Tuesday, October 26, 2010

A Little "Wicked"

Wow!!! What a trip!!! I left on Wednesday the 20th flying out of Cincinnati. Yes, I had to drive to fly, but it beats driving 7 hours alone. It was definitely worth the money and the short trip to Cincy.

I arrived in Memphis around 1:30 where granny and Aunt Susan met me. I was so excited I could hardly stand myself. It was such a rush to be away and not chasing kids :) We ran a few errands and had a late lunch before heading back to Aunt Susan's house for the evening. A little more to eat (a lot more, actually) and then granny and I headed home to her house in Arlington. For the first time in years, I headed up to bed. Alone. Not feeding or bathing any kids. What an experience. And I slept all night. And slept in late :) Holy cow!!

Thursday morning I was able to get up and go for a run, in the hopes of burning off just SOME of the calories from the previous night. Little did I know what was in store for the day. Aunt Susan and granny had been working on the Emerald City and wine goblets for the "Wicked" party on Saturday evening. There was still plenty to be done, but had a blast finishing up a few last touches. I ran errands with Aunt Susan late in to the afternoon, the last which was my favorite (I'll tell about that in a minute). My mom drove in Thursday evening which was awesome. I finally got to spend some time with her, laughing and carrying on. What fun!!!

Friday was no exception in the fun department. I slept 9 hours, uninterrupted, for the first time in over 7 years!! Feeling refreshed and ready to go, we all ate a late breakfast and headed to the movies. "Hereafter" is not all that, but it was nice to sit in a theater and not worry about getting phone call if something is wrong with one of the boys.

Friday night was a yummy dinner and carving pumpkins. I have never had this experience before, so it was quite a treat. I didn't realize just how gross this was going to be when I placed my hand in the pumpkin. EEEWWWWW!!! After much scraping, marking, and sawing, my pumpkin actually came to life. I thought it was a pretty good first time if I do say so myself.





I'm guessing mom didn't like the look or feel of the pumpkin






After a late night, mom, granny, and myself headed back to granny's house for the night. We knew Saturday was going to be a big day for all involved. Libby and David were going to come up with her family for the afternoon and everyone had been kicked out of Aunt Susan's house until later. I knew a lot of what she had planned, but not all. The only other ones to know were Uncle Glenn and granny. Wasn't I just the privileged one :)

Anyway Saturday morning I enjoyed another run in the beautiful subdivision where granny moved to earlier this year. It's such a calming place I never wanted to leave. Libby and David arrived around lunch and we spent the afternoon chasing the kids and enjoying each other's company.








Then we all headed to Aunt Susan's house for the "wicked" dinner. Once we all arrived, and drove in order to the house (previously planned per Susan) we were greeted with lots of goings on. There was a "yellow brick road"



Some really cool pumpkins



And the Emerald City



Complete with our own place settings, name tags, and decorated wine goblets



The food was great.

The company was fantastic.

The ride there was the best part. And although none of us took pictures because we were trying to get to the Orpheum--Aunt Susan had rented us a limo to take us in style. That way we all arrived at the same time, and didn't have to worry about parking. It was so much fun to pull up and all pile out to see such a production. Then at the end Uncle Glenn called Marcus (our driver) and he wheeled around the corner. What fun to see the reactions of people as the limo pulled around. All wondering what was going on, who was going to get out or in. That would be US!!! We just all climbed back in and rode back to the house. What fun!!! Wicked is definitely something I will have to see again.

Sunday was spent lounging around, eating a late breakfast, late lunch, playing cards and watching "The Wizard of Oz". That only seemed appropriate.

Monday was packing and heading out. We went to the mall to a place called Charming Charlie's which I have recently found just a few miles from the Cincinnati airport. I will be returning there again some day in the future.

But for now, I have some wonderful memories and lots of smiles. I am more relaxed and ready to take on whatever life has in store for me.

Love to you all,

Renee

Sunday, October 3, 2010

The Big 3

Yesterday was Alexander's birthday. Although we did not have a big party for him, he was still very loved and had an awesome day. I think the hightlight of his day was the "Batman cake". I didn't think it was all that, but he really liked it. Enough to eat the icing before we ever lit candles. Silly boy.....just like his mommy when it comes to sweets.



He is now potty trained. He may have an occasional accident, but he does very well over all. It's so nice to know I no longer have to buy diapers!!!!! Now I just have to find him some batman underwear. I'm sure that would totally make his entire weekend.



Ryan was around for the celebration, but none so happy about it. He is still having a hard time realizing that it's not all about him. When I explained to him that it was Alex's birthday and what he wanted during the day, he would get, Ryan got very upset. HE wanted toys. HE wanted to watch what HE wanted to TV. I'm sure in 6 weeks when his birthday rolls around, he will understand what it's all about.

We've had a great weekend and life is good. I'm looking forward to my personal trip to Memphis in a few weeks to visit family and see "Wicked". I'm really going to miss my husband and kids, but sometimes moms just need a small break. I'm really looking forward to a little rest and relaxation and ME time :)

Love to you all,