I was blessed with a very special week with my Mom. After Mark and Mary went home on Sunday, I stayed with Mom 24/7 for this past week. Although I would not have wished us to be in our current circumstances following Daddy's passing, it was a good week with my Mom. She continues to struggle with our loss, but as long as we stayed busy, she did pretty good. There are so many things that have to be done following a death - paperwork, insurance, changing the name on bills, etc. - we have made a pretty good dent. Things have fallen into place - we have been blessed. Mark and Joe came back for the weekend, so I came home for a couple of days.
Amanda and Peyton graced us with a visit Friday after work - Mom joined us for dinner before Mark and Joe arrived in Clinton. We had Amanda's favorite baked chicken wrapped in bacon, mashed potatoes and chocolate pudding. Peyton liked the whipped cream on top of the pudding and broccoli the best. Peyton had a rough night as she is struggling with a cough and cold. I tried to rock her and let her sleep upright so that Amanda could get a good night's sleep, but she only wanted her Mommy - her self-proclaimed best friend! As it should be. Peyton was feeling much better on Saturday.
We had a great Saturday - had breakfast and a fun visit to Great Grandma's - Peyton has really taken up with her Great Uncle Mark! Peyton helped me make rice krispy treats for dessert for lunch. Great Grandma, Mark and Joe joined us for Pizza Glen Pizza - yum. Peyton didn't want to nap but rested a little while. Amanda needed to work an hour or so, so Papa and Grammy played downstairs with Peyton - our pleasure. They headed back to Olathe about 6 p.m.
Plan for Sunday is to have fried chicken and mashed potatoes and gravy for lunch before Mark and Joe return to Chesterfield - Mom has really enjoyed their visit.
Peyton and Amanda made our weekend joyous - we ALWAYS love having them here.
Great Grandma Mintun and I ventured to Olathe on Friday to visit the Todds. We had the pleasure of picking up Peyton at school - the look on her face when she saw us was priceless. She was so excited! Since it was 70 degrees, when we arrived at Peyton's house, we played outside on her playset and played out front where she rode her tricyle and her four wheeler, then we took Peyton for a walk in her stroller. Later she wanted me to pull her in her wagon - then.....she wanted Great Grandma to get in the wagon with her to be pulled. With Mom being so small and agile, she was easily able to get in the two-seater wagon - I pulled them around the kuldesac but didn't go far - the two of them together made it hard to pull! Peyton laughed and laughed - it was so nice to hear her giggle from her toes. She wasn't really ready to go inside, but Amanda and Chad were getting ready to go on their date night to Bone Fish for dinner, and we needed to fix dinner for us too! When her Mommy asked her if she wanted to help Grammy cook, then she was ready. She loves to help me cook - and I love to have her help me cook. Being a good little Catholic girl, we had fish sticks (which were surprisingly delicious) and macaroni and cheese - she loved the cup of applesauce Great Grandma took her - oh - and the M & M's Great Grandma took too. Shhhhhh. We had so much fun staying with Peyton - she was in an exceptionally good mood - we played hide and seek, read, and enjoyed playing with the monkey that rolls and laughs. We headed home around 8 p.m. - we are ready to stay with Peyton again soon - hopefully Momma and Daddy will want to go on another date soon! Great Grandma was a little tired, but she had such a great time - she said she is ready to go again sometime (but not too soon, she said). Thanks for the opportunity Todds! 