pancakes and school skippers

Today is another party at our house. Sort of an illegal one though, since the kids are not sick and not in school. oops. It is because of the dark and dreary weather, and because I was awake in the night and couldn't get back to sleep and just plain didn't get up this morning. Well I DID get up, obviously, but it was late enough that it would have been a miserable crunch to get the kids out the door. Margaret and Kathryn were already going to stay home because they had a day full of "stupid stuff" according to them. I debated on waking them, and keeping them home....and...well, here we all are.

I made pancakes and sausage and orange juice for them, did some laundry and cleaning up, sat down and put my feet up, and they all piled out the door to ride their bikes in the drizzle. Camille followed them, so up I got....we put the two little ones in their froggy boots and new rain coats, hitched Rosie to her leash, and down the road we went....the bigger kids rode bikes, and we walked. We got cold and wet and tired, so now they are cuddled under blankets watching, "Clifford, The Big Red Dog".

When I was making pancakes, I asked Jonathan, who is a kindergartener, "If I made twenty pancakes and you ate ten, how many would be left?", he answered ten. (Because, he said, "I know ten plus ten is twenty.") I then asked him how many would be left if he ate eleven, and he said, "Nine!" So, I didn't feel too bad having HIM skip school.

At the birthday party, we played one of our favorite games. (Paul had to go pick Mali up from her track meet, then pick up Sam, Margaret, and Kathryn from soccer, and the older girls went to girls' fellowship, so I was the entertainment committee)....Anyways, our game is this....tired mommy who has spent hours in the kitchen sits in her comfy chair with some candy, in this case Jolly Rancher Gummies and Sour Patch Kids, and asks the kids questions, one at a time. If they get the answer right, they get to pick a candy. It is a little chaotic, they all start saying how they need another question and how come I don't ask them a harder one and how they know everyone elses' answers....it is lots of fun, and they anticipate the candy, and don't realize that I do that so they don't actually get too much candy.....they had just eaten cake! ( we did skip the ice cream, we gave them sliced strawberries with their cake instead).....

Well, today is an unexpectedly nice and cozy day...Kathryn is just getting up and wondering why so many kids are in here...."It's cool!", she says....

Evelyn is making cocoa in sippy cups for the kids to have while they cuddle under blankets...I do love cloudy and rainy and drizzly days. I wonder if they would behave themselves if I crawled into my bed with a book! ha.