A trip to the In-Laws

Ward's grandmother has been ill lately, so we made an impromptu visit to his mother's house this weekend, since his grandmother lives around the corner. She didn't look well and had lost a lot of weight and was pretty tired from her recent stint in the hospital, but it was nice to see her just the same. Her oldest son had come in town to visit, so most of the family was together, which rarely happens.

We spent most of the weekend talking, watching football, eating great meals, and playing Phase 10, a game this family introduced me to 8 years ago when Ward and I first started dating. Ward's mother made shrimp creole Friday night and chicken and dumplinds Saturday night...mmmmmm! I got to help out today and made my homemade pizza. We had such a great time and it really helped unload some stress off of Ward's mother and uncle. The boys love visiting up there as well. My mother-in-law doesn't have much of a yard, so normally the boys spend the entire weekend running through her old house, shaking the walls, and doing flips off of the couch. But this time, they discovered some stone steps leading down to the back of the house and spent much of the day today running up and down the steps. Ward and I were rewarded for letting them do this because they slept for most of the 2.5 hour ride home. :)

I enjoyed the weekend away, but about 20 minutes before we arrived back home, I remembered that because we left on such a whim and I was so busy serving the Thanksgiving feast at the kids' school on Friday, I didn't have time to do my normal housekeeping. I walked in to a complete MESS and now I'm tired from traveling and stressed because I have to get a lot of laundry finished and dishes done before I go to bed. The dogs hadn't been fed in two days, so they tore up the backyard and porch searching for food. To add to all of this...we have NOTHING to eat so a trip to the store is definitely in order, and probably late tonight after the boys go to bed.

Note to self: Clean the house BEFORE you go out of town.... :)