The Saga of the Weekend..

{in which you will hear such words as "dance pictures," "panties," and "goose egg"}

Okay, it wasn't really as dramatic as a "saga," but there were some happenings worth mentioning...and what's funny is that going into the weekend I figured it would be pretty much a "no brainer" with very little to write about on Monday.

I think I mentioned on Friday that we were looking forward to the weekend, because there wasn't much going on. All of that changes next weekend, because Delaney's travel softball team starts its tournament play (get ready for softball pictures!!), but this weekend was a nice, "g0-nowhere-planned" weekend. McKenna actually had a Winterguard Competition in Tennessee, but I wasn't going because I was going to stay home and attend Delaney's Math tournament here in Birmingham (I have to kinda switch going to their events, so I don't only attend one of theirs). Delaney's math event ended up being cancelled, but then I couldn't get a hotel reservation in Tennessee at the last minute. So, I sent McKenna off without me (she was probably secretly excited; ha!), and we had a Saturday with very little planned activities.

So on Saturday, we actually slept late (until at least 8:30; VERY nice!) and then Gary and I got up and did some cleaning and straightening up around the house (hauled off the old refrigerator, tried to straighten up Sydney's room, etc.). We watched some television, made some sloppy joes, piddled around, and enjoyed some "lazy" time.

Then, that night I got together with my friends Chris, Allison, and Julie for a "girls night out" (it was one of those nights when everyone "really needed" some time away from the kids; ever had some of those times? ha!) and we had a BLAST eating some good Italian food, getting some "to die for" pastries at our favorite bakery (like, my favorite, the chocolate rugelach below!), and going on a panty run
(about two years ago...right around the time Chris became a newlywed again!...we began the tradition of ending our girls-night=outs with a shopping spree for panties. It's turned into kind of a silly tradition, but it's a very easy way to get the husbands to watch the kids for the evening. "I'll come home with panties" is a great selling point! LOL You also sometimes can find some pretty fun "guys" goodies, too. Like those boxer shorts below! I laughed at them until I was crying! Quite a sentiment to have on your underwear, huh?)



As we left our little shopping excursion, I got a call from McKenna. I asked her how their perfomance went and she said, "We did really poorly...and I have the knot to show for it!" During their performance, she had been hit in the head with another girl's saber. She said she had a huge goose head on her forehead and she had an awful headache, but that one of the moms (who also happens to be a nurse) said she had no signs of a concussion so she was just gonna try and take it easy. Needless to say, that got me a little worried, since I was so far away from her. I told her, though, to take some advil, rest, and she'd be fine.

We got home LATE and Sydney was still wide awake! Delaney had spent the night with a friend and when Sydney realized she'd have Gary all to herself, she decided that she and her Pop would have a "sleepover"--i.e., building a fort, eating pizza, and playing Barbie dolls. I think she had worn him out, but she was still going strong!!!

On Sunday morning, we were up-and-at-em to head to church (although I really didn't feel so much "up-and-at-em" and had a not-so-fun sinus headache). But we were excited to see Sydney sing with some of the kids in the service that morning. And she didn't disappoint! She sang loud and proud (and is still singing it this morning. Believe me, that girl loves to sing! lol)

At the beginning of the service, though, Gary popped up into the balcony and motioned to me to come downstairs. He had just gotten a call from Sandy (the nurse=mom), who reported that McKenna had woken up that morning with a tick movement in her shoulder and the side of her head (on the opposite side of her knot from the saber hit). She reassured me that she was taking McKenna back to the hotel, she wouldn't be performing that day, and that she would keep a very close eye on here. There was still no sign of a concussion and the only thing that McKenna was complaining about was a headache. I told her to take her to a hospital if any other symptom showed up, and then I began to feel pretty bad that I wasn't there with her. If I had traveled with them, we could be on the way home right now. I then talked to McKenna and she reassured me that she was fine; just that the tick was irritating. I told her I'd call her back later and check on her and told her to please tell Sandy if anything else started hurting (McKenna can be kinda stoic, so I wanted to be sure she wouldn't ignore a symptom).

After church, I headed home to watch some tv (the Memphis-Tennessee basketball game that I had recorded from the night before), wash clothes, worry about McKenna, send Delaney to softball practice with Gary, and then get Sydney ready for her dance pictures later on in the day!

I got her out ahead of time and took some pictures of her myself. I knew I'd end up loving these more casual, outdoor poses much more than the staged portraits shot later on (and I was right!).

She LOVED getting all dressed up for the pictures (you'd never guess she'd like wearing a frilly dress, huh?)



(i really like this shot, with the reflection of me and the camera in the mirror.)

The wait for having the pictures taken wasn't as bad as I had anticipated. And even better... I got a call from McKenna while at the studio telling me that her ticks had stopped and she was feeling much better. You can imagine the weight that I felt lifted off of me!

When McKenna returned home that night, she was exhausted. And after Delaney got home from softball practice, she was exhausted. And Sydney, after working so hard to look glamorous for her pictures, was exhausted (lol!). As a result of all of that, I feel pretty exhausted today too for some reason (hence, the late post for today!).

I'm seriously reconsidering these do-nothing weekends...because they can drain the energy out of you! (Bring on the busy plans next weekend!!)