don't tell (Vol 33)

The view from the stroller - someone took my camera again.

Special Gifts...

Three different ladies at church gave us these as gifts... these were so incredibly thoughtful that I had to show photos. A homemade chicken potpie with Clara's initials.... .

A whole batch of canned tomatoes from the farmers market (since I had no time or energy to do this!)....

This is the most special: a handmade quilt! I have one for every baby made by Nancy. I just love her. She is so skilled. I am going to hang it on Clara's wall.

Mean Girls...

A sweet friend of mine has a daughter that is in first grade with my daughter at the same school. Last night she posted something on Facebook very vaguely about her daughter being sad because they had their first drama involving mean girls in class. I read that and got very concerned. Rita has been talking about her birthday coming up in November and wants to have a party. I know she has been thinking of ideas and dreaming up a fabulous birthday. In fact, she walked into my bathroom at 6 am this morning asking me if she could have a slumber party (no). I then began to think that possibly Rita was the one being mean to this little girl. I called her back into my bathroom and asked her what happened at school yesterday. I asked her if there was anything she could remember doing that would make another girl sad. She nodded her head with her big eyes filled with tears and said, "yes mommy." She told me that THIS little girl asked her when the slumber party was and she said back, "I don't know." She said that probably made her sad. I prayed with her, told her I was ashamed she would act that way to a friend of mine's daughter, and just so sad that she would be unkind. Ultimately that isn't how God wants us to act and that is what is most important, of course, but I was just thinking "UGHHHHHhhhhhhhhhh!" I had her be quiet this morning. We prayed about it again. She told me she would apologize to the little girl when she got to school, ask for forgiveness, give her a hug and a pencil. I told her IF she has a party (after all this, we may take it away), every girl in her class gets invited - end of story. She kept saying, "but mommy, I was going to invite her." After she got picked up this morning, I called the mom, left a message about how sorry I was for her daughter, I hope she is okay, if it was Rita - she will make ammends. Didn't hear from the mom all day. Later in the day, I got an email from the mom. She said, Oh, it wasn't Rita. My daughter and Rita love each other, are great buds. Whoopsies on me.

2 months old!