a mama-daughter date

For the annual church father-son campout my darling daughter and I had our own fun... After gymnastics we went to michaels to pick out matching ceramic bobblehead cats to paint and we decided on a nice wooden birdhouse to paint for our new home. After painting we went to olive garden for our "fancy dinner" where we had bruscetta, salad, yummy spinach and cheese rolled into lasagna noodles topped in sausage and sauce and a chocolate dessert. E tried to eat her breadsticks so fancy that she began to delight all the diners around us. Many times she broke into a slightly british accent with "oh yes, that would be perfect!" and "this is delicious! It is the best meal in my entire life!" She learned about appetizers and salad forks and kept her napkin on her lap and gingerly dabbed her face with it. Of course, she also blew bubbles into her fancy raspberry lemonade and rocked in the booster seat (the booth seats were so low she couldn't reach her straw)! AND we did dress up and do our hair! One mom said we looked like we were having the best time and said she realized she needed to go on a date with her 12 year old daughter. (I do recommend it!) In the middle of a bruschetta bite we spoke of how daddy and her brother were eating hotdogs and marshmallows right about then.
After about 1 hour into our afternoon she started talking about how she missed her brother and had to call them...they fight, but love each other dearly. Tomorrow our plans consist of baking muffins for breakfast and snuggling in my bed and reading another junie b. jones book.
Turned out to be the best girls night out ever!!! If you haven't "dated" your child...go plan something special now while they still like you! :)

house :)

so for those of you who do not know...we are finally buying a house! It is all I dream about now and it has become a bit of an obsession!!!! We will be moving a whole 8 blocks further north! It is on the small side, but has a huge yard. This is the third time we've looked into a house and I'm so excited that after about 7 years we are finally taking the plunge. I'll take tons of pics at the inspection to show off, but until then I can only share my excitement! It is not much bigger than our current apt, but it is within budget and we'll have more storage room and tons more outdoor play area of our very own. Plus, on a very quiet street for safety for the kiddos :) more later!