weekending

Today is our get back to normal day.  After the Christmas break, I always love the day when things return to normal.  I don't know if the boys feel the same, but I am such a creature of habit and routine.  With teenagers, everyone is in and out all the time, and I am never really quite sure of who is at home, or who will be at home on a certain night.  Just this weekend, on Saturday night, I had no idea that Jonah had left home with his brothers.  I knew that Noah was upstairs, but I thought Jonah was too.  When I started calling him, Todd looked at me like I was crazy.  Maybe I just didn't hear him say goodbye when they left.  Who knows.  Life is crazy, ninety-five percent of the time. 

My hubby and oldest son have left for work, and Drew has one more week of break, before his spring semester starts at the local college.  He will be working this week, but only in the afternoons, so he was looking forward to some sleeping in time before reality sets back in.  Jonah and Noah will start back to school tomorrow.  We like to have a day of nothing after a break, and then we hit the books again.  (I love homeschooling for a million reasons, this is a huge one.)  I feel like today is my only day that I don't have a ton of things to do.  That's not really true, but I do have to be somewhere at a certain time for the next two mornings.  (I'm starting a bible study this week, and it's a thirteen week commitment, two times each Wednesday.  I'm excited to be a small group leader, and it'll mean I'm gone a lot that one day, but I know I will get adjusted quickly.  To give everyone a chance to be able to come, it is offered both on Wednesday mornings and Wednesday nights.) 

Like I said above, this is a busy week for us as we settle back into our normal routines.  All that being said, I'm thankful for the weekend we just came off of.  On Friday night, Todd and I ended up being home alone.  We like to go out on those types of nights, sometimes, but this night we stayed home.  We warmed up leftovers and sat at the table and ate together.  Then he watched an old show on tv and I read half of the book I started that night.  It was a lovely night.  The next morning, three of my sons and I left to go to my dad's house.  Every November we put up Christmas lights for him (he lives out in the country, and he likes a lot of lights spread all over the place), and this year we met to take them down, along with the hundreds of extension cords (not really, but I bet there were at least forty).  We got out there at nine thirty and were leaving again at ten fifty five.  It went really fast! 

That wagon he was pulling behind the riding mower was jammed to the brim with lights, twisty ties, and extension cords.  We put it all away for him again, until next November, and my sister even swept out his garage. 

My dad (for anyone who doesn't know) is eighty seven years young and he has lived at this house for fifty years, come this spring.  He lives on eleven or so acres and though he is able to still do a lot, he knows that for his own safety and well being, he shouldn't .  So while we do this, he supervises, but THAT IS ALL.  He knows his limits and is good about not doing too much, for the most part.  These lights bring him so much joy, though, and every year he prays that the lights will represent Jesus, who is the Light of the world (John 8:12).  To be able to do this for him is a huge blessing for my sister and me, and we will continue to do this for as long as he wants.  On Saturday, he was saying this was the last time, but I don't really believe him.  Ha!  It truly does not take long.  We will lay the extension cords for him for next Christmas one Saturday, the tree on the flag pole will go up a different day, then on another Saturday, it'll take around two and a half hours to put all the lights up.  And I told you how fast it all came down.  We love being able to do this for him.  And I do not say all this to brag, I promise, I am just grateful that God has given both my sister Trish and me this opportunity to be able to serve him in this way.  I know my other sister and brother would too, if they lived in town!  I know if given the chance, any of you would do this same thing for your aging parents, if it was something they looked forward to all year long.  It's just another one of our yearly traditions. 

When we left his house, I dropped Noah off at his friend's house, and the rest of the boys left for a basketball game they wanted to watch.  They were gone all afternoon, pretty much.  Todd worked on his truck a little, and I took a nap.  (Not even kidding.)  That night, Noah was the only one home, so we went to dinner at my favorite Chinese place in town.  I was in bed pretty early that night, and then yesterday was church.  I always have choir practice starting at three o'clock on Sunday afternoons (unless we are on a break, or if there is a special occasion), and I was glad to be back.  We were on a break all of December, and that was so nice, but I always like to be back.  My hubby worked last night, and the rest of us just hung around here.  I watched a couple of shows on Netflix and the last time I looked at the clock, it was ten twelve.  (I love Sundays, but they are LONG, and all that singing wears me out.) 

It was a good weekend.  I hope yours was too!  I need to go plan out the rest of this week, before I forget a couple of appointments I just made.  Thanks for reading!  Love to all.