Weekend Top Five 2/16/09

Happy President's Day. We are off to the Ford Museum today for free admission and birthday cake in honor of the event.

I am having a difficult time thinking of 5 things from this weekend. It was a pretty uneventful weekend. The boys spent a lot of time playing outside in the little bit of snow that fell Friday night.


5. Friday Morning Trip to the Dentist
I know I already mentioned it, but it was a big part of the weekend so I'll put it in the list. I have been quite remiss in my children's dental care up until now, mostly because I couldn't find a Medicaid dentist with openings. Aaron's old preschool had one come to the school so he had already been seen, but Noah hadn't.

The thing I didn't like was that the parents aren't allowed to go with them. It was a little disturbing. But even though he had a cavity, he still came out with a smile.

I am struggling with the idea of him having a cavity that needs to be filled, and he is very worried about his appointment next Saturday. I am too, mostly because I haven't been back to the dentist since I had a traumatic experience back when I was pregnant for him. I hope his experience next week is less awful than mine was. I am trying to down play it though, so he doesn't feel anxiety about it.

The biggest thing that came out of it was that he needs to start flossing, which became quite a struggle this weekend to teach him how. I think it's a leaning curve though.

4. Friday Morning Trip To Target
The boys each got a gold dollar coin from my grandma in their Valentine cards. Since Noah had the day off of school for midwinter break, I took them Target after the dentist to spend their dollars in the dollar bin. Noah also got to pick out an electric toothbrush as his reward for being so brave at the dentist.

Noah picked out a dry erase board with a marker and eraser and Aaron picked out some batman pens. After a little more shopping we got our standard popcorn and light lemonade from the little snack counter and the boys settled in for a fun time of coloring with their new treasures and snacks. After such a rough day the day before (and discovering why it happened later that day), it was nice to have a great morning out with the boys.




3. Friday Night Mom's Night Out-In With A Movie Reject
I really needed to get out after this week so I got free immediately after dinner while the boys watched Lion King for movie night. I called Deb to see if I could spring her early, which she was able to as long as she promised her husband that she wouldn't come home before 11.

After a wandering trip to Target and the mall, we headed back to my house to watch a "chick flick". I had rented The Secret Life Of Bees, because it had gotten so many good reviews.

After the shock of disturbing violence in the first scene, we stuck it out for about ten more minutes before I turned to Deb and asked her if we really wanted to endure the rest of this. We both decided that a movie of this intensity was not what we were up to for the night so we headed back to the video store to beg them to exchange it for something more lighthearted.

We ended up with Mama Mia (for the third time being rented). I could have bought it by now for the money I have spent on renting it, but Deb hadn't seen it. Yes, silly useless plot with bouncy Abba songs was much more pleasant to watch and Deb managed to stay out until after midnight.

2. Saturday Morning Valentines
Since I knew I was going to be gone for the morning (see honorable mention below) I decided to give the boys their valentine present before I left.

I decided to not give them candy or stuffed animals this year. They have so many stuffed animals and Noah doesn't need to be eating candy, anyway (not that Aaron, Steve or I should either). So I opted for practical this year. It turned out to be the right decision.



I got them fun water bottles with their names on them. They had mugs like this, but I thought they would be perfect for Disney in a few weeks. Even though they weren't cheap, they seem to be sturdy, strong, they're personalized to prevent identity battles (of which we experience on a daily basis) and they have straps for them to be able to carry them themselves.

I knew the boys liked them when they begged to take them with us to our evening adventure (see #1 below) and they used them frequently for the entire evening.

1. Saturday Afternoon/Evening Playworld
After quiet time, we were supposed to go to a valentine evening out at Deb's church, but the kids had so much energy that I felt a trip to Playworld would be more up their alley. Deb and her girls joined us. Our old babysitter who works there was just leaving and not only slipped us in the door for free, but also told the employees to give us dinner for half price, so the entire evening out cost around $10. Woo Hoo!

Check out the sweaty Noah head




Usually the kids run around for about an hour, and then start complaining about being tired.

Not this time.
After about an hour and a half, we fed them, and then ALL FIVE of them were off and running for ANOTHER hour and a half. When we were ready to leave, most of the kids were still happily playing and probably could have kept going, but you could tell they were tired when there was no protest about it being time to go.

It actually was a fun Valentine's night out.












Honorable Mention
I spent Saturday morning with other area bell directors and the hand bell group Embellish, playing through three hours of music just put out by some publishers. It was supposed to be a reading session to decide if I wanted to purchase any of the pieces for our church.

The music was way too advanced for my ringers, but it really was a lot of fun to just spend the morning reading and playing with other musicians, and to be challenged musically.







Sunday was uneventful. Church and then hanging around the house.

I still haven't figured out how to re-add Mr. Linky so I don't have the link list up yet. Hopefully by next weekend.

I hope you will still come by and let me know if you posted about your weekend though.

Happy Monday!