The One with the Sudsy Water Fights

It's interesting.

The glorious habits of nature.

That go unnoticed far too often.

The sun rises and sets.

Each day.

The same.

But the skies around it change.

Adding to its brilliant movements.

Tonight we went on a stroll at dusk.

It was perfect.

Not just the time together.

Talking.

Being.

Relaxing.

But taking note of the world around us.

Appreciating God's masterful strokes in new ways.

Such a breathtaking experience.

And to think.

It could be had tomorrow night.

And the next.

But alas. I am exhausted.

What a great weekend.

What a tiring weekend.

During the 4-4:30 half hour on Friday I was going in every direction.

As I started pizza dough and cinnamon roll dough, Kevin called.

We talked for a bit.

Then a gentleman from church called.

A lady from church dropped off car wash towels.

The gentleman rang the doorbell to pick up his brownie order.

He called again for something 5 minutes later.

Britt called.

I worked on the pizza dough.

The phone rang again.

I worked on the cinnamon roll dough.

*whew*

Oh! and I looked out the window to notice our neighbor mowing.

The neighbor who is sent to ICU almost every week.

And won't quit smoking.

Even on the mower.

And to top it off, he was wearing red flannel polar bear pajama pants.

*cringe*

But 7:30 pm four of our favorite teens had arrived.

We were having a bonfire & overnighter.

I got freaked out about 10 minutes till start time.

As per usual.

My blood pressure soars almost on cue prior to any "event."

I'm a spaz like that.

Just being honest.

I got over it.

Thanks to my husband, who just so happens to be my sanity.

The guys started a great bonfire.

Two more teens arrived.

The girls and I hung out inside and partook of the homemade pizza.

And popcorn.

They love popcorn almost as much as I do. :D

Another great girl arrived after marching band.

Poor thing was exhausted.

Mad Gab.

[I pretty much rock at that game.]

We all hung out around the fire.

What a perfect night.

Truth or dare.

Marshmallows.

Ghosts in the graveyard.

Four more teens arrived at 10.

With tons more food we never got around to eating.

More story telling.

Flaming tennis ball catch.

[I didn't think I sanctioned this activity. But apparently I did. oops.]

We headed in around 11.

Made more popcorn.

Started Back to the Future.

One of the greatest trilogies of all time.

And who doesn't love some serious '80s action.

These teens can't believe we were BORN all the way back then.

lol.

[An interesting dichotomy my life is. Half of those with whom I interact find me incredibly old. The other half can't believe how young I am.]

Oh, and speaking of the 80s, what in the world is up with the fashion trends this fall?!

Neons.

High tops.

Shoulder pads.

EeEk.

So half of the 12 of us watched Back to the Future.

The other half played ping pong and hung out in the other half of the basement.

It was a great relaxing time.

The guys took over the basement at 1 and started the 2nd movie.

The girls headed up to the crazy rose red room.

Our house is seriously perfect for this.

For lots of people.

Many guests.

Good times.

Kevin & I woke up at 8 and I started the cinnamon rolls baking.

We couldn't believe most of the boys had been awake since 6:30.

And yes, we know they went to sleep.

Apparently not all teens sleep in on Saturdays as is stigmatized.

The girls lived up to that stereotype, however.

We played Apples to Apples and more MadGab.

Parents picked up the students.

And we had 3 hours to chill before gearing up again.

Today was our scheduled FREE car wash.

Our teens got sponsors prior to today.

We washed cars for free. literally. no donations necessary.

The sponsors will then turn in their donation this week.

After finding out the number cars washed.

(i.e. I will sponsor you for $1 a car. You washed 20 cars, I'll give you $20. Or...here's $20 even though you washed 2 cars.)

It's a great fundraising idea.

The weather was shaky for the first hour.

It took a while (way too long) to figure out the messed up hose situation.

Some of the teens had no idea what washing a car meant.

It was a stressful start, but turned out wonderfully.

We had a blast.

Though most of us could have fallen asleep standing up.

No lie.

I love those teens.

Seriously.

::sleepy after cinnamon rolls & Apples.to.Apples the next morning::

::He was such a great leader this day::

I couldn't have done it without him.

:::I heart my girls:::

Clockwise.

12. Katie

3. Melanie

6. Michaela

9. Ashley

::us::

and for once a self portrait where our faces don't look abnormally large.