So THAT'S what a "weekend" is!?

I don't know if other moms out there feel like this, but to me a Saturday may as well be a Monday or Thursday...my kids don't go to public school and my husband VERY rarely has a weekend day off. My routine pretty much stays the same from day to day. So I do not grasp the excitement people feel for The Weekend.

Until this past weekend, that is! It was awesome! The kids and I drove my brother to the airport. He stayed at our house for a month so we were all ready to say our goodbyes. After we dropped him off we went to visit a friend of ours whom we have not seen in about three years. By some miracle we were able to spend the entire afternoon with our buddy, whom is usually extremely busy, at a beautiful park where there were two separate playgrounds and a shallow stream that ran through with many bridges for the kids to cross and play on. The day could not have been more perfect-God is good! The children took off their shoes and played in the water, got completely filthy, added grass stains to their outfits: just perfect! You can measure the amount of fun a child has had by the amount of filth on their clothes and body. My kids had a BLAST.

After the park we all decided we were hungry and went to eat. Then we brought our friend home, washed up, put jammies on and loaded back up in the car for the hour and fifteen minute ride home. After years of sleep deprivation I have become a bit neurotic about my bedtime routine. I have done this many, many times (dress the kids for bed so they fall asleep in the car), and it always works flawlessly. I am a bedtime genius. I left at 7:15, which is the exact time I would get the kids to bed if we had been home. All they had to do was fall asleep and I would move them to their beds when we arrived home.

About 20 minutes into the ride I looked in the mirror with satisfaction as Sarah's eyes closed. A quick check on Patrick showed he was not far behind-he looked as if his eyes were shut and he had big blue eyes painted on his eyelids. I swear I kept watching him and that child never blinked once. (lol) Luke, of course, had blood-curdling screams coming out lasting the *entire* ride, save the last 15 minutes. So my plan back-fired for the first time: Sarah slept long enough that she felt rested up, Patrick just stared the whole way so I assume his brain shut off as if he were asleep and resting, and Luke kept himself awake by screaming.

We walked inside at 8:30 and the kids were in great spirits...I was not so happy. I made them a bed in the living room (they wanted to camp out) genuinely thinking they would fall asleep watching TV. WRONG AGAIN. They partied like I have never seen them. They were awake at 10:30 when my hubby got home from work. They were awake when said hubby and myself realized we could no longer stay awake. I took the baby into bed with me because (thankfully) he was ready for sleep. They were even awake at 12:30 when I came out to check on them. Daddy was passed out on the living room floor and Sarah and Patrick were watching Pirates of the Caribbean (I still don't know how she learned to use the DVR!?) and had sugar cookies scattered about. Sarah was holding a butter knife covered in orange Halloween icing. Between them was the container of frosting. At that point I didn't really care anymore and simply turned around and went back to bed. At 1:30 am I checked again and the cookies were cleaned up (or more likely eaten), and the rugrats were FINALLY asleep. I couldn't believe they stayed up so late; that is a first!

Sunday was fun, too-Rick got off work at 2 o'clock and was able to come home for supper with us. Patrick turned 4 years old that day so I made him pirate cupcakes (he is obsessed) for after the birthday dinner he requested: corn and macaroni and cheese. They all went to bed at their normal time I'm happy to report. Daddy laid down with them since it was a special occasion (birthdays and holidays are the only time he ever puts them to bed; the rest of the year it's mommy), and while we tucked them in we told Patrick his birth story, which we do every year for each of them. This was the first year he really understood what his birth story meant and that was special for me because I truly consider it an honor and a gift from God to be a mother-no matter what I blog about. ;) He had lots of questions and Sarah had a few too. After we were done talking I left with baby Luke and counted down the minutes until Rick gave up and came strolling out with two wound up kids behind him. 13 minutes. He lasted longer than he normally does.

We had ourselves a fantastic weekend; I am grateful for our many blessings. :)