today
Woke up at 5, went back to bed. Thought to myself "get up, make those great cinnamon rolls again, they were so tasty", then thought "sleep, more sleep; sleep is good without a kid in my bed, sleep!". So I slept.
Woke up at 6, Livea crying in her crib upstairs. Thought to myself "Is Jenna up and getting her? Do I hear Jenna talking to her, should I get up or wait?". Bad mom, I fell back to sleep.
Woke up at 7, got up, I'm late, great. What are the kids doing, are they awake? Where is everything we need. No time for cinnamon rolls. Where is everyone??? Upstairs, the kids are playing nicely, all of them. Wow.
Downstairs I grab eggs, milk a pan and spatula; throw together some scrambled eggs really quick. As I turn back toward the stove from the refrigerator I see a blur from the sink across the kitchen to under the oven: a mouse, and screech. Jenna says "what?? a mouse??", I reply "yes", and she laughs. This happened to me two days ago. We've had mouse traps set but only caught one mouse so far. I don't know why we haven't caught anymore. I plate up the eggs and feed it to the kids. I start gathering bathing suits, towels, and clothes.
At 8 I put on an entire pot of coffee. It is cold this morning at 17 degrees, with wind chill 8. I think to myself "I must be a crazy mom to be taking kids to the pool in 17 degree weather, was it wrong with me?" I ignore sane thoughts and keep gathering clothes and dressing kids in suits and then layer it with tshirts and pants and socks and shoes.
8:10am and Josh gets home from PT (physical training), showers, tells me he is starving five times. I tell him I don't have time to feed him today, neither do I have time to feed myself, that I woke up late (err, sorta) and we're both eating coffee for breakfast. So he gives up on breakfast and makes us both coffee's to go. Delicioso.
8:30am we're out the door, into the very freezing 17 degree weather (did I mention wind chill?). It was very cold. Very chilly. I think to myself "I can't believe it isn't even Winter yet!"
Drop Josh off at work at 9am. We're late to swim practice, but it isn't a big deal. We get in and I undress five people down to our bathers. The two older kids run off (hey, walk!!!!!) to their class, and the two littles come with me. The water is cooooollld today. They emptied the pool last week and refilled it. It was 60 a few days ago but assures us it was reading at 82 this morning (ummm, liars). It was too cold for the little kids who couldn't even swim around to keep themselves warm. Even Jenna got out after class when there is an hour of open swim. Luke (AKA: Fish) stayed in the entire time though. I had the nice lifeguard, Amanda, watch him for me while I gave everyone a warm shower, washed chlorinated hair and redressed everyone (which took 30 minutes!). Went and got him after and brought him in to take a hot shower, which he much appreciated. Got everyone dressed back up and blew the girls' hair dry, and off we went to grab a pack of watercolors next door. C stayed in her car next to my kids so I could run in and grab the watercolors for my kids and hers.
Grabbed some lunch at 11:20 and drove off to homeschool lunch meetup. The starving kids chowed down and then went into the gym and played for ten minutes before Art class began.
At noon, Art begins. Adam and Luke's class made Christmas decorations by melting crayon shavings between wax paper. Jenna's class did a watercolor on water exercise which turned out beautifully. None of the kids finished, and they were assigned the rest as homework and asked to bring it back next week. Jenna's Art teacher is named Jenna. She is a great Art teacher, I love her so much. She is so good with the kids. The Art teachers are college students that attend K State in Manhattan.
At 1pm gym begins and the kids play with various gym-balls and run around the gym doing whatever they want because it is open gym. They always have a ton of fun and never want to leave. Today Adam was tired though and asked me to pick him up a million times because his legs hurt (which is always the sign that he's tired). Livea fell asleep on the way over from swim and slept until just after 1.
At 1:30 I decide to pack up and go, but we don't actually end up leaving until 2:05.
2:06, we're back outside in the freezy, breezy cold air, with Adam in tow complaining the entire way: "I'm cooooolllddd!!!!". I stand outside talking to C for 5 minutes when Josh calls and says he needs me to hang around until 4:30. Uh, what? It is time to go home! C invites us over so I don't have to go all the way home and all the way back to help Josh get an important prescription for someone who cannot do it on their own. We go to C's, and it was a really great visit. The kids we're really happy to get to play and I was so glad to be in a warm house with some coffee and good company.
4:30pm, we're departing to go get Josh for dinner: turns out the doc picked up the drugs so Josh didn't need to. But he's on 24-hour duty tonight so we pick him up to have dinner together.
