Catching up on the week!

Sorry that you've had to check in and see that lovely post about Snow White for over a week now. I've had a busy, but uneventful week. You know, the kind when you are constantly on the go and doing things, but nothing that makes you stop everything so you can sit down and blog about it.

Anyway, just for fun I'll give you a fun down of the week.

Monday
Matt's day off so we took the girls apple picking at a giant farm/orchard about 45 minutes from us. The whole way there Ella complained that this wasn't the closest apple orchard and she'd seen people picking apples along the road as we drove. Hmmm??? Sidenote - I used google maps for directions because I sometimes have issues with mapquest. Google maps actually directed us to drive five miles further on the blue route, turn around and drive north on the highway and get off at the correct exit. What on earth??? Thankfully I noticed it seconds before we passed the exit we needed to take.

As for the apple picking, it was fun, great weather, tasty apples and a wonderful store full of delicious jellies, jams, butters and baked goods. They had a cool park and a place called Pumpkin Land but there was a giant boy and girl figure stuffed with hay displayed there (when I say giant, they were 30 feet tall) and it scared Ella away. Go figure. After the apple picking we rushed home to take Ella to a dentist appointment and I was spared the trip because she requested her father accompany her.

That night my mom arrived to visit for a few days.

Tuesday
School for both the girls. Today was Catherine's special day so that meant I went in as the helper and brought snack (mini blueberry muffins and grapes). My mom came as well so she could see the girls' preschool. It was a fun morning, but wow, the teachers' have their hands full with this class. The boys are sweet and behave well (unlike Ella's 3yr old class last year) but they have 2 or 3 girls that are really difficult. One especially that wants to rule the classroom and never wants to wait for her turn (sometimes we physically had to pry her hands off things) and after 2 hours of struggling to be the boss she melted down in tears and screaming for mom. Lovely. Catherine was so cute and just held my hand and walked me around to the various play areas. Completely different than Ella who ran in and played on her own and would touch base with me occasionally.

That afternoon the Berenstain Bears came for a visit to the church where the preschool is, promoting the new faith based series that Mike Berenstain is doing. Ella refused to go, knowing the the "bears" would be there. My mom took Catherine, who was pretty excited about it. They only last 1/2 an hour - when the bears came out in costume Catherine started crying and they came home. Right away she told me, "they were so so big". I was proud of her for going and trying- hopefully one of these days we'll get over our fears.

That night was such a yummy dinner I have to share it. Homemade lasagna, salad and warm bread followed by homemade apple pie, ice cream and caramel sauce. Too good!

Wednesday
Once a month I help out a friend who watches kids whose moms are a part of a leadership team at a church were I do MOPS and Bible Study. I didn't want to go because my mom and I were all set to take Catherine (while Ella was at school) to Kohl's to use our discount coupons (I got 30%!!! Does anyone else get extremely excited when they get 30%? I always call Matt and he gets excited with me - we like Kohls.) Unfortunately my replacement fell through so I had to go and then rush to pick up Ella and we all went to Kohls. Shopping with both Ella and Catherine is....not fun. Ella doesn't have the patience for it and if I leave them in the double stroller/cart that Kohl's offers, her legs are long enough that she can push the cart all over while I'm not looking. Thankfully, no displays have been knocked over, but I have turned around from the picture frames or whatever I'm looking at to find them about 10 feet away and laughing hysterically. Because I had the girls with me I ended up throwing stuff in the bag to try on at home and now I have to go back and return a bunch of things - I still can use my 30% coupon so I'm not complaining!

Then we rushed home to get Ella to swim lessons. I decided to let Catherine skip hers so she could take a nap because she kept announcing "I'm sleepy. I want my bed!". Again, Ella told me she wanted me to stay home and daddy and Nama to come with her. Not gonna argue with her! My mom said that five minutes into the drive she said "I'm starting to miss mommy already!".

Thursday
Picture day at school! And a brunch with the moms from Ella's class! I signed up to bring an egg casserole - of course!
To to a few complications that morning we got to school a little late so I walked the girls in and Catherine was a little weepy - which was unusual. The teacher took her right away to read a book and although she looked sad, she seemed alright.
I rushed home, brushed my hair, grabbed my casserole and headed to the brunch. Chatted with moms, had a nice time, left after an hour to rush home and work with my mom on the "project" that I have been referring to lately. She was leaving that afternoon so it was now or never! Then back to school to get the girls. When I arrived at Catherine's door they handed me the envelope with the picture money and gave me a sad look saying "she didn't do the pictures". Apparently she cried when the photographer came and I was able to figure out that it was because he was a man and another of Catherine's fears are boys/men that she doesn't know. I was bummed because she looked so cute and I would have loved to at least have her in a class picture. We faked the individual picture by holding a blanket behind her and having her say cheese.
The rest of the day was work work work on the "project". By the end of the day I was exhausted, but I had gotten control of the complete chaos I had created and things were looking good. I laid on the couch and barely moved the rest of the night!

Friday
In order to take some pressure off Matt's busy week I offered to go to Costco and buy all the food needed for our church's picnic this Sunday. Somehow I thought I could buy burgers, dogs, buns and condiments for approximately 200 people by myself (and the girls). Common sense took hold and I called a friend to help me. I don't think I could have managed my stir crazy children and two carts full of food without help!

Saturday
Matt let me sleep in! Best husband in the world!!!! Today I am overwhelmed with all the things I would like to do and the day is passing me by quickly.

Of course I thought this would be a short post. I am not blessed with the gift of brevity and I realize I could have made each day it's individual post. Oh well! Thanks for sticking with me through me week!

At some point I hope to expand on and explain the project we've been working and even post some pictures! As of now I'm just happy to replace Snow White and have something new to look at.