Decorating My House

It's a tradition, now. The first weekend in October, as long as they're with their mom, Mr 8 and Mr 10 come over to decorate.  Now that Elizibeth is in the mix, there's even someone to drag the boxes off the shelves for me.  I unwrap, reminisce, and watch others do the work.

Does that sound perfect? It is.

After lunch at Grumpy's Grill, where Mr 8 explained the size and shape of a driver as we watched golf to our right, and Mr 10 made fun of my Colts Super Bowl t-shirt, favoring the Patriots even after I nixed his love for Aaron Hernandez, as we watched Florida State shut out Maryland... and had a good laugh over Terrapins, while I hummed some Terrapin Station to myself, and smiled.

Then, after Amster paid the bill (did I mention this was perfect?), we drove down the block to my house and they got to work. Mr 10 has very definite ideas about object placement. His brother was more interested in the can of swords I saved from Big Cuter's childhood.  "You're going to hurt someone,"  I heard Mr 10 admonish his little brother.  They grow up way too fast.

We stuffed the torn jeans and orange shirt with newsprint, and I pinned the baseball cap to the McDonald's Happy Meal plastic jack-o-lantern, also saved from my children's youth. The boys were very happy to carry it out to the biggest rock in the front yard, and prop him up, just so.

Seriously, do not knock his head off.

That admonition was tossed aside as they remembered jumping over the installation last year, and decided to try it again.

We lost Elizibeth to the library as Amster and I watched the boys swim.  Their pool is much deeper than ours; it took some reminding before they stopped jumping off the sides. The XXL Ziploc storage bag filled with water pistols kept them quite amused.  I was called upon for technical assistance, but not much else.  Amster and I sat on lounges in the shade, smiling at her children, even as they shed their clothes.

I love it when guests feel comfortable in my house.

Percy Jackson was read, and Odysseus and Telemachus were discussed - "Don't tell me if he finds his Dad!!" - and much chocolate was eaten.

Did I mention that it was perfect?