the gathering place

One of the things Matt and I have always looked forward to, as parents, was having a home that had room for friends.  Room for all of them to be over at one time and still have enough space to roam, play, throw/kick a ball, etc.  A place where all the yelling and hollering wouldn't be heard by close neighbors and most of all, a home where our kids WANTED to have their friends come to.

We finally have that home, and what a blessing it is!  Last week all of the boys had a friend over...Morley had five.  Yes, do the math....seven friends=11 kids.  I was a little nervous to have them over for 8 hours but within a few minutes of their arrival, I knew it would be a great day!  First, they are all amazing young men and the sun was shining!  They even went home a little sunkissed from the glorious weather!

There was a tiny bit of video games and the rest of the day was spent eating....and playing outside.  Nerf guns, scooters, ping pong, sling shots, air soft guns, footballs, soccerballs, dirt, shovels, and a puppy kept the kids very entertained.

To my pleasant surprise....the younger boys played with the older boys without incident.  I sat at the window and just smiled as I watched them interact and as I listened to their noise.

It was also great to see all of the cell phones and iPods retired for the day.  I was going to ask them do 'turn them in' but they did it on their own!

What do you feed an army of kids....and ten of them boys?

Cheap pizza, chips and soda along with some fresh fruit!

I was afraid I bought too many $1 pizza's....but they ate ALL seven of them.  I cooked an extra one I had in the freezer when I saw how fast the first six were inhaled.  After lunch I made some chocolate chip cookies.  Each batch was only able to cool for a few minutes before they disappeared.  In all, they ate five dozen cookies.



Drew really had a great time with his good friend Quinn.



Brayden and Aaron are amazing friends.  They could be twins with their personalities and things they enjoy to do.  They spent the day exploring and building hide outs in the wood pile.



One of the main reasons we decided to keep Morley in the Sidney school system was because of this friends.  They are exceptional young men and we would have them in our home any time!  They are respectful, kind and a lot of fun!  Nathan wasn't able to make it for this get together and he was missed dearly!  He is moving soon and this group of boys will miss him!

 I have a passionate desire to have our home as "gathering place".  Where friends want to hang out, a safe place for friends to hang out and a comfortable place for friends to come.   We live 20 miles from Sidney so our home isn't exactly convenient for impromptu "gathering" but we are so thankful to the parents who graciously offer to drive the friends out to our place!  I felt like my parents home growing up was 'gathering place' for me.  We had a lot of fun "stuff" that would keep us entertained but overall it was a safe place to be with my friends.  Before the first "teenage boy" get together, I sent a text to my two younger brothers asking them what a "cool mom" does when friends are over.  My brother Will just said "make cookies and let them do their thing." My brother Tom was sweet and said I was already a "cool mom."  Gotta love those brothers of mine! 

One of my favorite "mommy blogs" to read is "71 toes", written by Shawni.   Here and Here she writes about being a "gatherer".  Her writing rang true to my heart.  I am a "gatherer" by nature and can see that in my children too.  Certainly, there are times when I would much rather stay home and avoid social activity (which is much easier living in the country) but there are other times when I try and organize a Girls Night Out or a simple get together at my house.

My two favorite memories of the day were:  thinking to myself..."this is why we wanted a house like this" and listening to all the chatter and thank you's from everyone for the littlest things.

We are grateful for good friends for our children and for their amazing parents for raising boys that are excellent examples.

I look forward to the next get together at our home.