A VERY Full Week

The past eight days have been really full.  Erik and I both finished our BSF year with Sharing Nights on Monday and Tuesday.  Wednesday, I provided childcare for some moms to attend their Sharing Day in the BSF Day Class which I used to attend.  So, there were six kids in my house between the ages of 11 months and 7 years.  Yepper.  Blessedly, I had awesome help from my current Teaching Leader (think totally awesome chick who teaches the Bible and shepherds my soul) and my BSF carpool buddy.

It was actually a super fun day, despite being a little crazy at times.  My guys did pretty well with all the visitors.  It didn't hurt that I organized some activities around a common theme - DINOSAURS!  We are studying dinosaurs, so we read a book, did a craft, and played a game having to do with dinosaurs.  Pretty fun.

I don't have any good pictures of the day because I had my hands full, but there are pictures of other events later.

We did Upward on Saturday and it rocked.  Luke's team won a game!  You would think they would be bummed about winning their first game so late in the season. NOPE!  They were all really jazzed.  Luke ran for about 20 yards on his favorite play, "The Luke Sneak."  It's a pretty cute trick play that involves Luke taking the snap, handing it off and then doubling back around to receive the ball in some double-reverse-like action.  It works pretty well because they only use it once or twice per game, and it differs pretty significantly from all their other plays.  Here are the pics from the day (and the previous Upward Saturday which we missed, but Oma caught).

 Paul coming through the tunnel on May 18th.

 Luke's May 18th Tunnel Pic

 Daddy helps Paul with his flags on May 25th.  Cuteness.

 Paul on the ball!

 Luke's game face - FIERCE!

A picture of Luke carrying the ball on the Luke Sneak.  He made about ten yards on this carry.  It was the second time we'd run the play and they caught on quicker.

I spent most of Thursday and Friday focused on preparing the house for the weekend.  We were super excited to have Mr. Mark Tai as our houseguest Saturday, Sunday and Monday.  Mr. Mark is the best.  He really is an honorary uncle for my guys.  He swoops into town.  He plays fun games with them.  And he will listen to them talk about video games forever.  He rocks.

Saturday night, we hosted a tri-family pizza and game night with the Fessendens (BSF carpool buddy), the Willseas and the Bangsunds (including honorary Uncle Mark).  Nineteen folks in our living room playing an awesome game called Four on the Couch.  Google it, people.  It was epic.  I have no pictures of Four on the Couch, but here are some pictures of earlier activities.

 Lots of fun people doing lots of fun stuff.

 These girls were both in Erik's Level 4 BSF class this year.  And I'm not jealous...YES, I AM!!  I love these two.  They are exactly what every thirteen year old girl should be - kind-hearted, Christ-focused, fun, and available to babysit. :-)

 People gaming and a mom getting a back rub from another mom.  This is a very Bangsund party.

 These two could have eaten this all by themselves, but they are very well-mannered and settled for just eating two thirds of it.

Buddies!

Then Sunday came and I decided to bless my husband in a very real and big way.  I took the boys to the Children's Museum on my own for nearly five hours, allowing him time to play video games with his buddy, Mark.  The boys enjoyed the dinosaur exhibit, which again, coincided perfectly with our current science curriculum. I love it when it all comes together.  :-)

 The smile says it all.  The dinos were small, but neither boy seemed to mind.

I call this one "Brooding Brothers."  I did not tell them to make these faces. So. Very. Odd.

Sunday evening we all did Roots together.  It was great to introduce an old friend to all our new friends.  I found myself smiling a lot and saying things like, "Paul, this is Mark.  Mark, this is Paul. You are both awesome people."  It was fun.

Monday we had another friend over for more board game time.  The original plan had been to hike, but the weather was monumentally disgusting, so we stayed home.

Today we did school.  We are SO close to the end, people!  EIGHT MORE DAYS!!!  The kids are largely unaware of how close we are to the end, so they don't get antsy or crazy.  Me?  I'm climbing the walls.  June 7th!  June 7th!  June 7th!  Oh dear.

In completely unrelated news, Paul really likes to use my knee socks as costuming.  I think this is a good way to end the post.  Check out this brand of awesome.