bowling, thunderstorms, & the cracker barrel

mw let me be the fun parent yesterday! he had ulterior motives (sitting in the rocking chair and watching football all evening in a quiet house) but still. i never get to be the fun parent. i tried to talk them into a movie. they weren't interested. the mall was definitely out. so i asked them what their little hearts desired and they chose bowling. oh the dread that filled my soul. and the excitement that filled theirs. it was tangible. it started storming on the way to the bowling alley which really got them excited. they love thunderstorms. they jabbered the whole way and when i tried to get in on their conversation aw said, "i was talking to cw. when i am talking to you i will say, 'hey mom.'" okay. from then on i just kind of stood back and let them go. i paid for two games and was totally prepared basically "survive" the ordeal. but i had a blast! cw really knows what he's doing and he was more than willing to help aw. we used the bumpers but passed on the ramps. i helped aw with her first ball and that was it. cw had a spare and a strike and finished with a 99 in the first game. aw had a strike in the second game. unfortunately, she lost both games and cw was more than willing to dance around chanting "i won both games and you didn't!" so we had a short lesson in humility and ran out to the car in the poring rain. they decided pancakes sounded good and i was craving biscuits and gravy so we headed to cracker barrel. it was like going to dinner with my friends. we talked and colored and ate and shared our food and played checkers on the porch in rocking chairs. we picked out flavored candy sticks and piled back into the car. exhausted, stuffed to the gills, and ready for bed. when returned home to find mw asleep in the rocker, football blaring on the tv. bw was still in bed. it was 7:10p. i put him down for his nap at 2p. we found him lying in his bed, holding his blanket, just chillin'. i'm glad i took the opportunity to spend some time with cw and aw. the baby will be here soon and i'm sure it will be much more difficult to sneak away spend an evening with the older two. i am very grateful for my oldest son, who is so helpful and sweet. he relinquished his role as my baby at a very young age but he will always be my teeny man. and my beautiful little girl makes my heart happy in a very different way than my boys. not better. but definitely different. at the end of the day the ugly scowls don't matter, the chocolate milk stained shirt doesn't matter, sharing my bed with three other people is okay, and i love the life that has found me.