The Late Show.

 1.  It was my turn to host the Cousin Sleepover, so last week, Emma, Owen, and Riley piled into our wee snug Cape House to try and stay awake beyond the bounds of my patience.  I kept them busy making salt dough beads (Thanks, Mary) for about ten wholesome, handmade minutes.  Then, chocolate fondue with strawberries and pound cake made them happy for at most, five minutes.  Then they scampered away because mostly, they wanted to laugh and scream about poop and pee and run up and down our stairs establishing clubs and make-believe scenarios.  They also wanted to play on Marley's Nabi and Riley's and Owen's DSes.

 2.  I served them tiny bowls of kettle corn, which was not the hit that I thought it would be, and I put in our DVD of Up, but the bored kids slowly made their way upstairs to the girls' bedroom and library playroom until the only ones watching were Todd, Rudy, and me.  Most of all, the kids wanted to get to the part that was different from any other cousin get-together and set up their sleeping bags and air mattresses, and there were brief dramatic arguments about who got to sleep next to Beanie.  Marley, by the way, is not fond of her nickname, and the only cousin who wasn't at the sleepover, Jackson, would've been awarded the coveted spot without question because he always calls her Marley, having never learned anything else.

3.  At first Todd and I thought it would be best for Rudy to sleep in our bed, but then she wanted to stay with everyone else and climb under her own covers.  She actually  fell asleep pretty fast and then, surprisingly, stayed that way even through the noise and chatter of the four big kids.  Later, Emma got weepy because she missed her little brother, and Owen came downstairs and whined his characteristic several times with typical kid complaints and requests.  I went upstairs to ask for quiet at least four times after eleven o'clock, I served an almost-midnight-snack of chips and crackers, and by midnight, I turned to Todd and said, "Sometimes when Stern Dad goes upstairs, they know it's really time to go to sleep."  So he tucked everyone in one last time, and we heard no more peeps until they stumbled downstairs past eight o'clock, after Todd and I were already up and brewing coffee.  Which was a much appreciated sleepover miracle.