Weekend Review

This weekend was good for my soul. On one miraculous evening last week, all four of my girls were home at the same time and we laughed together to the point my head was splitting. I took the opportunity to ask them about Ryan's birthday. We collectively decided to take some time on Saturday afternoon before Greg went back to work to go to dinner together. It has been almost two years since all seven of us went out to eat together with budgets, schedules and my odd diet making it difficult.

Kate, Ty and I worked on a Christmas light scavenger hunt. It was a blast. Kate took her clipboard with the list attached in the car and tried to cheat the system with "memories" of such and such. I had to remind her we were seeking the items in light displays together. She held the power of the pen and clipboard and took her job very seriously. There were times I had to remind her to relax and enjoy the lights. I suspect she inherited that from her mother. To do lists can suck the joy from simple things if we let them. It was fun.

Holiday baking has been scaled back this year but our traditional favorites were prepared. And we are all set for this week's Christmas party with my smallest friends.

A Living Nativity display was set up to raise money for the Salvation Army. Live animals and the chance and see what all this craziness is about? We were in. It was another awesome way to distract us from missing Greg this weekend.

I took Kate and Ty to evening church the night of Ryan's birthday. The cheerful message was about redemption. Fitting, I think. Ty kept the candles after the service. They brought him such joy. We'll likely be singing Silent Night quite a bit in the future if it means he gets to hold a candle.

So I have felt guilty for not providing a Christmas tree for Kate and Ty. Yes they have a little one in their room but Santa won't be putting anything under that tree. I looked for simple options Oliver wouldn't destroy and discovered branches in a vase on Pinterest. I decided to try it since I am fairly certain Oliver no longer gets on the table. I arranged it with Kate's help and sent a photo to four contacts. The response was varied. Some thought I was kidding and others thought it was pretty. Two of my teens are horrified and one is impressed. Greg has not commented and I am going to assume his silence follows the golden rule, "if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all". It may make it until Thursday but I am not making any promises.

Speaking of Oliver....I have failed to mention we found Spidey a new home a few weeks ago. He was destructive and had a rough personality. He tormented the other animals and wanted nothing to do with people unless they were sleeping. Once he started using the bathtub instead of the litter box, I was finished dealing with him. He now lives on Justin's 15 acre farm and has fit in quite well. In fact, rumor has it he has run off their previous cat of two years. He is a handful and will likely make quite a mouser for Justin's parents.  It's a win-win situation. Spidey wasn't content as a house cat and we are all sleeping again.