This weekend we laid low.  We watched our Gamecocks show up to play less than stellar football and, at halftime, we had had enough so we packed up the kids and headed to Boo! at the Zoo.

Both kids wore Tiger costumes and my inner Gamecock cringed.  Cameryn's costume is from last year.  I didn't want to ruin this year's costume (a peacock!) in the foam party! 






Hello, cute baby shoes!

I vowed not to do anything this weekend, other than the normal cleaning, since we have been so busy for the past several weeks and have a busy April ahead.  I succeeded. 

Saturday, I told Cameryn that it was a special day with Mommy (this may or may not have been a bribe to get her to run errands with me!)  I purchased some shoes for her on Friday that were too small so we took those back to the store and then I let Cameryn choose where she wanted to go to lunch.  She chose Olive Garden.  She's never been there before and she didn't eat a thing, except for the chocolate at the end.  She said that she wanted spaghetti but ended up ordering mac and cheese, which was really bland so I don't blame her for not eating it!  She likes ordering two drinks when we go out to eat, {white} milk and apple juice, always.  I blame it on my mom who always orders two drinks as well.   We talked about everything and nothing.  She liked talking to the waitress too.  I enjoyed my lunch date with her.  She then asked to go to Target.  Is my three year old the only one who asks to go to Target?  She says that it's her favorite store!  We spent about an hour in the store.  Cameryn saw a lady with a baby in a carseat and insisted that we go look at the baby.  Luckily, the woman was really nice and let Cameryn talk to the baby for five minutes.  Our Target trip didn't end well because someone was getting tired (Me?  Cam?)  Cameryn fell asleep on the way home and she didn't even budge when I carried her from the car to her bed and she slept for a much needed two hours.  I did a little cleaning that afternoon since it was raining.  I did most of the cleaning in Cameryn's room because she told me that she didn't want her Little People in her room anymore.  Sounds crazy, but it made me sad to move them over to her sister's room.  Cameryn loved her Little People and would play with them for hours on end.  Saturday night the thunderstorms rolled through and we had a bad hail storm that lasted for about 25 minutes.  There was no storm damage, but it was still loud and slightly scary!

Sunday the sky was blue but it was a little cooler (62 degrees?!) than we have been used to.  Cameryn has been asking to plant flowers so we headed to Lowe's to purchase the pink, purple, yellow and orange (ew.  I'm so not down with the orange.) flowers that Cameryn wanted.  Thanks to more rain, we had to wait to plant them until later that afternoon.  Cameryn grew tired of planting them about twenty minutes in because she said it was hard work and decided to play in the hose and jump in puddles instead.  She was freezing after puddle jumping so she played in the bathtub for about an hour.  She had a late lunch/early dinner and then fell asleep on the couch at 4pm.  I let her sleep for about an hour and then attempted to keep her awake until Chris came home about 7.  They spent the next hour on Skype with his family.  We decided that Skype is like a virtual babysitter.  Seriously.  Cameryn could have sat there for hours talking to her cousins and grandparents!

And that was our weekend.  Nothing exciting for sure, but it was nice to have a weekend at home and be able to get a few things done around the house (laundry! cleaning!) before all of the madness begins, again.... 

I love weekends that leave you smiling long after they are over and that's exactly how I feel after this past weekend.  Little moments sneak back into my mind and I am laughing all over again.  We headed up to Charlotte to see our dear friends Janette and Kyle.   Who, by the way, are so ridiculously good looking that standing next to them makes me squirm.  I think its the hair.  They are also so, gooey happy in love (you can read that story here and here). I mean, he bought her roses on Sunday just because.  Sigh.  Newlyweds.

 
Anyway.  Back to our weekend.

