A glimpse at my life.

Lauren, Robert, Missy: Couch Pals

 Let me tell you about my Mondays.  First, Mondays happen to Kevin's only "day off."  By "day off" I mean he gets home from a night shift, sleeps for a few hours and wakes up to help me out.  Because I need help, a lot of help.

When Sunday rolls around, I devote a ton of energy to getting ready for the week and preparing for the craziness that Monday always brings.  Some Mondays try to be even crazier, this was one of those Mondays.
Here's what was happening on Monday.... Wake up in the middle of the night to a sick toddler.  Bring her in, settle her down.  Wake up early and say good morning to my laptop.  Prepare for class, post discussions, respond to students.  Toddler pukes in my bed.  Get boys up and moving, deliver Patrick to school.  Shower and dress for the day, change sheets. Grandpa arrives to sit with the littles.  Back to school, decorate for the assembly.  Back home, reschedule Grandpa's evening babysitting time to accommodate Judo instead of PT, feed kids, get Keith ready for school, deliver Keith to school.  Back home, put Lauren down for her nap, shovel food into mouth, wake Kevin.  Back to school, work in K-1, hang out for the assembly. 

Bell rings, take boys home.  Homework time (Keith gets sent outside to run around, Kevin takes him out, runs him around the block and plays Nerf wars.  That's a nice way of saying that we had a hard time.  Glad Daddy is home.). Scramble to make (finish dinner, I made it the day before) dinner and clean kitchen.  Put dinner on the table, call the boys in from outside , get ready for Junior League remind self to brushteethgetpowerpointgrabnamebadgeandlipglossgivekevincheckbookforjudo. 

Forget most of the things on the reminder list and head to Junior League General Session.  Do the things I need to do at the General Session (including two voting motions) and cut out early.  Back home, sick Lauren is on the couch with Grandpa (Hi Mama!) because she convinced "Robert" to get her out of bed.  Pack up Grandpa and tell him goodnight, put Lauren back to bed (as only Mama can), including lots of required conversation with her friends in her crib.  Pick up the house, shower, change and wait for Kevin and the boys to get home from Judo at 9:00 pm.

Then there are other days when not a lot happens and I let my guard down.  That day is called Tuesday and last Tuesday during homework this happened...... 

Lauren is taking out a patent for the lipstick/eyeliner/blush/mascara/eyeshadow all-in-one.  That's the long-lasting formula.

Everyday

Growing up is about moments.  Knitted together the moments make memories and a childhood.  This morning we had an extra 12 minutes before we needed to leave for school.  Instead of begging to turn on the TV, the kids played with dominoes.  I didn't demand that they played nicely together, they just did.

 Last night, our night lacked the sunshine and roses.  Kevin left for work and I was on my own.  One kid flooded the bathroom.  Another sneezed right in my open mouth.  Another seemed to be unable to complete a task without arguing with someone.  My throat hurt from yelling (Bad mommy).

 When they aren't fighting over whose turn it is to breathe. Or who sat in the chair first.  Or what day it is.  When I stop and take a look, discarding the list, allowing for imperfection.

Then we have moments of peace.  Just simple, boring, happy peace.  And I will always be thankful for that.

naptime

Today I did something I have never done before.  I napped with Keith and Lauren.  Actually, I "napped" with Keith and Lauren because Keith mostly fooled around and woke me up the minute I started to nap drool (3 times).  Lauren napped hard in her brother's bed for almost 3 hours.

Usually naptime is devoted to laundry folding, toilet scrubbing, blog stalking, Real Housewife viewing, playroom tidying, general cleaning and other lovely devotionals.  Today I spent a full hour snuggling with my littles and actually shut my eyes for several minutes.

During that time, Patrick first panicked that we had left him (he was in the bathroom when we decided to nap) and then he wrote a book.  The book is called "My Family" and it is "Dedicated to my mom" (this is pretty much my dream thank you.)  The first page has a picture of me with pink high heels: Mom. The one I love. 

I think our weekend is complete. 

Happy 4-month Birthday to Lauren

No neck

Neck

Bring on Spring!

There is a certain Boy Energy that accompanies Spring.  Lots of movement, lots of singing and dancing, lots of running and jumping, lots of boy.  It is a recipe for a dinner picnic in the park!  Keith wouldn't stand still long enough for me to actually take his picture... proving the point.

Our Everyday with Daddy

In Kevin's line of work you have to learn how to roll with the changes... or they will roll right over you.  It has been a super-exciting couple of weeks at work for Kevin.  So exciting, he needs to change his schedule to accommodate all of the excitement.  How exciting?  35 hours of OT on top of his regular schedule.  See, exciting.

The good news is that now we get weekends with him. Well, weekend evenings because the days are spent studying and writing and mastering his degree.  But we will happily take the weekend evenings... yummy dinners, Wii battles, wrestling, story-time.  We missed this, we really did.

As an added bonus, we "watched" (I was working on taxes and he was writing a paper) the Golden Globes together.  So much more fun than watching it alone.  I was on the E! page making the most of the East Coast spoilers.  I won every bet.

