This Is My Life: Monday

My Mom will occasionally call and ask, "What did you do today? Fill me in on any cute stories about my grand kids." Or, Grady will come home from work and say, "How was your day?" 

I'm always busy. I'm always moving. I've always got a To Do List. And, for goodness sake, I have three little people I'm always trying to keep alive. But, sometimes I don't have anything to say and I can't come up with an answer other than, "You know, just usual mom-type stuff."

Since time really does seem to fly and my kids are changing by the day, I thought I'd take time to document a "normal" week for me. Nothing super unusual or out of the ordinary planned for this week so why not make an effort to remember how I'm spending my days. I know that someday I'll look back on days like these be thankful for the details of the monotonous.

So, beginning today, bright and early on Monday:

Laundry. Three loads of clothes sorted, washed, folded, and put away. 

Once I got laundry going, I pulled the boys away from a cartoon to get dressed, make their beds, and come down for breakfast. During breakfast we worked on reciting Psalm 23 and I realize that we need a lot of practice once we get to verse five.

After breakfast, they entertained themselves with another cartoon and computer games for an hour while I tackled the pile of clothes needing to be ironed. I've neglected ironing for over two weeks and have a massive pile.

While ironing, Micah raced in and out of my room with his fire trucks... while wearing his pistol holster and his safety goggles, no less.

His very loud siren noises inevitably woke up Annalyse and he was eager to run in say good morning.

At about 9:00ish Annalyse is eating breakfast, the boys are eating snacks, and I'm mentally thinking through the list of errands I want to run as soon as everyone is done eating.

First up is the library - we have a huge stack of books to return. The boys beg to go in but I'm not up for it and tell them no. I feel guilty since I know they love to get new books to read, but I have a long list of places to go before Annalyse needs her afternoon nap.

Next, we head to the post office so I can mail two packages. Despite having the boys use the bathroom before leaving the house, Micah announced, rather loudly, while we were waiting in line that, "I have to go poopy!" Every head snapped to look in our direction as I quietly told Micah, "We don't need to say that out loud and you're going to have to wait a few minutes until we're done."

Next stop was Payless Shoe Source. I'm not a fan of Payless, but I am a fan of BOGO sales, especially when both boys need new tennis shoes and church shoes for the Fall. Annalyse quietly munched on Gerber Puffs while the boys ran up and down the aisle ensuring their choice in shoes allowed them to run "extra, extra fast."

Whew.

Next, we returned some unused paper products to Party City and I also purchased a few things for Annalyses's upcoming birthday. Micah discovered some Curious George accessories he wants for his birthday and Grady Lee found a fireman costume and insists he wants to be a fireman for Halloween again this year.

While paying for things at Party City, Micah wanders and pushes a button on a helium tank and a mini fiasco erupts. I grab him and put him in the cart, Annalyse starts crying because the helium tank is screeching, Grady Lee is standing still with his hands over his ears and yelling, "Why is that loud noise happening?" and the very frazzled, but very patient, cashier has everything back to normal in no time.

Whew.

It's now time for lunch and I remember that I have a few dollars left on a Wendy's gift card. Because the boys have cooperated and shown good attitudes, I decide a quick lunch out would be a fun treat.

The place is quite empty, which works to our advantage since there are three hungry kids I was trying to help all at once. And, a wonderfully nice worker offered my boys a kiddie meal treat despite the fact I  didn't order kiddie meals. My boys were elated.

After lunch, I stopped by the home of a friend of a friend to pick up a gently-used play kitchen set. I've been quasi looking for one because I know that in a matter of months Annalyse will be ready to play with one, and because my boys still enjoy playing grocery store or restaurant in between escapades with firetrucks and dump trucks.

When we returned home, I unloaded everything, put Annalyse down for a nap, and the boys got busy wiping down the kitchen set.

After lots of soap and Lysol wipes, everything is ready to be chewed on, sucked on, and played with. I'm sure Annalyse will be in sensory overload when she sees everything and hears all the different noises.

Next, it was time for me to sit down and take a breather. The boys relaxed on their beds and looked at books for 30 minutes while I enjoyed some microwaved coffee while catching up on email and Face Book.

After catching my breath, I remembered the ironing that needed to be finished and knew there were two little boys waiting patiently for me to say quiet time was over so they could play with the new kitchen set. Usually Micah naps for an hour and Grady plays by himself for an hour, but today I made an exception. Mostly because I wanted them both tired and ready for bed early tonight so that Grady and I could relax together.

Before playing with new toys, though, the boys took care of their dishwasher-emptying chore. It takes longer when they do it, but it's practice in the making and I'm a firm believer that if you're a part of a family you are to be a contributing part of that family.

The boys played. Annalyse slept. I ironed. Insert 10 minute time out for Grady being a bully and Micah screaming. Both merited a time out because both chose to not use self control. I folded laundry. Annalyse woke up and all three kids had a snack.

It's now 4:00 and I've got to think about dinner. [Insert light bulb flashing on in my brain.] I have a rotisserie chicken in the freezer from a BOGO last week. With lots of fresh veggies, some cheese, boiled eggs, and chicken, I decided on salad.

While I diced and chopped, the boys played in the sandbox and Annalyse played with the tupperware.

Grady got home at 5:30; dinner at 5:45; cleanup at 6:10ish; showers; the boys wrestled with Grady; Annalyse was asleep by 7:00; and by 7:45 the boys were in bed.

Whew.

Time to relax with a brownie (or two) and watch a previously-recorded episode of So You Think You Can Dance.

Goodnight, Monday, goodnight.

Oh, and I'm highly annoyed with the issues Blogger is giving me with pictures. Not uploading correctly. Not displaying correctly. Not saving correctly. Maybe Tuesday will offer better luck.