Days like today...

When there is a holiday my children do everything they can to utilize it to its fullness. I am talking friends! Friends! And more Friends!!!

Of course there was the little task of cleaning bedrooms before they could play. They were even rewarded with a candy bar (I know, bad parenting) when it was clean.

But R and T had no desire to touch their room.

Quite honestly I don’t blame them. I remember from my childhood having a multitude of hamsters… when we failed to clean the cages for a while, it began to stink like… well… dead hamsters.

This was the smell emanating from within the walls of R and T’s bedroom.

And, if this mysterious odor wasn’t bad enough, there were the toys. And blankets. And cloths. And lids to my kitchen pots. And ramen noodles. And apple rinds. And rocks, sand, grape vines… for Pete’s sake. We just cleaned this room a week ago! Ramen noodles???

So, I didn’t blame them when they didn’t want to touch foot in there. But, they couldn’t play with friends – or weren’t supposed to play with friends – until that was done.

I had to call them home a couple times after they secretly made their way to a neighbor’s house.

Overall, they were content to play with each other in order to not have to clean their room.

But suddenly, around 4 o’clock, the entire world just showed up. I was sitting outside with B and her little pal. One by one, kids kept coming through to the back yard. Which thanks to our landscaper and a huge swing set is a mini park (love it).

Everyone was having so much fun and giggling I just couldn’t send anyone home. Including my kiddos, there were 16 children over here. Granted, the two oldest were playing video games inside, but still… it was like a party.

It was so fun to sit outside with all of the neighborhood kids and watch them laugh and have fun. I grabbed a few pictures and hope to add them to this post tomorrow.

And guess what? R and T came right in after their play fest that they weren’t supposed to have and totally cleaned the room – minus the horrible smell. (I really need to shampoo some mattresses!) Of course the candy bar bribe still was hanging over their head so there was that incentive.

Unfortunately, little B came down with a fever tonight. She was crying that her ear hurt. When I tried to leave her on her bed, she would cry out so pathetically, “Mommy, where are you?” I am such a pushover. So I brought her teary little eyes upstairs to my bed and lay down by her. She was half asleep, half awake and would reach over to rub my arm every few minutes to make sure I was still here. Her watery eyes would open half way and her little lips would turn up, just barely, then she would settle back into a fitful sleep. Now, she is sleeping steady and her fever has broken. I can hear her little snores… just so cute. I am sad she is sick, but so grateful that I can be her mommy.

Sometimes, life gives us little gifts. I had many today.