An Astonishing Weekend

This will be a long post. With lots of pictures.

First, my daughter has googley eyes. It is true. My nephew once said, "She looks astonished." And she does look astonished. All the time.

Now, let me take you through our astonishing weekend.

Friday night, Mark needed some wild + outside + daddy time, bad. So they got out the bike and went out to the pasture. Ty had Susanna in the front pack, so I could brush and ride my horse (kudos to Ty - I haven't ridden since halfway through the pregnancy!). I had to stop brushing Shadow and run over a few times because there were many photo-op's. Susanna wasn't sure about the boys' activities...

She was, in fact, astonished by their antics...

Mark was certainly burning some energy and being wild and crazy, pretending he was going to run me over...

He's getting that crazy look in his eyes! He had to stop a couple times and check out his sweet ride...

Typical man. Then on to the jump. He is supposed to jump standing up, to let his knees absorb some of the impact for a safer landing, but I had the evidence on the camera...

Not standing up. Daddy had a talk with him, to remind him...

But Mark declared he was a winner, and struck his best Travis Pastrana pose, even though he didn't stand up on the foot-pegs...

Then I saddled up and rode down to the neighbor's pond. I took this Marlboro Man-esque picture for y'all...

I know I need to work on my photography skills, right? I'm sorry, but it was getting dark and I really have trouble getting clear pictures in low light. Not to mention, I was sitting atop Ms. Can't Stand Still.

Then Mark and I made these Blended Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies for the first time. My Mom always makes them. She created them - they are a modified form of the infamous Neiman Marcus Recipe which is always going around on mass emails...

SO good. But since they have oatmeal and wheat flour, the little devil on my shoulder takes advantage of that and says, 'Eat some, they're healthy,' and I eat tons. I, myself, was astonished that they did not come out F-L-A-T as hotcakes like all my other cookies do these days. Leah had a good point though; probably beginner's luck. Does that happen to anyone else - whenever you make something for the first time it turns out great, then you can never make it good again?

Saturday I went to Kristel's baby shower and I gave her the wierdest shower gift ever; a toilet seat!

It is the child/adult one I blogged about here. She loved it (I had pre-approval to give her the weird gift) and her toilet seat was broken, so she needed a new one anyway. This way she'll be ready for potty training her little one in a couple years! She got tons of cute stuff, and I think this was the cutest idea...

It was loads of fun, and I think she will be well prepared for baby Lucy!

Mark is learning his letters now. Sunday was letter E and we did a review of all we have learned so far...

Not bad for a 3-year-old, and he just started drawing a week and a half ago. He drew a heart for the first time - he had been having trouble with them...

He and Susanna watched Land Before Time while I did some housework, and she was astonished by the dinos...

Then she flipped me some 'tude...

I told her to 'pipe down' and she was astonished that I would speak to her in such a way...

Is that astonishment, or... what is that look? Is that a threat? Like, 'I'm warning you mom, I could fly off the handle at any moment.' Girl babies are trouble!

She got a bath that day, and I almost let her drown while taking this shot of her holding Mark's hand and reclining with her little ankles crossed...

See her mouth and nose about to go under water? Yes, I will accept my Bad Mom of the Year Award for that moment, caught on camera. As you can guess...

She was a little astonished that I would nearly let her perish! Mark was right there and didn't even tell me "She's almost falling, Mom!" like he usually does.

Then we had a hen-fest party to welcome Susanna and introduce her to Ty's side of the family, since some of them had not met her yet. She got some snuggle time with Great-Grama...

Such a treat! The shower was a treat, too! MIL made the coconut cupcakes that I love, and SIL made the salad that I supposedly hate but chow down every time she makes it, and there was a perfectly sized group of family and friends. We had a lovely time eating, visiting and passing Susanna around, and I was blessed with enough cash and gift cards to get the double stroller I have picked out! Thanks all!

Well that was about the longest post ever, but I had lots to share. And I'll be back with more soon!