The Essence

I adore kids. They're so much fun. Today I had some people over for a little Christmas lunch. We had finger foods...little egg salad sandwiches, chicken sandwiches, sausage balls (this was the most popular thing of all!), tuna ball, grapes, & 4 kinds of cookies. And of course, STRONG coffee. I finally used the nice China my mom gave to me! :)



Amy & Claudia came with Amy's 2 kids & Claudia's youngest. I also had two other kids from church there (13 & 8), but they're mom had to work.



Claudia, Julia, Amy, & Barbara







Julia & Amy







Right away Amy's son, Philip (3), found my movies & asked to watch Monsters Inc. I had also set out my collection of toys I keep for kids to play with & they tore right into those as well.



After we ate I pulled out a pack of glow sticks, which brought out a round of "cool" from the kids. They snapped all of them & made bracelets & necklaces (we only broke two!).



Then, I gave the kids some chalk to play with on the back porch. Philip & Andrew went to town. At first they were writing stuff, but it turned into a scribbling match & then they rubbed their hands all around in the chalk (I think they just liked to see their hands change color.



Philip was very proud of being a "purple monster."







Andrew & Philip





I had such a nice time just sitting around & talking & watching the kids. They said we needed to do this more often & asked when my days are off from work.



Now, I have some cleaning up to do. Plus, Dave & Ashley are in town & are almost to Rachel's, so I'm going to walk over there when they get back!