A Whole Lotta Nothin'.......

"You ain't saying much, Dirty Steve."~Charlie

"That's because he ain't got much to say, Charlie"~William H. Bonney

A line from one of my favorite all time movies, Young Guns, and I couldn't have said it better myself. I haven't posted anything in almost two weeks for two reasons:

1. I think I almost wore out my welcome by posting three times in two days.

2. I didn't have much to say.

We have been pretty boring around the Kolb compound, just how I like it! But I suppose I should post about our plain old, run of the mill going on's just as I post about our excitement filled, edge of your seat times like cookie baking and scissors learning so here is a quick look at what we have been up to lately.

Last Thursday we actually had a pretty busy day, now that I think about it. Lily and I met up with Patrice and Emily to enjoy the "Mr. Twister~Balloon Guy" show at the library. Following the show, we had a quick lunch at McDonald's then on to the school to help out in Ella's classroom. I think the kids consider Lily the class mascot and Mrs. Costello even put her to work this time around. At 2PM, we had to punch out and get to the gym to watch Grace's music program, "Go Fish". It was a lot of fun, Grace sang like an angel and Lily and I were so proud! Ella had taken in the 8:45AM performance with her class and Jason flew solo for the 7PM performance. Ella had said if it was really, really good she would be Jason's date for the evening. When it was time for Jason to go, Ella decided that "It was pretty good but I got REALLY tired so I think I will just stay home." I wasn't surprised with this decision as there is pretty much almost no where Ella would rather be than home. This musical event will be airing on the local school cable channel and I will be sure to get you all the information when I have it so you can see Grace in action, if you so choose.

Saturday we watched three of Maria's kids, Hannah, Grant and Gabe. The kids all had a fabulous time down in the basement, doing whatever it is that kids do. I heard house playing, Jonas Brothers CD on repeat and lots of giggling. We basically only saw them when it was time to eat. I am eternally grateful Maria only brought Teeny the Goat in for a brief visit and not as part of the babysitting package! I will admit Teeny was pretty cute but I think we have established by now I am not much of an animal person, especially a farm animal person!

We enjoyed a lovely dinner at the Olive Garden on Sunday after Mass with Jason's parents and the Berens' family. The girls thought it was super sweet and ultra fancy. I do believe it just may have been the best macaroni and cheese Ella has had the pleasure of consuming and she is quite a macaroni connoisseur so that is high praise indeed.

Poor old Grace was slapped right across the face with the cold, hard unfairness of life at school on Tuesday. She was quietly working on her math during indoor recess while two classmates were trying to take away another classmate's book. The supervising teacher happened to stroll in at that moment and apprehended the culprits. However, Grace was rounded up as an offending party as well because she was in the vicinity of the uproar. Although Grace claims "I didn't even do anything" (famous last words, I know) and various other classmates proclaimed her innocence as well, the teacher decided Grace was to be punished along with the other three because "You should have tried to stop it." The punishment was having to stay inside during the first recess on Wednesday. Grace was relaying this story to me on the way home from school on Tuesday afternoon and was rather upset by the whole turn of events. Ella quietly listened and when Grace was done talking said, "Well, that just isn't fair, Grace. That teacher sounds mean. Besides, who cares if you can't go outside tomorrow for recess. It's going to be cold out anyway." Leave it to Ella to break it down in the most practical way! Grace agreed with Ella and was happy to have an empathetic ear. I am glad to say, Grace took her punishment like a big girl and the issue is now firmly behind us.

Wednesday morning I had just come to the end of my hair styling rope and made an emergency call to my salon. I made a spontaneous decision to have my hair cut that afternoon and there was no turning back once I plopped down into Char's chair. The decision was made to do a fairly routine cut but to spice things up a bit, add full bangs. Ta da!!!!

No, folks, do not adjust your screens, that is not Jessica Alba. It is me! I have not yet fully embraced my new look but over the past 24 hours, it has slowly grown on me.

The girls and I began our annual quest to find proper Easter attire. This is never an easy task and I do believe based on this week's results, it is a task that will only get more and more difficult as the girls get older. Grace and Ella could not have more different tastes in pretty much everything and to get them to agree on anything is virtually impossible. After lots of perusing, many "YUCKS" and "No way's" I do believe we have reached a consensus we could all be OK with. Stay tuned for the great unveiling. It is sure to be a real humdinger! We were so worn out from our shopping, the decision was made to take advantage of the "Kids Are Kings on Wednesday nights at Champps" extravaganza. Kids eat free, Mr. Twister is on hand creating any balloon creature you could possibly imagine and there are drawings for prizes. Unfortunately, none of our girls won a prize but they all took home a cool balloon animal and a big smile!

(Lily was in the midst of a fit when this photo was taken but she is the proud owner of the yellow giraffe.)

Wednesday night I took another baby step towards becoming a real live adult who interacts with people other than close friends and family members. I was invited to join a committee at Grace and Ella's school and I forced myself to accept the invitation. Our first meeting was last night at the committee leader's home and I did it! I went (all by myself), made appropriate conversation with three woman who I just barely know and came home in one piece. I dare say I even enjoyed myself a little. Please hold your applause. I am pretty amazing, I know!

Thursday morning, Lily and I hit the library for the "Big Bad Wolf" puppet show.

It was a full house and a pretty good time. She had to stick around afterwards so she could say goodbye to Little Red Riding Hood and the Wood Chopper! Following the puppet show, we had to make a quick stop at the best store in the world....Target.

I will freely admit Lily and I have spent altogether too much time at Target in the past couple of days. We were there twice yesterday and once today. We were able to get in and out both times yesterday with not a single dollar dropped into the cash drawer. However, today was another story and my checkbook did not escape unscathed. (Hope you are happy, Joshy!) The deals on the Easter candy were just too good to resist so we stocked up in anticipation of our annual Easter egg hunt. Now, let's all just cross our fingers the weather cooperates!

This week has seemed unusually long to me and Friday cannot come soon enough. Ella is in the midst of a social event dilemma. A friend of hers had a birthday party planned for last weekend but came down with the flu and had to reschedule for this Saturday. However, the St. Patrick's Day parade is scheduled for this Saturday as well. I informed Ella of this double booking quagmire and she is really torn. I am leaving the final decision up to her and you can almost see the wheels turning in that cute little head of hers as she weighs the pros and cons of each. This morning she was leaning towards going to the parade but my guess is, these plans will change many times between now and 1PM on Saturday.

One event I can very safely say that will take place this weekend is some grilling. Jason finally made the big leap and purchased his grill. He loves this grill as much as it is possible to love an inanimate object. Yesterday he purchased a smoking box and hickory wood chips and is chomping at the bit to lay a big old slab of beef brisket on there and smoke the heck out of it. Personally, I am a little bit over grilled food at this point but who am I to take that big smile off of his face so I say, "Smoke on, Big Swede, smoke on!

Here's to a weekend filled with fun times and sunshine!