All that running around

All week long I have been trying my best to find two of the cutest stamps Hobby Lobby has added to their shelves...or maybe they hadn't really been added yet since they were very illusive. This week was a good time to get any new stamps since HL had them for 50% off and that is a much better price than paying full-price.

The first HL store I went into had a picture of both of them, but alas, there was only a blank spot, and I didn't know if they had sold out or if they just hadn't gotten the stamps in. I found it hard to believe they had sold out since I was there pretty much first thing Monday morning.

I didn't even know the name of the stamp or which company made it, nor did I have paper to write down the number they had provided. Not that I could find it by that number, I discovered, but I felt it would have helped, maybe!

One was a cute little cowboy riding his horse and the other was a prissy little girl.
The little cowboy would be perfect for a sweeet little two-year old boy who has an up-coming third birthdday in October! I fell in love with that stamped image and had to have the stamp.

We hit five stores in a circle and still couldn't find those elusive stamps anywhere, but I still didn't want to give up, so I decided we would make our final stop at the last store, #6, when we went in that direction on Saturday.

My son had called earlier while we were out walking and left a message on the machine inviting us to meet his family for dinner and grill out on Saturday so I knew we would be heading in the direction without having to make an out of the way trip.

And, yes, my son is the worst procrastinator short of being related to his father, that I know. The old sayings, "The apple didn't fall far from the tree" is definitely one that fits my son. My profession in earlier years was secretary. Now known as Administrative Assistant. I still prefer the title secretary. Now, don't judge me this late in the game on my skills. They've become a bit rusty simply because I don't like to go back, proof my stuff or write it properly. My point in relating this was simply to let you know just how frustrating it can be to a mother who tried to raise a son who had no interest in being organized, prompt, efficient with a half-way decent memory, etc. especially when she has done this forever!

He has not changed! He was supposed to have called earlier in the week or maybe even last week to set up this date with us, but did he remember? No! But in all fairness, he is a very busy man, however,this is typical behavior for him so I shouldn't have been too surprised, but it was pretty frustrating to try to understand just what he was saying over the answering machine. Since he's relocated up north where all the yankees live, he's picked up some bad habits. He talks so fast and strange you can't understand him! He denies it, but it's true.

After a number of re-runs of the answering machine we finally figured out pretty much the gist of the conversation was an invitation to eat together. E-mails are a bit better for firming up things when you can't understand their English!

The man is lucky to have a good secretary! He could never survive the everyday life without the best secretary. I know he must frustrate her so much and she definitely earns every penny he pays her. I have no doubts about that. He had better hope he is blessed forever with a good secretary, is all I can say.

I know, I know, I got a bit off task here, but I just had to add that little part of my thoughts about him...

We left early so we could make it by the final location in an attempt to find those silly stamps. Just as I was so convinced I would never own them, there they were on the shelf. I was so excited. I could hardly believe I wasn't dreaming. They were finally mine! The last one of each! I guess those were really that popular and they were meant to be mine because they now belong to me. Now I just must get busy before October to get Beautiful blue eyes card made.

I was able to get out of the store so we could meet the kids and their families without being late. But I was oh, so very happy!

Just as we pulled onto their street we could see a bajillion kids riding bikes, scooters and what have you on their cul-de-sac. We were able to determine at least two of them belonged to our brood; the rest were neighborhood rugrats. Then sitting on a bench by his dad sat BBE getting his helmut adjusted before he, himself, hit the street with his little almost three-year old body! He was absolutely so adorable I could hardly believe it. Such a cutie and even though we've seen him very recently, he appeared to have grown up before our eyes!

He saw us and ran to give us a big hug and kiss then jumped on his scooter and zoomed out with the other kids just in time to see Little Princess appear with her parents. That changed his plans because he had been looking forward to seeing her all afternoon.

The other two jumped off their chosen mode of transportation and greeted us with the middle child sweetly and politely introducing us to his friend, a little girl from next door. I thought that was very considerate of him.

As a footnote, last October just before BBE turned two that little mess could scoot around on his scooter quite efficiently. I was amazed he had such control over that thing with one little foot. That age is still a time of being coordinated enough to stand on two feet, so it was pretty amazing the control the little rascal had over that scooter.

We all enjoyed a very delicious meal of barbequed ribs. My daughter and I agreed they were even better than Norman's Landing which has the very best ribs she and I have ever had (short of the ones my daughter-in-law's parents prepare.) This was indeed their recipe so we knew they couldn't be anything but scrumptious. Very time-consuming, but the.very.best.

Annabelle and James loved each other so much. They stuck together, thick as thieves, the whole time they were together. They would run around that house and laugh and play like they saw each other everyday. They have spent some time together, but not a tremendous amount. I thought Annabelle would have been more shy than she was, but she just jumped right in and acted like he was a big brother. They hugged and kissed each other like old friends. Just too cute. I can see her absorbing lots of new things to stash in her arsenal to use against her mommy later.

Just to document...she is beginning to use the sweet words "Mommy" and they (Mom and Dad) said she used "Daddy" first instead of Mama and Dadda. Growing up way too fast.
Change so much everyday.

Her aunt suggested Little Princess and BBE go up to his room and play with his toys. Mommy didn't hear that the times she said that, but when she finally did she discreetly vetoed that idea. No way was Little Princess going to be out of the view of one of us adults. Mommy would never allow her to be unsupervised where she could put something in her mouth, or get into who knows what. I knew that as soon as I heard that suggestion. Ohh, that Mommy is one protective little Mama Hen. And I say, "good for you!", but I know that little girl is going to become even more independant just because somewhere down the road she's going to have to be because of Mommy's protectiveness. And, I'm not at all criticizing you, Mommy. You do a great job of giving her freedom within the limits she needs. I'm just a saying...

They moved down to destroy the bottom floors of the house. Later as we were enjoying brownies and ice cream for dessert and still watching two little bodies carefully, we heard a "crash" come from the family room. Ohh, that sounded bad! Up jumps Mommy to assess the damage and there was Little Princess. I wasn't really within view, but what I saw was Little Princess appearing to climb on a chair near a table with a picture on it. I knew the picture glass was broken. It was such a horrible crash. She wasn't hurt, but she had apparently knocked the picture off the table while attempting to keep up with her cousin's antics of climbing on the furniture, he on one side of the table, she on the other.

That must have been one strong picture glass because it survived the fall, despite the awful clatter it made.

Her aunt just thought it was funny. She's accustomed to rough and tough little boys tearing the house apart. One more little body didn't seem to bother her at all.

Those two little kids almost ran themselves completely down running throughout that house. There were many entrances and exits they could choose to get away from the other and they used them. In and out, in and out, back and through, again and again, until I thought they would drop in their tracks, but they didn't!

They really had fun together and sometime soon we'll have to arrange to take BBE from his "school" and let the two of them play together again. (That's his name for daycare. He doesn't like to feel like he's a baby, anymore. He now goes to school like the big boys.) But, I know he won't be offended at all if Grandmomma and Granddaddy take him from school for a few days. All too soon they'll both be in "big" school and those fun times together will be gone.