My Everyday Unwrapped: Part Two

If you didn't read Part One, start here.

This face, this smile, this laugh are locked in my memory forever.

The day that was so much like everyday, but in high heels and a nice skirt ended nicely.

It isn't "everyday" without a catastrophic event. Keith managed to knock his barstool over, while he was still strapped to it. He cried, I gave him a hug, Patrick gave him a cuddle and he climbed right back up on the next barstool. When you fall as much as Keith does, getting back up is the most important part.


Dad finally made it home (Patrick was missing him all day) and got some time with Patrick. Dad also got his share of the Cinnamon Twists, which he shared with Patrick of course.
There it is, my everyday, which will soon become my remember when's and will hopefully lay a foundation that is built to last.

My Everyday Unwrapped: Part One

Dear Lady at Vons,
I'm sorry. I needed a time-out yesterday. My ideal grocery shopping trip does not include my 20 month old and most certainly does not include the tiny cart (TM Abby) driven by my four-year old. I heard the word "Mama" in all of its variations about 973 times in the hour (yes, hour) it took to grocery shop yesterday. My four-year old tiny cart driver stood in the path of at least 12 shoppers on 15 different occasions (there were repeat victims). I was trying to wrap up my Christmas shopping at the Von's gift card kiosk with 5 other people and their carts. And then we had to have a potty break! $154 later (that's just the groceries), the baby was grabbing everything in sight, including a pack of Trident and I was grouchy.

The last in-store job was parking the tiny cart. I thought he could handle it. Instead I stood blocking the door while he made jerky motions with the cart, unable to remember where it came from. I am sure that there was not a lot of compassion in my eyes or voice as I screamed at him to park the cart. But you, my neighbor smiled and waited patiently for at least 2 minutes. You were outside on a Friday late afternoon waiting for my four-year old to figure it all out before you could enter Von's. I know that during Christmas time waiting is always multiplied by 7 so thank you for waiting a full 14 minutes for me and my son. And not looking at me like I am a Bad Mommy. And for saying Merry Christmas back to me as I finally realized that you had been too kind. Whoever you are, where ever you are, thanks for the little lesson.

Merry Christmas,
Bad Mommy

Dear Von's,
Love the super charged fuel discount, thanks. Love the super charged gift card kiosk, thanks. Love the 75% off Christmas, thanks. Love the $5 Friday service deli deals, thanks. Do me a favor, GET RID OF THE TINY CARTS!!!!!!

Merry Christmas,
Bad Mommy

______________________________________________________

So here I am, living (by living I mean blogging) my lesson. Until my little Jiminy Cricket schooled me yesterday, I had been ignoring the Everyday Unwrapped concept Emily over at chatting at the sky has been featuring. The concept is simple, take the time to celebrate the here and now moments that make memories, no matter how simple.

I read the post from Kimba last night and decided that my Saturday needed to be unwrapped. And so it was....

I didn't jump out of bed to grab the camera because I was too busy cuddling in bed with both boys. We almost always have an agenda in the morning so this opportunity is uncommon.

Keith had the remnants of a dirty diaper and was in serious need of a bath. Patrick took over bathing his brother while I took a shower. As I got dressed Patrick was explaining to Keith that he still had to wash his feet. Keith kicked a foot up for Patrick to scrub. I was reminded of the story of Jesus washing the disciples' feet in John 13. It was a reminder about our ultimate role-model, Jesus Christ and the importance of taking care of each other. The day proceeded with the three of us serving each other accordingly.

First Things First
Milk, Cinnamon Twists (thanks pillsbury), and Grapefruit.

I said, MILK PLEASE!!! Put the camera down and get the milk!


Patrick likes cooking and baking. He also likes to try new things. He ate a whole grapefruit this morning and asked for more. Twist, twist, scoop.



Help a Momma Out


I know this is my everyday unwrapped because there were six loads of laundry and a dirty kitchen. Patrick is usually my little helper but today Keith was stepping up to the plate. My memories of my boys' little helping hands will forever touch my heart.

Candy Canes and Martha
The boys got candy canes while we watched DVRed episodes of Cookie Week on Martha.






Monster Ball Soup

Patrick wanted chicken and tortillas for lunch, instead we made matzo ball soup. Am I the only one who absolutely loves this soup? Answer: No. Keith Fox Callahan ate 3 matzo balls, all the size of his fist. I always forget that the balls inflate in the broth, I was aiming for toddler sized matzo balls. Oh well. I'm sure Patrick will remind me next time.



Quiet Time
Keith crashed hard, right after he coached me on the correct placement of every blanket and silky in his crib. He is on silky lock down so he is very excited to get in bed with his silkies.



Patrick headed upstairs to play with the big boy toys that were relocated from the playroom to his closet. Hearing him playing and pretending confirmed the wisdom of relocating the toys.


Meanwhile Mommy got to take a little moment for herself. A hot cup of super sweet cafe something or other, Grey's Anatomy and blog stalking. This is the good life people.