A Nutshell

Remember a month ago when my sister drove 12 hours with her four children to come and visit us?  And remember how I said I would tell you about it soon?  And then my mother-in-law came for a visit, and I was supposed to tell you about those adventures?  Then remember how I went out of town and got cured informed and still, somehow, I haven't really been able to get back on top of normal life again?

Well, this is my attempt at catching up a bit.  Baby steps, you know.

So, my sister and her cute kids came to visit.  She was great to have around, as she cooked dinner lots and started me on a project I'd been wanting to do for years--refinishing my cabinets.  But, mostly, we just hung out.  My girls were in school most of the time, but we did pull them out for a couple of hours, so as to have plenty of time to snuggle that cute little Buttercup cousin of theirs.  

We also visited the park, did a little shopping, visited the twins for lunch at their school, saw the girls' choir concert, and went to Lowe's and Hobby Lobby a few times.  The kids loved this.  (And by loved, I mean it nearly killed them.  Those are their least favorite stores.  Probably because they know it means we'll be ignoring them at home for a while, using the treasures we find there.)  We also tried our best to get a nice cousin picture.  Here is the result:

But I actually like these a little better:

And this last picture, I just have to add because this little guy (we call him Lucky around the blogosphere) is nearly impossible to get a smile out of, and he was so happy to be helping his sister stop crying here, that he couldn't hide it from me. (Too bad I cut off half his head.  I'm just a good photographer like that.)

There you have it--their visit in a nutshell.  It was much nuttier and more fun than this post makes it sound.  Trust me.  

p.s.--Come back soon!