Tag: friendship

sleepover

On Saturday night David and I invited our pastor’s kids Isaiah, 5, and Samuel, 3, to spend the night at our house. We obviously don’t have kids yet, but we love them and Isaiah and Sam are two of our favorites. After their parents Bryan and Misti dropped them off and we consumed some Chick-fil-a chicken nuggets, snack packs, and chocolate milk, we got right down to the business of having fun.

We started with a rousing game of Spiderman Sorry, which Isaiah “won”:

Then it was time to play hide and seek. My best hiding place was an empty box turned on its side which I curled up in and pushed up near the wall. It was a big box. But the most fun was hiding with the boys. Isaiah and I were huddled up in the hall closet waiting for David to finish counting, when I hear him whisper, “How long does it take to count to 40?”

“Forty seconds,” I replied.

“Wow, that’s a long time!” Isaiah responded.

We had promised the boys a “camp-in,” so after hide and seek we got busy putting up the tent and then made s’mores. In the fireplace, of course, using real tree branches from the backyard to roast the marshmallows on!

After that we attempted to calm them down enough to watch a movie. We settled on “Hotel For Dogs”. David, Lauren (who came over for the fun), and I were cracking up when Don Cheadle was on screen and Isaiah pointed and said, “Look, the president is in the movie!”

After the movie it was seriously time for bed, because this girl was about to collapse. David asked Isaiah how he usually goes to bed. Does his mommy or daddy tuck him in? Isaiah’s answer was, “We usually eat sweets until we fall asleep.” Yeah, right!

We ended up moving the boys’ tent into our room, but they were only in it for a couple minutes before climbing into bed with us. About 2:30 a.m., though, Isaiah woke up and decided to move back into the tent. I think he wanted to be a tough guy. :)

My spot was right there in the middle, cuddling with a couple of cute boys! One of them I get to keep. :)

In the morning David got us donuts for breakfast!

Then I let the boys play with the camera a little bit, which is why I have a bunch of pictures that look like this:

But I did manage to get one good one with them:

It was interesting carting them to church in my little truck with two tiny jump seats in the back, and Samuel did manage to bump his head twice, but he also said to me only a few minutes after we’d left, “Kafleen? I miss David and the dogs.” So sweet! I’m not sure who had more fun, them or us. :)

July 20, 2009
my super exciting day off!

That’s actually not sarcasm, my day was super exciting because I didn’t spend it doing errands, chores, or cleaning. Well, that’s not entirely true. I did laundry, the dishes, and finished putting together the chairs that we recently bought for our kitchen table. I also planned to cook dinner, but David decided to go fishing this evening so instead I’m cooking tomorrow night.

The bulk of my day was spent with my good friend Sara and her adorable 13-month-old daughter Rory. We went to the skating rink (which looks exactly like you probably remember the skating rink looking when you were a kid, disco ball and everything) for a cheap “Mommy and Me” skate time. Five bucks and I got to whiz around on my rollerblades and show those preschoolers who’s boss. But mostly I got a kick out of watching Rory have a blast.

Sara and Rory pushing their strollers!

Afterwards we had a leisurely lunch at Hungry’s where I indulged in some hummus and pita bread, along with some margherita pizza. Yum. And THEN we went to the neighborhood pool so Rory could play in the water, and I actually got to swim a few laps too. Not the best workout I’ve ever had, dodging kiddos, but I’ll take it.

When I got home and discovered I wasn’t going to be cooking I decided to watch Wall-E (so cute!) and walk the dogs. And that’s about it for my super exciting day off. On my next super exciting day off I will be painting the fireplace with the help of my friend Lauren. I can’t wait! In the meantime, I have to get to bed because, yeah, I have to work in the morning.

July 10, 2009
#46. walk the kemah boardwalk

The weekend right before I went to camp David and I were adult sponsors and small group leaders for a Disciple Now event for the youth group in our church. One of the fun things we did with the kids on Saturday was go to Kemah. I was excited because it was one of the items listed on my 101 goals!

Really bad picture of the entrance

The very first thing we did (before David lost his nerve ;)) was ride Bullet, the wooden roller coaster. And although it was jarring, it was a blast! If I was rich I would have bought the photo that they took of us while we were on the ride. It showed me smiling, and David with his eyes about to pop out of his head. I was more than likely smiling because I was watching his expression. :) He actually enjoyed it, though!

