Holy social life Batman!

Whew! I'm finally catching my breath after a non-stop weekend. It is now 8pm on Sunday night and we've been going since Friday night....or so it feels. Our date night on Friday was great. We met up with some friends at a new wine bar in town (Papa drank beer, I drank cran/soda) and then headed to the pub for some grub and conversation. We returned home before midnight to a quiet house and Auntie E busy on the computer.

Saturday was our busiest day. Unfortunately we experienced some late night sleep interruptions from next door, so the kids were up early and so were the adults. It was 6:30am when we sat down at the breakfast table for our first round of eating with all the kids. I took the three older kids out for Schmoo's final dance class. It was parent / sibling participation and so we all get to dance around together. Bean and Cousin I were pretty into it, but were distracted by the mound of ride-on toys at the back of the room from the playgroup that uses the space during the week. Papa, Auntie E and Baby R met us after class and we all headed down to the soccer arena for a picnic lunch while we waited for Bean's soccer class at noon. I took the girls home and came back to meet up with Papa and Bean and bring them home after class.

The afternoon was quiet....well, my kids were quiet. Poor Auntie E had a hard time getting her kids to settle so she headed out for some fresh air and I stayed in to get them to sleep. It took some convincing but by the time she returned home, they were both fast asleep. Good thing, as our evening activity was to head down to main street to greet Santa who arrived on the local fire truck to light the trees along the street. The kids loved it, especially Bean who stood on a wall and waved and waved and waved as Santa rose higher and higher in the sky! We said good-bye to Auntie E and the gang and walked up the road to the local theatre to meet some friends to see Madagascar 2. Schmoo was in heaven, surrounded by two of her girlfriends and Bean was happy to snuggle up on his Mama's lappie and eat his monster bucket of popcorn. It was a great family outing!
We returned home to put the kids to bed and found Auntie E with her two friends, drinking wine and socializing. A quick shower for Mama and a drink to get me started and the girls headed into town by taxi to a local bar for a fantastic live band - Elliott Brood. We danced all night, right up at the stage. For a brief moment, I actually felt 18 again! We piled into a cab at 2am and returned to find Baby R fast asleep on Papa's chest in the front room, having risen in the night looking for his Mama. The house was soon quiet with everyone (including Auntie E's two friends) snuggled down to sleep.

Luckily the late night for the kids meant a bit of a reprieve this morning. Schmoo didn't come into us until 7am....a treat compared to the usual 6am. Poor Papa was relegated to stay in bed because Sue and Rachel had taken over his soccer viewing room downstairs. I think he did eventually get a pass to watch the second half on the upstairs TV from Schmoo. For a brief period we had a houseful of kids, when Rachel's husband showed up with her two kids to pick her up. It was fun to see them all running around together. What mayhem!!!

Schmoo and I headed out to church for 10:30am and by attending the coffee hour downstairs after Mass, Schmoo got invited for a playdate and I returned home empty handed. The afternoon was quiet for Auntie E. I got Bean settled so that Papa could work and Auntie E could snuggle down with Cousin I. Baby R and I headed out to do some grocery shopping. I picked up Schmoo on the way back (despite her frustration at having to ride in Cousin I's car seat) and returned home to get started with the Christmas tree.

The decorating process was a bit hit and miss. Children at this age are so impatient, so when it takes time to put the tree together...and then put the lights on....and then sort through the decorations.....they get kind of irritable. But we got there eventually and the tree looks great. Even with the heavy covering of ornaments on the bottom half of the tree. Papa made us all a yummy moose meat stew that we all ate together. It made for a later evening, but everyone was still settled by 7:30pm. Now there's school snacks to organize and sorting out to do for the week ahead. I have to admit that a three day weekend is a good break for me. I actually feel like I've been away from work for a while! Auntie E is headed up the valley for the week to hang out with Grandpa W and will return for another round of babysitting swap next weekend.