Wonderful Weekend...

Thursday morning we set our alarm to be up by 7am. Our plan was to go to the 10:15 session at the Louisville Temple, then have lunch, then head to the Marx home. That was the plan. At 7am I was still very sleepy, rough night in the sleeping department, so Claude changed the alarm to 8am and we slept for 1 more precious hour. When one heads to play with grandmonsters one should be a rested as possible.

We got ourselves ready, Claude packed the car for our overnight at the Marx home, and we were off to McDonald's for breakfast from the drive thru as we headed to Crestwood, Kentucky. It is called the Louisville Kentucky Temple because that is geographically the main city but the actual address is in Crestwood.

We arrived in good time for the 11:30am session. As we sat there waiting for the endowment session to begin, in walked Lisa Curran. The Currans were in our ward (congregation) in Maryland. Lisa and Pete are wonderful people and it was great to see Lisa enter the room.

After the session we made arrangements to meet at the local Dairy Queen for a quick lunch. Lisa teaches piano lessons and had to be home at a specific time to do that. What a wonderful visit we had. It is always just the best to run into former friends and feel like the friendship is just the same even with passing years and little contact.

Then we headed to LaGrange to visit the Marx Family. This coming Monday is actually Bailey's 3rd birthday but Andie and Michael decided to have her little family party on Saturday so it wouldn't be rushed.

The Mini-Marx's were down for quiet time when we arrived. We tried to quietly bring our suitcase and things in but Hayden has ears that would rival a dogs for hearing. We weren't inside but just long enough to put out suitcase in the extra room before the little guy appeared in the family room. He is always so much fun to greet. He is always a bundle of hugs. Honestly, grandparents can't get enough of these. Plus, you get the added blessing of Hayden needing and wanting to share lots of really fun information.

After a bit Miss Bailey woke up, she actually still sleeps during quiet time, not so much for Hayden anymore. Bailey reminds me of Katelyn when she wakes up. They both have long hair and it covers their entire head when they get up. You know there is a little girl under all those brown locks of hair somewhere but you have to wait until she is ready to reveal her little face. It didn't take her long to figure out that Claude was sitting on the sofa. She curled up in his arms. Melts Pa's heart. His is putty in her hands after that. She knows it, he knows it and we all recognize it each time it happens.

Andie was busy decorating Bailey's birthday cake. Bailey wanted a Bambi birthday. So Andie was in process of decorating that cake. This gave Ma & Pa lots of time to enjoy the Mini's. We read books, watched a video about numbers, and did some marching.

Andie and Michael were going to have an evening out. Andie left and we fed Hayden and Bailey their dinner and played some more games. We ended the evening with a video about letters and how they make words. Then it was upstairs for getting ready and heading to bed. Claude took Bailey to her room and read her stories and got her to sleep quite quickly. I read to Hayden and when I left I thought he was quiet. But when I turned on the monitor he was still singing. The video about words has a little song that goes something like, "First you take a 'c', then you take and 'at', put them all together and you have 'cat'." This song had progressed to a truly Hayden version that sounded something like, "First you take an 'aster' then you take a 'roid', put them all together and you have 'asteroid'". Eventually the music settled and they were both sleeping peacefully.

Andie and Michael returned from the outing and we had a little 'adult swim' time. Then we were all off to bed so we could get up rested and ready to have a Bambi Birthday Party Lunch.

Saturday morning Andie made chocolate chip pancakes. Bailey and Hayden took their places at the island on their respective footstools. The pictures below are of Bailey practicing holding up her 3 figures for being 3 years old. Hayden has learned to cut pancakes. Never fear, the knife is a kid's knife from Pampered Chef. He can't cut himself, but he can cut the pancakes. What a great thing to practice and learn holding and cutting with a knife and fork. As fast as Andie could make the little pancakes, Hayden was cutting them in half and giving us each two halves of pancake at a time.

Andie finished breakfast, then she finished the icing on this wonderful Bambi cake. She took a Bailey approved picture of Bambi. She put paper with the picture on it in a cookie sheet and taped it down. Then she decorated the picture with icing so she had a perfect topping for the cake of Bambi with a butterfly on his nose. Andie froze this Bambi. Then she turned the paper over onto the top of the iced cake and pulled the paper off. There was a perfect Bambi on top. Then she put 'Happy 3rd Birthday Bailey' on the top next to Bambi. It was a beautiful cake and Bailey was extremely happy.

Then the boys headed out for a morning of haircuts for Hayden and Michael, a stop at Kroger for some incidentals and the final stop at the barbeque place to pick up our lunch. Yum!! While the boys were gone, Bailey got a bath. Then we had beauty shop time and I cut Bailey's hair and then Andie's hair. Then the girls got all dressed for lunch and finished just as the guys were getting home.

As Andie and Michael put lunch on the table, Hayden headed upstairs to make a special Magic School Bus. Hayden has some blocks and they are constantly being rearranged to make different versions of the Magic School Bus. His project this time was a Magic School Bus Birthday Cake for Bailey's 3rd birthday. Here is his finished product. The 3 red towers are the candles for Bailey's 3rd year on planet Earth.

We had a great lunch and totally enjoyed watching our little Miss Bailey devour her ribs. This little lady really enjoys her ribs. Her macaroni and cheese were made extra special by dipping them in the barbeque sauce. Then the table was cleared and they kids played a bit while that was going on. Then it was time for Bailey to take her place of honor as the 'birthday girl'. This has got to be one of my favorite pictures of the weekend. Bailey has enormous brown eyes. Getting her bangs cut reveal them again. Now I tell you, how can you not look at this picture and know that we have many very fun years in the future with this little lady?!?!

Michael let Hayden pick out the appropriate candles for the Bambi cake when the boys were out doing their errands. So Andie had him come into the kitchen with her an get the candle on the cake and help carry it in to the waiting birthday girl. We sang 'Happy Birthday to Bailey' and she blew out her candle quickly. We did manage to get a quick Marx Family photo before we cut the gorgeous cake.

Bailey chose the first piece. She picked the butterfly with a bit of Bambi on it. That cake was really good folks. Hayden speared his piece completely through with his fork and ate it quite like a shishkabob. Then we cleared the table. Hayden and Michael got the gifts portion ready in the family room.

Bailey got some fun gifts. The big gift from Andie and Michael was a doll house and lots of furniture pieces to go in it. Hayden and Bailey had lots of fun arranging all that furniture.

After a bit of play, it was time for Hayden and Bailey to have quiet time. It was also time for Claude and I to head back to Sadieville. We had a bit of snow during the night and we wanted to drive during the light of day while the roads were clear and before they started to ice up. After lots of hugs and kisses, Claude and loaded the car and headed down the road.

We were just close to getting up on I-64 when Claude's cell phone rang. It was Katelyn. She was keeping the home front together while Nissa and Todd had an evening away. She just needed a little adult conversation and called Claude and I to chat. It was really good to talk with her again. It is wonderful that the kids know they can call whenever they need us a bit. It sure makes us feel needed and helpful and just a bit loved.

Today we had a really good day at Church, choir practice after, a nice lunch and then we both managed a nap. Hallelujah!!! Claude is much better at napping than I am. I tend to get comfortable and then have the proverbial 'hot flash' and that pretty much kills the napping. But today I actually napped for about a hour.

So today, life is really good. Papa is getting over his cold. Mimi is doing okay. I'm enjoying a quiet evening at home. What more could one ask before the business of the week begins tomorrow.