What do we do in a day

Today was an interesting day, so I thought it might be fun to let you peek in what we do during a typical (or not so typical) day. I've been so blessed to have family here helping me (Lane's Sister was here for the entire month of October and Lane's Mom was just here last week) that I'm not used to doing this by myself. My house is a wreck! But maybe after you read this, you'll understand why...

The children woke up a bit before 7 am. We are all slow to wake and spend a lot of time cuddling. Most days I put cartoons on so they can slowly wake up while I get showered and dressed. I don't think we did cartoons today though, but I can't remember for sure. (I didn't shower, anyway. I don't think I smelled all that bad.)

I do remember there being some conflict between JD and Matt, as happens many, many times a day. JD's been doing this "pretend hit" thing lately and I pulled him aside this morning to talk again about why that is inappropriate. We looked at Matthew 5:21-22 to try to show that sin begins in the heart, but I don't think it was the best verse for that (have any other suggestions?). Moriah wanted to read the Bible too so we flipped over to read Psalm 1 together.

Once all the diapers were changed (after 6 weeks of trying, I've given up potty training with Matt so I'm back to 3 in diapers!) and Matt had taken his medicine (for allergies and asthma), we went downstairs for breakfast. "In my pj's?!" Matt asked me incredulously. I was glad to see he was getting used to having to get dressed (and teeth brushed hopefully) before going downstairs, as it's been a struggle for me to have a consistent routine with the kids but I'd be so frustrated when they were still in their pj's by lunchtime. But, hey, it's Saturday, so the pj's were just fine.

Breakfast went as breakfast always does. I'm up, down, doing this and that, taking JD potty, doing some dishes and/or laundry, fulfilling demands - excuse me, I mean, "requests" - from the children for more juice/cereal/bagel/whatever.

After breakfast the kids settled into Saturday morning cartoons and I wrote the previous post on this blog. (Several have asked me how I have time for this blog. Now you know. I use that mind numbing TV device!) Moriah got bored with the cartoons pretty quickly and moved on to drawing with crayons. It wasn't too long before Matt joined her as well. We also had a nice phone call from my niece Madison at some point. Matt talked her ear off.

Finally I got the kids all dressed (before noon so I'm doing good! Well, except that their teeth weren't brushed...) and we went outside to play. It was cold and windy but we played for a little while anyway. I had Bethany strapped to me in the baby carrier so I zipped my jacket all the way over her to keep her snuggly warm. JD asked me, "Did you sell Bethany?" Ha, ha, JD, of course not. So I unzipped my coat to show her and he said "Oh, I thought that was the baby brother in your belly. You know I prayed for both a baby sister and a baby brother. When do we get the brother?" Umm....

A MOPS (mothers of preschoolers) friend dropped by with another friend so we could give her a gift that our MOPS group had generously donated to help her since her home was flooded. It was fun to be a part of blessing someone else. She was very surprised and grateful.

After they left we went inside for lunch, which was just Pizza Hut leftovers from dinner last night. Again, it was hard for me to sit down and eat. Again, I was up, down, doing this and that.

We tried a couple science experiments next. JD has been waiting for months for these Magic School Bus science experiments. They finally came yesterday. But in their great excitement about the experiments, milk was spilled and I was not happy (had to be milk... what's that saying... "don't cry over spilt milk"?). So we postponed the experiments until a time when it wasn't so chaotic. (Is there ever a time like that? Well, except for now, when they are all asleep?)

Instead they watched more cartoons and I talked to my mom on the phone and made brownies. I need chocolate when I feel stressed. Moriah came in while I was fixing the brownies and I gave her a piece of Daddy candy. (We have a Daddy candy jar where they get a piece of candy every day until Daddy comes home. It's a nice visual to show them how much farther we have to go, since they are too young to understand the calendar.) Moriah disappeared after this and when I went to find her, she had put herself down for a nap. Guess she was very tired! It wasn't even 1 o'clock yet and she normally naps at 2 o'clock.

Shortly after that a friend called, who we were suppose to be meeting at a neighborhood park at 2 o'clock. She said it seemed too cold for the park and we changed the plans to have everyone come here to play. I was glad she called because I was ready to call and let her know we wouldn't make it since Moriah was napping and I was concerned about Matt's allergies since his eyes looked so red and puffy today. (And he was acting wild. He's always harder to handle when he doesn't feel good.) Playing here at home with our friends was such a better plan.

Then we were surprised by yet another MOPS friend dropping by with a rose for me and lollipops for the kids. Her church's small group was out doing random acts of kindness, specifically for families with deployed spouses. It was a very nice surprise.

JD had a huge fit after they left though about Matt having a chocolate lollipop. Oh, the injustice of only one chocolate lollipop. The ungratefulness of children really frustrates me. He and I had a very long talk after he finally finished throwing a fit, as well as getting his non-chocolate lollipop taken away. (He did get 2 brownies later though. So don't feel sorry for him.)

But then our friends come over to play and that was a really nice time. (How many times have I used the word 'nice'?) We've been getting together almost every weekend to let our kids play and us moms talk. There are two other moms and five other kids, in addition to us. All three of our husbands are deployed but they aren't deployed together (don't even think they know each other) so it's kind of random how we started getting together.

After they headed home, we tried the milk experiment again. It worked better this time. Still a lot of chaos, still some messes, but I was handling it better at least (not perfect, but better).

Then it was time to load up in the minivan. Always an adventure getting them all loaded up and strapped in. We did a brief stop a few doors down to drop off some things to our neighbor, then went through the Smithfields drive thru to get dinner. We needed chicken bones for one of the experiments, so we figured chicken would be a great dinner. (Yes, we eat out a lot. I'm not much of a cook and I don't like doing dishes.)

Dinner was like the other meals. I had a few bites now and then between all the demands (yes, demands, not requests this time, as they were mainly from Bethany who only knows how to demand and demand loudly) and diaper changes (what's the deal with that being at mealtimes?!).

Moriah stripped off all her clothes after dinner and went to the potty. She is determined to figure this out, but, God helps us all, she still doesn't get it. My neighbor picked this opportune time to knock on the door. He was being very nice. He saw that the lights were left on in our minivan but couldn't figure out how to turn them off. I went out to help. Moriah followed. No clothes. Very cold. Nice. She went promptly in the warm bath after that.

I briefly considered bathing the other three children as well. It is Saturday. I do like to get them sparkly clean before church on Sunday. Not because I'm trying to impress the church people (I hope not anyway) but just because it's a good anchor point for me. I bathe them all and clip their fingernails on Saturdays. That way I don't forgot. (Yes, they get baths more often than once a week but this is my only "scheduled" bath time. The rest just happen whenever I get a chance.) Anyway, today I was too tired. They smelled fine to me. And they're cute too.

After lots of playing and reading and playing and reading (and they all did brush their teeth finally), Moriah and Bethany were put to bed. Then the boys and I snuck back downstairs to do the experiment with the chicken bones and I cleaned up the dinner dishes. Matt was a two blinks away from sleep at this point so I sent JD to watch Food Network (he loves it. Honest!) while Matt & I went to cuddle.

Then I came down to sit with JD and write this incredibly long post. Are you still reading?! I'm sorry it got so long! JD has long since gone to bed, but Bethany woke up again. I've just nursed her and I'm going to try to put her back to bed so I can get some sleep too. She's still waking quite a bit at night but I'll take any sleep I can get. I'm sorry for any misspellings. Good night!