Weekend with Aunty

Last weekend I took my brother Marty's 3 kids for 5 days while he and pregnant wife Tiffani went to Las Vegas. Emma is 4 and the twins, Grant and Ben are 20 months old. Dan had just left for his 40 days at sea, so I was on my own with 5 kids. The kids were all so excited to have a sleepover, as Emma said," Aunty, I get to have 4 sleeps at your house!".

The kids all had a fun weekend, they played hard and thankfully the weather was great, so I was able to kick them all outside to play. The twins loved playing with these balls that you can flatten, then they pop out round again. Nate likes to throw them like a Frisbee (the balls, not the twins!) and toss them up on the roof of the garage. Then they pop open and roll down. The problem is that they rolled down on the roof of the dog kennel and got stuck in tree branches. Knowing how much the boys loved playing with these balls, I climbed a tree with a broom stick to get the balls down. My mom was over at the time and she was keeping an eye on the kids while I climbed the tree. My broomstick doesn't reach, so I have to climb up on the tin roof. As the roof is creaking and bending my mom is down below yelling, "Don't you break your back and leave me with 5 kids!". Thanks Mom. I reached the balls, but on my way back down the tree, I was scratched up by the holly tree next to me (just a little ironic). I lost my footing on the way down and bruised my leg. So Aunty the hero was all scratched and bruised, but Grandma didn't have to take the 5 kids.

I saw such different sides of Grant and Ben while they were here. Grant is more vocal and physical while Ben is the thinker. They love oatmeal raisin cookies and Grant now says "kiki" for cookie. I was sure that I would get Ben to finally say Aunty, but not even my cookies would make him say it. The girls "helped" make play dough, which was lovely to clean up every few hours.

The house was trashed by the 5 kids. It was all I could do to keep up with dishes and laundry (2-3 loads a day). Ben dumped the crayon box twice, and the older kids were tearing the couches apart to make forts. I caught Emma jumping from couch to couch, and Grant was right behind her ready to jump. Mom helped with bath time, and took the girls overnight Saturday so that I only had the boys to get ready for church on Sunday. I wouldn't let her take Nate, I needed him so that I could get a shower in the morning.

I have a new respect for Tiffani and her daily grind with those kids (Marty you need to help her out more!). Dan thought for sure that having babies in the house would make me want more. After the 6am twin alarm clock.....no thanks! I'll just be Aunty and borrow babies when I need a baby fix.

The kids are asking for another sleepover, and I tell them not to worry. Tiffani is having another baby is January, and I'm sure there will be another weekend with Aunty then.