Monday mornings come EARLY for me. Most other days of the week Kyle is up before me and gets the kids breakfast going while I peel myself out of bed. On Mondays, Kyle's Small Group Guys meet at 6:30 (AM!) and he leaves the house at 4:30, like a crazy person, to go work out before his group.
Our kids are early risers, but they aren't allowed to come out of their room until 6:30. LK cheated and crawled in bed with me at 6:15 and the bros shortly after. I was able to snuggle till 6:45 and then got up, threw on some clothes and started breakfast.
Don't I look ravishing and thrilled??
Breakfast on Monday is AS EASY AS POSSIBLE. Yesterday it was pop tarts, yogurt, and orange juice.
I feel like every time I turn around someone spills something. 2 times out of the 3 Fischer is the culprit.
While the kids are eating, I try to lay out the kids clothes on their beds. (Though yesterday, the boys had a PJ day since we didn't go anywhere) (I know, I know... at some point I should get better about that... goals....).
I got Archer up at 7:00, changed him, nursed him, and fed him breakfast (he gets really excited about food as you can tell by his dancing).
During this time I had Laura Kate get dressed and I fixed her hair.
We usually leave to take LK around 7:35. Shepherd is so sweet and opens my door for me every morning. Loading the kids is a chore. LK can buckle herself and the bros can each halfway buckle themselves, but still require help and adjusting, and Archer still hasn't gotten the hang of buckling himself either ;).
On the way to school, I try and play praise music and I have the kids take turns praying over each other's days. Even though sometimes this is like pulling teeth, it has become one of my favorite times of the day. ( I got in my seat and took this picture before I realized I forgot to buckle the Squish. Don't worry... I buckled him before we went anywhere!)
We dropped LK off in the carpool line (which is not for the faint of heart), and headed back home.
When we got home I started a load of laundry and cleaned up after breakfast.
The boys' show was still on so I made my bed and did my hair and makeup. Archer and his toy bucket typically tag along with me.
I played with my boys a little and then it was time to get Archer down for his morning nap, and Room Time for the bros. (You can read about how I typically do room time here.) Lately, I have been starting Fischer in the play room and Shepherd in his room for the first half, and then letting them have the last half together.
Fischer decided he didn't want to have his picture taken so he hid in the corner.
During room time is when I try and sit down and have my Quiet Time. My favorite spot is my back patio. I've been going through (again) this book right now. I love it so much and is such a good reminder and encouragement for living out the Gospel every day in real ways.
After that, I got dinner in the crock pot which just happened to be Fun Jen's Slow Cooker Chicken Tacos... my favorite.
I went to get the boys out of room time after that, and discovered that Fischer had sniffed out a crayon in their room somewhere and fancied himself a mural. Y'all. Just, I just can't even deal with this anymore. Just praise the Lord for magic erasers. Praise Him all ye little children.
After scrubbing the walls, someone was ready to get up for lunch! I changed and nursed him and then got lunch going for the bros.
And of course.....another spill... Shepherd this time.
After the boys ate, we played for a little bit and at noon, they went to their napping beds for Reading Time. (Read about why and how we do Reading Time here and here). While the boys are reading in their beds, Archer had a little bit of Room Time in his bed.
I took advantage of them being occupied and vacuumed the rugs yesterday. (This is not a daily occurrence, lest you think I am one of those clean people, it just happened yesterday).
I love living so close to Kyle's office so he can come home for lunch! He played with Archer a little after room time and got the bros down for their naps, and I got to run out and get a coke since I was barely hanging on after Halloween and the Time Change!
During nap time, I worked on the blog a little and finalized my stuff to be part of Amazon's affiliate program. (You can now shop my own amazon store right here! )
Archer was the first boy up, thank you time change, so I fed and changed him just in time for Fischer to wake up.
Normally Fischer never wakes up happy, he's a very cranky waker, but yesterday he was all smiles. And boy do his smiles just hit me in the gut!
Yesterday, the serviceman was supposed to come clean our couch and might have arrived during the time I needed to pick up Laura Kate, so I asked Kyle to pick her up for me. Love seeing her sweet face walk through the door.
I got the kids a snack and turned on a show so I could sort and put up the clean load of laundry.
Then Archer and I moved to kitchen to work on a couple things for dinner.
I made some of our favorite salsa, that I affectionately call Texas Neighbor Salsa because we got the recipe from our Texas neighbors (Hi Steve and Colleen!!). Pretty much you throw the following in a blender: 2 cans of Stewed Tomatoes, 2 or 3 Jalapenos (seeded for mild... I leave in approximately 3 seeds because I'm a wimp), habanero peppers if you like to burn your mouth for fun, a bun of cilantro, 3 garlic cloves, and salt to taste. YUUUUM. So good you can drink it.
Also my friend Amy told me about cooking raw tortillas at home so you can eat them fresh. Since I no longer have a Rosas down the street to buy fresh tortillas, this is AWESOME. Amy gets hers at Costco, but my Costco doesn't carry them. I did, however, find them at Walmart. They are in the refrigerated section right down the aisle from the refrigerated biscuits. This has seriously changed my life.
We ended up eating dinner a little early because of the time change and we were all starving and it was pitch black outside and felt like midnight. Also because the couch cleaning guy still hadn't shown up yet.
He did finally end up showing up and thoroughly stressing me out. I feel similarly about this kind of thing as I do going to the dentist. Here's the thing about furniture warranty's... even if you follow all of the requirements to the letter of the law, you will still do it wrong. But I adore my couch and I am still so glad I got it and now I will just file claims for every single little thing so that nothing can be considered "accumulation" and the Service Guy and I will be BFFs because that's what I paid for and that's essentially what he told me to do and should have been doing all along. Mercy! Excuse my rant and run-on sentence.
In the middle of the cleaning process, I bathed Archer. The big kids got a skip night since my couch cushion covers were drying on the shower curtain rods in both bathrooms.
After my new BFF left, I nursed Archer and got him down for the night, and headed out to meet MY small group girls. So thankful for our church and being able to connect so quickly with new friends here!
(Also, we used the timer on my phone camera for the first time! fun!)
When I got home, Archer woke up early for a dream feed... thank you time change. Kyle had so sweetly put away dinner and the dishes for me. I swept the kitchen floor (does anyone else feel like they could do this 37 times a day and it would still need to be swept again??) and packed lunches.
Then, I decided to skip my bath because it was Monday and Dancing With The Stars was waiting for me. So I plopped down in my chair (because my couch had no covers on the cushions) and watched. I cried three times because it was icon night and Andy danced for his mom, and Nick danced for his wife who after a year of trying is pregnant with their first baby, and because in spite of the slip ups, Mark's choreography to David and Goliath for Alexa's Argentine Tango was one of the best things I have ever seen in my whole life!
I fell into bed around midnight.... whew!
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What a hectic day, but full of joy, too. Love the photos, Carrie! Blessings!
ReplyDeleteSo much joy :)
DeleteVery cool. Mother of 4. Thanks for sharing with us!
ReplyDeleteThanks for reading Katrina!
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