So this past weekend was the shopping weekend(from you know where!). We were all off shopping for new wedding clothes for our nieces wedding in June. None of the kids had dressy clothes that fit them anymore-I had picked up 3 spring/summer dresses for Allison last season on sale and she's completely outgrown them. And Scott hasn't had a suit since his 1st Communion in 2nd grade. So we all had a lot of items to hunt for. Most of us did quite well. Tom and Scott both got new suits and fitted as well! Allison got a new dress and shoes and I managed to pick up a new dress and shoes, but nothing new for the wedding. Oh well, guess I will just have to rely on what I already have. I was so looking forward to an excuse for a new dress! We all spent about two days shopping last weekend. Now comes the hair cuts! Scott and Tom had their cuts, and even Cookie got a shorter summer clip. Allison and I are next.
Tom also had to get new tires for his car since one actually exploded while sitting in the driveway! Tom was out cutting the grass and he heard a loud explosion-they guy at Sam's Club said the tire had dry rot?! I was just glad he wasn't driving at the time. Must be chinese tires!
Besides spending all last weekend shopping, we also decided to host a pre Memorial Day dinner party. We have been invited to several upcoming pool and patio parties, but we just won't be in town for any of them. So since our neighbors across the street are getting ready to move, we thought we'd have them over with several other families last Sunday for dinner. Naturally, that means lots of grocery shopping, cooking and housecleaning(in between the kid's homework assignments). Our neighbor's actually had a offer on their house from one of Tom's coworkers, but they underbid by $20,000. Too low for our neighbors. We are still hoping for a new family with kids.
Allison also had a birthday party to attend on Saturday night so there was a lot of running around this weekend.
I decided Sunday would work out best to have everyone over for dinner since the weather was supposed to be rainy/stormy and we'd all be stuck inside anyhow. It actually turned out to be sunny so I kicked all the kids out of the house. We certainly have had a crazy spring-chilly, rainy and then hot! It has played havoc with those prone to allergies. And it makes it tricky to get the yard work in. I did get some flowers planted in my big pots by the garage and a few tomato and zucchini plants. Now I am slowly working my way around to the flower pots on the deck. And we have yet to order mulch. Our neighbors have been busy mulching and one family even discovered a very large turtle laying eggs out in their mulch pile on the driveway! The turtle ended up at an animal rescue facility and we'll have to see what happens to the eggs! Probably a snapping turtle. They actually live in the stream behind the neighbor's house. So we all had a very nice dinner and I think I finally mastered the art of Mom Bozyk's potato salad!
And Friday night Tom and I even managed to squeeze in a date as we headed off to Yappy Hour with Cookie at our favorite wine store in Olde Ellicott City! The owner of the store is an MSU horticulture grad and he usually hosts fund raisers/wine tasting events(nothing fancy). He usually donates 10% of the sales for the night to a special organization, and once a month he donates to the Animal Shelters. So he invites everyone to bring their dog and sample some wine. I discovered that it is not easy to drink wine and hold onto a dog while they are busy wrapping you up in their leashes trying to sniff one another! I never saw so many different types of dogs-it was like an AKC show! I think Cookie had fun-they had a few tables set up for wine tasting, a big bucket of water for all the dogs, free doggy treats from the Petco table, and my favorite, handmade chocolate candy tasting. I especially enjoyed the dark chocolate chipolte pepper truffles! And Tom enjoyed restocking our wine rack! Next time we will have to take the kids. Allison wasn't feeling well and stayed home with Scott so we ran out to dinner after dropping the dog back home.
Monday night we all headed over to Scott's school for a band/choir concert. I think we could have done with a little more singing and less of the band, especially the beginners. But we enjoyed hearing their winning pieces. Most of the schools in the area compete against each other at Hershey Park, and the Resurrection kids usually win every year.
Allison recuperated enough to start her Field Hockey Spring/Summer outdoor session. Her Monday night game was canceled due to rain so she joined us for Scott's concert. She was happy to run into a few of her old classmates. She did go off and play again on WEds night too. She is the team's only goalie so she plays the whole hour, and ended up covering for another team so she did not get home until late and she was worn out. She has been wrapping up the school semester requirements-she finished her last test on Midsummer's Night Dream. And now she has to put on the play with her classmates! Not to mention all the finals coming up in the next few weeks. She did not have to take any HS Assessment tests this year so she has had a fairly light schedule in her classes. She is also busy with end of the semester projects. She finished a big poster for spanish-labeling parts of a house all in spanish. She's also working on a cereal box for History with an American Hero figure featured. We all thought Neil Armstrong was a good character, but I can't convince Allison to call her cereal 'Moonies"! So she has been working on all these projects in between her regular assignments. She also has been going through training sessions to help with Confirmation Retreat again in the Fall. And Scott is just about done with tests and assignments too. We are trying to get some extra credit work done on top of his regular assignments too. He also had his last meeting of his Environmental Club at school. We missed out on our hike due to the possibility of rain-they canceled again on Saturday. And we were all supposed to meet for a bonfire at the Teacher in Charge's family farm, but instead they had a small bonfire for the kids at school with s'mores at their last meeting. Like I said, crazy weather. But that is what Spring is all about.
By the Way, A Big Happy Birthday to Stacey Seitz! And A Big Happy Birthday to Christopher Bozyk!
I am not looking forward to the week ahead as Tom will be out of town in Texas(at the very bottom) in the town of McAllen in the Rio Grande Valley. I will be trying to stay sane while keeping up with my schedule and the kids schedule too(all on my own)! Wish me luck! I will let you know how it goes. Kathleen