A Crazy, Busy Week with Cassie

Cassie and a friend happened to both get the week off from work, so they hopped in the car and took a road trip.

They arrived on Sunday evening, and met me and Papa in the City for a nice dinner at Olive Garden. It was going to be our Valentines Date, but we gladly welcomed Cassie and Ali to crash our party. We had the night off (from children), because ALL of them were at church for a kid's event. The 5 little kids were at the event from 5 pm to 10 pm, while Josh, Ben, and Hosanna were all working the overnight event. They stayed from 4:30 pm to 10:30 am.

After our yummy dinner, and visit with Cassie and Ali, it was time to pick up the kids. Cassie had a great time surprising all of them, since we hadn't told anyone that she was coming home. And, since Cassie worked for 2 years, full-time, in our church's children's ministry, she really enjoyed seeing all of the kids that were at church for the event.

We had a relaxing day at home on Monday, with Cassie and I both leaving for a couple of hours to get our hair cut and colored. (It only took Jim 3 days to say, "Hey, your hair's a different color.")

Tuesday: We packed a picnic lunch and joined 2 moms and their little ones at the beach for a few hours. Much fun!

Cassie, Ali, and Hosanna

Our kids LOVE to go to the beach, no matter the weather, no matter the season. 

We got home at 4:00, with just enough time to pull together a big lasagne dinner, as we had invited 3 of Cassie's friends to join us for the evening. One of the friends was a childhood friend that we hadn't seen in many years. (She moved to the area this year, to attend college.)  We had so much fun going through all of our old photo albums, remembering the fun times with her family.  When we met, our family had 6 kids under 7 and their family had 5 kids under 7. So, we looked at pictures of both moms and their 11 little kids going to places like Mt. Ranier for the day. Yes ... we were known as "brave mommies".

Tuesday's Menu for 15:

11 x 15 Beef Lasagne (with mushrooms and olives)

9 x 13 Chicken/Bacon Alfredo Lasagne

Buttermilk Yeast Rolls w/ homemade jam

Green Salad (w/ lots of veggies)

11 x 15 Deep Dish Apple Pie w/ ice cream

(With lots of teamwork, we put the whole meal together and were eating in less than 2 hours.)

Wednesday:  Another very fun day!  We got up early, packed another picnic lunch, and headed south to Seattle (100+ miles) for the day.  After 3 hours at the Woodland Park Zoo ...





we took the kids to Pike Place Market.  Jacob, Sarah, and Rachel hadn't been to the market yet, so they enjoyed this new experience.  

Our Kids Like Hats ...

Ben & Jacob's are from my trip to Argentina.

Josiah & Elijah are wearing hats that belong to Ali.

She says, "My hats look cuter on the boys."

Then, we headed to the Northgate Mall, so that Cassie and Ali could shop at a store they don't have in their town in Oregon.  After coming home, feeding the kids dinner, and putting them all to bed ... we 3 "girls" had a late-night movie night, as we watched "Mansfield Park", a good girlie movie.

Thursday:  A busy morning with my Bible Study Babies, followed by a nap (after last night's late night).  Up from my nap in time to throw together another big meal.  We had 4 of Cassie's friends (plus 2 of their kids) for a Chicken Enchilada dinner tonight. 

Thursday's Menu for 19:

3 pans of Chicken Sour Cream Enchiladas

White Rice

Refried Beans

Green Salad (w/ veggies)

Tortilla Chips

9 x 13 Brownies

Death by Chocolate bundt cake

3 kinds of ice cream

(Again, with lots of teamwork, we put the whole meal together and were eating in less than 2 hours.)

After everyone went home, and we put the little ones to bed, Cassie, Ali, and I visited until midnight.  I sure love it when my Big Girls come home.

Friday:  The young ladies had to get on the road by 8:30 this morning, for their 9 hour drive home (over snowy mountain passes).   The rest of us tried to get back into our homeschool routine, after a week of field trips.  I had a wonderful 1 hour video chat with Jeremiah in the Middle East, and then big brother Gregg came over to visit for the afternoon, and to join us for dinner.  Fun!  I sure love my big kids (6 young adults, ages 18-24), and miss them when they are gone.  Jeremiah told Elijah today, "Only 100 days until I come home."  Yes ... we count the days at our house.  No matter how many children our house is full of ... we always miss the ones that are gone.  (Hmmm... kind of reminds me of a Biblical parable of sheep.)

Tonight ... I haven't much time to get caught up on my blogging.  Papa, Hosanna, and Sarah are on their way home from the grocery store, where they have bought all I need to make:

Apple/Cinnamon Coffeecake 

(for Papa's Bible Study Fellowship tomorrow)

Heavenly Chocolate Cheesecake 

(for a fundraising auction I am helping with tomorrow)

Deep Dish Apple Pie 

(also for the auction, which is supporting a missionary in Ghana)