weekend wonderland.

I think this weekend was probably the best weekend we've had as a family in a long time. I almost pinched myself because it went so well.

Friday night was soccer practice in the mud at the middle school. Phoebe and Silas found a glorious mud puddle to keep them occupied. They looked like two pigs in a pen. Phoebe was wearing crocs, so her shoes would just hose off later. Silas was wearing Phoebe's old tinkerbell shoes....We bought him his own BOY shoes after that. It was really fun watching him run around in the light-up glitter shoes for a day or two though.

Saturday morning, Mr, M took our oldest to his game, and the rest of us stayed home and watched cartoons and ate junk food. Saturday afternoon we all went to help a friend paint his house. Way too much testosterone in there. I played with the kids in the back yard, and made a snack run w/ the youngest four, who followed instructions and stayed in their strollers in the store. Leaving the store was the weekend's main hiccup, and it wasn't any of THEIR fault.

After we had loaded the groceries, the kids had climbed in the car, and I had started the engine, Princess P yelled "MOMMY!" I looked and she wasn't buckled....so I turned around to fasten her in. The van somehow put itself in reverse, and scraped the paint and mirror off another car. ACCCKK! The poor guy didn't have insurance on the car, and said he'd just glue the mirror back on and not to worry about it. I still got his phone number. He's a pastor at a Missionary Baptist church downtown. I'm pretty sure if he can't afford insurance he can't afford to fix the car either. But still, it was amazing to receive such mercy over such a major screw up. Our van now has some red paint streaking as a memento.

Back to our almost perfect weekend. We get the snacks back, the kids all wait their turns and graciously share with the unrelated child they've been playing with. About the time they start getting bored, Mr. M decides it's time to go.

We go home, eat and realize our toilet is busted. Mr. M graciously provides us with a bucket to flush it with. Sunday is church, lunch w/ grandparents, football, and AWANA. We're not home at all, so the busted toilet doesn't bother us.

Lunch w/ grandparents was at Joe's Crab Shack. It couldn't have gone better. We arrived right when they opened, and set the kids free in the sand and play area. They came in and washed just in time to be fed. We left just in time to miss the disco ball and loud music.

Football was great, other than the mystery of the missing banana, and the mystery of the missing mouth guard. Coach had an extra mouth guard, and no one checks your underwear, so Chip still got to play, and he did what he was supposed to! Grandma and grandpa were there. His team won. It couldn't have been better.

AWANA was crazy hair night. All of our kids had a great time w/ orange hair coloring and gel.

Today it's back to reality. I have a toilet to replace, dishes to catch up, and a floor to find again, but it was a really wonderful weekend.