A Novel of a Weekend!

It would be impossible, without writing an entire book, to tell you all that has gone on in my life over the past few days.  The length of “War and Peace” has nothin’ on my weekend.

It started with a quick trip to Round Top on Thursday.  Sara and I got up before the sun and drove 3 hours to the greatest flea market this side of the Mississippi.  We poked around there, picking up a few fun things then headed home.  I was pooped, but felt relaxed from getting a day out with a friend.  She keeps me in stitches.

I am looking forward to hanging my new “e” in the boys’ room next to the “N” and “L”.  I just need an “A” and my collection will be complete.

Friday was a full day with doing school and working in the shop and catching up from a few days of being busy with other things.  I always try to spend some quality time with each of the kids when I’ve been busy.  That means I might ask one of them to run the post office with me or hang out in the shop so we can talk.  When I was getting myself ready in the morning I invited Adam (11) to come in the bathroom to sit and chat with me while I primped.  I asked him what he’d been up to while I was gone to the flea market.  “Oh,” he replied, “the usual.  I do the wrong thing I get in trouble, I do the right thing I get praised.  Same old same old.”

His life in a nutshell.

Saturday was Hope’s (19) turn to spend one on one time with Mom.  We headed to the city for a free microderm abrasion I had signed us up for a few weeks ago.  I really didn’t know what that meant and hoped I wasn’t getting us into some kind of acid wash-face burning situation.  Turned out to be simple and painless except that I had to wear a weird disposable cap in the middle of Ulta.  But I will admit, we both felt all glowy and shiny afterward.

Once I got home I decided to spend the afternoon working…right after a teeny little nap.  Three hours later I woke up in a trance of not knowing where I was or how I got there.  Once the confusion settled I realized I had missed the entire afternoon and wondered what kind of tranquilizer juice was in that microderm abrasion stuff.

Feeling groggy, I decided to just hang out with the kids instead of trying to work.  We’ve been reading “Where the Red Fern Grows” together.  I don’t know why I chose this book except I am a glutton for punishment because I cry through every page and keep thinking of how I wish I had a great big tree for my boys to chop down so they can learn to be men.  Plus Elijah is now wearing our fake coonskin cap everywhere we go, including the office supply store yesterday afternoon.  He also wants to carry an ax.

Don’t worry about him folks….he’s just pretending to be a coon-hunting-hound-loving-tree-chopping-boy-who-cries-a-lot.  Nothing unusual here.

Sunday evening James and I took Patience (16) out to dinner.  He talked with her about purity and giving him her heart and committing herself to staying pure (not just physically, but emotionally as well).  We had a sweet discussion about God’s Word and where she is spiritually and how she can trust us with her struggles.  After the talk James gave her a necklace with a heart and a key.  She gave him the tiny key and he will hold it until her wedding day when he will give it to her husband.  We have done this with all of the girls when they turn 16 and to see them all wearing their necklaces every day is pure joy to a mother’s heart!

After dinner I wanted to just relax in my recliner, but there was daylight left so the kids and I decided to enjoy the gorgeous weather.  We hadn’t done our egg hunt last weekend because of the rain, so Jacob hid plastic eggs all over the front yard and they spent about 2.7 hours trying to find them.  Take it from me, don’t let a 21 year old boy hide your eggs.  He makes it so hard I don’t think a CIA operative could have located them with specialized equipment.  It was super fun for my 5 year old, who basically followed Jacob around begging for clues.

I think that mostly covers it.  If you stuck with it and read all the way through this novel then I want to wish you a very happy and fun filled week.

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