Be Our Guest

We can't wait to have a little more space (and an actual guest bedroom) in the new house...but that's not stopping us from using up every square inch of this place when we have the chance to have guests...

Right before Kyle went to Honduras, our dear friends Andrea and Harry Frankenfeld spent 2 nights with us. Andrea was a year ahead of me at Vanderbilt but we mostly became friends through church after we had both graduated and were living in Nashville. She and Harry have spent the last 2+ years living in Bangalore India - Andrea is a freelance writer and Harry is a jack-of-all-traits techy, video/audio engineer kind-of-guy.

 The were essentially doing a tour of friends/family and we were glad to make the list. And they were gracious to put up with our crazy living/sleeping situation. Andrea and I even got to go get our toes done. :)

 Then last weekend (with Kyle's bags from Honduras still not fully unpacked)...we had the pleasure of hosting our buddy Nathan (Christal and Phil's 3.5 year old) for the weekend so they could go to NC for a wedding and a graduation (and to see our old W-S pals, which we are jealous of)!
 

Let me be clear - having 4 kids is NOT easy. Especially because Kyle worked all day Saturday and Sunday night...but if you're going to add a fourth to the mix, Nathan Murray is the one you want! He is such a delightful little dude. 

I personally think 3ish is one of my favorite ages (so far) - they can feed themselves, use the potty, and get dressed. This kid is amazing. He wakes up (first kid) and comes out already mostly dressed and (at 6:45) asks what is for breakfast. (Whereas my kids would be content to be in PJs (or naked if we're talking about Rebecca) and consume nothing but milk until 10am.) 

And I guess we all get use to the things our own kids say - even the funny stuff - but its such a treat to hear the funny stuff other kids say. Like Nathan telling me how good he is at football and baseball (which by the way, is true - he's quite the baller). Or Nathan correcting Rebecca on how to say "sheep". Or Nathan telling me that since its Saturday we're supposed to have pancakes because its pancake day! (And of course we had pancakes.) Nathan telling me all about his school friends, etc. etc. etc.

 And the kids actually played really really well together. Sometimes it was more Owen and Nathan, sometimes more Nathan and Rebecca...but mostly it was all three, which was really fun to watch. The first night we had all 3 of them in the same room - that was a bad idea - they were up super late - we totally should have known. Actually, I think we did know but still wanted to give it a try. We ended up having to remove Rebecca (The Instigator) - she slept in our room in the pack 'n play and O & N were conked out in minutes. The next night the boys stayed in the same room and did great, so the next night we let them both sleep on the palet on the floor (their request) - because who doesn't want to sleep on the floor when there are 2 comfortable beds in the room? Little boys!

Here they are enjoying a little milkshake treat on Nathan's last evening with us.

 Silly faces.

 We are so funny.

Here was lunch on Saturday - Katie was keeping N's little brother Micah - so they came over for lunch and playtime. Emmy was out of down with her dad, so we only had 6 kids. Good times!

Thanks for staying with us Harry, Andrea and Nathan!