Sunday SUNDAY!

Have I ever mentioned that I love Sundays? 

I do.  We never slow down during the week... and by "we", I mean "Josh".  There is always work to be done, beginning bright and early on Monday morning 'til late and dark Saturday evening.  I'm very thankful to have my family around the table together most every morning for breakfast and every noon for lunch.  There are those times when Josh works through the noon hour, then we either deliver lunch to the fields or he takes a packed lunch with him.  And then sometimes we get to spend some time together with  Josh and Papa Loren for coffee time, mostly in the afternoon.  (By the way, in case you're a reader who is unfamiliar with "coffeetime", its the short break the fellas have mid-afternoon to rejuvenate themselves for the rest of the afternoon and evening's work.  It always involves a pot or thermos of coffee (regardless of the weather) and a snack (most of the time its some homemade goodie from Grandma Rhonda or I, though we are known to occasionally buy a box of doughnuts every now and then!))  We do get tractor rides and truck trips to the salebarn, so that's some good ol' fashioned, country family time. And if the guys are working on something here on the yard, we go up the hill to visit them.  More quality time.

Its very uncommon for us to eat supper as a family; the evening's schedule is usually to drag the kids in from outdoors (sometimes kicking and screaming), bathe them, feed them (usually a "picnic" in the toy room consisting of the most requested: sandwiches and apples) and begin the bedtime routine.  Josh and I usually eat after their bedtime, whenever he comes in.   Its fairly common for me to be cooking and washing dishes yet at 8:30, 9:00 or even later at night, although Josh is very understanding and never complains about his occasional bologna sandwich.  Every day is the same, rain or shine...there is work to be done; sickness or health..there is work to be done.  Its just what our family does.  BUT...

I LOVE SUNDAYS!!!!  Even though there are chores to do at the beginning and end of the day, Sundays are family days!  Sometimes we find things to do after church, like in the previous blog posts about going to Red Rock or the park.  Other times, we just enjoy our time at home.  And this past Sunday afternoon was just one of those times!  A wonderful, lazy day at home with naps, homemade ice cream, kite flying and a cookout.

The beginning of the day.  Josh just recently brought over from his mother and father's house some of the bigger tractors and pieces of equipment that he played with as a child.  The collection may be 20+ years old and very used, but they are new to my kids and they absolutely love them!

So after church and nap time for Sarah Rose and Josh, we started to finish the ice cream.  I made the custard Saturday evening, refridgerated it overnight and then with a little help from the kids, started it up in the ice cream maker Sunday afternoon.  Sarah would grab a piece of ice, throw it in the ice cream freezer as fast as she could and complain about her hands being cold.  After a kiss to warm her hand up and wiping her hand on my shirt to dry it off, she would repeat it all over.  Caleb was actually a help, throwing in great big fist fulls while I sprinkled in the salt.



Before (the custard)....




...during...



...and after.  It was tasty, though it could have used a little more sugar.  But, having concocted the recipe on my own, I was happy with how it turned out.  With a few strawberries sprinkled on top it was a wonderful treat for a hot Sunday afternoon.



Flying high.  The package said that the kite came with 75 foot of string and Josh and Caleb had its string maxed out!
Caleb was pretty excited! 




But excited or not, there's only so much standing in the hot June sun that a little monkey can take, so he opted for the easier route: sitting on the ground with the kite's string handle looped through his shoe lace.  He was pretty proud of coming up with his "hand's free" kite flying all on his own.



We flew the kite, grilled hamburgers, played outside until much after the kids' bedtime and had a grand ol' time!  I love Sundays!

But let me back up to Saturday before I sign off.  Saturday afternoon, we weeded, laid down landscaping fabric, planted flowers and then mulched everything.  It was a hot dirty job, as is evident by the picture of Caleb below:



And that's only the top half!  The bottom half of him was even dirtier.

 

I wonder what grand adventures we'll come up with next Sunday?