Always a Party

Our goal each evening is to survive until about 7:15. This is the time each night when the event known as "getting ready for bed" takes place. It truely is an event. It's a clash of agendas. Ours vs. theirs. A clash of the titans. Us vs. them. Although very small, the kids collectively can wield quite a bit of influence as to the tone of the event. They remind me of fire ants. You see them, but don't pay much attention to them by themselves. In numbers, however, they can strike fear into you, no matter how big you are, and can inflict discomfort - even pain - seemingly with no warning.

Some nights are better than others, and even some nights bring with them some of the best "moments". After teeth brushing, potty, jammies, scriptures, 1 book and prayer, Chauntel usually puts Kayla down and Isaac and I head to the room together. Jackson is a toss up. We take turns with him, and we both have our own way of doing it. He just goes with the flow and understands that Dad does it this way, and Mom does it that way. Mom tells me how well Kayla is reading to her at night and I get to share stories like this to her about Isaac and mine's conversations:

Isaac has been wanting a cat for a while now. He says that, "when they meow, they just make me so happy". He asked me again for a cat the other night and I explained to him that cats make daddy sick because I'm allergic to them. He asked, "You don't want me to have a cat, Dad?". I told him again that I just can't be around them because they make me sneeze. He then said, " Well, maybe you can go where there are no Dads." I just told him that I'd look into finding that place and he covered up and went right to bed.

Once the kids are down, it's party time. There's usually a different party almost every night. There's the 24 party (on DVD), the I'll do dishes you do the floors party, and one of my favorites: our folding parties. I can usually tell when one of these are sneaking up on me because there's just no socks or underwear in the drawer one day. As I walk by the laundry room on my way out, that quick glance I give reconfirms the party planned for that night: about a 4 basket laundry folding party. YEAH BABY!!!

The other night we had a combined party: the Heroes (1st season on DVD) and folding party. We try to spice it up however we can. I've tried the topless folding party but with me being the only participant, it really wasn't as much fun as I thought it would be.

It's always a bonus when you get the over-flowing basket to start with and fold, and then realize that there are 2 big towels in the mix. YEAH! Done in no time! You then announce to the other spouse how lucky you are. That this was the towel basket.

It's also great when you start digging into the baskets how you can almost "hear" the clothes. Certain shirts or outfits bring an instant smile to you; thinking of Isaac wearing this shirt and how he said that he has to wear this one because he is a hoop star, and hoop stars wear this shirt. Or Makayla's running shorts that she likes to jog in around the block with Mom sometimes in the evening. I think of her coming back through the door with her red cheeks. Sometimes I get lucky and spend a little extra time in thought when I get to fold one of Momma's "pretty" items of clothing. Those are good memories.

The other night though, it was a little sock that made me stop for a while. It was one of Jackson's and as I picked it up, I immediately heard him running his lap through the living room, family room, and kitchen as he likes to do in the amazing time of about 20 seconds. I could hear his mumbling voice trying to tell me about something that was important to him as he made the final turn from the kitchen back into the living room, but what he was trying to say I'll never really know about. It's funny how important it was to get them down for bed so quickly can turn to missing them and when you hear a noise, running up to their aid to see if perhaps you can spend another moment with them before the night is gone.

This is more of a journal entry probably, but I don't have mine handy right now.

So as for the Logsdon's home, if it's past 8:15 and we don't aswer the phone, it's probably because of the party that's going on.