The Dynamic Duo

I just had a very eventful week. First of all, my hardworking husband had a few days off and was able to come home for a bit. And secondly, I got to play substitute Mom for a few evenings. My great friend, Debbie and her husband, Tom recently celebrated their 20th wedding anniversary, and scheduled a short cruise to commemorate the occasion. So, I got to have their children Nathan, Rachel and Amy spend four nights at my house.
In addition to being one of the best friends I have ever had, Debbie is also my WeightWatcher co-leader and the wife of the pastor of my church. In addition to being my stand-in kids for a few days, Rachel and Amy (often driven by big brother Nathan) are Murphy’s substitute care-takers. So it is a very symbiotic relationship.
Most people that know me at all know this very basic fact: I LOVE to play games! When in the company of equally eager players, I am in game-playing heaven. I think I have FINALLY gotten my kids trained in that area, at least somewhat. Over Christmas break, when I got home from work, Johnny and Jim played games with me every night, without me even begging, threatening or blackmailing. Nathan, Rachel and Amy are gold-star gameplayers, having already been well-trained, so I think we all had a pretty good time.
So, where do I begin? Well, we began with Bob’s game Chronology, so that seems a good place to start, and I’m telling you, those kids gave me a run for my money! Not that we played for money. Its just an expression. Johnny, I promise I’ll win your Calvin and Hobbes books back someday. Just kidding.
What game playing series would be complete without a rip-roaring game of Cranium? Amy and I were an awesome team, as were Nathan and Rachel and it seems like that game ended in a tie. Due to my artistic talents (or lack thereof), Amy was the drawer and clay modeler of choice.
We had to call Jim to get the rules for the dice game I love so much. Fortunately he answered his phone (a rare occurence) and was able to elucidate. Nathan was the most impressive dice roller, if memory serves.
One night we hauled out Johnny’s elite poker chips for an old-fashioned game of Texas-HoldEm poker and I think Rachel ended up with the pot. Of chips, that is. But I think my favorite was the game of Tabloid Teasers. A la balderdash, players make up make-believe tabloid headlines, and you get to move ahead for either guessing the headline that actually was in a tabloid (I started to say the “correct” one, but that makes it sound like the tabloid was actually true), or for having other people choose the one you made up. My co-players were very imaginative, especially Amy, but with her trademark creativity and intuition, UltraMom won the day, and the game. I also took the time to introduce them to Bookworm, which quickly became addictive. Boy, do I understand that one!
Each night, I would suddenly realize it was 11 pm and that I had to work the next day. Some other people who shall remain nameless, are home-schooled and didn’t have to get up early and thus were less affected by the late nights.
Murphy was also in heaven. So many to pet him, tell him how cute he was and play with him. Every morning, the first thing he wanted was access to the rooms with the shut doors where “our kids” were sleeping. I guess Jim’s room (where the girls were staying) doesn’t have a tightly shutting door. Murphy soon found that if he was persistent in scratching, that the door would come open, and he was in!

UltraDad had to go to town to get a new washing machine one day. (the old one, very conveniently, broke the second day he was home). He came home with a huge tub of KFC Chicken and lots of sides (fries, cole slaw, baked beans, etc.), which we really enjoyed, especially the not-cooking dinner part. What a guy.
Now Murphy and I are alone again. Oh well, maybe we can catch up on a little sleep. And now, with Johnny coming home soon, I at least have a “kid in the house” to look forward to. And there’s always the hope that Tom & Debbie may go on another cruise someday…...................................

UltraMOM

UltraMom , Rachel, Murphy, Amy, Nathan
Notice UltraMom’s cute new hairstyle!
The cute dog blanket in the background was made by Debbie, Rachel and Amy, and was given to UltraMom as a gift. In addition to being absolutely adorable, it is warm and fleecy. There are a lot of different breeds of dogs represented, including, of course, an apricot poodle.