Another busy weekend!

I've thought about posting a couple times in the last couple weeks. Time just seems to get away from me lately.  My parents used to say that the older you were, the faster the time seemed to go.  I'm starting to believe that.  I can hardly believe that almost Christmas again.  This past week was full of activity.  I was blessed by a couple of quieter days when Scott took Garrison to work.  He(Garrison) is really looking forward to the next time he gets to go.  Thankfully Scott will be having a bit of a break this week.  There is another group coming in to work on the house for the next couple days, so Scott will get some much needed time off.  On Friday we had a couple from our church over for Supper.  Scott was discussing church business with the man and they were here until 10!  Garrison hadn't taken a nap, so he fell asleep  before supper and slept til morning. Mrs. G. read to Elyssia until she fell asleep.  The later it got, the more we traded off reading:).  Elyssia fell asleep aroung 9, but I didn't put Caleb down til just before 10.  It took less than 2 minutes before he was asleep.  Thankfully it started to warm up at the end of last week.  After several days of -30 or colder, it was practically tropical when it was only -7:).
  Saturday I was invited to an Epicure party.  For those who haven't heard of it, it's spices, herbs, cookware, etc... I have to say that I wasn't really looking forward to it because the ladies' house was an hour away. After talking it over with Scott we decided to go together and that he would do something with the boys while I took the girls to the party.  Overall it went pretty well.  She had more people come than she was expecting and the food was okay.  I'm not really a big dip person, but that's what most of the items are used for.  I hadn't heard of the company until last year when  a lady in our church gave me a couple jars to try.  The boys managed to amuse themselves for an hour, even though the bakery was closed.  I was very thankful to get to spend the two hours in the car with my family, rather than all by myself, although there were moments:)))).  We've been joking lately about things the auto industry needs to add to the vans.  Rotating seats, for times that the siblings aren't getting along.  Push a button and switch their seats around. Wouldn't that be awesome? We've also thought about those windows in limos.  What if we had those right behind the driver's seat? Sort it out kids, we'll be up here having a nice quiet drive:))).Or a cone of silence that can descend over a particularly noisy child(reference to Get Smart-the original show).  My personal favorite is separate pods attached to the 4 corners of the top of the van.  A separate one for each child.  Y'all know I'm joking right?  We agreed after being silly that car trips without the kids would be pretty boring.  We like to talk, but the kids provide the comic relief.  We just have to switch the kids around every once in a while to keep the peace and preserve the sanity of the parents.
  Sunday was actually a pretty quiet day.  We were ready early and headed to church ahead of schedule.  No trouble finding boots, mittens, hats, etc... If you've been at our house on a Sunday morning, it usually has a few delays because we find that Caleb has worn mismatched boots and we can't find 2 that are the same.  We have a nice tidy shoe shelf, but sometimes it's still not enough.  The kids did really well in the main service once Kiersten fell asleep.  Caleb had adopted Mrs. G and wanted to sit with her on the second pew!  I wasn't sure about that.  If he misbehaved it would be hard to get him out without causing a big disturbance.  He was actually quite well behaved, even if he did have people laughing over his LOUD hymn singing.  I think he wants to sing in his Uncle's group:).  Wonder if they'll still be singing when he's old enough...  There was a car alarm that went off during church. I thought that perhaps Caleb had pushed Mr. G's key alarm, but almost everyone was reaching for their keys when it stopped:))).  The only other thing about the service was that a newer lady that's been coming faithfully was starting to play peek a boo with Caleb.  Not sure if some people forget how much work it is to teach a child to sit quietly, but I'm thankful that she stopped before he started giggling or talking.  His cute little grin was enough to distract me, so hopefully it didn't bother anyone else.
  The afternoon went very well because I got a nap.  Sunday afternoon naps make for one happy mama!  The evening service was Lord's Supper, but I was down with the kids.   The rest of the evening was spent quietly at home.  I was going through boys clothes that I'm lending to a friend.  We'd really like at least one more, but don't know when it will happen. It seems silly to keep them all in boxes when a friend can use them for her younger two.  It's probably silly, but I do find it a little hard to think about giving them away for good.  Lots of memories made in those outfits.  Gifts from friends or hand me downs. Blessings that the Lord provided when we needed it.  Starting to get a little longing for another baby, but not the nausea. Plus Kiersten is still enough of  a snuggly baby that I don't have to wait long when I feel like holding a snuggle bug.  I thank the Lord for giving us 4 blessings so far. There are days.... but then there is fun!
  Well, I should head off for now.  I have laundry to fold, kids to teach, cookies to bake and a play group this afternoon.  Jeanette should be having her baby in the next couple weeks, so this one might be the last one for awhile.  Looking forward to what lies ahead......................which also means putting together a Christmas letter. Hmmm... What to write?