Twas a weekend to remember

Twas indeed!  It was one for the books...at least for Lyssa Lu and I. 

We spent all day saturday as just the girls.  We took in an early morning nap that stretched until lunchtime.  We slowly but surely got loads of laundry done, a load of dishes washed and finally we got shredded by none other than Jillian Michaels.  She loves to watch me work out.  I think she in entranced by the cans of pees and corn I use as weights.  Silverish flashes of the cans entertain her as I do chest presses, back exercises, punches and more all at the prodding done by Jillian who say's "look, we are doing it with you, we know it's hard..." yet she isn't breaking a sweat and is still talking after 27 minutes of shredding.  I am soaked in a sweat that makes it hard to take off the anti-sweat shirt I bought, I can hardly talk and my legs are shaky from all the exercise. 

But, I digress.

All the while Auntie Katie had come over only to lay down and take a nap in Riley's room...for 2 hours!  Thankfully little lady also laid down for a nap after the shredding so I could shower in peace.

My parents came over shortly after and my Dad watched Lyssa Lu so we could take in "The Help."  I was a bit nervous about my Dad watching our girl but he said yes to it and she is really easy to put to bed so we proceeded on with our plans.  Popcorn, nachos and a hidden pop in my purse later I still had no new messages on my phone so we were golden.  The movie was incredible...I thought they did a superb job on casting the characters and it was touching with great acting and just enough laughs.  We left laughing ourselves and the laughing continued when we found my Dad with our TV set to channel 9984 playing re-runs of Jersey Shore because he didn't know how to change the channel.  Luckily Alyssa was easier to handle then the remote and she was good for him.  She continued her goodness and slept until 7:30 Sunday morning!  Yay, baby girl!  We dressed and headed off to church where she sang her little heart out to the songs, snoozed on a new lap, was passed around to countless people while I helped serve beverages after the service and was told an innumerable amount of times how extremely cute and social she was.  It was a long morning as our new head Pastor was installed but it was fun to see so many 'old' faces and we both really enjoyed ourselves.  It is so fulfilling to be part of something that dates back to childhood.  To see and exchange sincere "hello's" and "oh my gosh, is she/he yours?"  To see grown adults who used to babysit us Hutchies as kids and now introduce them to my child.  To be hugged by parents of my oldest and dearest friends that I haven't seen because of time and space.  It is special, it is good.

I love weekends but this one was just special.  Quiet, lazy Saturday followed by a busy and exciting Sunday capped off with the boys returning home and dinner with Nana and Papa later in the evening. 

This summer has flown by. 

I can't believe our baby girl is a sitter now.

I can't believe it's nearly the end of August.

I can't believe Riley starts school in 2 weeks time.

I can't believe we will be enjoying deep fried pickles with cream cheese soon : )

 I am thankful for the special alone time I am granted to spend with my girl...

I am thankful to have my family back under 1 roof after being spread out under 3 Saturday eve.

I am thankful to have met (baby Miles) and spent time with extended family on Saturday in Hamel.  It was so much fun to be packed together bumping into eachother and watching happily as our children played together all the while enjoying appetizers and conversation. 

Twas once again a weekend for the books. 

The boys enjoyed nice weather and fishing.  Riley really, really enjoyed the fishing, but of course! 

Bernie the bass, picture complete with sandals on the wrong feet!  : )