Rainy Days

Well, today was one of those days. Cold, wet, lazy, and long. It started drizzling on Friday afternoon and by the time we woke up on Saturday it was raining hard and the temperature was falling. Four kids ranging in age from 4 to 13, too cold and wet to go outside and nothing planned after a long week at work. What to do? We started the day by making a huge batch of blueberry pancakes with warm maple syrup - real maple syrup (from Vermont) - the kind that comes from maple trees and not factories. The pancakes were good but now it is only 8:30 am!!! We pulled out the big box of arts and craft supplies and started making "things". We drew funny pictures, cut photos from magazines, glued scraps to paper, and let our imaginations run wild. Wow -- lunchtime already. After some grilled cheese sandwiches and grapes we went back to work. Ten minutes in, the telephone rings and it is the neighbor asking if some of the kids can go to the movies. We sent two to the movies and two stayed home due to some poor behavior during the week. We have about 2 hours to get some things done around the house. In no time, we move the furniture around in the den, do a couple loads of laundry, change some sheets on the bed, and I head to the grocery store. I got home, everyone was there. We sat down for a big dinner (that had been cooking in the crockpot all afternoon) and before we knew it, it was time for the kids to go to their rooms to watch a movie. A treat they only experience on weekends. Ahhh, the day is over and we made it through. Now we have another rainy day to look forward to but now I have time to do some planning.