To Step or Not to Step?

Okay, I have to brag a little bit. Our little boo (that would be Kaleigh) took 7 or 8 steps the other night. Before then, she'd taken maybe 2 steps to get to Nathan, but it was more like falling. We were so proud, we got out the video camera, and she even did it again for the camera! Of course now she doesn't seem to want to do it at all, but she has gotten really good at standing in place. We'll see what happens.

Our Vacation

Nathan took some much needed vacation time Thursday and Friday so Wednesday after work we packed up the camper and set off for Hot Springs. Kaleigh was also having a vacation, she got to stay with her Nana and Poppa. I'm so thankful they were able to keep her for a few days.
We stayed in a RV park really close to Central Ave and Thursday we did some shopping, ate lunch at McClard's BBQ (I think I'm still full from eating there!), Nathan did some fishing that evening at the campground. Then, we went to Books a Million & had coffee and read magazines and looked at books. I know, it sounds kinda boring, but for me it was just so wonderful not having to worry about anything. After we got back to the camper it had started storming and I was a little afraid of being in a tornado. I kept thinking if we died we really don't have anyone lined up to take Kaleigh. (I know, depressing, right?)

Friday - we slept in (yay!), went downtown and got some brochures & coupon books, and ate lunch. Then, our big event - we both got a bath and massage at the Buckstaff baths. It's still set up just like it was 50+ years ago. First I undressed and then wrapped up in a sheet. An attendant led me into a stall with a whirlpool tub filled with the Hot Springs water and I soaked for 20 minutes. Next was the sitz bath, then the steam room. My favorite part was next, when I got to lay on a cot wrapped in my sheet and they put hot towels under my back & neck, and then a cold towel around my head. It felt soooo nice. That lasted 20 minutes but I could have stayed longer. Then was the shower with 8 showerheads coming from all sides. Finally was the massage. It was all very relaxing.
I met Nathan afterward and we walked up & down the street looking in all the shops. That night we came back and ate at the Hot Springs Brau Haus, a German restaurant I had seen. It was really good. I had the shnitzel with vegetables & German potato salad and Nathan got Bratwurst & some other kind of sausage, a pork roast, and German potato salad and saurkraut. The bread was also wonderful.

We were thinking about going to Magic Springs on Saturday, but the weather wasn't looking good so we decided against that. Turned out to be a real good decision. Saturday night we ate out with my sister Kelly for her birthday and a bunch of her EEE pledge sisters from OBU. Kaleigh loved the attention she got from all the girls. We had a fun time.

Okay, I love Clay Aiken and am so excited that he is coming out with a new cd of classic love songs! Actually it came out today. I was a huge fan when he was on American Idol and very proudly referred to myself as a Claymate. This morning he was on Good Morning America singing and Kaleigh stopped her playing, looked straight at the TV and said "Clay". I couldn't be prouder!
Shelly

Just a little recap of highlights from the past week -

Tuesday night Nathan and I got to go to a play at the Rep called Moonlight & Magnolias. It was a comedy about the producer, director and screenwriter of the movie Gone with the Wind. The story goes that the screenwriter had never read the book and had only a week to write the screenplay, so they locked themselves in the director's office with only bananas and peanuts to eat and the producer & director acted out the story for the screenwriter!
The really fun part was that this was a private performance sponsored by Bank of the Ozarks (we got the tickets from Nathan's parents) and they had all kinds of good food to eat - fruit, spinach dip, yummy little pastries, quesedillas, chicken strips...

Friday, we had our play date at Nitzia's. It was alot of fun. Pictures to come soon.

Friday night my sister came over. On Saturday morning Nathan went to help the Bunge's move and I went garage selling for a little while. Then Nathan called & told me to go to the new Shoe Carnival in the new shopping center at the Alcoa exit in Benton and get tickets for a movie premiere from ALice 107.7. Me, Kaleigh, & my sister drove up there and got the tickets then went in the store to do a little shopping. It was absolutely insane! You literally could hardly walk in there. Then, they announced that they had $5 handbags for sale and pulled out some boxes of them. It was a madhouse! Women running, crowding around these boxes, purses flying and being snatched up. Shoving, kicking, hair-pulling, biting... Okay maybe I exaggerate a little, but I'm still happy to have gotten out of there alive.
Afterwards we got all hyped up to watch LSU play Auburn. This was one of the most important games of the season. Kaleigh put on her LSU windsuit and got ready to cheer them on. Unfortunately, the game did not go as hoped. The really bad part is, the officials made some terrible calls. Now, I know that everyone makes excuses when their team loses, but I really strongly believe that this game was decided by the officials and that should never be the case. I would be the first to admit that LSU just wasn't good enough & did not deserve to win, but that's not what happened here. Oh well... And thanks to the wonder of DVR Nathan and I went back & watched the Arkansas game Saturday night. At least somebody won...

I know it's a little late, but I'd like to share what Nathan and I did over the long weekend. We thought about going out of town but Nathan and Kaleigh were both recovering from colds so we said to ourselves "what can we do that would be relaxing and fun? I Know! We can redo our bathroom!" What a great idea... We got started Saturday morning. I thought we'd have the wallpaper off the wall by noon. Not happening. It took many, many hours. We stopped on Saturday night to watch the game.

We'd been wanting to go to the movies for a while so my sister came up from OBU to babysit Sunday night. We went up the dollar theater & watched "My Super Ex-Girlfriend". Not necessarily our first choice, but it was the only one we weren't late for. Of course I missed half of it standing in line for popcorn since there only appeared to be one person working at this huge theater, but wadya expect when you pay $1 to get in?
Monday morning we finally finished painting and now we just have to replace the light fixture, put down new floor, buy a cabinet, pick out a shower curtain, paint the cabinets. . .
Maybe by next labor day we'll be finished.

The green wallpaper was what we had, and this floral monstrosity was underneath that. Stay tuned for a picture of the completed project.

Kaleigh was all played out & fell asleep on the floor.






I watched Noah recently and Kaleigh & Noah had fun playing together. Judging from this picture, Kaleigh had more fun than Noah!


Kaleigh got a little rage during the Football game on Saturday. She was their little cheerleader.