The Silvermans joined us for a playdate and dinner on Sunday evening. Avery and Ryan are getting so big.  It was time to rotate out clothes. Miss Avery was ready for the 18 – 24 month clothes and the Meyer girls delivered. A very large bucket of clothes that is. I’m glad all these girls clothes are being put to good us! We’re happy to see the “A” clothes make an appearance again on the Silverman blog.

B made a delicious dinner of green chili chicken. Yum. Yum. Yum. Gwyneth and I made a chocolate cake with chocolate icing for dessert. Double yum! The kids all played really well together. Very sweet. B even got to relax and watch the Bears game on the big screen downstairs after dinner. It was a great ending to a wild and crazy weekend.

We attended the New Albany Classic which was created to benefit the Columbus Coalition Against Family Violence. Its a wonderful cause and it was a fabulous festival. Annabelle loved it! We met the Disney Princesses, rode lots of rides, saw horses, and ate kettle corn. Diane and I even took a spin on the Zero Gravity Ride.

My camera never left my bag on Saturday. I took zero pictures. I’ll wait while you compose yourself as I know how shocking this information can be….

Since I don’t have pictures to share I’ll just give you the highlights.

– Donuts for breakfast at a local bakery. Donuts! One. Of. My. Favorite. Things. (Boston Creme to be exact…and just a nibble of Annabelle’s lemon filled…just a nibble….)

– Farmers Market where we sampled fudge and pumpkin butter. I also picked up OSU trinkets for my niece’s Maeva and Eliana. These are more for my sister, Stacy’s benefit as she’s a Buckeye grad.
(Ohio makes me think most of Stacy. Probably because she lived the longest of any of my family members there and graduated from high school and undergrad there. But more because we all moved there together and we moved away to Colorado without her. That was the last time my family lived in the same state. I do remember fighting with her often as teenage sisters do, but I think Stacy and I were the closest those years we lived together in Ohio. We started a brand new high school together and didn’t know anyone else. She drove me around in my dad’s car as we listened to music (Harry Chapin) and sang on the top of our lungs, and she even taught me how to drive stick shift in her car. She got me a job at the movie theatre and when we weren’t fighting over the bathroom or when she left without me for school, we were really close. Or at least that’s how I remember it…. and well, I guess that’s all that really matters…..)

– Lunch at a delicious local Thai restaurant. We sampled grilled calamari, pad thai, and spicy scallop curry.

– Headed to Oktoberfest downtown. Rather sad little festival with just a few vendors. Kind of a bust so we breezed it.

– Explored The Book Loft of German Village. 32 rooms of books. H.E.A.V.E.N. Only a bit nervewracking when Miss Annabelle wanted to go off exploring on her own. Luckily with 3 adults and just one child there was a set of eyes on her at all times.

– Sampled Jeni’s Ice Creams at a beautiful park near downtown while everyone else in the city was watching the OSU game. My cone was a delicious 1/2 scoop of cherry sorbert and a 1/2 scoop of sweet corn and black raspberries. Sounds odd right? WRONG – fabulously delicious is more like it!

– Drove around town while Annabelle took a much needed nap. Robert was entertained by her ability to snore so loudly. Big snores and lots of a drool from such a small girl.

– Big, Fat, Greek Birthday Party. Diane’s friend invited us for a birthday party for her son and that included about 75 of her immediate family members. It was unbelievable and overwhelming, but also quite entertaining. I’ve never seen so many aunts, uncles, children…..all screaming over one another! There were mounds and mounds of food as well. Annabelle had a great time playing with all the kiddos!

We took Annabelle by the house where I lived. I believe this was Poppy’s favorite house. E-V-E-R. It’s located on the Muirfied golf course. Home to the Memorial Golf Tournament. When the girls are much older I will share the stories with them about being chased off that golf course by security for vandalizing the sand traps. When they are much older. We had lunch at Bogey Inn. One of my family’s favorites.

Our next stop was the infamous guardrail I smashed into with my dad’s car when I was 16. Isn’t it wonderful having friends who remember EVERYTHING?! No memory left unturned this weekend.

Robert joined us for dinner at Donatos . Delicious pizza! We ended our day at the Westerville 4th Friday Festival. Ice cream, music, a puppet show. Annabelle even pet a snake. We had a fun filled day and were worn out!

I lived in Columbus for 2 years while I was in high school. During that time I met Diane. She’s a bit evil and always judging observing and I adore her. We’ve been friends ever since.

Diane and her husband, Robert are Annabelle’s Godparents. It’s been far too long since we’ve seen them so it was time for a quick visit. Annabelle and I set off for a fabulous weekend together.

We flew out on a tiny little airplane. We had to walk outside and up the plane stairs to board. The crew invited Annabelle into the cockpit. She was an angel on the flight and enjoyed about 47 pieces of gum. She watched “Annie”, drew A’s and N’s with her colored pencils (she’s mastering Anna before moving on to the belle…), and slept the last half hour.

Stopped in to say hi to Baby Hanna at daycare yesterday. My heart melted. Ran in to Gwyneth’s class and picked up my baby. Swooped into Annabelle’s class to pick her up and saw Andrew. He started to cry. Big tears. Sobs. He bawled “I want to go home with you”. My heart broke. My heart ached for him. I brought all 4 of them home.

I’m just a softie, I guess. I can’t deny those little faces. Especially not when they are filled with tears. I’ve been told that I have to start saying no. To keep my sanity. So, I’m going to start saying no more often. Yep, I’m going to start saying no. Hmmmm…perhaps I’ll start tomorrow….

I have lost my funny. I can’t seem to find my wit.

Perhaps I’m the only one who found my blog witty and slightly humorous, but I’ve sat down many times over the past few days and tried to update this little site with Meyer adventures…. and then I just stare at my blank computer screen. We’ve been busy…birthday parties, a suicide prevention walk, doctors appointments, a trip to Children’s for chest xrays, playdates….we’ve been busy. I will get pictures posted and I will get it all on here…I just don’t know when…hopefully soon.

I keep waiting for things to get back to “normal”. I wake up each morning and I think today is the day that life goes on and I’ll be “me” again. Then I go through the routines and I play with my beautiful girls and I get ready for work and I look in the mirror and I’m just not “me”. I’m not sure who “me” is supposed to be any more. I just know that I’ve changed….

I don’t blame Jess for the changes, I just look at my life, my husband, my children, my family, my job, my hobbies, everything differently now. My friend Jennifer said it best…sometimes I feel guilty for being happy. I feel lucky for my life and my opportunities and my future. I want to be happy and I want to live and I want to live LOUD….I just know life has changed and will never be the same and to some degree I am thankful to Jess for that.

Anyway, this is a lot of rambling but I’m still here and I’m doing ok (and I’m going to lot of counseling!). I will find my funny again and I will update my blog….and I will do it soon.