This has definitely been a really great holiday play day –
at least for most of the kids and younger teens around here; and Rowen and I
are ending it with a sleepover and movies in the lounge – that Michael and Tim
are here for too.
Okay, they’re downstairs now in their own rooms, but they
only went there a little while ago; and we watched two movies together after
Ethan, Ehlana, Naomi, and Aiden went to bed.
The sleepover plans started coming together this morning, and with as cold
as it is tonight; it was really nice to have cuddle buddies to stay warm with
all evening after a seriously fun play day outdoors. Let’s back up to the start of the day and
really get this update rolling.
The first topic that needs to be mentioned is that it was
very, very cold this morning. I know
that’s relative, and depends on the environment that a person is used to
dealing with; but most people would agree that low single digits on the
Fahrenheit scale with a double-digit, negative wind chill is way past ‘F’ for
freezing and all the way to ‘F’ stands for ‘freaking cold’ – and then some.
That fact was very noticeable when I welcomed Michael into
the house when he came over for Tai Chi this morning, but we were also on our
own before going upstairs to meet up with Mom, Dad, Ethan, and Ehlana; and had
fun while I helped him to get warmed up from his little walk out in the extreme
cold. I put coffee on to brew too, but
for some reason; my family didn’t believe that was what took so long after they
heard Michael arrive for us to make it upstairs.
Miranda and Jacob were not taking their usual days off this
week for obvious reasons, and that worked for Michael and me since he just
stayed and had breakfast with us instead of going home to what likely would
have been a couple of packages of pop tarts.
I’m glad that he stayed because our breakfast conversation included
laying the groundwork for our dinner, movie night in the lounge, and sleepover. Thanks for suggesting that Michael stay for
the sleepover too, Ethan. You didn’t
fool Mom or Dad for a second; but they still couldn’t say no to you – not that
I actually think they would if I’d asked instead.
Michael did need to go home after we finished eating and
cleaning up; but that was only so that we could both get ready for an outdoor
play day with Ethan, Ehlana, Rowen, Tim, and some of our friends. Since it was so cold, he and I decided to go
to the church to practice our duet first so that it was at least a bit warmer
out when we were ready to go sledding.
Learning the basics for using the digital piano there didn’t really take
very long, but we had company there; so I had to do a bit of acting. We ended up spending nearly an hour in the
sanctuary by the time I’d finished my experimenting with the piano; we’d warmed
up with some of our favorite Christmas songs; and then we ran through the duet
two times.
Mom, Ethan, and Ehlana had dropped us off and gone to do a
little grocery and supply shopping before the stores started getting crazy-busy
with the usual pre-holiday rush; so we met up with them at the grocery store
and helped Mom with the work side of that through until everything was carried
in and put away at home. We did a hot
chocolate and snack break then; four of us bundled up in full winter gear; and
then Michael and I grabbed two sleds and took Ethan and Ehlana tobogganing
until lunchtime.
We collected Rowen and Tim at their houses along the way,
and the late start to our snow play had the advantage of a well-packed hill for
us to go sledding on with all of the other kids and teens that were out playing
too. While that was a seriously
entertaining blast of fun, it was also cold enough that we needed to be careful
with how long we kept Ethan and Ehlana out there; though we were all getting cold
when it was time to take them home and warmed up again. The timing was working out perfectly for us,
and we managed to collect full parental approval for our plans for the rest of
the day while on our way home; Mom had invited Naomi and Aiden to join us for
the rest of the day and the sleepover; and they had both just been dropped off
at our house by the time we got there.
Once we all had cups of hot chocolate, Michael and Tim were
put in charge of the four toddlers while Rowen and I went to work helping Mom
with making lunch. She wanted a hot meal
into us before we headed out again for more snow play time; so we made up a put
of home-made veggie soup to go along with fresh bakery sub bun sandwiches. Splitting a warm apple pie for dessert was
pretty good too; and we were all ready to brave the cold again by the time we’d
finished cleaning up again and gotten Ethan, Ehlana, Naomi, and Aiden through
bathroom breaks and the extended process of getting them into their snowsuits
and the rest of their winter gear.
We took four toboggans with us this time, though we only
pulled two of them along with two toddlers in each sled. It was just enough warmer this afternoon that
we could stay out longer than was comfortable this morning. An hour and a half of sledding was followed
by making a little snow family in my yard; snow angels on the ground; and a
boys against the girls snowball fight before we were ready to go inside to stay
– and have another warm-up hot chocolate and snack break. I skipped over the stops that Tim, Rowen, and
Michael made at their homes to pack and bring overnight bags on our way back
from the sledding; but that was just a little blip in the fun that barely
slowed us down at all – especially since we split up to do that.
