What a Weekend!

Wow - I haven't posted since Wednesday! My intentions were good, I've got books to review but RL got in the way but in a good way. Thursday was middle's first band concert. He was nervous but had a great time and looked very comfortable on stage. I didn't get any good pictures, I really need a new camera with interchangeable lenses. After my very old, beloved Pentax died I replaced it about 7-8 years ago with a digital but it has a fixed lens. I told dh there was a Nikon that I researched and it has everything I want. I've had sitting in my cart at Amazon but it's expensive. He, of course, said "Why don't you just get it?" So maybe I will. A combination birthday/Christmas present to myself. :)

Here's middle on stage with his trombone ~



And here's one after the concert ~



He's not crazy about getting his picture taken so I was happy he actually stood still. The concert was packed, probably 150+ people standing. We got a seat because dh took middle early for his call time and then stayed and saved us (me, teen & youngest) seats. We had to park, what seemed like, a mile away. We're walking fast & dh calls wanting to know where we are because the concert is about to start. Of course it started on time so we just made it to our seats. I was just thankful we had seats!

I wasn't expecting it to be so crowded since it was only beginning band - 2 schools. What I didn't know was that the other school had a 4th grade beginning band in addition to 5th grade. Middle's school starts band at 5th grade so this other school made an exception to have a 4th grade band. Instead of being a small concert, middle's band has 29 kids, it turned out to be huge with the 4th grade band having 40 kids & the school's 5th grade band had 53 kids. 122 kids with probably an average of 3, maybe 4 people attending per kid - that's a lot of people to pack into the school cafeteria!

The concert itself was really good. The kids did a great job and middle was just so excited and very handsome, says his very proud mom! LOL After, dh and the teen went home cause it was way past dh's bedtime and the teen had homework. The boys and I went out to dinner to Culver's, middle's choice. Burgers and fries and Concrete Mixer's for the boys which I had to steal a bite from each of them. :)

Friday youngest woke with a headache and fever so we stayed home & he's fine now. Not sure what was wrong with him. Saturday was a trip to the airport to pick up my "big" sis. She's actually smaller than me but she's older so she's the big sis. :) She lives in Atlanta & is here for a week. We headed to my mom's and hung out for a while. Saturday night I cleaned and baked cause Sunday, big sis, my mom and Aunt Fran came over for lunch and hung out at my house being entertained by the kids. My sister doesn't have any kids so I think my kids, especially the boys, are a unique experience for her! It was a fun time, but I forgot to take pictures! There's a big party at my mom's house this Saturday so I'll take pictures then.

I didn't get much reading done this weekend and I've still got to get the Christmas decorations up - I'm surprised the kids haven't asked about the tree. That's tonight and I will get some reviews up too! I did re-read The Unsung Hero but didn't get the review written so I'll try to get that one up tonight maybe? Ha - I've still got shopping to do and cards to send out. And the kids - I'm looking at you youngest - keep changing their Christmas wish lists!

This is such a busy month for everyone. I always feel like I'll never get everything done but somehow I do. I'm trying to do a lot of shopping online - Amazon has been my "mall" but it's still hard for me to buy some things without actually seeing them. The kids have 2 weeks of school left before winter break (2 weeks off). And this is one of the busiest times for dh's company. He's working 10+ hour days and weekends so we don't see much of him. Which is why I do all the shopping, even for me! At least I know I'll like what he gets me. LOL

So, how was your weekend? Have the holiday crazies hit you yet? Or are you super organized and have everything done already?