This weekend was, without a doubt, one of the craziest, busiest ones I've had. The kids both had Saturday birthday parties so we left the house at noon to get Kaylen out to the local gymnastics place for a 12:30-2pm party. I left her there and Kelton and I drove out to Stephanie's so that he could hang out with Andrew and I could hang out with Stephanie. It wasn't long before I was on the road again, sans Kelton (who wanted to stay and play some more), to pick up Kaylen. She excitedly told me all about her party while I drove us back out to Hockinson. We hung out there for a couple hours until it was time to take Kelton to his party. Kaylen decided to stay and play so I drove Kelton to his party and then back to Hockinson. In the car, along with my son for the second time that day (and the first time in ages!) he chatted my ear off about everything. It made me sad to realize how long it's been since I've had time alone with either of the kids. We move as a pack of three - with almost no "one on one" time. Clearly they both need more of that with me.
Kelton's party was a sleepover, but prior to RSVPing he had decided he only wanted to stay until 8pm. Good enough. Then he called at 7 and asked if he could stay until 8:30. Fine with me. Then, at 8, while I was on my way with Kaylen go to pick him up, my phone rang. "Mom?" he said, "I think I want to spend the night after all." We talked a bit and then the mom and I talked and it was all decided, he would stay (I didn't want to impose on the mom since Kelton had already made a decision to come home and not spend the night). Big event for my boy! He has never spent the night with a friend before. At my sister's with his cousin, yes. At another cousin's, yes. But never at a friends without family.
He was so sweet. He called me three times between 8 and 10 to say goodnight. I could tell he was nervous but we chatted about how cool it was and really great that it was just him and two friends (the birthday boy and another friend of his). In between phone calls, I got Kaylen to bed and finished up chores before crawling under my covers. It had been a long day with lots of miles driven but I had happy kids and I was feeling quite content with life myself. I drifted off easily and was only up once with the dogs. I was up for the day at 7am and I felt great! I can't tell you the last time I had blocks of sleep like that. Sleep is gooooooooood!
Kaylen woke before I had finished my first cup of coffee so she came into snuggle. We chatted for a while and then jumped into the shower. We needed to collect Kelton (who Kaylen was missing a lot!) at 9am.
At 8:30 my phone rang. It was Kelton calling to remind me I needed to pick him up at 9. I told him we were both ready and just waiting for pick up time. He said "Oh! Then can you come now?" Sure thing!
We buzzed over and picked him up and then, as he told us all about his time away, I drove to the grocery store to pick up some needed things. We were back home before 9:30. As the kids settled in for some TV time together, I did chores that needed to be tended to. Around 11, we headed to Hockinson to spend a very sunny day in the woods. The three kids teamed up and went on a hike around the property. We could see them off and on as they hiked through the trees and brush. Their laughter could be heard in the distance. One of those moments you just want to capture forever.
We spent a few hours over there and then packed up everyone and headed here for some pool time. The kids couldn't wait to jump in and ended up playing in the pool for about two hours. I don't know how they stood it - they were chilled clear through but no one wanted to get out. Finally, I got them paraded through warm showers and into dry clothes and then set to making everyone dinner. The little fishies were all very hungry!
Later on, it was popcorn and a movie before bed. The kids had a sleep over in the living room, a boy on each couch and Kaylen on the air mattress on the floor. After their busy days, they were all out like lights in no time - which is good, because so were the moms!
Today the kids are hanging out together while I do all the regular stuff in my day: chores, job hunt, more chores, feeding everyone, etc. Truth be told, it's almost easier to have another child here because the kids don't stay focused on making each other miserable and I haven't heard "I'm BORED!" or "MOM!!! Kelton/Kaylen did XYZ to me!" once yet today. Stephanie headed to work early and will be back later today to pick up Andrew.
I have to say, this weekend was a great "summer" weekend. Nice weather but more importantly: happy, laughing children. Their laughter makes all the craziness of life worth it.
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