Thankfully, after a Saturday morning of storms, the sun came out and we headed up to the Lazy 5 Ranch.  We had the best time!  We opted to drive through in our truck instead of taking the wagon ride, and of course, my camera battery died first thing.  (Note to self:  CHARGE THE BATTERY BEFORE A TRIP!)  But that didn't stop us from playing paparazzi with the animals who are absoutely the biggest camera hams and so much fun!  They would come right up to the windows for feed and stick their heads in your lap if they thought it would get them some extra grub.  Even the ginormous bull wasn't afraid.. but we were.  There was no way in hell that we were feeding the bull or allowing it to stick its head in our window.  See that bull in the picture below?  Its entire head was in the window of the car in front of us.  Whoa.

I didn't mean to neglect the blog for an entire week, but life happens.

Last Thursday, my dad called with news similar to the phone call that I received in May of last year, I broke down crying.  This time, he was going to have open heart surgery to replace a leaky valve and I was terrified.  I didn't sleep much on Thursday night.  I prayed and paced and watched mindless television until my body was exhausted and I slept.  I woke Friday, still scared.  The tears flowed freely all day long.  Nong, my dad's sweet wife, emailed my brother and I with updates saying that the surgery went well, that once again, my dad was going to be just fine.  Dad was in ICU for three days and was moved to a "normal" room on Monday.  He's been passing all of his exertion tests and will be released on Saturday.  Obviously, his recovery is going to be a long road and he won't be able to go-go-go like he usually does (15 flights and 6 countries in 16 days is totally normal for him) but he will be okay.
My dad. 

***

My mom came into town on Friday.  She doesn't know about my dad's health issues (she doesn't read the blog, she's never been that supportive of anything that I have done, that's just the way that my mom is.) My parents had a nasty divorce and my mom and I have had a rocky relationship.  She tends to live in the past and has a difficult time forgiving and moving on.  She dwells on all of the bad things that have happened to her and sometimes being around her can be irritating.  This was one of those weekends.  I do appreciate all that she does for us, but sometimes..... (and yes, I realize how horrible this is to say) sometimes.... I just want to stuff her mouth with a sock and send her to a corner so she can think about the negativity that seeps out of her.  Let me explain, Friday night we went to dinner.  Cameryn was tired.  I was tired.  We waited 30-45 minutes for a table and finally ate dinner at 7:30, which is about an hour later than we normally do.  Cameryn had multiple melt-downs and Chris and I walked her in and out of the restaurant several times to discipline her.  My mom kept asking Cameryn if she wanted to come sit with Grandma.  Cameryn kept telling her no.  My mom then said, multiple times, "Well, maybe Grandma should just go home."  It really pissed me off.  Cameryn is three.  She's old enough to make her own decisions as to where she wants to sit and who she wants to sit next too.  This keeps the peace.  Not to mention, we don't force Cameryn to like people, to say "I Love You", to give hugs and kisses.  My mom does not understand this.  So each and every time Cameryn ignored her, she would say "Maybe Grandma should just go home." 

Saturday morning, after the 150th time that my mom said that, I looked her dead in the eye, and said, "Yes, maybe you should.  You've said it multiple times in the 12 hours that you have been at our house, so go."  Rude?  Perhaps.  I wasn't holding her hostage, she wanted to come visit, so my mom having her feelings hurt by a three year old and in turn making Cameryn feel like a bad person, was just ridiculous.  She didn't go and instead told me that my child watches too much tv and how my parenting skills need some work.  She also told Cameryn that the furniture that Cameryn has in her room was the furniture that "Grandma bought mommy when Grandma's mommy died." Seriously. Because it's an entirely appropriate conversation for a three year old and a three year old really needs to hear that. Luckily, Cameryn looked at her like the crazy person that she is and rolled right over it.My mom also made multiple comments about my dad (which made my blood boil considering the circumstances), how living in Asia ruined her life, how my brother was "no-good" just like my father. 

I am an adult child of my parents divorce.  Adult.  Child.  No child should ever have to hear their parents talk bad about the other, no matter how old they are. 

Her attitude was so bad that Chris eventually just stopped talking to her.  Cameryn really didn't pay much attention to her (kids are a fantastic judge of character.)  And, when Cameryn did want my mom's attention, my mom acted as if she didn't have enough time in her day.  I tried to be nice and get my mom out of the house so that Chris wouldn't be forced to be around her.  I tried to ignore the hurtful comments and be positive.  Chris and I were texting each other funny things back and forth, just to lighten the mood. 

