The Revolving Door

It has seemed at times that our house has become a second home for a few (lucky?) people.  This past weekend, our Ogallalians were reunited,  moving to Eaton, and Meredith's friend Kelly moved in last night until she can find a place.  It did give me (along with the help from Brad) a chance to do some cleaning and reorganizing. We were both so pooped on Saturday afterwards, that we took a two hour nap! (Of course, I pay dearly for napping, awaking yesterday morning at 3:30 and unable to get back to sleep...dislike).
Both Brad and I have enjoyed having Meredith and Emma here with us SO much...I am having early morning withdrawl not having coffee talk with Meredith!
So the weekly news....in random order!

Emma went with her school class to Elitches on Thursday and the same day, Corbin "graduated" from his preschool.  (That's Emma in her new shades between Meredith and Kelly).  Curt and Spencer were at it again in search of the perfect garage sale items for resale.  I think Curt may have found perfection in his pig!

 I'm not sure he'll be able to part with that one!

Friday night, Meredith and Steven slept at their new house in anticipation of the arrival of their moving van Saturday morning.  The kids stayed here overnight and the following morning I awoke to find both of them asleep on the sofa.  It had been a traumatic evening due to the disappearance of "Rosie", the family dog, (still no word on her whereabouts) when the moving van  was loading in Nebraska.  Sophie came over and played games with Emma one night this week (the two of them get along really well).  Yesterday (due to my poor sleeping the previous night) I started scrapbooking at 6:00am and worked on our California trip scrapbook until noon, getting it nearly finished.  I showed it to Brad and he asked, "Now when was this?", among other questions about the trip that is now mostly forgotten in his mind.  That broke my heart!  His short term memory gets worse and worse, thus my need for lots of pictures and scrapbooking, therapy for me and memory jarring for him. He kept saying, "Don't let me forget this" as he looked through the pictures....
Later, the boys (Curt, Spencer, Brad and Rory) made plans to golf, which is something Brad hasn't done for awhile, but is really enjoying it again.  He LOVED the fact that Rory went along (the first time they've all golfed together) and were able to get in 18 holes on a beautiful day.  It was also a
 day for running, where Amie and Jessie ran the Colfax Marathon in Denver. Carrie and friend Kristie went along to "cheer" them on.  (I think Carrie's idea of " cheering" ended in a hangover!)  Carrie and the kids and I went to see a movie on Sunday, seeing a great animated "OZ" movie, followed by a light dinner at the Olive Garden.  Gramma had to fend for herself, rummaging through the fridge for leftovers.  Yep, the Sunday dinner thing just didn't materialize this week!

Mother's Day

Just reflecting about how chaotic it can be to be a Mother/Grandmother. Wow!  I'm just taking in the solitude after the craziness of the day. (By the way, it was a wonderful day).  To begin with, Meredith, Brad and I relaxed, had coffee and read the papers for longer than we really needed to.  At last, Brad announced that the was going to the store to get stuff for dinner and was making a list.  Now, THAT was entertaining!  One of the items on the list was bagels. He was sounding out and spelling everything and came up with "beagles" for that one.  Meredith and I threatened to kick his butt if he came home with a dog....We got a good laugh out of that one.  He finally got his list together and left for the store.  Did I mention that it has been snowing/raining nearly all day? Sure glad we didn't plan a BBQ at the park!

Emma finally came upstairs around 9:00 to present Meredith with her gifts, which she purchased after earning money babysitting for Gabi and Corbin Friday night.  Very sweet and thoughtfully done gifts, followed by a pedicure.

 

 At noon, the girls gathered to go to Windsor to" Picasso and Wine", where we were joined by Jessie, Sunni and Diane to spend the afternoon painting, having strawberries and truffles and wine.  It's always interesting to see how 40 people painting the same painting came have entirely different outcomes.  Of course, Gabi chose to do her own thing...

