Weekend with Grandma and Grandpa

Matt's parents were here this past weekend and the kids were elated to see them. We had a great time -- lots of eating out, spending time with their cousins, Leo and Gus, and shopping.

Right after Katherine and I got back from her gymnastics lesson on Friday night, we changed her clothes and headed to dance practice. The girls are working on their finale dance every Friday night between now and the recital, which is mid-May. When we got back home, Katherine was thrilled to see her little cousins, and the kids had a blast playing together.

Here's a picture of Leo and Caleb. Katherine actually posed them (she insisted that Leo put his arm around Caleb) and took a picture with Todd's camera phone. Not to be left out of a photo opp, I took one as well. LOL.



Saturday morning we took off for TJ Maxx -- one of my all time favorite stores. I got a pair of super cute flip flops, and Matt found some shorts. Unfortunately I didn't really find anything for the kids, which is totally the reverse of what usually happens! I typically walk out with bags of stuff for them and NOTHING for me. Just part of being a mom!

Caleb, however, was in his element and decided to do a little shopping for himself. He picked out a cute number... While Fran and I were checking out the shoes, Caleb decided that it'd be a perfect time to try on a new bra. Oh, it was something.... He pulled it off the rack and tried to strap the thing to his chest. When that didn't quite work out for him, he tried to tie it around his waist. Oh. My. Heavens. I could have died! And he thought it was hilarious ..... of course. When I tried to take it away from him, he took off running -- bra and all. It was quite the scene -- a little two year old clown giggling at the top of his lungs with a push up bra around his waist. He got the looks! Quite a shopper, my little guy! LOL.

After we left TJ Maxx Fran and I took the kids to the mall, and holy cow.... it was just chaos. I'm not sure what the problem was, but the kids were acting like caged animals. They were running around the store, running into other shoppers and knocking stuff off the shelves. Needless to say, our little outing was cut short! UUUUGH! But, sometimes that's life with kids!

After a "talking" and a "meeting of the minds" we took them out for dinner at Bravo! and I must say the kids were angels! It was so nice to have them back to their regular, well behaved, I can take them anywhere, personalities. It's NO FUN having kids that are out of control and run around like they've never left the house! The dinner highlight was that Saturday night also happened to be prom, so Katherine was totally enthralled looking at all the dresses. She was just in awe. At one point, she went to go and stand by Fran (which happened to be less than a foot from one of the "prom" tables) and just stared. I'm not sure if she thinks she's invisible, but man... she had zero indiscretion! Gotta love it! I really wish that I still had my prom dresses. Wouldn't Katherine love them??? I'm sure they got donated when my parents moved to Des Moines, but I'll need to double check...

Sunday we went back to the mall for lunch with Todd, Caroline and the boys, and then Fran and I continued our shopping (this would be the shopping we couldn't do the day before with the kids). I ended up buying a new mirror for the living room, and Matt hung it last night. It makes such a huge difference. I absolutely LOVE it!! We also bought a couple of big frames that I'm going to fill and hang in the living room along with canister type things that match. LOVE them all. Let the redecorating begin!!

Matt's been gone all day again today. He has a guy in from Boston which he's interviewing, so he needs to take him to dinner and all the stuff they do. I can't wait until he hires some people and life goes back to normal. It's so hard having him gone all day AND NIGHT.