Another Weekend Without Pictures...

What is happening to me? I mean, why would I, Jenn, go ANYWHERE without my camera??? Do I blame it on the fact that I left it at home, on the coffee table? Or perhaps because I was so incredibly nauseous during the drive to Sulphur Springs?


None of the above. I did have the camera with us on the trip to our niece Helen's birthday party, and I WAS extremely yucky during the drive (I closed my eyes to try to control the motion sickness, and ended up falling asleep), but I didn't pull out the camera except once to get a picture of some of the girls playing Twister. Someday I'll learn....


So, no camera aside, the weekend was very fun and eventful. When I was first asked to go to Helen's party by her mom, Faith, I eagerly put in my request to get off of work early enough so I could drive to Sulphur Springs (1 1/2 hours away) in time for the party. Unfortunately, though, it was not granted immediately, and I was put on a waiting list. Only on Friday at 10 a.m., I was told my request had been fulfilled...


Last week, everything kept changing around. Suddenly, Faith's other friend April pulled out of the party, leaving Brad to be the other chaperone to the party. So that meant that Brad would not be driving to the Irving/Coppell area to visit with his family that night. And of course, I had terrible 'morning' sickness. Thursday evening, I was not able to get off of the couch--I was just so miserable, nauseous, and tired. I was suddenly worried that I would not be able to attend the party and help out.

On Friday, I was happy to say that I felt a lot better. All day I ate small meals, avoided any smells, and even arranged Chester to stay overnight at his daycare. Once we got off of work, Cary and I took off for Sulphur Springs, stopping for a drink and snack along the way. Halfway through I started feeling nauseous from the motion in the driving, so I closed my eyes to try to stop it, only to fall asleep. Cary says I was only asleep for about 30 minutes, and I woke up when he started turning off the freeway. At that point I was so grateful that he volunteered to go with me. I couldn't have imagined the travel by myself.


We got to Subway for dinner, and then on to Brad and Faith's, where the party was kicking. Once I took one bite of my sandwich, I instantly felt better--and ready for the crazy night's actions!

After dinner, the girls were split into teams of 3 (there were nine currently) for a digital photo scavenger hunt. Cary and I got Helen, Casey, and Imani. Each team was given a list of things to find, and the adult in the group had to take a pic of all of the girls with that object...


Some of the items included (and what we found):


Something wood (a fence)
Something tall (an electric pole)
Something shiney (the bumper of a truck)
Something black (the tires of the same truck)
Something old (another truck)
Something white (a white Mercedes...are you seeing a pattern?)
Something empty (an open mailbox--don't arrest us please!)
Something with numbers (a realtor sign--after convincing the girls to be more creative than the mailbox again)
Something precious (an angel on someone's doorstep)

So after we finished the list (there were more than this, but all I can remember for now) we rushed back to the backyard where the girls played on the swing, fought lawn chairs, and yelled like crazy "We won!!". We had a time to be back at (8:30), but as time drifted on, I began to realize that it wasn't a race to see who was back first. It was more for creativity (d'oh! all of those cars!!!)

While Brad stood up at the front going through each picture and describing to the other groups what they found, another girl joined the party. She got to pick the winning team by picking the most precious (kid, angel, or rose?) and it ended up being our team!!!

So into the bedroom the girls are shuffled, where the first sign of violence began with a pillow fight and crying girls. Then Happy Birthday was sung to Helen, and all sadness was forgotten after ice cream and cookie cake was dished out.

After I finished serving ice cream (in the cutest ceramic planters) I walked back to the living room where I got to observe Cary and his new 'girlfriend'. Little Molly went up to Cary and sat next to him and said, "You look like someone I know" and started talking with him. I joined the 2 out of amusement and she looked at me and said, "Your husband is skinny for an old man!". She also gave me pointers for staying skinny (popcorn, pickles, and ice cream!) This little girl was hilarious!!!!

After dessert time, Faith had the 10 of them sit in a circle and play games. The first one was "Going on a Trip". The first girl (Helen) says, "I'm going on a trip, and I'm taking _____". Helen said a flashlight...The next girl repeats the same thing, including Helen's flashlight, and then adds her own...and on it goes around the circle. Well...should have known this was going to happen. When it got to Molly? She repeated all before, and then said, "I'm taking Uncle Cary!"...this brought big laughter and akward moments to all of the other little girls when it came time to repeat Uncle Cary...

Complete with playing Telephone, a dance club in Helen's room, the night was a hit with them falling asleep around 12:00 and all of the adults going to bed around 1:00. The girls awoke at 7:00 a.m., which meant it was DONUT TIME!!!!

At 10:00 the parents started picking up the girls, and that meant the fun was over, so Cary and I headed home, driving in the rain, and then as I found out on Monday, an EARTHQUAKE!!! In DALLAS!!! My uncle felt it as it was strong in his area (Euless) but of course we did not.

I slept for the rest of the afternoon, then played Wii at my parents Saturday evening. Sunday was church and then to Cary's parents, where we ate delish chicken casserole and watched Marley & Me....what a weekend!!!