Midnight shopping and other San Antonio stuff

Last week, my friend Emily was in town and one of her requests was to go to some scrapbooking stores. I did a bit of research and found one that is open until midnight on Friday and Saturday nights. Very cool - it was huge and had lots of unique items! And of course, I've now realized what I can do on Friday nights after kiddos are in bed - they have a large workroom with die cuts and what not. And I've also just shown my age, 'cause if you'd told my 20 something self that a Friday night would be comprised of crafting I would have laughed. It's funny how you change when you're in your mid-30s. I wonder what my mid-40's will bring? Doing crossword puzzles with my slippers on? Falling asleep on the couch at 7:30pm?

Anyway, Emily and I had a fun, though short visit. We ate Mexican food (of course- it's San Antonio!) and caught up on all the goings-on of the last 6 weeks. I'm missing my gals from Aggieland and this was a great "fix" to tide me over until our Canton trip! 10 days and counting!!!

Tomorrow, I have another friend coming to town. Morgan is joining her hubby at a Pharmacist's conference and she's going to come spend time with me while he is "learning"! Morgan has a sweet little boy and is pregnant with her 2nd! Can't wait to see her!

N got his first "progress" report - San Antonio is on a 9 week reporting schedule instead of 6 weeks and last week was already half-way thru the 9 weeks - can't believe it! N has straight As and we are super proud. 'Course if he would remember to WRITE.HIS.NAME on his papers, he'd have almost straight 100s! He's a total boy; who cares about little details like names. He now has some new BFFs here and that makes this momma very happy!

L was THRILLED that Dancing with The Stars started back up this week. She is INLOVE with Derek Hough and that long-haired snowboarder. We are so in trouble when she's a teenager. L is losing a little bit of her shyness here. She's still mostly shy, but occasionally now she will talk to others outside of our family. That is a big step for her. Right now, it's hard for me to imagine her being ready to start Kindergarten next fall, but I'm sure lots will change in that time. She is now officially 4 1/2. Closer to her 5th birthday than her 4th. It makes me sad since she is our baby, but Lance is very happy. I think he is ready to be done with the preschool phase of life.

We had a fun time at a swim party last Saturday night with some young families from our church. Our kids were among the oldest kids there which was a new feeling and somewhat liberating. The parents of the toddlers didn't get to chat much - there was much running and containing involved.

Sunday, N got to go bowling with the kids from church and so L was on her own with us. That rarely happens and we enjoyed the time with just her. It was much quieter and she got to "shine" a bit!

Lance has his first retreat with the youth here this weekend - he's looking forward to the opportunity to get to know the students on a "deeper" level and hopefully enjoy the beach (if it's not raining!). The kids and I will enjoy a quiet weekend and have a playdate scheduled with some new friends here.

If you are still reading this uber-long post, congratulations! You have made it to the end!

Since I'm not posting as often, I find I have more to write. Life here is good. It's been hard at times and there have been tears, but not too many. Things get a bit easier each week and we are beginning to find our routine.