Saturdays!

Well, Randy went to work this morning, the first day of a long fall outage. He thinks he will be working 70 hours a week for several weeks. The kids were here bright and early for chocolate chip pancakes. Maddison brought her book bag and shared the contents with me. This is the first real peek at what and how she is doing in school. She seems to be warming up to the idea of school, and told me this morning that she wants to be a teacher when she grows up. Mason piped up with a "I want to be a big, huge monster when I grow up". To which Maddie replied: "Maybe you can be the principal of my school." Hmmm. . . I am not so sure Mr. Roth would see the connection there!
After breakfast and the school bag visit, we got out the playdoh ice cream factory and played. I like to get the kids started on a project like this and then sneak off to fold laundry, make the bed or do other household chores. Maddison is on to my tricks, and usually calls for me shortly after I leave. After the play doh mess was cleared, we got out the bendaroos. These are waxy sticks to use for craft type projects. They were the only thing Maddison asked for last year for Christmas. They are expensive, and designed for older, very patient people. We made some pumpkins with them, and Mason decided that he would see how many things he could pile on his pumpkin. Quite a sight when he got finished.
That mess was soon cleared and the kids helped me make some banana nut bread. Their job was to mash the bananas with a potato masher. I usually like some lumpier pieces in my bread, but by the time the kids finished mashing, it was almost a liquid. . . we will see how this turns out!
The kids are outside now, which will give me a window of opportunity to fold another load of clothes and get lunch started. I have to figure out supper tonight for Randy, since we are going to be at a family wedding when he gets home. I helped with the wedding rehearsal dinner last night. Jessica came by on her way home from work, and we worked together with some other family members to put out the spread. It is great working side by side with her. We think so much alike and have worked together doing things like this in the past, so we know each other's strengths and weaknesses. If I was braver, I would start a catering business with my good friend Sheryl, Jessica and Amanda as partners. Sheryl is very organized and has a great sense of style. She would be in charge of table decorations etc. Jessica is the idea person. She is willing to try new recipes and has a can do attitude. I am the one grounded in reality (what will work, what I am willing to do), and I love to take care of the do ahead pieces. Amanda would be the energizer bunny of the group. She also loves to decorate and is willing to work hard. It would be fun, but I am sure the work would be exhausting and most likely more that I could handle. We have talked about this sort of thing before and I think we love the planning, maybe more than the carrying out! Oh well, maybe someday!
After lunch, I think we will have to all have a nap. I had another one of those sleepless nights last night. I was awake at 2:30 and finally went to sleep about 5 a.m. The alarm went off t 5:15, so that was the end of my night!
The kids are ready to move on to the next project. . . so here we go!