Weekend Recap:

Friday:

Friday night was the EAR aka Liz, Lizzy, Little Bits, Elizabeth, spent the night with me. We were going to go to the movies but when we got there we didn't see anything we wanted to watch so we rented movies instead. We picked up LARGE milkshakes from Dairy Queen to drink while watching movies. April had to work late so we got her one, too. I told Liz on the way home she would have to load the DVD into the player as I didn't know how. She laughed at that and said, Aunt Connie, anyone can do that.... Well, we get home and the EAR tried it and it didn't work!!
So we decided to watch regular TV until April got home to put the movie on. Liz was thumbing through channels and thought the title looked good, don't remember what it said now. Well, it was a porn channel!! I didn't even know we had porn selections on our TV!! She's like, uh, Aunt Connie I don't think I should see this! So I tried to change the channel and we seemed to be stuck in limbo on this channel, I'm sure it was only a few seconds but it seemed much longer!!
Mike came in and Liz tried to get him to put the movie on, he couldn't either so we had to wait for April to come home from work. (It's eight o-clock and she had to work late). I do not know what we're going to do when April moves out and we want to watch a DVD!! I fell asleep watching the movie and went on to bed.
Saturday:
When I got up, Liz had already been awake for awhile and had watched TV, doodled on the wipe/slate, visited with April........ I'm a sleepy-head, what can I say? I was out of milk and cereal so Liz had a Mountain Dew and a snack cake for breakfast!! I am such a good role model!! Not!! No wonder the kids like to stay at Aunt Connie's house.
April and I went to Lake of the Ozarks Christmas shopping. We got all of Mom's done and didn't have much luck on our own items. The outlet mall was packed!! I didn't think it would be that busy until after Thanksgiving. We ate at Panera Bread and spent the day having fun.
When we got home, we spread out all the gifts on the table and Mom and Dad came down to look at them. Dad said he needed to get back to "kneel the rolls". I'm thinking, what the heck? Mom goes, Arch, you mean knead the dough!! Dad is 86, Mom is 81, and they are making yeast rolls for Sunday's dinner. They amaze me.
Sunday:
I didn't go to church, just lazed around all morning. April and I went to Mom's for dinner. Once again, my Mom has dinner prepared, all of the dishes washed and had gone on to church. She puts her daughters to shame on Sunday dinners; I don't think we'll ever be able to live up to her but we are so thankful she is able to do so much. We had homemade rolls, beef stew, green beans, corn, cauliflower/broccoli, pudding, jello and cake. My niece, Kristin moved back from Arizona and was there with her little boy, Kaden. So nice to have her back, we missed her. We had a great time being together and enjoying our family.

On a sad note, the day before, Saturday, 20th, my nephew's best friend, Jesse Arthur passed away. Jesse and R.J. had been friends since Sue and the kids moved to Rolla years ago. I am sad to say, it was from an overdose. What a sad ending to a life. I pray for Jesse's family and friends and for my own nephew, R.J. during this tragedy.
Then while we were getting ready to pray before eating dinner, my brother-in-law, Joe and his great-nephew Billy received word that Billy's cousin, Dennis (Joe's great-nephew) had passed a way. I am so in awe of how my sister, Judy turned this news into a family-felt prayer. We were all humbled at how precious our time together is and to not take everyday life for granted.

Since the title of my blog is Grateful For The Life I've Been Given, I often end my blogs with something I'm grateful for. I am most grateful for my parents and extended family that we remain close in good times and in bad. I hope I can leave that type of legacy with my own children. And I think Dwayne and I have a good start on that, the boys and April are very loyal and protective of each other. They may have their differences occasionally, but we (as a family) strive to be honest with each other and talk about anything that is bothering us. I love and cherish my husband and children.