A Day in Our Crazy Life IV

It's been six months since my last one... time for another day-in-the-life post!  I actually took these pictures a week ago but it has taken me 7 days to write this epic post.  It was a busy day!!

Tuesday, March 18, 2014...

5:25 AM My alarm goes off.  After hitting snooze once, I put on my workout clothes and head down to the playroom to do a Crazy 8 workout.  It is only slightly easier than it was last week when I did it for the first time in about 6 months.  I'm hoping to keep it up on a weekly basis but man... it is totally kicking my butt.

6:23 I finish up and head upstairs.

6:30 C is awake.  She requests a poached egg for breakfast.

Daddy is leaving for work and he kisses us both goodbye.

6:35 L is awake.

... and the sun is starting to come up.  L and I watch the sun rising out the window for a few minutes.

6:40 L requests Lucky Charms for breakfast (I bought them for dessert last night as a special St. Patty's Day treat!)  Both C and L wait at the table, and while I'm in the kitchen getting the bowls of cereal ready, I place a candy trail of Andes Mints in the front hallway (just like last year!) that indicates the leprechaun has visited our house.  (Meant to do this last night but forgot... I'm lightning fast and sneaky so I can make this happen, since the leprechaun is already a day late and there was much disappointment when everyone woke up St. Patrick's Day morning and no leprechaun and visited.)

6:45 I serve the Lucky Charms, and of course C wants some too, so I pour her a small bowl even though I already have a poached egg cooking for her.

6:50 L gets up from the table to use the bathroom, and on her way finds the candy trail.

Of course she wants to have a piece, so I let her have one and tell her we'll wait until N wakes up to have more.

6:55 The poached eggs are finished... I serve C hers and sit down to eat mine and drink coffee.

7:00 Both younger girls are finished eating and get down from the table.  Keeping them away from that candy and making them wait until N wakes up is very difficult.  She's usually awake by now so I reassure them that she'll be up any second and they just need to be patient a little longer.

7:15 I'm finished with my breakfast.  The girls have been very patient playing in the living room and waiting, but they're getting antsy again.  We break out the play-doh to keep them busy while N is still sleeping and I'm busy cleaning up breakfast and making N's lunch.

7:20 I clear the breakfast dishes from the table and make toast for N so that I can quickly poach her an egg when she wakes up.  I begin packing her lunch-- apples and peanut butter, pita chips and hummus, and sliced fresh strawberries.

7:35 N is still not awake and the younger girls have abandoned the play-doh.  I tell them they can open N's door because it's time she was waking up anyway.  They head into her room without a sound and silently stand by her bed until she wakes up.  I wish I had gotten a picture of that because it was pretty funny.

I allow them each to have three pieces of chocolate while I poach N's egg.

7:45 N sits down to eat and wants to write a thank-you note to the leprechaun.

7:50 I start washing breakfast dishes and packing N's lunch while simultaneously encouraging N to eat quickly and dress herself.  The bus comes in 20 minutes.

8:15 N is dressed and brushed and washed, and her reward is to watch 5 minutes of Curious George before the bus comes.  She puts her coat on as she watches and I pack her bag with her lunch, snack, and take-home folder. (L is dressing herself while we do all this.)

8:19 N and I head out to the bus stop.  We have it timed down to the minute because we never want to wait out in the cold longer than we have to.  Although on that morning it was nearly 30 degrees when we went out, which felt like a heat wave.  Still, the younger girls wait inside and watch George.

8:21 The bus comes and she's off!

8:30 We turn off George and I change C's diaper (potty training has been a fail with C... not because she's not ready, but because Mommy is lazy... more on that later!) and get her dressed.  She asks for a ponytail and I snap a pic after putting it in because I know it will get pulled out in five minutes.

8:50 We're dressed and ready and bundled up, and it's off to preschool (with fairies and ponies in tow)!

(she'll grow in to that backpack eventually!)

9:15 We drop L off and then C and I head to the grocery store to pick up oyster crackers for tonight's leftover soup dinner.

