A Work Party

I wasn't the last one there (my sister Hope was!), but my siblings were finishing up their coffee accompanied by bread pudding as I walked into the house, the air fragrant with the aroma of freshly baked rolls on the counter (waiting for lunch) and the aforesaid bread pudding. Wow, bread pudding made with day-old cinnamon rolls from the bakery where Mom works is amazingly delicious. But even better than that was seeing my 2-year-old niece Serena's radiant smile and hearing her shout, "LeAnn!"

So eventually, three of my brothers, two sisters, my husband, myself, and five nephews(age 5 through 12), got busy doing some outside chores at Mom's house this morning. The boys grabbed rakes and had a great time under the huge cedar tree raking huge piles of cedar needles. A leaf blower, pressure washers, hedge trimmers, and eventually, the John Deere lawn mower, were being operated all around the house and yard. My sister Hope and I harked back to our youthful days, washing inside windows together. It might have taken us twice as long as it needed to but it wasn't our fault. Our baby nephew Jamison was happier being held than being left on the floor, so we took turns washing windows and holding the baby! While we "worked", it was fun hearing my sister Linda in her room, singing along with the southern gospel group on her CD player.

We enjoyed a wonderful lunch together, but the five boys at the kitchen table seemed to be laughing and having more fun than we adults. I kind of wanted to join them, but when I learned the cause of one their bouts of hilarity was the unwanted salmon skin they were tossing from one plate to another, I figured they'd probably have a lot more fun without me! When they got done with dessert (pumpkin cake with cream cheese frosting), I heard one of them say, "We better get back to work." They came over to the big table and thanked Grandma for lunch, and a couple of them even thanked me and Will for the salmon! My sisters are raising wonderful boys! Sure enough, I soon saw them out the window loading the debris they had raked up into a trailer. They were having a great time, jumping and rolling around in it to pack it down!

I was pretty upset that I forgot my camera! But I hope that, in my mind's eye, I will always be able to picture little Serena in her hot pink dress, brightly striped leggings, hot pink boots and even a hot pink bow in her cute hairstyle, and that fantastic smile on her happy face! We got to spend a little quality time together, and she didn't even ask me for gum! Before I left, I made sure she and her brothers got some from me!

So really, it was a fun day. I think we all left around 3:00, and the place looked great! Brother Dave rode his motorcycle down from Sherwood, so we were only missing Mark and John from Fort St. John and Tom from Indiana. (We did admire pictures of Tom's children!)

I'm thinking we should take turns - once a month, everyone come to one of our houses and do a bunch of maintenance type things together? What do you think, kids? Mine first! I have some cabinets and a table that I would really like to refinish! Oh, ok, I won't be selfish. You first!