Midnight Orchestra...

It's been a pretty crazy week. I had church 5 out of 7 nights and David has been on call, which means he can be whisked away to restore someones power at the ring of the telephone...

So yesterday afternoon David and I are at SNL at Long's and my phone starts buzzing in my cute little handbag...I pluck it out and glance at the caller id...it's Caleb and Megan! I say 'hello' and I hear 'OH MY GOODNESS LEAH MOM AND DAD ARE GONNA GO ON A DATE AND ME AND CALEB SAID LEEEEAAAAAH AND DAAAAVIDS HOUSE!!!'. Of course, this little child who is practically my sister is squealing into the phone like a crazy person going on and on about how she simply must come see me. So after a quick chat with Julie (Caleb and Meg's Mama...) it is decided that indeed, the two munchkins should spend the night with us...

As soon as SNL is over I talk with folks and notice David mysteriously missing...so I set off for the front lawn and there is that husband of mine, very much involved in a rigourous game of tag. I really must say, that David is quiet possibly the coolest big softie I've ever laid eyes on...

Then, I see a flash of brown curls and a streak of firey red, and the next thing I know, I'm the meat in the Caleb and Megan sandwhich! (And let me tell ya, there's no other sandwhich I'd rather be in...)

So, we're off. We told the kids we'd take 'em to Shoney's for some supper and a hot fudge cake but these are some wack-a-doodle kids and they wanted Subway instead with treats from the gas station...We get home and before the car is even in park the kids have bolted for the swing...they are obsessed with it!

We had such a fun night, complete with MarioKart Wii and bubble baths and entirely too much junk food. Around 9:30 I say, we simply must settle in for the night! Since we haven't ordered our new bed yet, we have the guest bed in our room, and this is normally Caleb and Meg's bed. So, we were to blow up the air mattress, and of COURSE we had to put it in our bedroom so as to have one gigantic slumber party. After musical bed spots, it finally ended up with David having the big bed to himself (how did that happen?!?!) and Caleb, Megan, Ruby and I all on the blow up...It was quite a sight!

I always feel like there's nothing quite as marvelous as watching a classic movie as you snuggle up in bed before your eyes close and you slip away for the night. So we pop in 'The Rescuers', a timeless Disney classic. I thought for sure being an older movie it would put them to sleep but instead, they got so into it!!! Oh my goodness, they were wide-eyed... I mean, they just don't make characters like that anymore, I know, but I was quite thrilled at how it mesmerized them!

When the movie was over, we try (key word being try), to settle down and get to sleep. But somewhere, somehow, one of us picked up a frightful case of the giggles. As I'm sure you're aware, once someone has the giggles, it spreads like wildfire. Every time we would all calm down, something would happen that would set us all off again...whether it was David and Rubs having their typical snore competition, or Ruby rolling over on her back and running in the air with her paws, or even Megan just snorting into the quiet or Caleb making random declarations like 'I love French Fries'.

Eventually, Caleb drifted off under one arm, and Megs was still going strong. I tried so hard to get her to take this sleep thing seriously, but she is the worst kid to get to sleep. She keeps herself awake by petting me...no joke...stroking my arms or playing with my hair or 'tracing my face' as she calls it. She also kisses me constantly, and it is the complete sweetest thing I've ever experienced. As much as I love it, I have to eventually pretend to be asleep in order for her to go to sleep.

Once my little birdie was finally conked out, there I lay, flat on my back on a seemingly deflating air mattress with a dog on my legs, a red bird under my left wing and a brown bird under my right. It's one of the most comfortable places I can think of, with my little brother and sister both smushed up against me.

As I lay there trying to fall asleep, I was quiet entertained by the sounds of the four other bodies sleeping in the room. There were all manner of grunts and moans, little baby barks (from Rubs) and great big snores...from suprisingly all of the humans, not just the grown up one in the big bed! I just lay there chuckeling to myself, quite content with the midnight orchestra that was happening around me.

I gotta say this though: lately, I've come across two movie classics that have made me stop and go 'Uhhh, seriously?!?!' Last week I watched 'Sleeping Beauty' and was completely flabberghasted that the two kings, the fathers of Princess Aurora and Prince Phillip, get comPLETEly sloshed!! Not only them, but the little servant/musican gets so wasted that he passes out under the table with the guitar on his head!

Then, in 'The Rescuers' last night, the little swamp mouse carries around Moonshine and every time he drinks it smoke comes out of his mouth and his eyes go about 75 different colors! He always tries to get everyone else to drink it too, and all this makes me think about shows and movies we have now. I mean, sometimes I'm appalled by what is targeted at our kids but when I stop and think about it, it's not always much different than what's in the classics maybe? The only thing I can figure is that now it's just so much more in your face and not quite as subliminal...