By the time we were warmed up again it was time to get
started on making dinner, and while Mom was doing an easy-meal pizza and wings
night, we were making our own personal pizzas; and that made for some messy fun
while Ethan, Ehlana, Naomi, and Aiden designed their masterpieces. Mom was prepared for two thirteen-year old
boys too; and had the extras needed for them to make three personal pizzas
each. The only slowdown we had in the
process was the cooking; but we started early enough that everything except the
second and third pizza rounds were ready by the time Dad got home from work.
We ate in the dining room, and Mom and Dad were kept
entertained by our collective snow play stories. They set us free after we polished off a
cherry pie for dessert and took care of the clean-up while we came up to my
room and the lounge to play and watch movies.
The play time included some video gaming; Michael and I had another duet
practice; and we had a short game of hide and seek – with Michael and I doing
most of the seeking while the four toddlers hid and Rowen and Tim kept getting
distracted any time they found themselves alone somewhere while sort of joining
in to play the game. Since we stuck to
the third floor, and it wasn’t unusual to hear one or more of the kids
giggling, I’m sure that Rowen and Tim were more successful with the alone time
because they couldn’t possibly be that bad at hide-and-seek.
We watched one Christmas movie with my brother, sister, and
their best friends; and then had an intermission while helping with their usual
bedtime routine through until they were tucked in for the night. Before I move on, I should mention that there
were four couples cuddling in the lounge during that movie. Since the members of the two younger couples
are only two – at least for a few more weeks until Naomi turns three – that
they were doing that exclusively to tease Michael, Tim, Rowen, and me; but they
sure seemed happy and comfortable too.
Oh yeah, and just because we were all cuddling under
blankets; don’t think that I didn’t notice you holding Naomi’s hand for most of
the movie, Ethan.
Fortunately, my brother and sister will be old enough by the
time they read this to not be shocked at finding out that there was more than
hand-holding going on under the blankets with Michael and me during the movies
we watched with Rowen and Tim after the toddlers were in bed.
Don’t let your mind wander too far down that road. I’ve mentioned that I don’t have any
exhibitionist tendencies, and our best friends were cuddling together at the
other end of the sectional sofa; so we were not having a major make-out session
or anything. Michael and I also weren’t
the only couple in the room enjoying a bit of quiet intimacy; though Rowen and
Tim had a bit more fun that we did while Michael and I went downstairs to make
hot chocolate for four during our intermission between the second and third
movie of the night.
Yes, Rowen, I noticed the button you missed. Michael probably did too, but don’t worry –
he didn’t see anything he shouldn’t; and now you know that I didn’t pick a
soft, fluffy sweater just for the cuddle factor!
We were about three-quarters of the way through our next
movie when Mom and Dad stopped in to say goodnight to us – and give the
unspoken directive that we were to wrap up our co-ed time when the movie was
over. They’d been working in the office
all evening except for while we all were busy getting four toddlers changed and
ready for bed. That was mostly because
Dad is only working a half day tomorrow; and then taking the rest of the week
off except for one short appointment on Friday morning to take care of
something that needs to be completed before year-end.
This time, once the movie was over, Rowen ordered Tim to
help her with carrying our empty cups and dishes downstairs, and they did the
clean-up – and their own goodnight hugs and kisses – while leaving Michael and
I with a bit of alone time in the lounge.
We took full advantage of the opportunity, and I don’t really feel at
all bad about leaving Michael wishing he could take a cold shower when he went
downstairs to the bedroom directly below mine.
Rowen and I have had lots to talk about, and we started
watching another movie; but it’s late; there are only two more sleeps until
Christmas; we have a very long day ahead of us; and should head off to
dreamland soon. Since my thoughts are
wandering toward dreams of Michael and me cuddling together all night instead
of camping here in the lounge with Rowen, I’d better hope that I don’t go
sleepwalking tonight – though that might be fun if I ended up in Michael’s room
and we got away with it.
Just kidding, Mom and Dad – mostly.
I just realized that I haven’t mentioned Violet and Dillon
yet, and that’s mostly because I didn’t see them at all except for this morning
before, during, and shortly after breakfast.
They’ve been out all day either with his family or their friends; they
were spending the evening with Jake, Stephanie, Josiah, and Christina
somewhere; and then spending the night at his house. That decision probably had something to do
with having eight kids and junior teens at our house tonight; but they may also
be thinking ahead to how they’re going to handle Christmas Eve and Christmas
Day too. I’m sure they’re having fun,
and again; the continuing precedence they’re setting for us will very likely
come in handy for Michael and me in a few years.
That really is about all I have for tonight. We have enjoyed one of those amazing, friends and family play days; and the fun is just going to keep getting better for the rest of
the week and weekend – starting with the annual Christmas Eve day shopping fun. Add in some more snow play, helping out at
the Inn, the Christmas Eve service at the
church, and getting to sing the duet with Michael again tomorrow night; and I
think we have all of the ingredients needed for another best-ever kind of
Christmas.
Live long and prosper, fellow Magi of the Light!