At 5 we go into the PX, which is an Army store that has pizza, taco bell, etc. I take him to a kiosk where I found this really adorable Americana sorta sign earlier that day that says "faith, family, friends" and ask the lady how much it is. $18.95. I ask her to hold it for me and tell her I'm going to think about it and be back to let her know after we eat. We eat. I run into the actual PX and buy toilet paper, light bulbs and cheesey peanut butter crackers (that I told Adam I'd buy when I went in earlier for the watercolors but I forgot). On my way out I stop by the kiosk and buy the adorable sign that I am going to hang in my kitchen. I admire the "Always Kiss Me Goodnight" sign too, but decide I can make it myself for much cheaper than the $50 they're selling it for. The scripted letters are sewn on cloth in cursive and then matted into an unglassed frame. Very easy. I have plenty of material of my own that all I'd need to buy is the frame. Simple, and much cheaper than $50.
I get back and it is 5:45 by now. The kids are eating ice cream now, but Josh didn't buy me any! I take a bite of Adam's (which permission!) and he throws a fit about how it was a huge bite (it wasn't!!!). The kids finish their ice cream, and we wrap them all up in their coats and leave.
I drop Josh off at his office again at 6:12pm, say goodbye, and drive off into the dark sky for home. It's 36 degrees, but it feels as cold as when we left this morning.
It's 6:30 when we get home. We were gone for 10 hours. I can't believe we were gone all day. But it was a very calm day, except for Adam, but he's always like that no matter where we are. Adam fell asleep in the car, and Livea is complaining about her hair for some reason. I get everything and everyone in the house, from the garage, cozy them all up in warm pajamas, and look for a movie for us to watch. The Grinch is on, which they've seen before, and while it is not completely wholesome, it isn't completely unwholesome, so I let them watch it. It is still on now, just about over. Livea nursed and is up in her crib fast asleep by 7:30. I told the kids that after The Grinch ends they are going to bed, but of course now Jenna is hungry.
It's 8:44pm. There is clean and folded laundry on my dining room table. There are cards all over the floor that Livea got into this morning before we left. My sewing machine and serger are out on the floor beneath the table (waiting for me to finish my projects!) and the kitchen is still swimming in eggy breakfast plates and the dishwasher loaded with clean dishes waiting to be put away. The fireplace is hot and calling my name to come close and cuddle up with a black and white movie, a squishy blanket and a cuddly kid or two, too. It is Adam's turn to sleep with me tonight (with Josh being on duty I let them take turns sleeping with me), but usually what happens is they all sleep in my bed and I sleep on the couch. I don't normally mind, but with Livea sleeping in her own bed now, I couldn't stand it to think she was sleeping alone. Maybe I will sleep in Jenna's bed tonight (it is the most comfortable bed in the house).
A Friday in the life of us. Whew. I'm tired just rethinking it all, and I'm not even done yet.
Woke up at 6, Livea crying in her crib upstairs. Thought to myself "Is Jenna up and getting her? Do I hear Jenna talking to her, should I get up or wait?". Bad mom, I fell back to sleep.
Woke up at 7, got up, I'm late, great. What are the kids doing, are they awake? Where is everything we need. No time for cinnamon rolls. Where is everyone??? Upstairs, the kids are playing nicely, all of them. Wow.
Downstairs I grab eggs, milk a pan and spatula; throw together some scrambled eggs really quick. As I turn back toward the stove from the refrigerator I see a blur from the sink across the kitchen to under the oven: a mouse, and screech. Jenna says "what?? a mouse??", I reply "yes", and she laughs. This happened to me two days ago. We've had mouse traps set but only caught one mouse so far. I don't know why we haven't caught anymore. I plate up the eggs and feed it to the kids. I start gathering bathing suits, towels, and clothes.
At 8 I put on an entire pot of coffee. It is cold this morning at 17 degrees, with wind chill 8. I think to myself "I must be a crazy mom to be taking kids to the pool in 17 degree weather, was it wrong with me?" I ignore sane thoughts and keep gathering clothes and dressing kids in suits and then layer it with tshirts and pants and socks and shoes.
8:10am and Josh gets home from PT (physical training), showers, tells me he is starving five times. I tell him I don't have time to feed him today, neither do I have time to feed myself, that I woke up late (err, sorta) and we're both eating coffee for breakfast. So he gives up on breakfast and makes us both coffee's to go. Delicioso.
8:30am we're out the door, into the very freezing 17 degree weather (did I mention wind chill?). It was very cold. Very chilly. I think to myself "I can't believe it isn't even Winter yet!"
Drop Josh off at work at 9am. We're late to swim practice, but it isn't a big deal. We get in and I undress five people down to our bathers. The two older kids run off (hey, walk!!!!!) to their class, and the two littles come with me. The water is cooooollld today. They emptied the pool last week and refilled it. It was 60 a few days ago but assures us it was reading at 82 this morning (ummm, liars). It was too cold for the little kids who couldn't even swim around to keep themselves warm. Even Jenna got out after class when there is an hour of open swim. Luke (AKA: Fish) stayed in the entire time though. I had the nice lifeguard, Amanda, watch him for me while I gave everyone a warm shower, washed chlorinated hair and redressed everyone (which took 30 minutes!). Went and got him after and brought him in to take a hot shower, which he much appreciated. Got everyone dressed back up and blew the girls' hair dry, and off we went to grab a pack of watercolors next door. C stayed in her car next to my kids so I could run in and grab the watercolors for my kids and hers.
