My wonderful husband indulged in a day of vacation yesterday. It also happened to be his birthday. His only request: freshly-baked pumpkin chocolate-chip muffins with his morning coffee.
I whipped up those delectable morsels as he made sure all 5 kids (3 of ours plus 2 sweet girls whom I look after in the mornings) made it on the school bus-which is becoming a scramble as the driver is showing up earlier with each passing day!
Sipping coffee and and lingering at the breakfast table, we watched Camille and a little boy friend-one week apart-play with pretend food on the great-room carpet. I was forced to intervene a couple of times as darling Camille is proving to be a bit of a bully. She starts and wins every game of tug of war. Not so very dainty thus far, our precious tiny one.
The birthday boy took the next few hours prepping the basement walls for a much-awaited fresh coat of paint. The chosen hue: straw hat. Tedious work indeed, filling those many crevices. Our adorable graffiti artists have certainly made their territory known in 5 years time. Now that Christian & Gabrielle, our close-in-age duo, have matured and advanced to other forms of artistic expression-- such as decorating the interior of neighbors' exhaust pipe with snowballs (it was very innocent, believe me), I am convinced that our walls will remain in pristine condition indefinitely.
Late afternoon onward saw us serving snacks, helping with homework, roasting chickens, sitting for dinner, supervising next-day's lunch assembly, changing diapers, putting on pj's, reading books and finally, tucking everyone and ourselves into bed.
The man of the house had a nice day, though it ended with just a twinge of disappointment. My gift to him was 2 tickets to see Natalie MacMaster in concert next week. Regretfully, our next-door sitter came to cancel last night. Her 1st school dance falls on the same evening. While I'm not optimistic about our chances of going at this point, it is uplifting to think of 3.5 years from now, when Christian can babysit.
**Update- An amazing friend of mine is coming to stay with our kids while we go to the concert. I am completely taken aback as she has 3 small children of her own with a 4th on the way and is a working mom on top of that...and she is giving up her evening so that we don't miss out on this special night. Thanks again, Tara!
Don't kid yourself, pristine walls only happen when they are away at college. Great writing my lovely daughter.
ReplyDeleteHi Shannon! I love catching up with your family...and now you can catch up on mine! Your kids are beautiful and little Camille sounds a lot like my little Addison! Glad to see you are all doing well!
ReplyDeleteSo happy your family is doing well-you write prettily :) I'd like to hear more about Pierre, I know nothing about him! We would love it if you were able to come visit sometime! We may be in WA for Christmas if all works out. There are a lot of Catholic families out here-51%, lots of hispanic, we love it! What does the catholic church teach on modesty? I know people who've done modesty fashion shows too, its a nice idea-kids need so much guidance-especially as the world's values change so drastically. Does the Catholic church have any teachings on media like movies etc? I am so glad you can go to your concert with Pierre that should be fun! You should do family home evening, it's particularly fun with kids :) love reading your blog! Elizabeth ps did you get the message that my mom would like your mom's email? do you have my email? How is Joe doing?
ReplyDeleteyou should give me that pumpkin muffin recipe! I LOVE anything pumpkin!
ReplyDeleteWhat happened to the cork color? What is straw hat? Any red accent walls going with the straw color? Looking forward to seeing some pictures of the basement when it is all complete! Camille looks so innocent and sweet in her polka dots!
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