A wonderful weekend...

I've mentioned before, my friend S. Well, the family and I were blessed to be able to go and spend another--much more relaxed!--weekend with S and her crew this last weekend (hence the long break between posts). It was wonnnnderrrffuuulllll. I wish we could do it more often...

T, the wonderful DH of this family, had gotten one deer already this last week, and got another one just before we went out there Friday...so we got to come home with a cooler full of processed venison (hey, you've only got so much room in the what, two, three freezers out there, S? ;-) ).
NIIIICE. We also got to sample some T's homemade venison jerky. Tasty stuff there, T!

S and I also got to take in the last day of an estate sale (oh, I do enjoy a good estate sale, especially on half-off day!). There were some larger things that had I had means to get them home, and the money (as always), I'd have considered getting. As it was, however, I came out with a smallish table topper with a lovely green shamrock design, two vintage handkerchiefs, and a pair of hand-embroidered pillowcases (with scalloped edges, which had been treated to a wonderful handmade scalloped crocheted lace). Nice. And on half off day, well, I was mucho happy to make these small things my own (plus, they fit nicely in my suitcase!).

After our morning out, S, her daughter, and I went out and worked in their barn/shop, sorting through some old clothes that had been in storage. A good many were out-grown, some were just...well, they were suitable for the rag bag/trash, and some I got to bring home for #1 or myself. Most of the things for #1, are for growing into in the next year or so, but I'm not going to complain. This means I don't have to buy them for her, and yeehaw! All I have to do is store them in *our* barn/shop. LOL.

We got home after dark last night (which is not saying much, to be sure, with nightfall coming around 5pm), and have long since unloaded and mostly unpacked everything. El Husbando is back to his work (he took Friday off). The twins are back to screaming and rolling around on the floor 'vehemently discussing' which of them can have the red/green truck/rolling musical push toy/cup/oxygen. Yes, folks, at times, it is that bad. I've decided that refereeing is not something I am 'getting paid to do'. I'm going to let them hash out things (for the most part) on their own, as I know I will end up spending the rest of my life running interference if I start now. No thank you. I'll pass.

We've gotten dishes switched out, laundry done and switched out (some even folded and put away), and we're tackling our school work. #1 has finished her history and is starting on her math, #2 is working on her math, and #3 has finished her math and is working on her handwriting. #4&5, as I have mentioned are working on their conflict resolution skills, as well as their PE (all that running and rolling around on the floor has to count for something, right? ).

We're expecting our biweekly visit from our Tulsa friend this evening, so it will be one of those afternoons full of cooking and cleaning, once we get the schoolwork done. Not a bad thing--that'll heat us/the house up a bit more (we actually had to turn the heat on while we were gone, so the pipes didn't freeze up). I'm back to trying to keep things as cool as possible, mostly so I'm not using the electricity/propane. But we'll see how successful I am at that this month. With nights falling into the 20s, well, I expect to have to actually use the thing.

Still no word on our old home...as far as I know, things are still in the underwriting process, and moving slowwwllly. Prayers would still be much appreciated for a faster sale.

Speaking of moving slowly, M and her family's project is now finished. It went like lightning after the Thanksgiving holidays, and so they have now gone back to the Great White Northern Hinterlands, project complete, and very happy to be home at last. We were very sorry to see them go, especially as a combination of events kept them from being able to come down and visit our homeplace. Maybe someday, they'll be back down here (I don't foresee any reason for us to visit them...but they travel more than we do...). But they are almost a part of the family now (if you ask my children), so we'll be praying for continued success as their projects continue on in the future...

There isn't too much on the agenda for this week--mostly, just recovering from the weekend's travel, getting back into the swing of things, and working for our visit north to the Ponca City area, on Friday--we're having a small Advent get together with some other homeschooling friends that afternoon. I'm hoping to hit my favorite little thrift store in Blackwell while I am there, but we will have to see how things go. We've got a loooong drive up there, interrupted by an hour of speech therapy right smack in the middle of the trip. Which will be nice for the children, not so nice for myself, who simply wants to get the driving part done and over with...I'm just praying no one gets sick between now and then, as I'd hate to have to cancel on our friends.

Hopefully, you have had a nice quiet weekend. Maybe you got something productive done, maybe you just spent it snuggled up with family, as you dealt with the onset of real wintry weather. Regardless, its good to be back...

I'll undoubtedly have more to say later this week, but for the moment, I've got math to supervise.... ;-)