Transformation Complete!
This was a fairly busy weekend for the Winters' household, but a very good one, full of visiting and tea and making memories.
Once a year around this time, I host a party. Well, I admit to taking a few years off while we lived in our previous trailer, due to lack of a good home for entertaining. This house is actually fairly well set up for entertaining, due to the large open kitchen/living room/dining room space--as long as there aren't children trying to rough-house in the middle of it.
So on Friday, I sent all the male Winters' to a friend's for the night (where they suffered through playing video games for 4 hours) and had around fifteen wonderful, beautiful ladies to my house to drink tea, visit, eat, and enjoy an evening without children. (Well, one Momma had to bring her little guy, but he was pretty well-behaved, and sweet to have around.)
Saturday, my dad made the trek up through the snow (which was no concern, thanks to his new Blizzaks--"It's like somebody gave me four-wheel drive!") to visit with this branch of his lineage.
Last Thanksgiving (2011) when he came up with my brother, he had brought me a Husky Oil golf club cover with a simple request: that I make him look like Harvey the Hound, beloved mascot of the Calgary Flames NHL hockey team. It seemed a simple request, and I knew it wouldn't take me long, so I said, "yes." However, it never really seemed to be top priority, only rising to the top five of my "to-do" list in the last few weeks as I knew his visit was approaching. I managed to do the necessary research during that time, but only actually did the project on Saturday while we were visiting and drinking caffeinated, hot beverages. ('Cause, BABY, it's getting cold outside!)
So, in a few short hours, I managed to take this:
And turn it into this:
A pretty good match for this:
Meanwhile, Dad set up the new "Game of Life" he had brought us with his grandsons, and we had a rousing, 3 1/2-hour game. (The first one always takes longer, doesn't it?)
It was so fun watching my boys spend some quality time with their Papa.
Now, already 1 day into the "weekday" section of the week, I sincerely hope the rest of it doesn't fly by like the first two-sevenths, because I hardly know what happened to them.
Upcoming events:
The boys start karate lessons tomorrow. It will be the first time since we were in Mena in 2008 that they have taken karate. At the time, Jude was the only one old enough. They are so excited, even Jabin has been counting down "days to karate", almost completely forgetting what happens the day after, which is his birthday!
My baby will be SEVEN!
A day at a time, the log jam is loosening and the ideas are flowing. The sun is coming back, energy is returning, and I am pulling myself blinking from the retreat of hibernation. For my own mental and emotional health, this year needs to be less about driving myself and more about reducing commitments, taking care of myself, and finding my passion again. It needs to be about healing.