Weekend Wrap-Up

After every local meteorologist predicted rain and tornadoes in abundance for our weekend, we were spared the wrath of Ike and merely experienced a rainy day yesterday. We were thankful for the rain but heart-broken for those whose lives have been uprooted by Ike.

Due to the grave predictions about the weekend weather, we opted take Evelyn for her first haircut on Friday evening rather than Saturday morning as planned. Isaac had great plans about how he was going to tell E. to be brave and help her be happy during her salon visit. However, upon discovering that this salon had no toys, Isaac was over the whole first haircut experience and offered little big brother support to his sister.

Much to our surprise (and utter joy), E. did really well with getting her hair cut. There were some tears and some frantic "Bye!Bye!" (E.'s way of saying, "Lets get out of here") at the beginning, but once she was handed a large "Quack Quack" things were good.

Pre-hair cut...yes, my cape says "Diva" on it

After the hair cut

(I don't think this picture gives the cut justice because her hair was still wet. The mullet and stringy pieces are gone and she has more of a pixie cut that should grow all together. I am quite happy with the decision to cut it.)

After getting E.'s hair done, we set off to enjoy a nice family dinner at one of our favorite local Mexican restaurants. Seems that it happens to be Terry Bradshaw's as well because he was dining there with his wife. I hoped he would comment on our children as he passed our table on the way to the restroom, but no such luck.

Saturday morning we decided to hit a local mall's play area to let the kids work off some energy (and for me to shop while the husband hung out with the kids...isn't he awesome?) since the rain was preventing any outside time. Upon entering the mall through JC Penny's we discovered that this particular store was decorated for Christmas. Christmas, people. It isn't even Halloween and they had the store COMPLETELY decorated for Christmas. It about made Tobe and me sick. Because of this total lack for the practical progression of how one should decorate for holidays (Halloween, then Fall/Thanksgiving, and then Christmas), I have decided that I am not shopping at Penny's until the New Year.

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After taking her first steps over two months ago, Evelyn is finally walking on a consistent basis. Often times we have to remind her to walk rather than crawl, but she is walking. This excites Isaac to no end and inspires him to hold E.'s hand while she walks....which often ends up with both kids crying in a jumbled heap on the floor.

Here is a random photo of the two of them marching around the living room....note that Evelyn is only wearing a pajama shirt and Isaac has on shorts but is still wearing his PJ shirt. Some mornings we just go with what works.

On Thursday, Evelyn turned 16 months old. I believe she is 16 months going on about 2 1/2. Her language has exploded and the girl has an opinion on most things, which she expresses quite loudly. She is obviously growing up in a house with a big brother, switching from pushing her babies around the house in their stroller to playing cars.

MOPS started back up for the school year on Friday and the three of us were quite excited to be back with our group. Evelyn went to her class with no screaming and minimal tears and Isaac happily joined his new three year old group. I am a table leader this year with is exciting and a bit intimidating. If you are not connected with a MOPS group and you happen to be a mother of a preschooler (working or staying at home...it doesn't matter) I encourage you to get involved with a local MOPS group. It is good times.

Here are the kids before MOPS on Friday...note that I had to include two pictures because they never look up and smile at the same time.

After rain kept us away from our local festival yesterday, we finally ventured out to it this afternoon after church and naps. Isaac has been talking about attending the festival all week, going so far as to create his own out of Little People, so he was thrilled to finally attend. In my hurry to pack drinks and snacks, I forgot the camera. Ugh. So you will simply have to imagine Isaac riding his favorite horse, Shaggy (he rides the same pony at every festival...the owner even remembers us), and Evelyn becoming ecstatic over seeing her beloved "ChooChoo" up close. We ended the afternoon by sharing a funnel cake, the true symbol of family unity.

Good times, my friend. Good times.