Stealing
Natalie's fabulous idea for a glimpse into everyday life as a housewife and mother, even if it's only for the future's sake. I often wonder how my mom did what she did and when she found time to read her book (she always had a book) because she had twice as many kids as I do. Maybe one day my kids will wonder about what our house was like on a regular old day. Or maybe not. :)
And so, a typical Tuesday. This is boring. You can leave now if you want.6:40 am: My alarm goes off. Hit snooze.
6:42 am:
Neal's alarm goes off. He hits snooze.
6:44 am: Mine goes off again. Hit snooze.
6:48 am: Neal's goes off again. We give each other a look like "didn't we just do this?" a quick hug and a stretch and stumble out of bed. Neal goes into the shower, I go to wake up Audrey.
6:50 am: Miles wakes up. He is an
alarm clock with chubby cheeks and wispy hair.
6:58 am: Tell Parker to go back to sleep. He can
not play the computer, so he might as well stay in bed. He ignores me and stumbles out to the couch with
gamenent dote. He's wearing only underwear. We're excited because he went all night without a bloody nose.
7:01 am: Audrey FINALLY gets out of bed, after much pleading and me telling her how fun school will be and how many more days there are until Saturday. We get her dressed, get her breakfast made (usually cinnamon roll oatmeal or cereal and a small cup of OJ). Pack the backpack, fix the hair, brush the teeth.
7:15 am: Neal eats his yogurt, shares a bite or two with Miles. Parker's still on the couch. Miles slaps him in the face over and over. Cuz it's funny.
7:20 am: Neal and Audrey are out the door. Audrey talks the whole way, starting before the front door is even closed.
7:20-8:30 am: I repeat the above process with Parker, change Miles' diaper and give him food, too. I jump in the shower very quickly, put on some mascara, and we're out the door by 8:35. To go to the same school where Neal just took Audrey 45 minutes earlier.
9:15: Miles and I arrive home. He plays for a bit, we snuggle in the glider, and he goes down for his nap a little before 10:00.
10:00: I check my email, post on
A Room Somewhere, clean up the kitchen, put in a load of laundry, straighten up the house a bit, make the beds and take a little nappy-poo. The phone's off the hook. Don't call me. :)
11:15: Miles wakes up. We have a little bit of lunch, do more laundry, play on the floor, read books, and put on real clothes. I make a few phone calls (get dinners set up for a friend in need, arrange new horseback riding lessons for Audrey) and clean up the kitchen. Again.
1:30: Time to get back in the car to pick up Parker. Bring the phone & make more phone calls. We get out and wait for Parker instead of waiting in the dang carpool line. Then we run errands (bank, Garden Ridge, gas station) until about
2:50, when we return to the school to get Audrey. This time, we
do wait in line, but we're the first ones there. The boys "unstrap" and play in the car while I go through coupons, clean out the car or read a book.
3:10: Audrey gets in the car. We discuss her day on the way home. We also discuss how hungry she is, who got in trouble in class and why, and what kind of owie she got today.
3:30: We return home, and I vow not to leave the house again the rest of the day. Miles goes down for his nap. He usually falls asleep as we're pulling into our street.
3:30-5:30: Audrey does her homework (3 minutes) and practices piano (20 minutes). Both the kids have a small snack, we read a couple of books and the kids color or Parker watches a cartoon. I check my email and reluctantly start on dinner. Clean up the house because Miss Pam is coming for piano lessons. Miles wakes up around 4:15. I finish up dinner and bring it to my friend's family while Audrey has her lesson.
5:30: Stall time until Neal gets home, and upon his arrival, we immediately eat dinner.
6:00-7:30: I clean up the kitchen, the kids usually go outside with the neighbor kids to hunt for frogs, ride bikes, or draw on the driveway with chalk. One or both of us joins them and chats with the other
parents. Miles gets really dirty trying to crawl on concrete (just walk already, dude!), we each get about 4 mosquito bites, and then we go in for a bath.
7:30: All three kiddos in the tub. Miles goes teetee in the water (but we don't tell anybody), we discuss Audrey's owies again, talk about why Parker always gets washed first (because he doesn't mind, that's why), soap up the squishy baby and put on pajamas. Neal is either working on his fish tank or checking his email. Or he does the bath, and I clean up the kids' rooms and do a little laundry.
7:50: We let our kids have a bedtime snack. Because we need to fatten them up. Tonight we made sugar cookies and decorated them (my craving). We ran a few over to the neighbors, because little Alex asked so politely and is hard to say 'no' to. Clean up the kitchen, again. Have family prayer, read a bit of the Book of Mormon, brush teeth and lights out.
8:15-9:30: I decompress, usually at the computer, catching up on blogs and email. Quick gchat with Natalie. Neal works on his thesis, sometimes scooting over to reef sites for short breaks.
9:30-10:30: We usually watch something we have taped while I fold laundry and Neal still works on his thesis. Both of us will have a little bite to eat (cereal) (or cookie) (s). No lunches to make tonight. Audrey's buying hers tomorrow! Go over Audrey's take-home work with Neal and realize she had homework we forgot about. :(
10:30ish: I wash my face, brush my teeth, hop in bed with my book, and try to convince Neal to come to bed, too.
11:15: He does.
Cleopatra, Cave Baby, and Mummy.
Cleopatra, Cave Baby, and Mummy.
Doesn't she look awesome?? I totally want to be Cleopatra now, if I ever dress up.
The coordinating ancient Egyptian mummy, complete with "mouth cracks" (Parker's request) and Spiderman flip-flops.
The cutest neanderthal I've ever seen. And the squishiest.
Posts
