Happy Birthday to You

This past weekend was crazy! We spent Saturday and Sunday attending numerous functions to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the church Daddy serves. Last Wednesday, Auntie Laura and Grammy arrived (it was teachers' convention weekend for Auntie Laura). We got lots of work done around the house, projects that are difficult for a Mommy to do while chasing a toddler at the same time. Thursday afternoon we treated ourselves to some time shopping downtown. Very cool. Miss Mouse enjoyed it, as well, other than one of the stores where she sort of "freaked out" and wanted to leave right away. She just pulled back really hard and wouldn't move unless I carried her; a friend suggested the place must have been haunted. Hmmm...perhaps. It would be the appropriate time of year for such things anyway! She enjoyed the other stores much more. We finished the evening at Red Lobster. Yum! The next day (Friday) there were lots more projects to tackle, but, again, we treated ourselves to some shopping in the evening, hitting the mall and then meeting Daddy for dinner at an Indian restaurant. Yes, Indian. As in, from India. It was extremely cool. Miss Mouse thought so, too. It was quite a fancy place - cloth napkins and the works - but they seemed okay with the Mouse being there. We grabbed a takeout menu on the way out so that we can remember what we had - mine was cottage cheese chunks (think huge chunks of mozzerella-type cheese) in a spinach sauce; Laura's was chicken in a tomato sauce; Grammy had Indian vegetable fried rice; and Daddy had lamb in a dark gravy. Everyone's was excellent, though most of us chose Laura's as our favorite. As I said, Saturday was hectic. We started the day with Grandma and Grandpa Toomey at Barnes and Noble for their story hour. I'm not sure how much fun Grandpa and Daddy had, but Grandma and Miss Mouse had much fun looking at other babies (there were plenty for the Mouse to observe) and books. Then Daddy, Miss Mouse, and I went to a luncheon for current and former staff at the church. The food was great; the Mouse ate an entire pulled pork sandwich (not the bun, just the meat!). I returned home with Miss Mouse long before the luncheon was "officially" over so that she could stay on nap schedule. Saturday night, Grandma and Grandpa, Daddy, and I went to a banquet celebration. It was fun to visit with friends there and to listen to the speakers. It's always fun, though, too, to return home to our Mouse. Sunday we woke up to snow! Ugh! Snow and strong wind. We braved the weather and made it to church just in time to get a seat in the nosebleed section (the service was held at a local auditorium in order to accommodate everyone at one service, rather than the six that are usually held each Sunday). This seating arrangement was really hard on me and Grammy. I was able to adjust, but Grammy had a tough time the whole service. After Grandpa (from the other side of the family!) graciously helped her get down the stairs for Communion, she refused to return up and just met us after the service was over. I can't say I blame her too much. It is really dizzying to be that far up, just about eyeball-level with the ceiling lights! Lunch after church was great, though we returned outside to snow and wind greeting us for the drive home. Bummer. Auntie Laura and Grammy took off right away after lunch to make the long drive home; Grandma and Grandpa stuck around for a few hours to play after Miss Mouse's nap. So.....that was our weekend! Busy, busy, but fun and exciting at the same time.