Patched Up

This morning I rode with Julie when she dropped off Sam at school, and then she took me to Grapevine for my 9:30 dentist appointment. She actually got me there a bit early (thanks, Julie!). Dr. Colangelo found no problems with the tooth or the crown that had fallen off, so he cemented it back on good as new.

Kelley and Terri picked me up from the dentist and we headed for the nearby Grapevine Mills Outlet Mall, so that Kelley could pick up some clothes appropriate for her new station in life. She found some nice athletic wear at Nike, including a green and white jacket. Of course everything looked cute on her. After shopping several other stores, we hit the food court for lunch.

By the time we were ready to leave, it was raining, so Kelley made a run for the car, and Terri shared my umbrella. We didn't get too wet--it actually rained much harder later on. They dropped me off at Ed and Julie's and stayed to visit for just a few minutes. Terri gave Julie and Cate and me some cute T--shirt necklaces she had made. I hugged her goodbye--this might be the last time I see her before they go to Singapore next June. I'll see Kelley when we come through the Dallas area in April.

This evening Sam had a play date with his friend Brandon, so he went there for supper and a movie. Ed and Cate and I played Ingenious and Rummikub. When Sam came home he joined us for a quick game of Farkel. Jesse played his "games" at the table with us, mostly quietly and without disturbing our games. He's quite intent about what he's doing and knows how to roll the dice.

Then it was bedtime for the kids. I got to read books with them since it's my last night here. I read one of the Grimm fairy tales in the book we got Cate for Christmas. Sam decided that he would "read" the story of two pages of his Dora the Explorer giant coloring book. He was very dramatic about it. You can tell he's watched the TV show many times.

The family has adopted the Elf on the Shelf tradition. Their elf, named Scout, hides creatively and has to be found every morning. Sam has a larger elf he has named Scout Sam Shaffer and Cate has an even larger one she calls Mrs. Scout.


Sam is really enjoying the book of dinosaur puzzles we got him for Christmas. He is delighted when he finds a piece that fits--and he's really good at putting puzzles together as well as naming the various creatures.

It's my last day here, and around lunchtime I started to feel a sore throat coming on. I'm hoping it doesn't develop into anything more serious, but I'm just generally feeling a bit headachey and under the weather. It seems every time I get around the kids I pick something up. Jesse has had a runny nose and sneezes for days.