My Sister's Visit

My sister Melissa doesn't get to come visit very often, especially by herself, but we always cherish her when she's here. She slept in Natalie's bottom bunk bed, so she's right there when my early-risers, Natalie and Eric, get up.

This is what I saw when I got up around 8-8:30 this morning. Natalie bought a set of 120 Crayola crayons yesterday at Target with a gift card she received from her birthday. As soon as we got home she made a little chart with a sample of all of the colors and their names. Melissa has been coloring with her, but Natalie has insisted that the colors all get put back in the exact place they came from. Melissa thinks that OCD behavior is a little like mine. ;) Anyway, Eric got in on the action too, and all three of them were coloring the same page at one point. Very cute. Melissa has always been great with kids and she has always been good at coloring. :)

Anthony went to the Trans-Siberian Orchestra concert last night with his friend Alejandro, and then spent the night over at Alejandro's house. This morning at 10am, Alejandro met me with Anthony at Our Lady of Atonement Catholic Church, the church we used to belong to when the kids went to that school. Since that is located near La Cantera Mall and Melissa wanted to do a little shopping, we went to the mall before coming home.

We just wanted to get out of the house and do something. The mall was not very crowded, even for the usual weekend day, and especially for two days before Christmas. Melissa and I decided that this was going to be a stress-free shopping trip because we didn't actually have to buy anything. We're already done with our Christmas shopping. Still, it was nice to be able to move around without a bunch of people in the way.

The store we spent the most time in was Bath and Body Works, one of Natalie's favorite stores. I enjoyed just watching Melissa and Natalie look around and keep putting items in their basket. I posted a photo on Facebook of the two of them, and I called them Bath and Body Works junkies! Anthony was good enough to take Eric to the outdoor playground for a while, so Eric was happy too. We had lunch at PF Chang's, Anthony got a gift for a friend at Godiva, and then we were on our way home by around 12:30pm. I'm so happy Melissa gets to spend some time with us!

One more little comment--Eric's "fortune" in his fortune cookie said, "Don't look for happiness--create it." Melissa and I agreed that Eric is very good at "creating happiness" in the people around him already. There are 4 1/2 years between Natalie and Eric. Someone once asked if he was an "accident". I replied, "Oh no, he's the one we had to wait for." He has been a god-send. He brings joy into all of our lives, and his siblings dote on him. :)