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I have received many emails asking me where I've gone, so I'm guessing it's about time that I jump back into my blog world again! Life has been incredibly busy, with this past weekend topping the charts of overwhelmingly busy! Thankfully, though, it was also completely refreshing and rewarding in the same. Isn't it amazing how God does that for you? When you know that you're going to be extremely busy, He provides rest in the middle of it all!
So, here's a quick recap of my weekend ... :)
Friday was spent with Claire and I meeting up with Tanya and Breanna (my sister and my niece) and doing some great shopping! We started off at Ikea in hopes to find some end tables for my living room. Instead of end tables, I ended up finding some beautiful lamps and an arrangement (of which my boys lovingly refer to as "the dead sticks in a bowl") of branches in a very tall vase which are now sitting in the corner of my living room. All in all, it was an incredibly successful trip .. even if I didn't get to find the end tables I wanted!
We then ventured over to the Mall of America where we grabbed lunch, where I got sucked into Maurices yet again (have I mentioned that it is my favorite clothing store EVER?!), and we ended our trip there by a fun time at Build A Bear. Claire made a bunny for herself and Breanna made a bear for her sister, Khloe, who her family is in the process of adopting from China. All-in-all, it was a great time for all of us!
Friday night was a spontaneous date night for my hubby and I, which was a BLAST! We went out to dinner at The Green Room (have I mentioned that I just LOVE this restaurant?!) and then decided to spend a couple of hours at the casino. I'm new to blackjack, so I play just for the fun of playing! We enjoyed ourselves for awhile until the grumpy old man next to me started huffing and puffing at the way I was playing (evidently you're supposed to follow the rules of "the book" and play a certain way. I just follow my gut and play that way, and evidently it is just not correct!). He was under the belief that the way I was playing was directly effecting the cards he was receiving, so he was getting mad at me for the fact that he was losing money. After about 10 minutes of listening to him grumble at me under his breath, I decided it was time for us to head home before
Saturday was a busy, up early and moving right away sort of day! We were up, had a quick breakfast and loaded up the kiddos and headed out. Where were we going?! To the MckPicnic of course! I took Claire and Colin with me to pick up the balloons and Monte took Iain and Ellis and headed to the park to help MckMama's very own Prince Charming get the tent set up. I got there just in time to snap a few quick photos!
Claire Bear was quick to jump in and help, too!
MckMama's Prince Charming and MY Prince Charming :)
Big Mac was a BIG help ... and mischievously tried to push all of the connector buttons after we got them snapped together!!
MckNugget wanted to help too!
Somehow, though, I never managed to capture a photo once the tent was actually UP! :) Oh well! Once everything was set up, people began to arrive and all the fun started! My Claire Bear was loving her time of cuddling with sweet Stellan ...
... and I was enjoying trying to keep my children away from eating all of these beautiful (and incredibly DELICIOUS) cookies made by Amanda!
After we enjoyed our lunch and had time to chat with other phenomenal bloggers, we had to pack up and head home, as we were expecting dinner guests that evening. So, off we went back home with cleaning and grocery shopping on my To Do list. Thankfully, my husband is completely amazing and 100% wonderful, and he insisted that I lay down and take a nap before I start working on my list, as exhaustion was quickly setting in! So nap I did! Post nap, however, the crazy of life resumed and I ran to the grocery store, came back home to help my hubby finish cleaning the house, and started preparing appetizers for the wonderful dinner guests who were soon to arrive. We were hosting dinner with two of Kelley's sisters, Debbie and Connie, and their spouses (soon to be spouse in Connie's case!). It was a wonderful evening with great conversation! Unfortunately, the tired from the day crept up on me quickly and I was pretty much a bump on a log by about 8:30pm! Shortly thereafter our dinner guests headed home and Monte and I decided to leave the mess of dinner on the counters to be cleaned in the morning and headed for bed!
Sunday morning we got to sleep in a little bit (which was completely glorious by the way) and I started getting ready to head out to the MckBrunch. Part of my excitement that morning was the fact that I knew we were eating at The Green Room (my restaurant obsession!) and that the menu was going to be amazing! :) Upon arrival, I found a chair for myself and immediately entered into a world of chatting with amazing woman after amazing woman! I sat by Sarah and Jolene, enjoyed chatting with Amanda, Jess, Tina, Hilary, and Jenna .... to name a few :) It was such a wonderful time spent with truly wonderful women and I was so grateful to be part of it! Wouldn't you have wanted to be part of this group?!
Sunday afternoon and evening were spent with my phenomenal family out in our boat on Lake Minnetonka. We enjoyed hotdogs on the grill, swimming, fighting (come on, every sibling does!), doing a crossword puzzle (this is what my husband and I do together for relaxation ... yes, we are nerds at heart!) and just relaxing.
The end of the day consisted of me crashing into bed in exhaustion! What a crazy busy, but completely amazing weekend!!
