A & P...

When I was growing up in Louisiana, my mother always did her grocery shopping at the A&P. Now the letters take on an entirely different meaning. It means an 'A'ubrey and 'P'aul encounter. Saturday Aubrey and Paul arrived and we get them all to ourselves until Friday evening.

David dropped them off around 5:30pm. Papa was already here to enjoy dinner with all of us. They shuttled their belongings (I hope Nissa's van is fairly empty when she comes to pick them up) into their respective bedrooms. Then Claude cranked up the grill and we enjoyed a quiet relaxing burger dinner on the deck. The kids were happy to be out of a car after their long drive and we were very happy to have them here to enjoy.

In the evening they chose to watch two movies with Claude and me. Root beer floats abounded and it was nice to settle into our week together.

Sunday morning Aubrey and I got ready to head to Church. Claude stayed home with Paul. Aubrey went to her Sunday School class while I taught the adults. Then we scurried back home to check on our guys.

After lunch Paul and Aubrey were each given their own tub of cookie dough and the island was cleared and the rolling and cutting began.

Aubrey wanted to make candy. She cleaned the candy molds I have and we set to work making candy treats. I did the melting duties and Aubrey carefully thought through how to paint the inside details of the molds and then fill the rest with chocolate. She did a great job.

Claude had a meeting to attend in Lexington so he headed off while the kids were watching Walt Disney's Robin Hood (cartoon version). I started to fry chicken for dinner.

At one point I looked out the window and said, "Paul, I see a breeze. You could fly a kite." Both kids sprang to life. Our lot on the hill next to us is just great for kite flying...when there is a breeze. Paul tried when he got here on Saturday but there was NO breeze. Somehow he did get the kite up in the air. Now there was a great breeze, the flag on the front porch was blowing sideways. I told Aubrey to pause her movie if she wanted to play also. Movie was paused and both kids headed to the basement to each get a kite.

I stopped my cooking, found my camera and headed outside. Then I saw them...storm clouds. Big, ugly storm clouds. I yelled to Aubrey from the upper back deck, "If you hear ANY thunder or see ANY flash of lightening, you are to come inside immediately."  I headed to the front yard to find Paul. The clouds then opened and the rain poured in buckets. The kids weren't seeing lightening or hearing thunder so they thought they could stay and play. I yelled and they came in. We have had some very sudden and quiet severe winds and rain lately. Sure enough, as soon as they were in the first of the thunder rumbles started.

Teens are good at finding something to do. Aubrey found Claude's chess set he bought in Israel. No one has ever played the games inside, it just sits as a decoration in his office. Aubrey and Paul opened it up and pulled the chess pieces out and had a nice round of chess.

After this, Paul rummaged in the toy closet and brought the croquet set upstairs. He hurried out to set up a croquet game while Aubrey signed off the computer. I went out to take pictures and my battery died. I came in, got the charger and put the dead battery in it and put the new battery in my camera. By the time I got outside their game was OVER!!! I couldn't believe they made it through a game of croquet that quick.

Then Aubrey set up a course and they started their new game. I quickly understood the speed with which they finished. Aubrey's course was quite windy. They do not adhere to the standard croquet game format for their set up. I was pleased to see them think outside the box. Their play began as they yelled 'GO'. Now I understood the speed with which they played. It was not a take-turns type of play. Noooooo, this was a speed free-for-all. Each one whacking their croquet mallet on their croquet ball trying to finished the course before the other one. Oh My!!! It was hysterical, I laughed, they laughed and I was able to get a few quick pictures. The second picture is Aubrey balancing the croquet mallet in her hand.

We had some amazing clouds as the sun started to set and the rain clouds moved out. Paul took some pictures with his phone camera. I used my new camera to practice a bit.

It was time to head inside for the rest of the evening.

I've noted that each of the kids says, "I can't wait to see my mom." I find this a very tender experience. Mom's are important and Nissa is very important to these two teenagers. Hope through all the 'joy' that is raising teenagers she knows they do love and miss her very much.

Monday is 'flunky' day with Pa (Claude).