Weekend Recap

I didn't do a post last week because I left on Sunday afternoon for a multi-day school conference in Dallas. Cara went with me so I could leave her with my parents and grandparents and they all had the best time of their lives. This week and weekend we spent getting back into the groove and preparing for me to teach this week at test-prep summer school.

Friday:
Cara went to school for a little while, and I ran lots of errands and did some settling/cleaning at home. HEB, unpacking, meal planning, etc. Cara was in love with her pants pockets and spent much of the afternoon with her hands shoved in them and saying, "Pockets!"

That night, we had a Sunday School social, so the kids went back to church, and some of our friends went to dinner together and then back to our house to play games and have dessert. We had fun talking, laughing, competing and being adults without kids for a couple of hours. Our kiddos are between 2-3, so they had fun staying up late and playing with other kids at church. What a nice ministry our church has for a monthly free parent's night out!

Saturday:
Chance had to work, and Cara slept until about 9:30! Woo hoo! She played around by trying to take off her jammies unsuccessfully.

We had breakfast together (cinnamon sugar toast and fruit is our special tradition when it's just us) and watched Mickey Mouse. I learned this trick from Mimi--bring her booster seat to the floor while Mickey is on, and she will be content for way longer. We usually just watch Mickey on Saturday mornings, so she ate contentedly while I ate too next to her and then while I did dishes and cleaned the kitchen. Win win!

Later, we went to HEB for a few groceries. Cara LOVES HEB and will cry when we pass by without going in. Literally, this weekend we drove by and she said, "Uhhhhh, HEB! Go in!" Haha. After Chance was home and Cara had her nap, she woke up a hot mess with crazy hair and wasn't ready to let her "night night friends" go just yet. So we dragged Bear, Lovie, Baby and the favorite Harley Bear (gift from Buck) around the house in an armload. If she wanted to pick up something else, she would squat, put them down, pick the new thing up and then pick up the stuffed animals again. Silly girl!

She played around the house and with Daddy's hat and asked Chance to help her with some of the tricky posts on her wooden bead tower. ("Asked" puts it nicely; it was more like, "Uhhhhhhhh Daddy help you!!!") :)

We all ran more errands later in the afternoon and then I cooked dinner--Weelicious turkey meatloaf meatballs. They were a giant hit with Cara and Chance, and I thought they were pretty good too! She loved to dip them in her ketchup (because she dips EVERYTHING in ketchup, even her green beans and blueberries we ate alongside the meatballs).

It was a relaxing, easy day, and we went to bed happy.

Sunday:
In the morning, we went to church, had an early lunch, and then I went to school while Cara napped. I had to meet some teachers to give them their materials to prepare for the week of teaching. I did a few things around my classroom when they left (a teacher is NEVER done working in her room!) and came home. No sooner had I closed my eyes on the couch when I heard Cara crying in the monitor (a mother's ears are NEVER turned off!). So we kept the lights low in the living room and played with our shoes and stuffed animals and had easy time together. She loves putting on our shoes and trying to walk in them. Must be a thing at this age/stage, but it's pretty funny.

Oh, the Elmo jammies. She wears them once a week until laundry day, but she asks to wear them (or the Sofia jammies) every. single. day. One day, the excuse of dirty clothes won't be enough for her!

We also went to Barnes & Noble together to get a book as a gift. I love bookstores SO MUCH and felt so happy wandering around there. I wanted to buy every book I laid my eyes on, but then we'd have to live in the bookstore because we'd be broke and homeless. (There's a fiction story in that sentence somewhere, waiting to be fleshed out.) I bought the gift book and settled on one for Cara by one of my favorite kid's authors, Leslie Patricelli. We have her books like Yummy Yucky, Baby Happy Baby Sad, Potty, and No No Yes Yes, and this time I got Huggy Kissy. Such sweet books! Chance read books to Cara on the little table while I shopped, and I got so excited to spend afternoons in future summers with her at the bookstore, stoking her love of reading and projecting mine onto her even further. :)

We took pictures of her to include in the book as a thank-you gift for one of our favorite daycare teachers who was leaving to finish up her classes at Baylor. We love love love Miss Victoria as a daycare teacher, Sunday School worker, babysitter and friend. Here's a picture of a few weekends ago when she watched Cara and Reed together.

So we used this picture in the book and wrote her a sweet note from all of us.

After dinner, bath and bed, Chance did a little yardwork while I got ready for the week of teaching. Outfits to pick out, lunch to make, schedules to get back on track.  Teaching this week has gone really smoothly, I hope in part to my 8-10 hours of preparation before school was out!

This was a great "us" weekend of good quality time. That's my love language, so it felt great. Hoping for an equally great weekend coming up when we celebrate July 4th!