Weekend Wrap Up

November 9, 2009

Friday morning I got to see Danielle accept her quarterly awards. She received the Blue Ribbon Cub Award, an award given to students who exhibit good all-around academics and character--a 'Cub of the Quarter' kind of award. She also received the Principal's Honor Roll award for earning straight A's for the quarter. I am so proud of her hard work and dedication, and am glad that I have a job that enables me to get away to share in these moments with her.

In the evening, we all went out on our weekly Family Dinner Night outing. This week was Bree's choice, so we ate at Pick Up Stix. It's not Danielle's favorite food, but she was a good sport about it. Afterward, we dropped Bree off at the theater with some friends, and Doug and I took Nicholas and Danielle to a local carnival for awhile. It was a pretty small affair--just a few rides and carnival games adjacent to the local mall--but we'd been wanting to do something fun with the kids, and this provided the perfect opportunity. It didn't take a lot of money, and it put some pretty big smiles on the kids' faces. Afterward, we decided to curl up on the couch together and watch an old movie--"Benji"--that we purchased awhile back. Danielle really loved it, but I'd have to say it would be a tough call to say whether she enjoyed it more than Doug did. We couldn't resist making it a double feature--we jumped right into "For the Love of Benji" before calling it a night.

Saturday morning we were up bright and early for a Queen Cobras soccer game. Danielle played goalie for the whole game and made some pretty spectacular saves. The other team was really making her work--diving and rolling, trying to keep that ball out of the net. She even sustained a battle injury during the first half when she landed wrong on her arm, but like a trooper she was ready to tough it out and go back in the box for the second half. Honestly, I never really liked soccer when I was a kid, but after years of being a soccer mom, I can honestly say that I love being able to cheer for my kids and their friends from the sidelines. And as a reward for her hard work during the game, Doug came home and made us all Eggs Benedict. I love that I got to partake in her reward, too: )

That afternoon was all about preparations for the big Sadie Hawkins dance for Brianna. This was her first big dance ('big' meaning one of the trifecta: Sadie's, Winter Formal, and Prom) of high school, so I was very excited for her. The theme this year was "Out of This World," so she and her boyfriend Jeff decided they'd get t-shirts from "Wall-E" to wear to the dance. (Jeff loves that movie, so it was perfect.) He wore Wall-E, she wore Eve. The shirts were really cute! She and four friends decided that they would cook a 'breakfast-for-dinner' dinner for themselves and their dates. They all met up at one of the girl's houses and ate there before heading off to the dance. Afterward, Bree, Jeff, Ryan, and Alyssa went back to Ryan's house to finish off the evening. All in all, it was a good night.

While Bree was out at the dance with her friends and Nicholas and Danielle were at their dad's for the night, Doug and I went out for a night of socializing and karaoke with some of our good friends. We met up at Skyline with Jim, Rosa, Bill, Pat, Michele, and her friend Chris. Doug and Jim did most of the singing, but Rosa, Michele, and I got up for a surprise number, too. There was lots of laughing, talking, story-telling, and even a little pool playing. Such a great group of friends to relax and hang out with! I'm pretty sure we're all already looking forward to the next time. The one thing that would have made it even better is if Lisa and David and Carrie could have been there, too. Hopefully, it won't be long til we're all out together again.

Finally, it was Sunday. I love our Sundays, Doug's and my days together. It's our time to reconnect and just focus on each other. Sometimes we go out and run errands together, and sometimes we just curl up on the couch together and watch movies. It doesn't really matter. It's just about being us--being a couple. Those Sundays are what makes it bearable to get up and greet Mondays with a smile.