This is a weekend update. Rowen and I ended up with extra sleepover buddies, so my usual nightly routine wasn’t possible while Lindsay and Jessica were with us. That was a last-minute change in plans, but let’s go back and start with Saturday morning.
Tai Chi was the brief calm before the work storm. Breakfast was quick and on the fly as Mom, Dad, and I juggled getting ready for the day; taking care of Ethan and Ehlana; eating; and getting started on the work too. The weather forecast was for a beautiful weekend, though it was still fairly cool both Saturday and Sunday mornings. That worked out for Dad, Uncle Adam, and me when it came time to do the outdoor work at our houses and at Grandma and Grandpa’s place.
The outdoor fun was booked for the afternoon, and my jobs until lunchtime were split between house cleaning and helping Mom and Aunt Leanne with the baking. Just for the record, not everything about baking is fun. If you don’t believe me, go peel, pare, or otherwise prepare a peck of anything. A peck is a heck of a lot, and Mom and Aunt Leanne had piles of pecks to prep. The good news was that it wasn’t long before they decided that a little Magi power was in order; and they even turned it into a lesson for Ethan and Ehlana that kept them entertained until they needed to stop and have late morning naps.
Aunt Leanne was part of the work crew that went over to Grandma and Grandpa’s house after lunch. Mom stayed at home with Ethan and Ehlana to keep the cooking and baking going. We spent a bit over an hour there, then Dad, Uncle Adam, and I split the rest of our afternoon time working around both of our houses and yards. We brought Ethan and Ehlana out with us for a while, and though Dad and Uncle Adam were both working hard; I’m also fairly sure that Ethan hadn’t been the one to set up ESPN on his iPad so that they could at least listen to part of the first bowl game of the day.
We wrapped up for the day when it started to get dark, and I was sent off to get cleaned up first so that I could watch Ethan and Ehlana while Mom and Dad got ready to go out. Dinner was a small casserole that Mom cooked up along with a much larger one that would be part of one of the holiday weekend meals. There wasn’t much time to eat, and I took care of the cleanup with supervisory help from the twins. Alicia and her friends came over before Mom and Dad were ready to go out. (Their kids really don’t want to know what was taking them so long!)
Jessica, Ryan, and Sophia Bassett were dropped off first. Naomi was next, followed by Scott and Lindsay Faulkner. Rowen and Patrick were last; mostly because their parents were going to Sheldon’s with Mom and Dad. My bedroom and the lounge were playground central for the night. Patrick and Scott were happy to mostly ignore the girls and play their video games. They let four-year old Ryan watch them play too; but we – the girls – ended up having him play with us most of the time when the two older boys wouldn’t let him try to play the video games too.
Jessica and Lindsay wanted to play with Ethan, Ehlana, Sophia, and Naomi as much as they wanted to play with the games and toys we had ready for them. We all had a lot of fun with Naomi – especially now that she was constantly on the go. I could tell that Ethan and Ehlana wished they could keep up with Naomi; but crawling like a pro or toddling around while holding on to furniture or someone’s hands wasn’t something they were physically ready for yet; even though they could do more than they could show off in public. Naomi wanted to play with them, and with Sophia; so a lot of her crawling and walking was in pursuit of toys and other things that she brought back to her three little friends for all them to play with.
Alicia had the boys stop their gaming so that we could all watch a Christmas movie together. Jessica and Lindsay picked the new Barbie movie – A Perfect Christmas. That didn’t impress two out of four boys, but they were outnumbered and outvoted. Those of us who were paying attention also noticed that Patrick and Scott stopped complaining about the ‘chick flick’ choice not long after it started; and I’m sure that I heard at least one of them humming along to some of the songs in the show. I spent most of that time cuddling with Naomi; Rowen had Ehlana with her; and we had Jessica and Lindsay sitting with us for one big snuggle-fest.
After the movie, there was a long break while Ethan, Ehlana, Sophia, and Naomi were fed and put to bed. It was a bit crowded in Ehlana’s room, but we had the spare crib and Ethan and Ehlana’s playpen there to have enough room for Naomi and Sophia to be able to sleep until their parents stopped in to pick them up. Rowen helped out with that while I helped out in the kitchen where we kept the rest of the kids busy with making up and cooking a batch of personal pizzas. They were ready by the time the four babies were tucked into cribs or playpen, and after polishing off their snacks, the boys went back to their gaming; leaving us to finish eating in relative peace – and with the cleanup too.
Ryan was sound asleep on the sofa by the time we got up to the lounge; and Alicia tucked him into bed in one of the guest rooms. Jessica and Lindsay were second and third to go; and they were put into my bed with Mandy. Rowen and I mostly hung out with Alicia and her friends until they sent Patrick and Scott off to get ready for bed shortly after midnight; and then we decided to get changed and go to sleep too. Even with my Queen-size bed, we were a bit crowded with our two little cuddle buddies; but we must have made an impression on the parents while we were sleeping, because we were all still in the bed when I woke up in the morning to get ready for Tai Chi.
I ended up exercising alone instead of waking Mom and Dad, and then I took care of a couple of diaper changes before Mom joined me in Ehlana’s room and I helped her get set up to nurse them. From then on, it was non-stop action. Jessica and Lindsay had been the only extra overnight kids, but they did manage to keep Rowen and I hopping as we all got ready for church and had breakfast in time to actually get to church for the start of the service.
We did manage to do that, and I was ready to sit down and catch my breath by the time Rowen and I sat down with her parents. That wasn’t a very long break, and then we were busy having fun with our Sunday school class until nearly eleven-thirty. With just seven shopping days until Christmas, and a lot of weekend visitors around the Ridge River district; most of the stores in town were open for the afternoon. That left Rowen free to spend the afternoon with me; and we were both recruited for more work around the house that mostly involved helping with the baking; but included another round of cleaning for the guest bedrooms that had been used by Patrick, Scott, and Ryan while they slept until being picked up by their parents.
Mom and Dad had Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne to play with them too, though they left for home at the same time Rowen did; having dinner plans with his parents, grandparents, Aunt Deborah, and Nick.
Ethan, Ehlana, and I had Magi lessons after dinner while Dad hid in the office to get ready for work in the morning. Between then and now, we collectively had four baths in three Jacuzzi sessions; Ethan and Ehlana were nursed, changed, and put in bed; and Mom and I had our bedtime snack with Dad before she sat down to work on her computer for a while, and Mandy and I came up to bed. The entertainment check didn’t take long, but I had a few email to catch up on.
The highlights were the family Christmas recaps that both Dawn and Violet sent me. They’d spent the day with Aunt Melissa’s family, and it sounded like they’d all had a fun, hectic day. I’m sure that you can guess how excited Violet is about being just five sleeps away from coming to spend two weeks with us – and with Dillon. Mom and I really only have one family Christmas – it must be crazy to have four like Violet will have including the one today; ours, one with Dillon’s family; and the Rice family Christmas on New Year’s Day.
Anyway, I’m going to skip another archive study session and get a bit of extra sleep. With just five days left to the holidays; I’m going to need it!