Here There and Everywhere

We are recovering from a fun and busy weekend. On Thursday, the kids and I went to North Dallas to visit my friend, Tamra, and her two precious kiddoes, Benjamin and Cait. The kids and I had so much fun with them. One night didn't seem like quite enough time, though. Time always goes quickly when you're having a good time. The kids really enjoyed their first slumber party experience. Tamra and I spent lots of time talking while the kids were playing. The girls played dress up and dolls, while the boys played with guy things. Tamra spoiled us, and treated us like special guests. So much fun!


On Friday morning, we went back to visit our beloved friends at "preschool". Going to preschool and seeing our good friends is perhaps what I miss the most about living in Dallas. These kids are some special kids, well trained and well mannered, a joy to be around. It is always nice to go back to preschool for a visit. I love to see the ways that God is working through these mommies to teach their children what is right and good. The kids had fun seeing their old buddies and learning about Jesus. These women meet every Friday to teach their kids about God and His Word. One of the new things that they are doing this year is to teach their kids old hymns. I think each mom picked their two favorite hymns to sing with the kids throughout the year. So at the end of the year, these kiddoes will know eight old hymns. You who read my blog know that this is right up my alley! (Remember the Smith family sing alongs at the computer?) To me there is absolutely nothing more beautiful than little children praising God in song! Some of the old hymns have a richness to them that I think some of our newer songs just don't have. The older I get, the more I appreciate the words to these tunes. Just beautiful!


The two pictures above are most of the group playing "Mother May I?" after preschool. It seemed a little confusing to most of the kids. It was funny to watch them try, though! I am looking so forward to seeing my Dallas buddies in a few weekends. I am going on a Ladies' Retreat with their church. That is sure to be a great weekend of fellowshiping and learning.

We stayed at preschool until we had outworn our welcome and then jetted back home. When I got home, I rushed the kids into the house and then left to help my mom pick out a mother of the bride dress. I am proud of the dress she chose, which, I must say, is very non-matronly and quite classy. We picked it out in less than an hour, which is a record for my mom. Mom has always had a hard time finding an appropriate mother of the bride dress. Most mother of the bride dresses cater to the fashion needs of people like Dorothy from the Golden Girls. My mom and Dorothy have little in common in the way of size or style preference. I am proud to say that my mom will be quite the hottie come May 26th when my little sis gets married.

On Saturday morning, Josh's family came down from New Mexico to watch Mary Alice play soccer. It was so sweet of them to make the long drive to see the girl in action. I know she appreciated it. She loves her great grandparents so much!

Saturday, after the kids had a nap, we went to the State Fair with my brother, his wife, and their two kids. It was fun to get to see them, but I would strongly not recommend going to the State Fair on the final weekend, or on a Saturday EVER. It was like rush hour traffic with bodies. It was bumper to bumper. The lines were long everywhere. Josh, who had never been to the State Fair was not impressed. Maybe I can get him to go back next year if I bribe him a little bit? We'll see.

Oh yes, I feel I should mention the GREAT compliment Josh and I received yesterday. We are taking a dynamic marriage class at church. We've been in it for about six weeks. Each week everyone in the class is asked to share things about themselves and their marriage in front of the group. This week, Josh casually mentioned to the class that we'd been married for eight years. After the class was over, an older woman in the class approached us and said, "My husband and I were so surprised that you guys have been married for eight years. I figured, by the way you guys acted around each other, that you were newlyweds." This just made my day! What a great compliment! I think it is because I have such a great husband.

Well that's our weekend in a nutshell. One more thing, I just used spell check for the first time. It proved to be less than helpful. According to spell check, I should write "mummies" instead of "mommies", "tamer" instead of "Tamra", "busty" instead of "busy", "kiddies" instead of "kiddoes", "bloc" instead of "blog", "chit" instead of "Cait" and "Hattie" instead of "hottie". So, in closing, I guess I can say that I had a great weekend with my friend "tamer" and her "kiddies" Benjamin and "chit". This weekend was fun and "busty", unlike my "mummie" who is still a major "Hattie".