twas a great weekend

Yes I realize today is Tuesday, which falls two days after Sunday, which is a little late to be mentioning the weekend, but hey, let's go with it, ok?

Remember that commercial we all grew up with of the frying pan and the egg...this is your brain, and this is your brain on drugs?

Well picture a ball pit at Chucky Cheese's as I make this statement:

This is my brain (the ball pit at Chucky Cheese) and this is my brain when I'm trying to make preparations to leave two small children for another country for a week. Enter the image of about ten wild toddlers jumping and throwing balls all throughout the ball pit.

So all I can say is I apologize in advance in none of my thoughts make sense today. I'm hoping if I dump some of them here then I'll be able to free up a little space. ha!

So back to the weekend. What a wonderful weekend of doing nothing in particular. It started Friday afternoon when I did a little blog browsing while the girls napped. Oh my word yes! They actually both napped at. the. same. time. and it was glorious!

But I read this post and almost wet my pants. Do you know Jami Nato? If you don't, you must start reading her blog immediately. She is hilariously transparent and real and this story was one of my favorites. It is called One Glorious Night and is about the time her dad found a boy in her sister's bedroom at 2 am. It reads like it was taken from a scene out of Parenthood. You must read it. You must! Just don't be drinking anything carbonated when you do because it will sting as it comes back out of your nose from laughing so hard.

Later that afternoon we baked some of these deliciously wonderful treats. Ashley brought us some last week and she kindly shared the recipe and they are so good. For a brief minute your mouth will be in a state of confusion. Is this a brownie? Is it a cookie? Could it be both??

Why yes, yes it is.

It is a Fudgy Brownie Cookie and you should do yourself a favor and make a batch tonight.

We took them to a little shin-dig we had going on Friday night. I was responsible for bringing the chocolate. ;)

Do you know how many e-mails it takes to organize a girls night with four moms and eight kiddos?

I'll tell you.

*32*

32 e-mails over the course of 48 hours to be exact.

And most of them went a little something like this:

Is somebody bringing chocolate? And I think we need wine too.

How many bottles do you think? I have two I can bring.

Ok, I need tonight to get here soon...

How early is too early to come over?

Yay!!!! I'm sooooo excited!!!! :)

We were in desperate need of a little girls-night in... can you tell? Although I don't know who was more excited, the mommies or the kiddos. (Or the daddies! They got together for their own guys-night out.) Although it was decided that next time the kiddos are staying home with the dads while we ladies get to go out for the evening.

The pizza pajama party got a little wild. ;)

There may or may not have been some dancing on tables...

I think the littlest partier was swiping AC's drink in this picture. I can see the top of his little head and the expression on her face tells it all.

Once we got the masses fed, we tucked them all in for a movie hoping for a quieter evening so we could catch up, but it only lasted about 10 minutes before they were up again to play dress up.

So the rest of the evening looked like this:

stuffing dolls while trying to keep little feet from knocking over wine glasses and trying to catch a few minutes here and there to actually carry on an adult conversation.

But it was a fun night regardless and I love these precious friends and their sweet kiddos. And seriously, next time it is the guys turn to host the kiddo pizza party... just saying.

Saturday morning Will took the girls to Monkey Joes so I could clean the house in peace and quiet. It was amazing how much I can get done with two entire hours all to myself.

And there is really no way to transition into this so let me just awkwardly move forward introduce you to our new favorite snack. Frozen Mango. It's addicting so don't say I didn't warn you. I don't even particualry like mango, but this stuff it so good. It is sweet and cold and taste like little pieces of sorbet. I think I polished off an entire bag by myself on Saturday while reading this:

I can't put it down, which is actually a problem since I need to be packing, stocking the freezer with meals, finishing up dolls, etc. I gave this book to my sister for Christmas and she gave it back to me 2 days later. Finished. And she warned me then not to pick it up until I had the time to be able to read it because I wouldn't be able to put it down. So when do I decide to start it? Only the most busy week we've had since Christmas. ;) I must resist the temptation to read some more tonight so I can start packing.

And speaking of packing...I can't believe my luck! I'm home all the time and the one week I'll be gone and my white hydrangeas will be in full bloom. I look forward to this annual event each year.

I love me some white hydrangeas. I'm obsessed. They are, by far, my most favorite of all flowers. When Will and I got married, all I wanted was white hydrangeas, in the church, for my bouquet, on the reception tables, you name it. And when we bought this house we discovered not one, but two bushes in our yard! They bloom only once in the spring and low and behold it will be the week I'm gone that they will be at their peak. It seems early this year, but maybe it is the unseasonably warm weather we've been having. It isn't even April yet and already feels like June, which is a little disconcerting to me.

You see I've already been thinking about what kind of party to have for the girls in May (we are only down to 6 weeks people and if you want to do a party on a budget you have to start planning early to take full advantage of those 40% off coupons from Hobby Lobby!) It is going to be a baking theme (thus the colorful cups pictured above) and I was planning on having it outside again this year (possibly on our front porch?) but with weather this hot, I think everyone would melt into a big puddle within the first 15 minutes. So it is back to the drawing board for ideas...

And last, but not least, this little escapade was how we ended our weekend at 11:34 pm on Sunday night.

Is this little angel sleeping?

Why no, she is not.

Let's take a closer look at this shot, shall we? With the background in focus this time:

Yes, that is what I found when I went to check on our little Picasso before heading to bed myself on Sunday night. Seems she had smuggled a blue crayon to bed and did a little doodling because she couldn't sleep.

She seemed remorseful once I discovered her little project. Just look at that tear running down her nose. How pitiful...

ha!

Oh my goodness, she keeps me on my toes.

Does anybody know how to get the crayon to come off the wall?

I've tried everything and this must have been one super special crayon that does not wash off easily.

Looks like I may be re-painting her bedroom when I get back next week.