Weekend in Review

Saturday morning we hung around the house and had a lazy time. That is Arnold's ideal way to spend a Saturday. We are usually very busy on the weekends, trying to cram a lot in, and by the end of it we are all stressed and exhausted! At lunch time we headed out and picked up something to eat. Then we went over to Dillards at the mall because a girl I know who works there told me that Snow White would be making an appearance that afternoon! I knew Brooke would flip over that because she is big into Princesses and even wants to be Snow White for Halloween this year. So we went up there but they told us she was running late, and just to wander around and they would make an annoucement over the loud speaker when she got there. So we looked at clothes and things and walked around for a long time. 30 minutes later she still wasn't there, so we had to give up and leave. I was bummed, but I am glad now that I didn't mention it to Brooke, because she would have cried for sure, if she knew what she missed! They were having some special things going on that day though, so the kids were able to get some goody bags and candy off a table, and that made them happy enough ;)

Then we went over to Walmart to pick up their cupcakes we had ordered for their birthday party that afternoon. Caleb picked Avengers cupcakes with blue icing and Brooke picked Justin Bieber cupcakes (surprise surprise!) with purple icing. This time I let Arnold get them from the bakery, since we didn't want another accident like at Rachel's birthday (I dropped a whole case of them on the floor RIGHT after I got them!!) Anyway, then we headed over to Skateland for their party. A few of their friends weren't able to come at the last minute because apparently lots of sickness is going around right now :( The kids were able to skate for over an hour and they all seemed to have a good time. A few of their friends had never been skating before at all so they had to practice some. I actually got on skates and went out there for awhile, until I got too sweaty to keep going ;) I still have a hard time stopping after all these years, so I kept running into walls when I needed to stop and get out of the rink ;) Caleb was in another mood and didn't even want to skate-- at his own party! Grrr, but at least he had some friends there to keep him busy. Around 4 they set up the party room for us and everyone gathered around, and the kids got pizza, drinks, and icecream cups. Then we brought out the cupcakes and lit candles on Brooke and Caleb's (thank goodness the party hostess had a lighter because I didn't even remember to bring one!) Then the kids got to open their gifts (which is what they were bugging me to do the whole time!) They got some great gifts. Brooke got lots of jewelry and new clothes, a Fijit doll, and some arts and crafts. She also got a gorgeous Cinderella Disney snow globe from her Grandparents. It plays music and glitter flies around.. it is so pretty. I am just worried about it being in the girls' room.. I will be SO mad if it gets broken! Caleb got a punching bag, Batman toys, guns, bows and arrows, and other types of boy stuff. They were both really happy :) Then I handed out the goody bags and lollipops I had made to all the kids, and some people went ahead and left, and some people stayed and skated until they closed. All in all it was a pretty great party. I especially loved that the hostess cleaned up after us!!!! ;)

So I have to mention our incident with Brooke's JB cupcakes. We always order our cupcakes from Walmart, for just about every occasion we have. They have really yummy cupcakes in my opinion, and they do a great job on them for the good price. Well when I bit into one of the cupcakes I noticed a weird, bitter taste in the icing. Didn't think too much of it but It seemed to get nastier as I finished it. Then when I started to walk around I noticed everyone who had the girl cupcakes had either scraped the icing off or stopped eating them. Everyone else agreed that they were gross, too! So good, it wasn't just me! My mother in law described it as a "metallic" taste. What was weird was Caleb's batch tasted just fine! So since we had so many un-touched cupcakes and they were so nasty, we decided to stop by Walmart to complain on our way home. Arnold's mom went in there with me, since she knows I am pretty shy and don't like confrontation. Plus, I have seen this woman in action before, I know she gets things done, haha. But it went really well.. I just explained the situation to them and they apologized to us. They tried to say that it was because it was "dark icing" but I have gotten black icing before, on Halloween cupcakes, and they did NOT taste like that! So they told me to take them over to the service desk, and they would give me my money back. They took the remaining cupcakes from me, and gave me cash back. One of the workers said "NOOO not Justin Bieber cupcakes!" and I said "Yeah I know, it was a shame they were so gross when all I wanted were good cupcakes for my daughter's birthday!" Good thing is Brooke didn't even seem to care. She was too focused on her new toys and candy from her treat bag by that point ;)

Sunday morning we got up early and all had breakfast together, and I went ahead and got the kids dressed for church since I had to be there early for the baby class. We had our big "relaunch" sunday that morning, where all the kids moved up to new classrooms, depending on their grade levels. And all the classes got new names, too. My babies in my class are now called the "Sprouts!" (how cute is that?!) Rachel's preschool class is called the "Treehouse" and the big kids' class is called "Jumpstart." They also were giving out bags of popcorn they made, waterbottles, and other prizes. It was really a fun morning. We ended up with a lot of babies that morning. I rocked one of my good friend's sons most of the morning, because he likes to be held. At one point 4 babies were crying at once and we had to do some serious juggling, but we somehow managed ;) At the very end of the service I got to rock a sweet baby girl to sleep, and I was starting to almost fall asleep myself! I got very, very comfy in that chair, with the baby nestled against my neck. It brought back so many memories.. I almost wanted to cry! Anyway, Arnold and the kids showed up for the next service and we dropped them off in their new classrooms. Rachel moved up and she is officially no longer a "baby" anymore.. bittersweet! The kids all seemed to LOVE their new classes, so I am so very happy about that :)

After church we all went to lunch at Ihop. We had a coupon for a free meal for Caleb, that we had gotten in my email for his birthday, and it was about to expire. The kids got create-a-face pancakes. They are so cute.. they have strawberry eyes, whipped cream noses, banana slices for a smile, and then they give the kids a tube of strawberry yogurt to create the hair. I got some yummy potato soup and a turkey sandwich. After lunch we headed over to Walmart to let the kids pick out toys with the giftcards they got for their Bday, from their Great Grandpa. We kept trying to explain to them that they could save their money and add to it later, or put their money together to get a bigger thing like a new Wii game, but of course they wanted to pick their own toys, and RIGHT then. Brooke picked out a Snow White princess doll, and a Littlest Pet Shop walkable (she got the Caterpiller, and I loved watching it walk.. its adorable!) And Caleb picked out two little Star Wars Transformer toys. We lucked out and some of the stuff was on clearance so they actually got more for their money. I only had to pay $2 and some change after their cards, so it worked out pretty good :)

Sunday afternoon we all set around the table and worked on some of the crafts Brooke had gotten for her bday. Even Caleb and Arnold joined us on that! I should have gotten a pic! We did a "mosiac" craft and put little glittery "tiles" on the pages to make pretty pictures. Even I got into that, and I usually don't like doing tiny things like that, with my hands, because I mess stuff up so easily. I will have to get some more of those for rainy days! I somehow managed to get a 2-hr nap that afternoon, also! That was awesome! That night we had dinner, read the kids some stories, and after we put the kids to bed we watched more of our new fave show "How I met your Mother." I am really into that show now! I especially love Barney, he is hilarious. Arnold and I are always high-fiving now ;)

Hope everyone had a great weekend! :)



Brooke and I at the party on Saturday

All the kids at the party table, having some food

Brooke and her good friend, Ava. They were in Kindy together and do cheerleading together this year. Ava is why Brooke wanted to cheer!

Blowing out the candles!

Opening up presents

Lunch after church at Ihop

The kids with the new toys they picked out