Grabbed some lunch at 11:20 and drove off to homeschool lunch meetup. The starving kids chowed down and then went into the gym and played for ten minutes before Art class began.
At noon, Art begins. Adam and Luke's class made Christmas decorations by melting crayon shavings between wax paper. Jenna's class did a watercolor on water exercise which turned out beautifully. None of the kids finished, and they were assigned the rest as homework and asked to bring it back next week. Jenna's Art teacher is named Jenna. She is a great Art teacher, I love her so much. She is so good with the kids. The Art teachers are college students that attend K State in Manhattan.
At 1pm gym begins and the kids play with various gym-balls and run around the gym doing whatever they want because it is open gym. They always have a ton of fun and never want to leave. Today Adam was tired though and asked me to pick him up a million times because his legs hurt (which is always the sign that he's tired). Livea fell asleep on the way over from swim and slept until just after 1.
At 1:30 I decide to pack up and go, but we don't actually end up leaving until 2:05.
2:06, we're back outside in the freezy, breezy cold air, with Adam in tow complaining the entire way: "I'm cooooolllddd!!!!". I stand outside talking to C for 5 minutes when Josh calls and says he needs me to hang around until 4:30. Uh, what? It is time to go home! C invites us over so I don't have to go all the way home and all the way back to help Josh get an important prescription for someone who cannot do it on their own. We go to C's, and it was a really great visit. The kids we're really happy to get to play and I was so glad to be in a warm house with some coffee and good company.
4:30pm, we're departing to go get Josh for dinner: turns out the doc picked up the drugs so Josh didn't need to. But he's on 24-hour duty tonight so we pick him up to have dinner together.
At 5 we go into the PX, which is an Army store that has pizza, taco bell, etc. I take him to a kiosk where I found this really adorable Americana sorta sign earlier that day that says "faith, family, friends" and ask the lady how much it is. $18.95. I ask her to hold it for me and tell her I'm going to think about it and be back to let her know after we eat. We eat. I run into the actual PX and buy toilet paper, light bulbs and cheesey peanut butter crackers (that I told Adam I'd buy when I went in earlier for the watercolors but I forgot). On my way out I stop by the kiosk and buy the adorable sign that I am going to hang in my kitchen. I admire the "Always Kiss Me Goodnight" sign too, but decide I can make it myself for much cheaper than the $50 they're selling it for. The scripted letters are sewn on cloth in cursive and then matted into an unglassed frame. Very easy. I have plenty of material of my own that all I'd need to buy is the frame. Simple, and much cheaper than $50.
I get back and it is 5:45 by now. The kids are eating ice cream now, but Josh didn't buy me any! I take a bite of Adam's (which permission!) and he throws a fit about how it was a huge bite (it wasn't!!!). The kids finish their ice cream, and we wrap them all up in their coats and leave.
I drop Josh off at his office again at 6:12pm, say goodbye, and drive off into the dark sky for home. It's 36 degrees, but it feels as cold as when we left this morning.
It's 6:30 when we get home. We were gone for 10 hours. I can't believe we were gone all day. But it was a very calm day, except for Adam, but he's always like that no matter where we are. Adam fell asleep in the car, and Livea is complaining about her hair for some reason. I get everything and everyone in the house, from the garage, cozy them all up in warm pajamas, and look for a movie for us to watch. The Grinch is on, which they've seen before, and while it is not completely wholesome, it isn't completely unwholesome, so I let them watch it. It is still on now, just about over. Livea nursed and is up in her crib fast asleep by 7:30. I told the kids that after The Grinch ends they are going to bed, but of course now Jenna is hungry.
It's 8:44pm. There is clean and folded laundry on my dining room table. There are cards all over the floor that Livea got into this morning before we left. My sewing machine and serger are out on the floor beneath the table (waiting for me to finish my projects!) and the kitchen is still swimming in eggy breakfast plates and the dishwasher loaded with clean dishes waiting to be put away. The fireplace is hot and calling my name to come close and cuddle up with a black and white movie, a squishy blanket and a cuddly kid or two, too. It is Adam's turn to sleep with me tonight (with Josh being on duty I let them take turns sleeping with me), but usually what happens is they all sleep in my bed and I sleep on the couch. I don't normally mind, but with Livea sleeping in her own bed now, I couldn't stand it to think she was sleeping alone. Maybe I will sleep in Jenna's bed tonight (it is the most comfortable bed in the house).
A Friday in the life of us. Whew. I'm tired just rethinking it all, and I'm not even done yet.