It's not called that for nothing

I have been sort of out of the blogging habit for the past few weeks/months. It makes me sad that I have fallen out of this routine, but I just couldn't face it. I have been terribly busy with so many commitments all over the place, but I was also dealing with Dunken. His treatment and losing him took a great deal out of me. I am trying to get back into the groove. If there is anyone left who still reads my little old blog, then please bear with me while I attempt to get back into it. I have lots of funny, sweet stories that I want to share and pictures that I want to post. I guess I should just jump back in, huh? So here goes nothing!

Today is Columbus Day. Spencer asked if they were going to school. I told him, "No, it is a holiday." And he looked puzzled and thought for a minute. Then he asked, "Oh, well, what do we do?" Ah, yes, how could I forget the traditional Columbus Day meal or the Columbus Day gifts or the Columbus Day decorations! I smiled and explained to him that it was not "that kind of holiday." And then I told him to be thankful because lots of folks are still at work/school on this holiday. The trash collectors even came. I had to run outside in my PJs to get the can out there in time. When I told David about my mad trash dash, he said, "I didn't think they would come. Has Columbus Day fallen by the wayside?" Maybe. But now what am I going to do with my Columbus Day Wreath?

But because it is Columbus Day, and we do live/work/attend school on a military installation, we all have the day off. Well, I still am expected to feed people and make sure that they don't run into traffic and such, but I can do it all still in my previously mentioned PJs. I'll take it, thank you very much.

Well, today, on this special Columbus Day Holiday, the TVs have not even been turned on at our house. Which means that as I sit here at the kitchen table typing and catching up on all sorts of paperwork for PTO and Awana and life in general, I can hear the sweet sounds of my babies playing. They are always in some sort of fantasy world. It sometimes can drive me crazy because there is usually a "Momma" in the thing that they are playing, but it is rarely me. Which means that I spend an hour answering when I hear one or the other of them calling "Momma" only to be reminded that they are not talking to me. Noted. But it is hard to turn off the instinct to answer when you hear "MOMMA!"

Anyway. I have no idea what they have been playing.

Here are a few pictures of things that ended up being a part of whatever it is that they dreamed up:

The ducks from one game migrated over to the Hippo Pond.

This girl is apparently swimming with beads and a small panda bear in the now vacant duck pond.

These Hippos are hungry for marbles AND the teeny pieces from Spongebob Operation.

And Santa was sick and being attended by a caring Little People Person.

I can tell you that they were both singing songs in a language that I was unable to identify. And yes, they were both singing. I have no idea how.

Then they disappeared upstairs. Shortly, they started back down the stairs. They each had something to put things in, and there were chanting, "Beanie Baby Hunt." Over and over and over. And over. Well, except for when they would get tickled at how funny it was. They covered the whole house, chanting, and looking at all the stuffed animals searching for the coveted tag:

Then the got them all situated in the den. They were all chatting with each other, the Beanie Babies, I mean. One alligator was chatting with another alligator. They are related, and I know this because they were calling each other "Bro" and "Sis." But don't worry even though they are twins, you can tell them apart because "Bro" always wears sunglasses.

There is music at this party. I mean, of course, what's a party without music? A Radio Disney Jams CD is blaring from their Karaoke Machine. Spencer just told me that the party is in honor of this girl:

I apologize for the orientation. I tried to repost is several times, but Blogger felt you should see it this way.

There is dancing, of course. My favorite part was when the Beanie Babies all danced into two lines and then two at a time, they all danced down the center, you know like Grease style.

After their big solo dance down the center, as they approached the end, Spencer reminded them, "End of the line! End of the line!"

And they gathered around the picnic basket for some tasty plastic treats!

They posed for this group picture, too.

They are all very eager to have their pictures taken.

As are their human hosts!

And I was just sort of watching and Jessa looked up and said, "Momma, this is a Beanie Baby Party. And all these animals are Beanie Babies." I did not respond immediately and Jessa looked back up at me, shrugged and said, "Beanie Baby Party; it's not called that for nothing!"

I do have some sad news to report. One guest had to be evacuated by "ambulance." Spencer drove her by me and said she was sick because the music was too loud and hurt her ears.

And at her own party, too.

What a bummer.

Love hearing what is going on inside the imaginations of my babies!