**Gratuitous photo entry for friends & family**

This past weekend was insane, but a good insane. An insane I needed. A break from monotony.

Friday night we had a get-together with friends...and we stayed up until 2am. Yeahhhh. So that hurt on Saturday. But it was totally worth it. I needed that social time. :) (Here's some pics- they haven't been edited because I've been catching up on sleep.)

Saturday we decided to go to the zoo; they were having Harvest Days or something like that, but we mainly went because we actually haven't been together as just a family since we'd gotten our memberships back in the Spring. The weather was gorgeous, the kids were low-key since they'd had a late night before, and we had a lot of fun. Atticus was very silly and cute when it came to the petting zoo; he kept talking to the mini goats in this high pitched voice, like he just *knew* they were tiny and cute. Hehe

Saturday evening I headed over to the church to work on the bulletin and then to make a quick trip to Target. Em had a long nap that afternoon, so I opted to take her with me and spend a little quality time with her. As I mentioned before, she and I have been at odds lately and I think we needed some restoration of our relationship. (Silly sounding, I know, but much needed.)

We had SUCH a good time. I told Shaun that we "talked things out" - lol - but we did just enjoy each other's company. I took my time with her and let her look at the things she wanted too, and because she is a girl after her mommy's heart, she didn't mind looking at stickers and such while I looked at scrapbooking stuff. We even enjoyed looking at clothes together.

To top the evening off, we got icees and jammed out to some music in the car on the way home. Just a peaceful night of hanging out. Good for both of us. I really believe that God blessed us with those moments... and I think probably more of those are available for the taking, but we just get too impatient with things and our own agendas.

Anyways... I should get off of here now and finish cleaning up- the house is its typical wreck after the weekend and the kids are both "down" for naps (although we shall see if napping actually occurs).

Ciao!