It's that time of year again :)

Every year on the first Thursday in February, my brother calls me and says, "Lisa, tomorrow's the first Friday in February and that means it's GAME DINNER NIGHT and I need you to watch Gianna".  So we have Gianna for the weekend while Mark dines on such savory fare as smoked boar, snake, venison, and who knows what else. I actually love Game Dinner Weekend. We spend two days with Gianna poking some good-hearted fun at Mark and speculating on what he's willingly putting in his stomach, while waiting for the OMG-I'm-so-sick-you-gotta-keep-her-one-more-day phone call.  It's a magical time that only comes once a year :)

Here are the sweetest kids alive taking turns reading to each other before bed.  Gianna reads at the level I do, maybe even better, so she went first and knocked one out of the park.  It was a long one too, and M&M enjoyed the story. (Just to give you an idea of my niece's intelligence, after she was done she said, "that was a fiction book with some non-fiction elements".)  Then it was Maxwell's turn to read, and he picked two books: "Gus Gets Scared" and "Plip, Plop".  Max is a super reader for first grade, but it definitely takes patience for a 7-year-old and a 4-year-old to sit nicely and listen to all the sound-outs and stumbles.  They were so sweet, and Gianna gently helped him along the way.  It was the sweetest thing.  Now they're upstairs doing a little late-night slumber party playing before sleeping.  It's 9:00, but I think I'll let them play a bit more, they're being so sweet! And a BIG SHOUT OUT to my homegirl Mary and my homeboy Phil who took them out to eat tonight so a very tired Mama could have a break from cooking!  Thanks Mary & Phil!!!   They had a blast!!!