Weekend:

Friday:
Dwayne started working out of town this week and leaves around three a.m. on Monday morning and got home last night around nine p.m. Long week away from home for him. (and me) This shouldn't last too long. He is to start working in Fort Leonard Wood as soon as the weather clears up for the job to start. Driving under forty miles one way to work will seem like a vacation to Dwayne as he's been driving over a hundred miles one way for the past several years. Dwayne came by work and we ran a few errands.
After work, we went to Mom and Dad's and to see if they needed any groceries picked up.  Mom seemed to be in quite a bit of pain and the boot they put on her that day was more for the foot and didn't support the ankle at all.
We ate at Maid-Rites and then to Wal-Mart to buy groceries.  Stopped by and dropped off Mom and Dad's items and then home to an early bedtime.  I was still tired from the events from Mom and Dwayne had a rough work week and was exhausted.
Saturday:

We went to Rolla to watch the St. Pat's Parade.  I was wondering why Dwayne wanted to go watch Chad ride in the parade as we see him riding the horse all the time and then he told me Chad was going to ride his mule and be leading the parade.  We were disappointed that this was canceled at the last minute as the group he was to lead decided it was too cold and with the chance of rain decided not to come.  We did get to see Chad ride but it was the back of the parade reserved for horses.

Dwayne held Kaleb throughout the parade.  I don't know what Kaleb likes most, Uncle Dwayne or Uncle Dwayne's hat.

  

Kaleb's attention was drawn by the camels.  Don't ever remember seeing camels in our area before.

The wind came up and it kept getting colder and colder out. But that didn't stop Kaleb from getting as short ride on Chad's horse.

 We found some good Kabobs at one of the street stands.  We then went to Lowe's to pick up a hand rail for the basement steps as Dwayne fell down them last Saturday.  Between the two of us falling twice down the stairs now, our kids think we need a one story house.  I think the reason Dwayne has fell is his socks have nylon in them and make him slip.  May have to invest in just all cotton socks.
We spent the afternoon cleaning in the basement and installing the hand rail.  I then went to Mom and Dad's to help out for awhile.  Mom had decided the loose fitting boot wasn't helping at all so she had Judy take it off and she soaked her foot/ankle in ice water for awhile and then they made their own splint and then wrapped her foot with an ace bandage.  This helped also as it kept Mom's foot mobile.  She was feeling much better than the day before.
Sunday:
I once again missed church.  Not a good habit to get into.
April, Mike, Chad and Todd all came for a huge Sunday dinner of roast beef, corned beef, mashed potatoes, gravy, cabbage and of course corn for Mike.  I never have a dinner for him without his corn.
My oatmeal cake with a burnt sugar icing was just exactly that, burnt!!  I had it under the broiler and when I checked it it only needed about a minute more.  I got busy visiting with the kids sitting at the kitchen counter and forgot about it until I smelled it burning!  It was just the topping so I scraped that off.
We had a good afternoon of watching TV and just visiting.  Of course, we talked about the baby to be here in October.  Uncle Chad and Uncle Todd are just about as excited as Dwayne and I.  Chad is already picking out a horse for the baby.  lol
After the kids left, Dwayne spent the remainder of the afternoon packing up his truck and going to check on Mom and Dad.
I went to two different visitations for two high school friends whose mothers had passed away.  There was a nice showing of support at both visitations from family and friends even with the rain and sleet we were having.
An evening finished by watching Army Wives and the end to a fast weekend.

I am grateful for my family and friends.