TJ and Tanya plus six!

Oh what fun a sleepover is!

I had an idea last weekend as I watched my children bored of our house, bored of each other, and bored of us, that perhaps it would be fun to invite one of Tre's friends over to play and perhaps have a sleepover. There is one child in his class who we saw at a PTA event for Tre's school, and Tre has talked about him quite a bit. So, I sent a note to his parents to ask if Tre's buddy could come over on Saturday.

This week has been so busy, that TJ and I had barely has a moment to speak. He saw the friends' family at the football game on Friday while I was enjoying my wonderful book club dinner. The parents said Tre's friend could come to play. Well, as is often the case in families, you cannot invite just one child, and tell the other children in the family that they are not welcome. And TJ, being of the belief that the more the merrier, agreed to host Tre's buddy, his older brother, and younger sister who is Julienne's age, all without me.

Now mind you, that this is all my idea to begin with, but I was just not aware that it was happening. So, on Saturday morning, another friend of the family called to see if another child could spend the day with us. Of course we said yes, as we have had this child over before and he plays very well with our kids. So, as of noon on Saturday the kid count was three.

Julienne and I decided to go to the Autumn Festival in the neighboring town. We parked at the school, rode the shuttle into town, and got us a bag of Kettlecorn to munch. It was great fun. A very sweet lady even gave Julienne a little wooden house for free just because she thought that "she is sooo beautiful!". Julienne was delighted and it was nice to spend the day together.

While we were waiting for the shuttle, TJ calls to let us know that our kid count has risen. At this point, I had one child (Julienne), TJ had two (Tre and friend), and two more had come (buddy and buddy's brother). He asked if I thought it would be okay for buddy's sister, who is Julienne's age, to come over too. Ok......

So, we got home and I decide that if the parents are willing, we will order pizza, watch a movie and let all of the friends spend the night for a huge sleepover. ARE WE CRAZY?

No, not at all. The kids had a great time. They played hide and seek, raced through the house, rode bikes and scooters, danced in the garage, played the golf video game, air hockey, and many other games. We ordered the pizza, they ate and were polite and thankful for the food. There was very little conflict among the six kids and I could not believe how well it went.

Last was the movie. We blew up the air mattress for the living room, and TJ hung with all six kids to watch a movie, while I ran to Walmart for breakfast items. Nightime kid count: TJ and Tanya plus six!

By the time I got home, three of the children had fallen asleep. Well, that was easy! After the movie the remaining three went to sleep and I did not hear a word until almost 8:00 this morning.

I am so thankful that we are able to "host" the friends of our children, and provide fun activities for them in a safe environment. I want our house to be the meeting place for my own children and their friends. This weekend gave me a glimpse into what our lives will be like for the next 14 years (at least)!