A weekend to remember

Whew, it has been one of those weekends where we were go, go go!  I have even allowed Jaimee a day off school today to rest up.  

On Friday night, It started with a night out with the girls....not on the town, but hanging out making cards!  My, how I have grown up.  I had a lovely evening and made these cards for my collection, and as always, came away from the evening with lots of things to add to my wish list of card making supplies.  We all agreed that this should become a regular monthly gathering, something I am looking forward to - not often that I get a night out to enjoy MY hobbies! 

On Saturday, I was delighted to wake up to blue skies, I had finally managed to pin Marty down to a day to help me weed the gardens, and the forecast had been for rain, so this was a bonus.  After a leisurely breakfast of french toast with maple syrup that was delivered to me in bed with a coffee (thanks Marty!!!) and a good "Windsor Pilates" workout session, I set to work.  Marty joined me after doing a few errands and then sorting out the girls with lunch (As he pointed out, they would be unlikely to eat if he didn't do this, as he knows that once I start gardening I don't stop for trivial things like food).

Things didn't quite go to plan at this point.  We had just got through the vegetable garden which now looked quite empty but tidy when my lovely in-laws showed up to help Marty change a lock on our door.  This is something that had been on the agenda for a while, and we couldn't pass up the opportunity to have the help and experience to do this job.  It was just bad luck timing for my garden plans!  I had to relinquish my husband's help...ah well, at least it was to do something constructive with his time.

Meanwhile, I was aware that I looked a fright after my morning tugging weeds in my workout clothes.  I had mud everywhere, gumboots and yoga pants on, my glasses were smudged and my hair looked like a frizzy bird nest.  Just the way I like to present myself.  Oh dear, my reputation for dressing tidy no matter what just went down a notch or two!  Never mind.  After an hour of chatting to my mum in law and playing with the kids outside in the sunshine, I realised that Marty was not going to be coming back to gardening today, the lock was a big job.  I got back to it alone, might as well finish what I started.  My niece and nephew joined the party towards dinnertime (as Granma and Grandad were babysitting that night and were still busy here with that lock) much to their cousins delight.

Marty quietly suggested that we have everyone stay for dinner as a thank you for their help today.  I looked down at my dirty clothes and tried to ignore my aching muscles. "Sure thing".  I went and got cleaned up then made Jaime Oliver's chilli-con-carne recipe for everyone.  After dinner, I set to the fun and nearly impossible task of attempting to get my kids ready for bed while their cousins are there.  Good luck mummy!  With PJs on and teeth brushed, I grabbed the closest book I could find.  "STORY TIME!"  I yelled in an attempt to calm down this gaggle of giggles.  Ahhh...peace.

After church the next day, I took mum up on her offer to have the girls for an art lesson.   When faced with the question whether she should do this with one girl at a time or two girls together, I was quick to tell her that two is definitely the way to take them (nothing to do with the lesson, everything to do with the way I get quiet in the house while Luke sleeps)!  Excellent!! With the girls at Granny's house and while Marty set up for that evening's meal at church (read on...) and Luke slept, I was able to curl up on the couch and finally get around to watching "An inconvenient truth", a docu-movie about Al Gore's campaign to address global warming.  My mouth dropped as I watched the statistics presented.  Wow, what an eye opener to the way that man has wrecked the earth over the years.

Meanwhile, the girls were having their very first art lesson with Granny.  I had already lectured them about trying hard and not bursting into tears if they couldn't do something (a common reaction by miss Jaimee)...and a stern reminder that if they were good, Granny might actually want to have them back for more art!

I was so impressed with the detail on the fruit pictures that came home.  Granny had taught them to really look at the fruit, to think about the different specks and lines on it.    The fish that are pictured were done without help much to my amazement.  I seriously thought that Granny had done the outline, but she assures me that they did these without her help.  She had taught them how to link shapes (squares and triangles etc) to create a shape of a fish.  Well done Granny, what amazing pictures they produced.

Next on our agenda was a traditional Jewish passover dinner at church - something we have never done before.  We were so excited to experience the same meal and ceremony that Jesus shared with his disciples -  This is part of our bible heritage.


Although I don't think I would recommend horseradish on unleavened bread to anyone in a hurry, I found the whole thing really interesting.  We had to eat a boiled egg dipped in salt water, and learnt the significance of a chicken bone on the plate.  We chanted our part of the lines and listened to 'the father of the house' say his.  Eventually, after much ceremony, and FIVE cups of grape juice (I am sure that if it had been the traditional red wine, we would have had a whole different atmosphere at the church!!) we were finally able to tuck into the lamb we had been salivating over all evening.  Yum...I had four helpings and was practically rolling home, I was so full.  I even managed to beg some leftover bits and pieces from the meal, and made some rather scrummy muffins with the haroset (an apple and nut based recipe) the next morning!

All in all, it was a chaotic yet fun weekend to remember.  The kids didn't get to their beds until 8.30pm on Sunday night after the meal (that is 9.30pm in un-daylight savings time) so I treated Jaimee to a day off school today.  Something that seemed awesome as we all baked together this morning and then the girls did lots of crafts together...but something I am regretting right now as I listen to the girls bicker with each other.  Back to school tomorrow Jaimee!!