A little behind and a lot to catch up on

By the sound of the title, I will be here all night.

Day 84 was Friday, January 7th. The plan was to go to school. Leave at 11. Pick up brother and niece at the airport, drop them off at home and go back to school to finish the day. At approximately 8:30 a.m. that plan changed. I told my dear friend and PE teacher, Maxwell, my plan. She promptly told me I was not coming back to school and was going to find a way for me to leave (IE. work the schedule so that someone could be with my kids for the least amount of time while I leave for the afternoon). Then she got my neighbor in Mrs. Thompson in on it and they informed me that I would not be welcome back. In about 10 minutes she came back to me and said that one of my partners had agreed to give up her afternoon time with Mrs. Amber, our assistant, so she could keep my kids.

That, my friends, just shows a glimpse of what GREAT co-workers I have. Even though I resisted, I really enjoyed my time lounging with Claire (and my brother) while we waited for Hubby to get off of work. We colored which is when I realized how much Claire would LOVE the gift that I was so excited about- see it here: Favorite present for Claire 2010.

***Sidenote: The kids were fine at school. When I told them I was leaving and why, one of them said, "Will they come see us?"

I had so much fun with Claire!!! I loved every second of the time we spent together. Here are some highlights:

• After leaving the airport, she ever so quietly sang some of one of her favorite songs, Firework by Katy Perry. You could hear this faint little voice singing along. SO. CUTE!
• Coloring with her. We made lots of T's for Tobie. Now I have some refrigerator art too!
• On the way to Enid, we rode "Girls in the back. Boys in front."




This is the face I make to fit in. If Claire doesn't want a picture, neither do I. So, we pouted. :)


• We play lots of games too, like: "(marching her little hands up Tobie's kennel) Dut. Dut. Dut. You're a sign!" or "(marching her little hands up the same spot as before on Tobie's kennel) Dut. Dut. Dut. You're a car!" This game went with anything, You're a pickle!, You're a horse! and many more!!
• I heard a story about Princess Felicia. She has a unicorn and live is a big castle.
• I heard a joke: "What did the ranch say to the refrigerator? Close the door, I'm dressing."
• Knock knock jokes were told.
• We even took a little time to look for Santa. We had to pretend we were asleep in hopes that Santa would come by. Claire just wanted to say Hi to him. She told me that she saw Rudolph's nose so Santa must be near.
• Just as we got into Enid (about 1.5 hour trip), Claire decided she would take a little nap. It lasted about 15 minutes until we went inside of Nandy and Pa's.
• Hide and seek was played
• Dogs were chased
• Grandpa was climbed on (and he did not mind one single bit!)

Saturday morning we took pictures. Martin, our photographer, was great with her! He even worked some magic on my Dad. That man [my dad] was reacting to all the silly stuff Martin was doing to make Claire laugh. We kept telling him that the silly stuff was for the 3 year old, not the almost 63 year old!

After pictures, we went for lunch at McDonald's. Then we went to visit my MIL and FIL. When Claire was a baby, she sent them a picture. According to MIL, Claire would talk to her. [This is the lady that has the "damn dolls" and gnomes as 'children.'] So they always love seeing her. All stops were pulled as I commented, "Reason #93 we don't have kids. Grandparents aren't ready." They had to work to find toys to play with.

Then we went to Grandpa's to have Christmas. Nandy and Pa came over, which I am sure was good for them to get out of the house, to open presents too. After presents, we went back to Nandy and Pa's for dinner. Claire and I even had a little crafting time with her cool craft kit.

Sunday morning, we got up and took Claire to church. Brother wasn't feeling well so Grandpa, Uncle Preston and I had some quality time with her. She did great during church and at lunch. We ate with church friends at Pizza Hut. In the mix of kids there were 5 boys and Claire. Shannon (mother of 3 of the boys) was so impressed with how calmly Claire was eating lunch, wiping her hands and face without being told and that she never got food on the white sleeves of her dress, even when she reached over her spaghetti plate to get her drink.

Shortly after church, we packed up and headed to Guthrie to visit Grandma. Unfortunately, after eating dinner with Claire in 'the Gut,' Hubby and I had to leave to come home.

I always love spending time with family, especially when we don't see much of each other, but it is always so sad to leave. I think I need to start a countdown to our romantical Ohio spring break trip.


*More pictures to come.