Wow - this weekend was really nice. Had the best day with my daughter on Saturday. She was patient with me Saturday morning when I got up and didn't start BUGGING me to death about when are we leaving - when are we leaving right away. =) She let me relax for about an hour and a half and then I took a shower and got ready. She was about to crawl out of her skin, I know, but she knew if she started in on me right away, the trip would be called off entirely.
What 'trip' you ask ? I'd promised her we would go to a place in town where you can paint your own ceramics. It's such a neat place - we'd seen in there before as we walked past, but had never stopped. I was delighted to discover once we got there that the prices were exceptionally reasonable and they had the store set up SO CUTE - it's like a Starbuck's for kids (in atmosphere, I mean). Really hip decor - lots of unique stuff to paint - not just figurines of horses and fat Santas - really stuff anyone can USE. She and I spent three and a half hours there and had a BLAST together. I was so proud of her - although the place wasn't crowded, there were a couple other Mom's in there with their kids. Several of the kids needed a collosal butt whipping and the Mom's seemed almost powerless to do anything about it. Meanwhile, my girl was so well behaved - no running, no overt loudness to annoy everyone in the place who was concentrating on their projects - she was (as she almost always is) the perfect little lady.
I LOVE the age she is right now. She's just beginning to depart from the 'little girl' stage and just entering the 'tween' stage. She's so much fun to talk to and spend time with. Not that she hasn't always been, but there's something special about watching her become her own person and find her own tastes and quirks. I love who she's turning into so far !
After our ceramics adventure (you can see the mug I made "D" here on the right), we walked down the block a little ways and had
very tasty wraps for a late lunch. By this time, we were starving (I hadn't planned on being in the ceramics place for over THREE HOURS !! - WHO KNEW it would be so cool !!) and we scarfed down our wraps. She had a chipotle beef wrap and I had a southwest steak wrap. Yummy.
Our last stop was Target for school supplies. I endulged her tastes a little bit and let her buy whatever she wanted - regardless of it was what I would've bought for her. She really did pick out some awesome things though ! Where were these new fangled locker shelves and magnetic mirror w/attached do-dad basket when I was in school ?? WOULD'VE LOVED
THAT !!! Anyway, we bought her tennis shoes and all of her gear and headed for home. She was so excited about her new shoes (pictured here at the left) and new purse that she plucked them out of our bag before I was even in my seat. On the trip back home (about 20 miles) she swapped everything out of her old purse and into her new "cool" one. She also broke open the bag of socks we bought so she could put on her new shoes (she'd been wearing flip-flops when we left home). When we pulled into the garage at home, my husband - "D" - came out to help us bring in whatever we'd purchased. She RUSHED him and thanked him while hugging him excitedly for all of her awesome school supplies. MY GOD, if I'd known some fashionable school supplies would've made her this happy, I would've taken her weeks ago ! She kept the new shoes on until she climbed into bed - and then wore them to church Sunday morning, too. What's the coolest thing about these incredible mojo shoes, you ask ? Well for me, the coolest part is - I would've picked them out for myself, too. =)
Sunday was church and then home to do this and that around the house. "D" smoked a pork butt on the smoker and we ate it last night with corn on the cob fresh from our garden and a side
of fried potatoes. YUMMY YUMMY - and to top it off, homemade peach pie - YES, with peaches off our own peach tree. Doesn't get much better than that !
A funny note - our son has a new pup, as I mentioned in my previous post. Well, she is SO GOOD, I just can't believe it.....but some bad things are bound to happen when you have a new dog. You don't know the dogs habits - the dog doesn't know your habits - there's a learning period where everyone figures out when ~ how ~ what each other does on a normal basis....that's how you learn what each other expects and requires from the relationship, right ? Well, our son learned Saturday night what one of Phoebe's "signals" means. He said she kept jumping in and out of bed and he couldn't figure out
what her problem was. She typically snuggles up on the pillow next to him or at the foot of the bed next to his feet. He finally decided she just couldn't get comfortable and decided to go to sleep and let her figure out where she wanted to lay down on her own. Suddenly, he felt warmth on his ankles. =)< She'd been frantically trying to tell him she had to PEE - REALLY BAD - and he just didn't get it. So, at 11:30 Saturday night, he was up changing the sheets on his bed. Luckily, he has an extra blanket that he keeps folded at the foot of his bed in case he gets chilly during the night and she chose to pee right on top of that. So, only a drop or two actually hit his sheets. Anyway, he's learned a valuable lesson about the "signals" Phoebe puts out when she's trying to get his attention ! The picture here of her isn't real clear, but I wanted to show you her playing with her "baby".