***

The weekend couldn't end fast enough.

We did do some fun things - Cameryn had her first gymnastics class.  The dog that we rescued the weekend before found a home (did I even blog about that?!) 

The week started with a trip to the doctor - Cameryn has a bladder infection.

But, God is good.  My dad is going to be okay.  Cameryn is getting better each day.  I had a much needed day off yesterday and had my hair done by my miracle worker hairstylist.  I feel like a new person.  We made progress on the baby's room. 

Life happens.

The weekend is over.  Thank goodness.  I'm so glad to be out of my house and away from my child.  But it's Halloween, which means that it may get worse before its gets better since she will be full of sugar and sassiness before the night is over!
Here is the weekend review.  It's not fun.  I warned you.

Saturday:
Chris kept Cameryn home on Friday since he was off work.  They played outside, ran some errands, she took a nap.  She was an angel.  "Do you think she'll be good for you this weekend since I have to work?" he asked me on Saturday morning.  My answer.  Hell, no.  Why?  On my days off, I run boring errands (return stuff to stores, grocery shop, etc.) and clean, neither of which are of interest to my three year old.  Saturday morning started off okay, we played inside, I started the laundry, we watched Spookley the Square Pumpkin for the up-teenth time. 
Then it started.
 "Mommy, I gotta go pooooooop!  Come with me!"  My child has issues with poop so I knew that this was going to be a long drawn out episode.  After running back and forth to the bathroom twelve times with no luck, I decided that we could leave the house to start our trip to the grocery store.  My child also has issues with her opinion, meaning it's not the same as mine, when it comes to what she wants to wear.  She would rather live in pajamas and burn jeans and when I told her that she had to wear long pants and a long sleeved shirt to the store, she threw a fit.  A screaming, crying, leg pumping twenty minute fit.  Me - 1, Cameryn - 0.
I asked her to lay down and have some quiet time after our errands in hope that she would fall asleep and take a nap.  HAHAHAH!  What was I thinking?  Me - 1, Cameryn - 1.
A few more loads of laundry, a handful of more successful (but tiny) trips to the potty, and another tantrum about brownies later (Me - 2, Cameryn -1), we were ready to go for a walk and feed the ducks at the pond.  Oh, but wait, another forty minute scream fest is in the books because she didn't want to wear a jacket. 
At one point, I walked away from my child, sat down on the floor and started taking deep breaths.  And began counting.  One shot of vodka... two shots of vodka.... three shots of vodka... I didn't actually take the shots, but counting them down sure did help!  She did finally put a jacket on, but she didn't zip it up.  Me -3, Cameryn -1
Chris finally came home.  Cameryn went to bed promptly at 8pm.  Thank god.
Gamecocks win!

Sunday:
Today could be best summed up by saying:  CRAP.
Another morning of Spookley.  More issues with poop.  Six changes of clothes.  Six smelly loads of laundry.  Multiple tantrums regarding clothes.  Another morning of errands.  Cameryn did lay down and try to take a nap.  I had just finished baking 6 dozen cookies for Cameryn's party at school (recipe tomorrow!), when her door opens and she comes running across the house telling me SHE HAS TO GO RIGHT NOW!  Her bedroom is 3 steps away from the bathroom.  The kitchen is across the living room.  Obviously the bathroom was closer.  As I followed her into the bathroom, I can see that she's already had a large accident in her pants (number 7, oh boy!)  I tell her to be still so I can help her get undressed when it happens - The big piece of shit starts to fall out of her pants and onto the floor.  And I caught it.  I caught a cell phone sized steaming piece of shit with my hand.  And then I threw up.  After washing my hand 50 gazillion times, I sprayed it with Lysol.  (Me- FAIL, Cameryn- FAIL)

Shortly after that, my mom came over and Chris came home from work.  And I gave up.  I gave up all parenting responsibility because I caught a piece of shit with my hand and that exempts me from parent duties.  Until bedtime that is, when we had another run in with Cameryn not wanting to go to sleep.  Since Cameryn prefers to reside at the corner of Daddy Ave. and "SUCKA!" Rd., bedtimes usually consist of Cameryn coming out of her room and telling Chris what she needs while I roll my eyes until finally I cannot take it anymore and I tell her to go to bed or. else.  There was another issue with poop during the bedtime fight before it was all said and done and I made her wear a pull up. I was not playing crap catcher anymore. 

