Cowboy Night

I had been thinking lately about spending more time with the family and making memories. I figured that shooting out Aubrie's teeth weren't the best kind of memories to make and so that I had better make others so that I was not type cast! I had the distinct impression to set up a tent in the back yard and have a little camping adventure in the backyard. Saturday morning I stopped by WalMart for the necessary provisions so that we could have a wonderful time together. The first thing we did was get in the hot tub. I love when we can all be together in the hot tub. There is always lots of fun and splashing going on and it is fun to watch how the children interact with each other. No one jumped in the pool this time. I also like the hot tub because it usually makes the kids tired and they sleep better! After the hot tub we went into the house and changed into our pajamas to get ready for a movie. We ended up watching Pirates of the Carribean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. The kids really enjoyed the movie. I let Sophia stay up late hoping that she would go to bed easier and sleep in longer. The movie ended around 11:00 p.m. Aubrie had passed out on the couch so I took her upstairs and put her in our bed. I know that she likes to sleep with Rachel. She was asking about sleeping in the tent with the boys, but I told her that it was cold and she rolled over and went right to sleep. Aubrie is a creature of comfort and likes to get a good nights sleep. The boys and I headed outside to get into the tent. There were two very nice and very warm sleeping bags. The boys got those and I covered myself with two blankets. I thought that would be warm enough, but I was a little chilly as the night wore on. The boys were both excited to be in the tent. Ethan said that he wanted to tell scary stories. I let him go first and he started to tell a story about a Dad who goes camping with his two sons. He starts to talk about a very mean and bad coyote that is lurking about. I stopped him and told him not to make the story too scary so that he did not scare himself. He looked up at me and said, "dad, don't worry. Only the Dad gets eaten!" Nice. I start to look around like something might just get me. The boys had a good laugh. I plugged a floor fan into an extension cord so that we could have white noise. The boys quickly drifted off to sleep. I lay there for a while. I started to feel something pawing at my foot through the tent. I thought at first that it was one of the cats. It was pretty strong. I then thought that it was Rachel, but Rachel later assured me that she did not come outside for fear of waking us up. Maybe it was the coyote Ethan had warned me of! Good thing that I had the door all zipped up!
In the middle of the night I could feel some of the air going out of the air mattress. By morning time I was completely on the ground but the boys were still enjoying the air in the mattress. I got up around 7:30 a.m. and headed into the house. Sophia was waking and Aubrie was walking around the house. I crawled into bed and prayed for sleep to come. Rachel got up and grabbed Sophia and brought her into bed. She stayed quiet for a little, but then started saying Cock A Doddle Do every two seconds trying to make me open my eyes. I got up and took her downstairs so that Rachel could hopefully get some more rest. I don't think that she did. I started to make breakfast as the kids played out in the tent. They really had a great time and I will do it again soon. I will put up the bigger tent next time so that we can all get in there. This will be good practice for Sophia for when we go camping as a family.
Breakfast went well. The kids all wanted Lucky Charms as I was pouring the pancake bater! They all had a bowl and then came back for pancakes. I love having a big breakfast with the family. It is nice to all be around each other to start the day. Sunday is usually the only day that we can do that since the other days we are occupied with school or sports. We made sure that we had plenty of time to get ready for church. Church started out ok until Sophia said, "oh my goodness! I need to potty!" I picked her up and ran to the bathroom only to find that she had already gone. She did not have a diaper on so I had to put her in the car and drive home. Once home I had to change her into a new outfit. I got back to church as they were passing the sacrament so Sophia and I hung out in the hall until it was over. She did well the rest of sacrament and the kids all took turns rubbing hands or scratching backs. I was once again able to get Ethan to fall asleep in my arms by rubbing his hands and scratching his back. He is such a sweet boy. He really needs at least 12 hours of sleep a day and finds ways to get it.
We got through church and then got back home. I wanted to end the week by making a nice dinner for the family. I sliced potatoes and cooked up mushrooms and then threw the steaks on the BBQ. Everything turned out well and we ate dinner outside on the patio. The kids liked the change of pace and like my mashed potatoes! I was glad that they turned out for once. After dinner we played outside in the tent and on the trampoline. Aubrie and Boston took turns practicing piano. We ended Sunday as we always do...watching America's Funiest Home Videos. We all love to watch people do silly things. It has become a tradition for our family. I hope that it never goes away! The kids all got ready for bed and we are now ready for another week. Tomorrow morning scripture study will be here before you know it! I am so grateful for my little family and for the amazing job that Rachel does with all of us. She is good and righteous and pushes us to do the best that we can. We may actually make it! Hopefully we will learn to pull our share of the load and not have her carry us the whole way!