Last night I attended my very first women's conference. I have a bad habit of avoiding things like this even though I know I need to get out there and be more involved. I guess I'm just a home body and am comfortable just hanging out with BJ and my family. I've never been in a play group or an type of women's club or group. I was invited to go to this particular conference with a small group of women that I'm comfortable with and love so I decided to give it a try. I made the decision to take Jude with me because she is still nursing and I would be gone for at least four hours. The church where the conference was held is an hour away from our home. I was well aware that there would be no childcare and I was totally fine with that. I knew that I would just feed Jude at some point and then she would fall asleep. When we arrived at the church we were greeted by women checking to see we had our bracelets on so we could enter. The second I walked in a woman stopped me and asked me to wait on the side while she radioed for someone to come talk to me. I asked if there was a problem and she said just to wait right there. I looked around and didn't see any other babies and realized that JUDE was the problem. I felt like I was in trouble and I immediately felt like crying. Another woman approached me with another very annoying radio and leaned down, very condescendingly, as she spoke to me. "Okay, Hi. You do realize this is a WOMENS conference and that there is no childcare?" I say yes of course and she cuts me off to say,"Well since this is just for women we ask that you take your baby out of the conference if she makes any noise or cries since this is for women." REALLY??? I was mortified to say the least. If I had driven there myself I would have walked right out and gone home, that's how UNWELCOME they made me feel. Please let me say that I am not that "mom" that will just let their baby cry and yell or talk during ANY kind of service. I try to be sensitive to the people around me and I never want my littles to annoy or inconvenience anyone else. I was pretty upset that THAT was the way this church and the people involved in this conference decided to start off the night. It ruined it for me. I sat down and was trying so hard to move on and to not let that rude welcome ruin the rest of this experience but it did. I really felt like there could of been another way to handle a situation like that. For example, they could of told me that IF I had been sitting in the conference and was letting Jude cry or make noise. Then would of been an appropriate time to ask me to please take her to the lobby but not RIGHT when you walk in. At some point during the worship I got up and walked out to the lobby where I found a couch. We spent the rest of the night there, me, Jude and a sweet, sweet friend that was upset for/with me. The lobby was apparently where the men were hanging out so it was an awkward place to nurse a baby, in the WOMENS conference, but that's where we stayed. They had the conference on televisions in the lobby but you couldn't really hear it unless you went and stood right under it. It was disappointing but I was really over it by this point. I'm not sure what the lesson to be learned was but I did learn about how insensitive some people can be and how NOT to treat people. Some people lose sight of what's important and they may not even realize it. I don't want to be like that.

Over the weekend we had made an appointment to have our very large and stinky chocolate lab bathed at Petsmart. We have been trying to do this once a month because that boy smells!! He swims in the pond any opportunity he gets and is just a drooling mess. So, we loaded ALL the family in the car and headed to town, an hour away. We had forgotten his shot records but had done that in the past and they let us slide. I was pretty confident they would take him. We also forgot his leash, it was a little hectic getting everyone ready and out the door. So we pull up to Petsmart and poor BJ had to walk Titan in by the collar, leaning over so much he was practically on his knees. This was very amusing to watch. I was relieved to see buddy go get his bath since our car was beginning to smell like him. About five minutes later I see BJ come out of the store doing that uncomfortable walk, Titan by his side. I guess he was a little past dew for his rabies shot, my fault, and they stood their ground. No shot, no bath! Great! We had scheduled his appointment at noon knowing we had to run tons of errands the rest of the day and would be back 3 to 4 hours later to pick him up. So, Titan got to spend the REST of the afternoon with us just stinking up our car. It was a cool day and he had plenty of room in the back to sprawl out so we weren't worried about him. Each time we got out of the car to go do something we returned to find him sitting in the drivers seat, drool and all! So gross to say the least,not to mention all the hair that comes along with him! It was a crazy day. Glad to say he DID get the shots he needed on Monday and will be bathed this weekend!

Yesterday was such a pretty day so the girls and I went on a walk so Bella could pick flowers. I had the two little girls in the double stroller buckled in, so i thought. We were walking on the road heading back home when the stroller got stuck and wouldn't move any further. I felt like I had run over something. All of a sudden I hear Beau say ,"Me shrell! Stop!" I guess she had decided she didn't want to ride in the stroller and wanted to walk so she was trying to sneak out under the bar. The stroller had run over her leg and she was stuck, just laying in the road. I hadn't even noticed because both sides of the stroller had the shades pulled over so I couldn't really see what Beau was doing in her seat. Most children probably would of been screaming crying but Beau just looked at her bloody knee and said," Need my band-aid at my home." She got up and kept walking. Earlier this morning she was in a really grumpy mood and was being mean to everyone in her path so I told her she was being very mean. She just looked up at me and said, "Me not mean. Me Beau Thomas." Sorry, my mistake.