Issues. My kid has issues.

Today, I am (Lysol) clean.  And hoping that the week brings me many poop free days.

It's been one of those weekends.  The kind that makes you want to hit the eject button and leave the room screaming. 

This weekend my child challenged every fiber in my body.  Saturday morning began like every other morning, except Cameryn's ears decided that they need to block out every single word that I was saying.  I had to stop, multiple times, get down directly in front of her face and tell her, slowly, exactly what I expected of her.  Sunday was much of the same.  By Sunday night I had had enough.  You know what I'm talking about, you've been there.

Cameryn didn't want to eat, unless it involved chocolate chip muffins.  She didn't want to nap.  She didn't want to do anything but cry until she got her way.  Each time, I carried her to her room and let her continue to have it out, with herself.  Because the child is smart.  She pushes the boundaries, every single time. 

Bedtime is a battle.  My husband and I have differing views on how bedtime should go.  I believe that a child should be tucked in, kissed goodnight, and go to sleep.  BY THEMSELF.   I don't want to lay in her bed while she falls asleep.  I don't allow her to sleep in my bed.  Cameryn is a manipluator.  She will walk to her room, get in to bed, and then suddenly she is hungry.  Starving, actually.   And my husband, who cannot let his baby girl go hungry, will allow her to come out of her room and get something to eat.  So now, every night when he is home, she is hungry a full two minutes after she lays down for bed.  Nevermind that she just had a snack thirty minutes ago, she is so hungry that she may actually have to eat Lola the stuffed elephant, because Lola is big.  I tell her to just go ahead and eat the elephant (she won't, she loves that stuffed elephant) but he won't let that happen because he must feed her starving belly! 

And then she starts with "Mommy, lay down with me for a couple whiles, puh-leeease?!"  (A couple whiles is what Cameryn refers to as 'a couple of minutes' or 'a little while.')  So I tuck her in, lay my head on the pillow for a split second and then tell her goodnight.  "Just three more minutes, Mommy, puh-leease?!"  I tell her no, leave the room and not two minutes later, she walks out of her room, "Mommy, I don't want to lay down by myself.  Puh-leeease."  I tell her to get back into bed, where she cries.  Does my Mommy heart ache at the sound of her crying?  Sure, but after thirty minutes of crying, my mommy heart is no longer aching.  My head is. 

My husband is a SUCKER.  He goes in, every single night, and lays down with her until she falls asleep.  Last night she fell asleep, then woke up and only wanted me to lay down with her.  I won't do it.  I refuse.  So she cries.  My husband tells me that I am missing the point  (can anyone else find his point?! If you do figure it out, please tell me, you'll be my Tuesday hero), that she needs to go to bed and I need to lay down with her.  He takes the easy way out.  I won't.  I've been here and I've done this.  I was up with her every four hours, sometimes more, for 15 months of her life giving her breathing treatments thanks to RSV.  She was a crappy sleeper because so many nights I had to sleep with her in the chair and I went to work on 3 hours of sleep for weeks at a time.  I won't do it again.  I won't lay with her until she falls asleep.  I know that she is healthy.  She is not hungry (thanks to her bedtime snack).  She just needs to go to sleep.  She doesn't need us, she wants us.  I know this.  He knows this.   But somehow I am always the one who deals with it.

So we continue to battle it out at night, every night. We moved her bedtime up. We moved it back. We moved it up again. She has a fan in her room for white noise. She has two night lights. She has 5 gazillions animals on her bed that must be there every night.

