Five Less Two

Today we were blessed by being able to drop our two oldest off at the birthday party for one of their friends and leave them. In fact, parents were specifically excluded from the party, which was fine with us. These were friends we trust, so we had no issue there. That gave my wife and I three and a half hours with only one child. It was quite an unusual feeling, almost like going back in time to when we only had one.

We used the time to go out to lunch and do some Christmas shopping. We went to a Chinese food restaurant because the boys don't really care for that kind of cuisine. Lunch was done first so that we did not have to hurry through it. It was nice to only have to deal with one child and to spend a little more one-on-one time with Stephanie. And not to have to hear two children complain how they don't like the food.

After that, we went to Lowes in order to buy some tools for the boys. Will is getting a set of three adjustable crescent wrenches. Ben is getting a hammer. I wanted to get a 16 oz. claw hammer, the kind that has the metal handle (with grip), not the wood or fiberglass handle. After looking over the hammer section several times trying to find this hammer, I saw the label on empty support hanger identifying the location of the elusive hammer. I also noticed why it was elusive - it was marked down on sale for $1.99! That's right, $1.99. For that price, I could use another hammer :-).

After Lowes, we popped over to the K-Mart across the street so that I could purchase a tail light bulb for the van. One had gone out earlier in the week. Nothing like doing car maintenance in the parking lot of a store.

We then proceeded back through the time warp to pick up our other two children and return home in the present day. The kids were put down for a nap and Stephanie left to do some more Christmas shopping and supplies shopping. Will, being the oldest, has a shorter nap time than the rest of the children. We put him down on our bed so that he will not disturb his younger brother. After his nap was done, I went in and laid down next to him. We read some from "The Dangerous Book for Boys" by Gonn and Hal Iggualden.

Nap time done, we (the kids and I) proceeded with a little play time and then I fixed a gourmet supper for the kids - hot dogs, crackers and slices of oranges, all washed down by a very good glass of milk. I had left over Chinese.

Stephanie returned and the kids enjoyed some more play time. Then it was time for Saturday evening showers and bed time. Now I'm catching up on some of my radio program listening while blogging. I have listened to an episode of Focus on the Family (the last part of three with David Ring) and now I'm listening to John Piper (Our Hope: The Glory of God).