Then we spent a bunch of time just wandering around. We realized there wasn’t much to do without money; all it is is shops, rides, and restaurants. But we were with my friend Lauren and another friend from church, Steve, so it was a good time. We challenged Steve to take the test of strength. He was talking a big game and he almost hit the mark!

After awhile we met up with the rest of the adults from the church and had a yummy (free!) dinner at Landry’s. I made sure there was enough time to grab some ice cream. Then we went back to meet up with the crazy teenagers. It was definitely a fun day!

Me and Lauren at the end of the hot day.

One more item down!

June 30, 2009
Ode to a Second Home

This is the home of my good friends Bridget and Dave. They are the ones I have been house-sitting for since 2006. They take lots of vacations, so I’ve spent a whole lot of time there. It’s a place that makes you feel immediately comfortable, and I love so many things about it that it became my inspiration when we were looking to buy a house of our own. I’m happy to say I think we actually ended up with one quite similar!

Anyway, Bridget and Dave are moving this week, and I am very sad about this. Of course it’s mostly because I have to say goodbye to them (and their dogs Teak and Riley, who were the real reasons for my house-sitting), but I’m also really going to miss their house. David and I have spent a lot of quality time there, and have had some important conversations under its roof. I was staying in this house when I graduated nursing school and took the NCLEX. I’ve had lazy, relaxing days there and sleepless, stormy nights. It really has been a second home.

Let’s take a tour through their cute little house, so I can always remember it.

This is what you see when you walk inside the front door. Yes, you will probably see the backsides of doggies Riley and Teak as well as that gorgeous grandfather clock.

They call their house “Wild Peacock Bed & Breakfast” because there actually ARE wild peacocks that live in the trees around their neighborhood! You can see them wandering the streets and hear their squawks quite often. Here are some peacock feathers that they collected and added to the decor of their home.

The main living room where I spent most of my time. I love how the walls are painted wood paneling. Those fans are amazingly powerful, by the way. We bought one for our living room but had to return it when we realized we couldn’t add a light attachment.

Another view of the fireplace. I’m thinking of painting the brick around our fireplace white too, because I like this so much!

The other side of the living room. Comfy couch, built-in wall of bookshelves, leads right into the kitchen, so lovely!

This plate always sits on the bar in between the living room and kitchen, and Bridget updates the saying on it as the seasons change. I think I might like to have something similar.

A cute little breakfast room that always had fresh flowers when I was there. And all of those pictures on the wall were taken by Dave.

I love an all white kitchen, especially with the bamboo accents. Makes that pretty orchid really stand out!

Just for posterity’s sake, here is the guest room where I slept so many nights.

And let’s not forget the lovely patio! I want to put pretty cobblestone like this down on ours so bad, but that project will have to wait until we actually get some furniture!

Their house wasn’t on the market for two days before they got an offer! I’m jealous of whoever gets to move in. But it won’t come with these guys:

Two of the cutest (and neediest) doggies around! I sure will miss it there.

Pictures of my own house coming soon!

June 7, 2009
just a buffer post – it’s friday, after all

Ah, Friday. What a great day. Even though for me today begins the first of four days of work, I still enjoy it. We get more discharges than admissions, we get to wear whatever color scrubs we want (I’m wearing pink!), and people are generally in good spirits.

I had a day off yesterday, and I sure did utilize the time. I spent the early morning cleaning, then had a fun day with my good friend Emily. She accompanied me to a card-making class at a local scrapbooking store, and we made 8 adorable birthday cards. If I remember, I’ll take some pictures to share. After a leisurely lunch at Panera, she came back to my house and did my hair. Not only is she my friend, she’s my personal stylist. This time she gave me a trim and put in highlights. Summer’s coming, it’s time to lighten things up!

I spent the rest of the evening running errands, having dinner with another friend, and of course coming home and spending some quality family time with David and our girls Cleo and Eddie. There were some other tasks I wanted to get accomplished, but I always make a longer to-do list than is feasible. Family time is worth putting some things off. :)

I’m still working on my list of 101 goals. Right now I’m stuck at about 87. I’m going to try to finish it up over the weekend so I can post it and get started on Monday.

Well, I have no plans for a big finish here, just wanted to check in. So, happy Friday!

April 17, 2009