I try to reason with her, but I forget that she is two, she's going to be manipulative and cry when things don't go her way. Cameryn is an intelligent child and her vocabulary is well beyond that of an almost three year old. She correctly uses words like dangerous and plenty. She talks about animals that most people have never heard of. Her ability to retain information is astounding and while I love this about her I also find it exhausting. I want her to learn everything that she can about the topics that strike her fancy. I want her to be curious, but cautious. I try to answer her many questions honestly with all the knowledge that I have. However, I forget sometimes that she is two, almost three, and that though her language is mature, her emotions are not. I forget that though she is in a big girl bed, she is not yet a big girl and still needs me sometimes.  I just wish it wasn't at 9pm when she should be sleeping and I should be enjoying my glass of wine.  Quietly.

Blaine drove Cameryn around in his car, because he's her boyfriend and that's what boyfriends do.

Congratulations to Brad and Shana who are saying "I do."  RIGHT now! (Gotta love scheduled posts!) I'm giving a speech tonight as the MOH. Here it is: Before I start I would like to say that Shana, you look absolutely beautiful and Brad you’re not so bad yourself! For those of you who don't know me, my name is Laurin, and for those who do know me you are truly blessed. Shana and I met eleven years ago at the gym where we worked.  Our common denominator was that one of my college roommates was her ex-boyfriend from long ago.  From that day on, her number was on my speed-dial.  Shana is the friend that I turn to when I need to laugh or I need to cry.  She taught me about how to be a parent and now, with the help of Brad, she is also teaching me about birth control!  When Shana first asked me to be her maid of honor I was really excited to share this day with her, but as the big day approached I knew that I would have to get up here and give this speech.  I’m loud around people I know but somewhat shy in public and I was trying to think of a way to get out of it, but have any of you tried to say no to Shana?   So, here I am. I’ve been married for 6 years tomorrow and I love being married. It's so great to find that one special person you want to annoy for the rest of your life.  Now Brad, I’ve known Shana for eleven years, and being that I’ve known her a little longer than you, I have some survival advice for you. 1.     Whenever you are wrong, admit it.  Whenever you are right, just be quiet.  It will be better for you in the long run because trust me, you won’t win. 2.     Let Shana think that she is getting her way.  And then let her have it. 3.    If she says, "Do whatever you want to" - You'd better figure out what it is she wants you to do. 4.      Her birthday is a holiday. 5.     Last, but not least, never be afraid that Shana will leave you, she has spent the past few years training you and she will not give that up lightly.  I’ve heard it said that sometimes love is sweeter the second time around.  This is absolutely true in Shana and Brad’s case.  My advice to both of you is this:  Love one another.  Take each day and cherish your time together.  Take time to talk to one another.   Put your love and your family first, and everything else second. And don’t forget to stand together because with 6 kids they may stage a coop! Let’s raise our glass to the new Mr and Mrs Tyner. May your love be like the wind, strong enough to move the clouds, soft enough to never hurt, but always never ending. To love, laughter and happily ever after!

We didn't have any plans for the weekend.  I needed to clean our house after having company last week.  Chris was working Saturday and Sunday, so it was just Cam and I.

Or so I thought.