 

 We came back to a wonderful dinner made by the boys.....steaks on the grill, twice baked potatoes and asparagus, followed by a round of the dice game.  The girls performed a short Mother's Day play, then it was time for bed for a couple of small boys.  A great celebration!
As for the rest of the week, it was work as usual, ending with the closing (finally) on Gramma's house.  Hooray!  We were fortunate to be able to attend Sophie's Field Day on Friday, witnessing such events as the shoe toss, the ring scoot and the giant football relay!  Field Day has definitely come a long way since the days of the 50 yard race, the long jump and the 3 legged race. And no disappointed kids whose friends all got blue ribbons for winning! (while others went home with the dreaded white," participant" ribbon.)

Brad and I played bridge again on Saturday with a dismal outcome.  It was nice to be out among friends, though.  At this posting, the snow is still coming down in huge flakes, but is supposed to stop in a few hours.  I KNOW spring is just around the corner....just not sure which corner!

Cinco de Mayo (and the roofers are here)

Very early yesterday morning (Sunday) the roofers showed up to begin tearing off and replacing our roof, which was apparently damaged in a hail storm last summer.  They worked until about 3:00 when the temperature peaked at 84.  This morning they were back (all non-English speaking) and working really hard to finish today (and by the way, it is a whole lot cooler).  It cracked me up that Gramma slept through their initial first two hours of pounding, which at times was right over her bedroom.  And it was incredibly loud!  I kept checking on her, and finally at 9:30, she got up.
So, this oblivion is what we have to look forward to if we make it to the 90's, huh?  Sounds kind of nice!
The week has been "no bueno" (just to get into the spirit of the day) with a week at work of the consulting firm (I can't think of one positive thing to say about that), the closing on Gramma's house was delayed (hopefully it'll happen this week), and Emma had a pretty rough week at school.
Brad and I have been extremely stressed with the problems in our little world, so we are looking ahead to brighter times....
And, on the bright side, we played bridge twice over the weekend, on Friday and then all day yesterday.  It amazes and bewilders me how Brad can play bridge, given his disabilities.  Crazy!  And, he played well!
Saturday, we got a call from Curt and Spencer (early) letting us know that the town of Ault (about 10 miles up the road) was having a garage sale and that we should get there quickly, with the truck.
When we got there (and can I say OMG, I have never seen a whole town having a garage sale) they had already purchased some items for Meredith for their new home- some nice tables and some other decor.  They spent a lot more time searching for stuff than we could have- the town was PACKED!  Afterwards, we took the tables to the Taylor home and saw it for the first time.  How nice to be able to move right into a house without painting, cleaning or redoing anything.  It's in really nice condition, and the yard looks exceptional.

 We are excited for them to be back together as a family!

Corbin played an amazing soccer game Saturday afternoon, and since the weather was nice, Gramma went along and enjoyed the game and just being outside.  After the game, he was "recruited" by a coach to play on a 3 on 3 team which will start in June.  Gabi finally got her

"snaggle" tooth out that afternoon and was really proud of herself, carrying that tooth around in a baggie all day.

 Saturday night, we had our family dinner at Carrie and Spencer's house, grilling some salmon and steaks.  The kids made "dirt cups" for dessert at our house to bring along (crushed oreo cookies, chocolate pudding and gummy worms).

 

 After dinner the kids played outside and the adults played cards and had a few brewskis....we even tried to get Gramma to drink one!

 

Emma and Rory have reconnected, of sorts(hmmm).

Yesterday, Sunday, Amie ran the half marathon and got her new personal best time, beating her previous time and running 8 minute miles.  I'm glad she takes after me!

Sophie and Gabi had a slumber party Saturday night with Sophie getting roped into helping the other two clean their rooms.  As a reward for their help, Carrie took them to Build-A-Bear and let them pick out a stuffed toy.  (Well worth the price, I would imagine).  Happy Monday (and a very happy birthday to Nancy!).