A Feast of Friendship

During the height of the busy school season, when days always seem to be filled with not just our regular school activities here at home, but also some pretty important extracurriculars, entire weeks at a time go by without us having anyone over, or meeting up with anyone for friendship time.  My head is full of good intentions as the school year begins about how I can incorporate more hospitality into my schedule, but it doesn't take me too long to realize that, once again, I have to adjust my aspirations to fit my reality.  And the reality during most of the months of the year is that I simply don't have the time to spend with people--outside my family--that I would like.  I could feel guilty about this (and sometimes I do, believe me!); or I could realize that it is what it is, and what it is is a busy season of the year.  But summer's comin'...  :)

We got a head start on our relaxed, let's-spend-time-with-friends, we're-on-summer-break schedule recently.  Although we are still officially finishing up a little bit of history and read-alouds left over from this past school year, it almost feels like we're done with school; and we haven't yet transitioned into the learning activities I have planned for this summer.  What does that equal?  A perfect window of opportunity to get together with friends.  :)

We kicked off this feast of friendship on Tuesday, May 13, when Megan, the wonderful violin teacher of Josiah and David, came over for dinner.

The following day, the kids and I had a really fun time visiting my long-time friend Christin and her girls; it's always such a joy when my kids love the kids of someone I love!  :)

Two days later, I had the privilege of going on a Moms' Night Out with my new friend Jennifer, whom I met through Tobin and Shav's soccer team, and four other women; we watched the movie Moms' Night Out, then went to Chili's to continue our conversation over food.

The next day, we went to our friends Kevin and Amanda's house for dinner and had a great time there.  It's not often that a family of seven gets invited to someone's house for dinner, and we definitely appreciated the hospitality shown us!

Two days later, another long-time friend of mine, Judy, came over for a visit.  She lives in another state; but when she's visiting here, I always love to snatch some time with her.  The boys know that when Judy comes, she gets down on the floor and plays with them, and they look forward to her visits with great excitement.  This time, I had to literally shoo them out the door for a while so Judy and I could talk and get caught up on each other's lives a little before the boys monopolized her time with games.  :)

Three days later, a group of homeschool friends came over to talk, let our kids play together, and share a light lunch.  It was a complete joy to have them here!

Three days after that, our next-door neighbors came over for lunch on Sunday; and we managed to squeeze all 15 of us around our kitchen table where we enjoyed great food, great fellowship, and a great friendship.  Plus, we celebrated my dad's 74th birthday together.  :)

Truly, I've been feasting!  Getting a chance to spend time with these people filled up my friendship tank in an abundant way, and I'm so grateful for each one of them!  :)

I had intended to take pictures at all of these gatherings, but I completely forgot at some of them.  I did, however, remember to get out the camera when Judy was here visiting.

 She asked for a violin concert, and our resident virtuosos were happy to perform.  :)

 Completely unplanned, Judy and Moriah ended up matching.  :)

 It's too bad we're always so serious when we're together and never have any fun.  ;-)

The next set of pictures is from the day four other homeschooling families came over.  I got my camera out for a little bit, but then ended up preoccupied enough that I didn't actually get to take many pictures.  That's how it goes sometimes.  :)

 I was really impressed with how well the children played together.  Some of them knew each other before this gathering, but some did not; however, the whole thing was blessedly peaceful.  :)

 The moms: me, Amanda, Sally, Jennifer, and Mary Beth.  The 5 of us had 19 children there (one child was being babysat by one of the moms, so she brought him along, too...technically, we 5 have 18 kids...and we marveled at how Michelle Duggar does it).  :)

I'm really grateful that Jennifer took some pictures and then shared them with me; the next six are from her.  :)  I like this swing picture a lot (would be better if Shav were there, too) ;-), but it also reminds me that Moriah was really not having a cheerful morning.  See how grumpy she looks?  I didn't realize it at the time, but she was sick.  When I got her up from her nap a couple hours after everyone had left, she had a fever of 101.6.  Yikes.  I felt so badly--not just for her, but also for the others who might have been exposed to any germs she might have been carrying.  No wonder she was fussy and clingy that morning though; it all made sense after I discovered her fever!

Last but not at all least, we get to the birthday celebration for my dad.  :)  Because our guests are Old Order Mennonite, I didn't take pictures of them; but I couldn't let Dad's celebration go by without taking pictures of the most important part.

The cake, of course.  ;-)

Kidding, obviously!  The most important part is this man!!  :)

I'm very glad that we got to spend this birthday together...

...and very glad for each of the joyful times of fun and friendship I've had during the past couple weeks.

Truly, my cup overflows!  :)