Mother's Day weekend

This has been a pretty busy weekend. Friday night, we did some shopping for Mother's Day cards and gifts for our moms, and then let Ari play around at the mall a little, riding the carousel and things like that.

Saturday morning, our church participated in "Community Day" in the town where our church meets, for the first time. It was pouring down rain on Saturday morning, so everything got moved into the town's middle school. We got a good spot, though, and everything seemed to go well. Of course, we wandered around to check out the other booths, too. We came across one for a dance school in the town--they were having a drawing for a free year of dance class, and we both entered. Plus, Tony got chatting with the people running the booth and got a lot of information on the school and the classes they offered for kids Ari's age. Then, later in the afternoon, they had several of their dance classes perform--almost like a mini-recital. Ari saw all the girls walking around in their costumes and wanted to watch, so we snagged some great front-row seats, and she sat and watched the entire show, which lasted well over an hour. At the end of the show, they did the drawing... and pulled out Tony's name. So we now have our choice of one dance class for Ari, for one full year (as in, a school year... so, September through May/June)... for FREE. We are so excited. I hope Ari will love it. And even if she doesn't... hey, it was free.

I got my Mother's Day gift from Ari on Saturday afternoon, which was a good thing, because Sunday was so hectic. She painted this frame in preschool, and then Tony provided the picture (which I guess makes it a joint gift).



After Ari went to bed that night, I treated myself to a little trip to Kohl's and bought these 2 purses as a Mother's Day gift to myself. I couldn't decide which color I liked better, so I bought both, planning to return one. But now I think I might keep them both... I love the style. I'm using the silvery-gray one right now.



Then I made banana muffins... from scratch. Because I rock.



Sunday was church, of course, and before the service started, Pastor pulled me and Kerry aside and presented each of us with a new Bible, as a way of thanking us for all the work we do with the church. I thought that was so sweet of him.



After church, we headed to my parents' house and spent the afternoon there. We had dinner, dessert, played some board games, and just hung out. Dave, Jess, and Micah came over later in the afternoon, too.

I wanted to get a picture of me, my mom, and Ari.



Tony took this shot in between poses. I love it. Candid pictures are the best.



And last but not least, a couple of videos. On the way home from the mall on Friday night, Ari kept making up all these crazy songs, about all sorts of subjects. There was even an entire song dedicated to poop, and a song about the dogs that ended with "And Ivan licks Sasha's butt." But she did sing some sweet songs, too--about the seasons, about Daddy, and about Mommy. I tried to get her to continue when we got home, and even though these songs are cute, they're not nearly as insane as the ones she was inventing in the car.

This first one is the Tummy Song...

This is the Spring Song... She even added some "interpretive dance" moves to this one...