Cameryn and I got up at 6:30 on Saturday and played until 7:30 when she wanted to wake up Chris.  Chris got up and was sitting on the couch drinking his coffee.  Cameryn and I went into the office because she wanted to do her ABC's online (Fisher Price website!)  About 15 minutes later I heard a loud BOOM! and then an "Oh!"  I called out to Chris and asked if he was okay.  No answer.  I called again.  No answer.  I got up from the chair, running into the living room while Cameryn trailed behind me.  My heart dropped into my stomach, Chris was face first on the floor.  Coffee was spilled everywhere.  His glasses had fallen off and were bent.  "Chris!  Are you okay?"  He looked up at me and was totally disoriented.  Cameryn, obviously sensing that something was wrong had started crying.  Chris tried to get up, but I made him just sit there while I figured out what the heck just happened.   He said that he doesn't remember getting up off the couch or walking towards the kitchen.  He walked 5-6 steps towards the kitchen and fell face first, between Cameryn's toy box and the coffee table.  He does have a red mark on his head, he obviously hit it somewhere, and rug burn on his knee, but otherwise he is/was okay.  He sat on the couch with Cameryn while I cleaned the carpet.  I asked him if he had ever done that before, he said no.  I asked him if he wanted to go to the doctor, he said no.  This was not the answer that I wanted to hear.  This wasn't a normal occurrence for him, so obviously something was wrong.  I asked him to call his mom (because I knew he would listen to her) and she recommended that we go to the doctor.  He ate while I dressed Cameryn and off we went.  We waited for an hour or so before he was finally seen.  His sugar was low, even after his meal, but otherwise he was fine.  His EKG and vitals all came back normal.  They sent off his blood work to check his insulin levels and we should have that back in a few days.  We are wondering if he is hypoglycemic as it runs in his family.  He didn't go to work on Saturday, thank goodness, and we had a lazy Saturday.  I cooked chili and we watched the SEC Championship game.

Chris did go to work on Sunday, he said that he is feeling fine.  I have asked him to try and eat something every few hours to keep his sugar levels up.  He did eat a snack in the morning, but didn't after lunch.  I have set a reminder on my calendar at work to text him every 3 hours to eat.  I don't want to find him face first in the ground again! 

My dad came to visit!  He showed up just as Cameryn woke up from her nap (perfect timing, Dad!)  Cameryn pushed Nong and my Nana out of the way so she could get to Papa.  I just love how excited she gets when she sees her grandparents (All 7 of them!)  We sat around and played inside most of the afternoon as Cameryn started running a fever.  (Side Note: I read an article today that a pediatrician near our area has been treating Adenovirus.  An illness that acts like strep or flu, but tests negative for both.  The illness is virus with fever, sore throat, and runny nose, so it should be treated with antibiotics.  I think that my pediatrician missed that memo back in October/November because it sure sounds like what Cameryn had for 6 weeks!)  Papa brought Cameryn an adult torture device - one of those dolls that talks when it moves.  Or talks when something around it moves.  Or talks when the world turns.  My poor dad had the thing in his car for 5 hours and he couldn't turn it off without busting open the package (and he "couldn't do that" because the package doubles as a rocking horse).  He covered it with jackets and suitcases and he still listened to it.   Plus he brought a ride on train for my neice that beeped and honked at him when he hit a bump. Anyway, Cameryn kept throwing the doll at me and the doll kept saying, "I did a flip!  I'm silly!"  And of course Cameryn thought that it was the best thing ever.  Me, not so much.  I turned the doll off.  She doesn't seem to care.  Laurin-1, Papa/Doll-0


Sunday night my dad mentioned to Cameryn that we may go to the zoo in the morning.  Apparently my dad forgot that a two year old lives in the now and does not understand future tense.  The child was off the wall for the rest of the night naming all of the animals in the zoo, what sounds they make, what animal she would ride on the carousel (the peacock, DUH!)  My dad just stood there laughing as she bounced all around.  And then, because it was already past her bedtime, I had to put her to sleep after that.  Fun times. 


Monday morning Cameryn woke up and started talking non-stop about going to the zoo.  Unfortunately my dad had to get some work done (since he lives/works in Vietnam, he only has a few hours that he can work simultaneously with his company while he is stateside) and we were not able to go to the zoo but that didn't stop Cameryn from talking about it.  We told her that we had to wait for cousin Quinn to arrive before we could go to the zoo.  We took her to the grocery store instead but for the next 3 hours Cameryn walked around saying, "Wait.  Cousin Quinn.  Zoo."   Yes, child.  WAIT.


