I have my 2 neices with me this week, 9 and 13 years old.  So far this morning, as I have typed, there have been 6 kids running in and out of rooms, playing, and making noise.  This happens to be some of the most beautiful background music to me that ever existed on planet earth. 

Yesterday, Ruthie (7) and Amara (9), worked all afternoon on having a party.  They pulled out the box that keeps all of our scissors and colored markers, grabbed some paper, and sat down in the middle of the living room floor working on invitations and posters for the party.  Paper and scissors sprawled all over the floor in front of the front door, it was one of those 'cute messes'. 

The kitchen was a total mess on Monday.  It never did recover 100% from the Sunday company, although we did keep the dishwasher going continually.  And Monday, well I just take it easy that day and don't knock myself out for anything.  Basically, I just kept the dishwasher going and did a little here, a little there, everytime I walked in the room.  But then the kids, even Rachel (14) and Amanda (13) got in the party mood and wanted to make treats for it.  They pulled out the flour, the sugar, the cupcake tins, frosting, and began to make blue, green, and purple cupcakes, decorated with coconut, chocolote and white chocolate chips, and anything else they could find in my pantry. Now the kitchen took a deep plunge into the abyss.

In the evening, all the preparations had been made.  All the kids, my brother, my husband and I, were  escorted to the party.  There they had welcoming posters hanging on the door, streamers hanging from the walls, and furniture and seating arranged for different games.  We began the social part, where they had set up the treats of cupcakes, cake, and pop, on the desk and the coffee table.  When we finished eating our desserts, we were told to gather where the chairs had been formed to make a circle and they taught us how to play a game called, Never.  This is where one person stands in the middle, the rest are sitting around in a circle.  The one in the middle says something like, "I never had braces", and then everyone that has worn braces has to jump up and scramble, change chairs.  The one that doesn't find a chair, is "it".  There were a lot of laughs.

After about 45 minutes of that game, we moved over to another set of chairs they had arranged. Twelve chairs were set in rows, back to back. I hadn't played musical chairs since pre-school, I think!  Yet, it was as fun as it was way back then.  It was pretty funny watching grown men and women scramble with the kids to get a chair when the music stopped.  It was also good exercise!

We played one more game, and then it was getting late.  The mother in me had to tell the kids that the party must end, everyone needed a bath. 

Now, today, game time is over, "my" day, Monday, must wait for another week, and today, Tuesday, I must get to work. Today I will try to recover the kitchen and all else that suffered from yesterdays party. But at course, with a little help from the kids!