Rambling About Our Weekend

The sky is gray, the air is wet and a tad cool, I'm still in my pajamas, and there are toys all over the floor. Annabeth is napping and Jackson is playing with a green army helicopter toy. Curtis is back at work and our much-loved weekend guests are on the long road back home. It's another Monday morning at the Jones home.

Curt's mom and dad came to visit this weekend and we had a great time with them. They arrived in the late afternoon on Friday, bearing smiles and hugs and gifts. Jackson got a really neat scooter and Annabeth got a V-Tech Move and Crawl Ball (which is really cool in case you need to buy a present for a baby soon). That night we grilled burgers and just hung out.

My sinuses were making my face and my right ear hurt, so I took some medicine that proceeded to make me feel like a zombie. So I went to bed at EIGHT THIRTY. Curtis said that was the earliest I've ever gone to bed since he's known me and I'm sure he's right. We are typically such night owls. I remember him coming to bed around midnight and I felt like it should have been morning. Ha!

On Saturday we went to Toys R Us to get Jackson a helmet. I bought our first Christmas presents of the year without the kids knowing. We also had Jackson try out a couple of bikes because that's what we're thinking of getting him. He looked like such a big boy riding down the aisle. How is my firstborn almost four years old? Someone please tell me.

After that we went to Pappasito's for lunch. I have to say that it was the first time that restaurant has ever really bombed in the 15 years I've been going there. I guess that's pretty good for them! In the afternoon, Steve and Cozy took Jackson to ride his scooter. That night we went to Pottery Barn because that is what Cozy and I like to do together (everyone else waits in the car) and then we had dinner at Pei Wei. Yum, yum, yum. The adults stayed up late watching a movie called State of Play and it was excellent.

On Sunday morning we went to the early church service and then headed out to the Kemah Boardwalk. (Here's their web site, but be warned that a very loud song is going to greet you.) We had never taken the kids or our guests there before, so it was the perfect thing to do. We'd had gorgeous weather but of course on that day it was gray and drizzly. That may have worked in our favor because there were no crowds. We had lunch at The Aquarium restaurant and then let Jackson ride some rides. He had so much fun. Curt took him on the ferris wheel, which I would not dare get on. But later I saw a picture of it post-Hurricane Ike and the structure withstood the storm! I should be more brave next time. Curtis, Cozy and I then rode a wooden roller coaster and it was craziness! I screamed the whole time and kept catching air under my seat. That's a great ride. How dumb am I that I would do that but not the ferris wheel?

Later that night we all went to my parents' house and had some Goode Co. barbecue together. The chicken was really tender and I let Annabeth have some for the first time. She gobbled it up and kept leaning toward me for more. She also had some potato salad, but with less enthusiasm.

Mom got really excited because Annabeth reached out for her for the first time and then wouldn't reach out to me when I tried to get her back. There was much rejoicing on her part since, she said, she'd been working so hard for 9 months to earn it. Jackson was not a mama's boy but Annabeth is surely a mama's girl. That's not surprising as she comes from a long line of mama's girls.

I, too, was rejoicing yesterday because Annabeth said "mama" in my presence on two separate occasions. Mark it down! It was her first word! I proudly proclaimed to everyone within earshot that I believe I earned that.

Jackson came into our room crying this morning at 6. I thought he had either thrown up or he was scared. It turned out that the curtains had fallen down on top of him (he'd slept on the floor) and freaked him out. Annabeth also woke up at that blessed hour, so now it feels like it should be 3 o'clock in the afternoon.

I have two little Jackson stories that I don't want to forget. Jackson really likes to sleep without a shirt on, so a lot of times when we're dressing him for bed he says, "I want to sleep with my tummy." Last night he said, "I want to sleep on my tummy with my legs," which meant he wanted to sleep in just his underwear. I love his creative communication style.

This morning he came over to me while I was writing in my prayer journal and asked me to draw a monster on his hand. Usually he likes for me to draw a fish or a happy face, so I wasn't really sure what he was envisioning. I said, "What does the monster look like?" And he replied, "Like this. Rarrh!" Clearly, if I cannot draw a picture from that description, then I need some mothering classes.