Spring Lamb

I know it's Thursday but last weekend was good enough that I feel the need to document it even four days later.

First of all, I did not nap. Which...poor me. But!! I did start priming the bathroom and again, poor me.

But as much as I feel sorry for myself for having to prime and paint BEHIND the toilet, I feel good for having started the job. Starting is often the biggest hurdle for me. Once I've started a project, I usually just want to get it done.

Mixed in there with all that feeling sorry for myself were moments of hilarity and sheer joy.

After the first of her three baths on Saturday, Olivia and I headed down the hall to her room to pick out something for her wear.

There at the back of her closet, she spied something different, something she'd never tried on before.

I pulled it out and asked her, "Do you want to try on the bunny suit?"

She smiled and said yes.

So I put it on her. And it wasn't a bunny after all. It was a lamb.

And she HATED it. It was a woolen one-piece suit with a hood that had ears. There were attached mittens to cover her hands but it was footless.

The instant I had it zipped, she began telling me she wanted it off.

But the cuteness was such that cannot be ignored.

Ralphie has nothing on this four year old girl.

Olivia said, "Mommy..."

And I giggled.

She said, "Mommy..."

And I laughed harder.

She said, "Mommy..."

I fell to the floor, holding my sides and laughing until I cried.

Alyssa joined us in the room to find out what all the ruckus was. Olivia gave her an imploring look and said, "Mommy..."

I caught my breath long enough to ask, "Do you want it off."

She nodded solemnly, as Ralphie did in A Chrismas Story.

So off it came, but the very memory of it brings laughter bubbling forth.

Sadly, I do not have photographic evidence of the cuteness of the spring lamb because, for one, I was laughing to hard to get the camera and two, she wouldn't have left the thing on long enough for me to go all the way to the basement, which is where Tom keeps the camera.

Honestly, though, I think she might have been willing to wear it had it not been so itchy. Poor kid.

After the fun of the lamb costume, the girls and I headed off to Alyssa's school for Family Fun Night.

This was our first venture into after-school activities AT THE SCHOOL.

She was beside herself with excitement because were going to her best friend's house to see if she could go with us.

See, the night before, Alyssa informed me that she and Samantha had decided that Samantha would just ride with us to the event. Of course, neither thought to discuss it with their parents nor did they share parental phone numbers so that the parents themselves could discuss it.

But Alyssa was so thrilled to be doing something with her friend outside of school hours that I didn't want to disappoint her. So I agreed to just drive to her friend's house and ask if we could take her with us for a few hours.

And her mom said YES!!

Ooo, the girls were ecstatic. They couldn't stand the fact that they were together on a Saturday, at the school, hanging out.

And you know what? I thought it was pretty great too. It was really fun to be there, hanging with my girls and Alyssa's best friend, just being the mom. It was fun to be out in the community, the place where we belong, the place we're a part of. We played silly games ('fishing' over a wall, a sucker pull, bowling) we each spent a dollar at the bake sell that was benefitting the junior prom. Hey, my junior prom may have been over twenty years ago, but I remember the excitement of dress shopping, of decorating, of going to eat at a 'fancy' restaurant.

Olivia did not wear the lamb suit to Family Fun Night. She wore a sparkly red dress with turquoise and red tights and her sparkly red shoes. She got lots and lots of compliments.

She walked the entire time, playing every game her sister and sister's friend played. She walked up and down the bleachers twice. She was big.

Then it was time to go home. We dropped Samantha off at home and drove to our own home, which Olivia was so tired she couldn't bring herself to walk those last six steps from the car to the stairs that lead from the garage to the kitchen.

So I carried her and she fell asleep in my arms. My tired little lamb.

Alyssa? Was much too pumped to sleep. She played with the dinky little toys she'd won in all the games, she talked for an hour about how great Family Fun Night was and how I was the BEST MOM EVER for going and asking Samantha's mom if Samantha could go with us.

So even with the bouts of feeling sorry for myself, I'm calling last weekend a success.