Day Six: HOP to it and bring the diapers, please.

It's amazing what can be accomplished, enjoyed, stressed over and focused on in a day! I even got in a morning nap, thanks to my husband taking Revellie downstairs for her bottle and applesauce. Yeah for an extra hour or two after "night-parenting". Blake was able to spend some cherished time with his buddy and mentor, Dan and I had a refreshing time with my Mom, sharing a salad at Cristiano's and dashing around Safeway for *House of Paine baby shower stuff.

Have you ever noticed that it can be hard to have an adult conversation at home? Well, Blake and I attack this problem by occasionally heading to 88th Plaza Starbucks for some one on one and a little coffee jolt. Works like a charm. A mini date that always serves us well.

Five o'clock hour on Tuesdays always means just one thing: CLEAN THE HOUSE FOR *HOUSE OF PAINE! So clean we did. The kids are great about pitching in and each has his own area of responsibility. Mine is the cooking, Becca does the bathrooms, the boys help in the yard and with the main living spaces and Blake is floors.

Occasionally we will have a special event, a house concert in our converted garage, a birthday party or a baby shower. Last night was a baby shower for the Downey's, a young couple expecting their first child in September. We had a fairly good showing with lots of sweet baby clothes and many diapers for the "Bring a pack of diapers and win a prize" game. This is a tricky maneuver to get plenty-o diapers into the hands of new parents. Kim Loomis walked away with a $15 gift card to Starbucks after picking the winning random number 23. Never know what's going to come your way in the Paine home. Lol.



*House of Paine is a community of young people who meet at our home for a meal most Tuesday nights. I usually cook for about 50 people, but there was a time (summer of 2008) when we had no fewer than 75 people, 10 weeks in a row. Our record attendance was 108 people. Other than dinner at 7, there isn't an agenda for the evening. We will often just sit and visit, listen to or play live music, do art, games, nothing much or celebrate life's anniversaries.