Cousin Quinn finally arrived after naptime!  I know that my Nana was filled with joy being able to see her two great-grandchildren play together!  Cameryn played well with Quinn and brought her all of the "baby" toys and put them in Quinn's lap.  Since Quinn isn't mobile yet I know that she appreciated it as well.  I made sure to tell Cameryn what a big girl she was and thank her every time she did something nice.  She didn't like that Quinn took away some of the attention from her Papa though.  Cameryn went into her room for quiet time and I followed her in and asked her if she was jealous.  She responded and said, "I NOT DEALOUS!"  (She definitely was.)  She did con her Papa into a horsey ride though, it was comical to watch for sure!  We ordered Chinese for dinner and had enough food to feed most of my neighbor's.  My family can eat.  Plus we made turtle brownies and a cake.  YUM!


Monday night I sat around with Zach and Tina and chatted for awhile.  Funny how much things have changed since last year!  We talked about our kids, their wedding, what the future holds.  I really enjoyed it!  Plus, Tina is awesome and so easy to talk too!  I am so lucky to have three wonderful woman who I can call sister-in-law! 


Tuesday it was raining, but that didn't stop up from going to the zoo.  Cameryn LOVED it!  It was Quinn's first trip to the zoo and she loved feeding the giraffe's and watching the gorilla run around.  The gorilla stopped right in front of us and made a face.  We all thought that he was being a ham while we took picture after picture of him.  He just stopped to pee.


My family left after we got home from the zoo.  I cried.  I'm getting teary eyed just thinking about it now.   I think that I will always cry when I say goodbye to my dad after he visits.  It just makes me sad.  I'll get over it in a few days, I always do.


I was so tired after everyone left but it was too late for Cameryn to nap and boy was she in rare form.  I begged her to lay down on the couch with me for a few minutes but she refused.  She's just too busy for that.  She did pass out around 7 and I wasn't far behind her!

Pictures are here.

My weekend, overall, was just fantastic.  My family rocks. 

We had a whole bunch of nothing planned for the weekend since Chris had to work.  I like it like that!

Friday night we went over to Spam and Stephanie's house for dinner and wine.  Our friend, Bethany, came over too and we had a great time catching up while Cam and Madison ran around like crazy women.  I haven't seen Bethany in a long time, it's been about 6 months, which is sad considering that we live in the same city!  She is one of the most cheerful people that I know and is a lot of fun to be around.  I have missed talking with her so much!  Chris and Spam made us manicotti and canoli.  Well, let's be honest, Spam made it, Chris supervised.  It was SO yummy!  Thanks, boys!

Saturday, Cameryn and I stuck close to home.  I had some cleaning that I needed to get done before we have company this week, not to mention plies of laundry.  How does a family of three end up with so much laundry?  I think that I did 8 loads this weekend.
We have had disgusting little mice in our house.  Chris wanted to be humane about it and get traps that don't kill them.  So, we caught one and by accident released it in the backyard (we didn't know for sure that it was in the trap because we couldn't see if anything was inside) and it promptly came back the same night.  We caught another mouse, Chris released it and watched it run far, far away across the street.  We really thought that would be the end of Mousegate 2010, but apparently those little buggers had decided to call our house home.  I found droppings inside of Cam's Little People barn in our family room! The damn things thought that it was like a funhouse for them!  So gross.  They also moved on from our laundry room, ran across the house and decided that the closet in the foyer was a warm and cozy place to shack up.  Chris said that we should just get a cat and let the cat kill the mouse family.  Since I'm allergic to cats and I don't want mice guts everywhere, I convinced Mr. Animal Planet (aka Chris) that people can kill mice, that it's part of the Circle of Life.  We have had success with the new traps and no other mice have been seen.  I am so glad that they are gone. Mice so disgusting.

We played outside on Saturday afternoon after Cameryn's nap.  It was SUCH a beautiful day!  There is nothing better than seeing a Carolina blue sky.



Gamecock fans were definitely feeling more than a little blue after the Arkansas game on Saturday night.  Sigh.  USC has a lot of work to do before going to the Swamp this weekend with hopes of winning the SEC East.  I really don't want to be Gator meat.  Again.

Sunday it was still cold but we went outside for two hours anyway.  The poor girl was wearing three layers because she insisted that she wear her Phillies jacket.  Cameryn kept running to the top of the hill and saying, "I UP HERE!"