9:45 We arrive back home.  We move our seedlings out onto the sunny porch and C helps me water them.

After that, I empty the clean dishes from the dishwasher, load in the dirty ones, start a load of laundry, and fold a clean load.

While I do these things, Princess Leia keeps herself busy playing on the porch, interrupting me a few times of course.  Once she happened upon me having a baked oatmeal snack...

...and she pried it out of my hands

and it became hers.  That girl loves oatmeal.

11:20 We get on our coats and leave to go get L at preschool.  Before we leave I throw the laundry in the dryer.

11:45 We arrive and gather up her finished projects from her cubby as teachers sing the dismissal song.  She's already bundled in her hat, mittens, coat and snow pants-- they have "practice" every day dressing themselves.  She whizzes past me to get her backpack:

12:25 We arrive home and have our usual preschool-day ritual of C and L watching Sid the Science Kid while I make lunch.

I'm starving and I snack on way too much leftover Irish soda bread while making their lunch and mine.

1:00 We turn off the TV and sit down to eat lunch together

Pita chips, hummus, strawberries, and a smoothie for the girls.  Salad and smoothie for me.

1:20 I take C in for her nap.  She decides to wear the Princess Leia buns to bed.  Silly girl.

Check out her smoothie freckles!

Love those smiles.

I read Star Wars 123 to Princess Leia, give her a kiss, tuck her in with blanky, and close the door.  She's asleep within 20 minutes.

1:45 I come out from C's room to find L playing happily on the porch.  I clean up lunch dishes while she plays and make myself some afternoon coffee.

2:00 Since L isn't napping much any more (maybe once or twice a week) we usually just read some Little House on my bed together for a few minutes so she can have down time.  So it's "On the Banks of Plum Creek" and coffee for Mama.  One of my favorite parts of the day.

2:20 We finish reading and L goes back to the porch to play quietly.  I start my Tuesday grading and question-answering for my online course.

3:20 It's time to go to the bus stop.  L and I get coats on and walk out to wait for N.  We chat with our neighbor from across the street while we wait, and she invites N and L over to play for a while after the bus comes.

3:35 The bus comes and N and L join their friends at their house across the street.  I'm able to buzz through the rest of my online teaching work and fold some laundry.

4:00 M comes home from work.  He heads out for a quick run since all is quiet at home!

4:25 C is starting to wake up.  I put her at the dining room table with some art supplies while I finish up folding laundry.

4:45 The bigger girls come home.  They join in the art-making party.  M is just getting back from his run.

I unpack N's school bag and take a glance through all of her papers.  She reads me a book she made at school and I almost cry with pride.

5:00 The girls sit down with a little PBS Kids while I heat up leftovers for supper.

5:30 We sit down to eat.  Leftover broccoli soup for M and the girls, and I finish up some bean bourguignon.

6:15 We're finished.  I clean up dishes and put away clean laundry while M and the girls hang out.

Watching a music video of the Happy song, if I remember right.

7:00 Bedtime routine begins with the girls.  The older two are pretty self-sufficient about getting themselves ready for bed independently these days, which is pretty nice.  Bedtime routine is feeling easier and easier.

7:20 PJs are on, teeth are brushed, potty has been used by everyone.  I read the girls two stories.

7:45 The lights are out, kisses have been given, and all is quiet.

8:00 Mommy and Daddy time.  We don't watch any TV because we're all caught up on the shows we care about.  We just sip wine and talk.  We end up talking for nearly two hours.  You know, even an introverted individual like myself really needs someone {trustworthy and caring} to talk to.  Most of the time I don't even know that I "need" to talk... but M has this way of poking around and asking questions and all of the sudden I realize that there's a lot of stuff in my head, and that it may be stuff that is mildly stressful, emotionally.  Even if I don't find any solutions to my "problems", there's something intensely relieving about having that stuff on the outside rather than the inside of my brain.  So thanks, husband.

9:30 PM We're asleep.  Party animals!!