10/18/09

We survived the girl's party!  There were 3 girls confirmed, but an extra 2 showed up.  Their acceptance somehow got lost in communication.  Either they didn't tell Angel, or she forgot to tell me (which is why I wanted parents to call me!!!)  Anyway, they had a good time.  The only issue I saw was that Miss Angela gets into a snit way too easy and acts snotty.  Apparently this happens if she doesn't get her way.  She still haven't figured out that tone of voice is important.  Apologizing works better when it sounds like you mean it.

Anyway, we ended up with (L to R) Gracie, Brittney, Sydney, Angel, Tyler and Alyssa.  They were all in their cute little costumes and just hung out until we loaded them up and took them to Cici's Pizza for dinner.  Cici's is great - it cost us less than $40 for 6 kids & 2 adults, and it's all you can eat.  The kids love going there.  Randy and I basically stayed out of the way and they entertained themselves.  We heard a lot of cheering & dancing, etc.  They popped in every once in a while to ask me to take a picture, make a recording, or to get permission to do certain dares.  It was loud, but the girls were all polite and respectful to us.  Alyssa & Sydney went home at 11, and the other 3 spent the night.  At 2:15 am Randy yelled at them to go to sleep - they were in bed but still chatting & doing stuff.  Then someone's phone went off at 7:30 am and they were all up again.  Sheesh!

But they had fun. It really made me feel good that I heard a couple comments both last night and this morning about how nice & neat the house was (they obviously didn't see my bedroom, but I'm still taking babysteps!)  Thank you FlyLady!  I used to rush around at the last minute getting the house presentable, getting all flustered & sweaty.  Not this time!  We went out to dinner & went shopping Friday night and I was too tired & full to do much when we got home, so I worked in the kitchen for a while Saturday morning before going to visit Dad at the hospital.  Then we came home, I finished up the kitchen & last minute dusting and took a shower.  Then we were sitting in the living room, calmly watching TV when the first kids arrived. 

So anyway, I'm pretty proud of my decorations.  The coffin looks great, just needs to be painted.  I think I'll wait until it's in the 60s next week to do that.

The house & cemetery.

This seemed to be a good place for the coffin.

Ded Fred & his balloon.

Floor decal - it took a while before Jack & the cats would walk over it.

The coffee table.

The batty lamp shade.

We have a few new family members.

The man-eating plant & babies settled in their homes.

The kitchen table.  I love the eyes on the table cloth.

Kitty Litter Cake - yummy!

So that was the insane weekend.  Tomorrow after I pick Angel up from practice we're going over to Mom & Dad's house to help Laurie cut the grass & clean up the flower beds before winter.  Supposed to be pretty nice, but we'll have to hurry to get it done before it gets dark!  Between us & the girls, we should (I hope!) make quick work of it.  Their yard isn't that big!

So that's about all for now.  For my parting pic - this is the pond behind Troy Beaumont Hospital as seen from the top of the parking garage.  I feel it is the perfect example of fall in Michigan.  I have it set as my wallpaper, too.