Kids' Weekend

Well, here I am back at work. I got to spend a lot of time with the two little kids this weekend. I really enjoyed it, other than the times that Balin was snarky.

Friday night Angie went to scrap booking. Whenever she does that she is typically gone until well after midnight. I decided that we would go out and pick up some stuff at Walmart for Gracie's birthday party. I needed some white spray paint for hit jewelry boxes and she still needed stuff to make necklaces. Balin was starving by the time we got half way through the store. I'll tell you one thing about that little guy. When he gets hungry he gets angry and wants to be fed this instant. We had to rush to get the stuff we needed (if you count 15 minutes looking at beads a rush). We went through the grocery section and got Gracie a Kids Cuisine for supper. I am happy to say that she everything on her plate, so we'll be visiting that part of the frozen food section again very soon.

I got Balin some chicken and picked up some other things we didn't necessarily need, like stickers to decorate the jewelry boxes and ice cream sandwich cookies for Gracie's evening snack. I finally got the kids home and fed them just in time. Balin would not wait anymore.

Saturday was a big day for Gracie. Her and Angie were going with the Daisies (girl scouts) to Camp McMillan for the night. That left me with Bub for Saturday night. It was a guys night together. They didn't leave until after 3:00pm and Balin was sleeping. At about 5:00 he got up and out we went again to Walmart to walk around. I don't know why I was drawn to Walmart. I was considering buying the World of Warcraft computer expansion but managed to talk myself out of it. Bub and I wandered the store for awhile before I picked up a stacking toy for him and an Alvin and the Chipmunk movie soundtrack for Gracie for her birthday. Bub got to enjoy a Happy Meal for supper while I went to Subway for something a bit more palatable.

We got home and he wolfed down his supper. We got to play on the floor for about 45 minutes before he started getting tired. I turned on the baseball game and he watched with me for awhile before he started to get fussy and I put him to bed.

Oh, I didn't mention that Megan went with kids from her college to Chicago. I guess it was a bus trip the school was putting on. She was gone all day long on Saturday and got to go to Navy Pier and some other places downtown. There was a girl on the bus that hung out with Megan who's mom had recently (not more than a month ago) been arrested for stabbing and killing the girl's roommate at the college. I guess the girl was really sweet but shy and reserved. Megan and her friend Kendra took her in and they hung out in Chicago. The girl didn't have any money so while Megan was buying some souvenirs at a clothing she told the girl to pick something out and she would get it for her. I guess she bought her some flannel pajama pants like the one's Megan picked up for herself. It makes me feel good to hear that one of my kids did something unselfish and kind for others. Megan may be self-centered at times, but she also has a good heart as well.

Anyway, on Sunday Balin kindly woke me up at around 6:00. He hung out in bed making all kinds of noise talking to himself and playing with his mobile (it plays music if you push the button, which he did, over and over and over). We got up at 7:00 and learning from the previous night's hunger incident I set to fixing breakfast. He had an egg and a piece of toast and wolfed those down. We got him a bath right after that and then played a bit on the floor. It was nice, I got him all taken care of and dressed before 8:00am. The rest of the morning he just played and made a mess.

I learned this weekend that taking care of Balin and Grace requires a great deal of maintenance time. I had to pick food up off of the floor, his high chair tray, throw away paper plates, empty and rinse out cups, clean off faces and hands, take care of toys an countless other mini projects that the kids are more than happy to provide me. I don't realize all this because I work all day and Angie is home taking care of the little buggers. It was a nice (ok, eye opening) experience.

Regardless, I was very happy when Angie and Grace got home at around 3:00pm. They had a really good time but didn't sleep much. It was evident in Gracie who openly cried because she hadn't wanted to leave. She also cried when she went to bed and couldn't for the life of her tell why she was sad. My heart breaks for her when she is like that because she doesn't understand that she just needs sleep. Needless to say once she stopped crying she crashed pretty hard and pretty quick.

Well, that was my weekend. It was pretty mundane, but nice. I'm not so sure I want another like it anytime soon, but I'll take it and enjoy it when it does happen.