Week-In-The-Life: Monday

I hear Eric get in the shower and the boys playing upstairs.  It is 6:45.  I rest for about 15 minutes until Jack and Owen arrive and decide that I need to get up…

Sugary cereal is requested for breakfast.  Oatmeal is offered.  (no!) Eggs are offered.  (Jack says yes).  I get out the bread and eggs.  Owen runs away in protest. “I am NOT eating eggs!”

Jack puts the bread in the toaster while I make scrambled eggs.

Owen returns when the food smells good and eats and asks for more.

Jack eats just the toast and juice…

I heat up water for my tea and for Owen’s thermos (to warm it before I put the food in.)

I make Owen’s lunch and write him a note.

Jack stays at the table not eating his eggs and asks for a cookie instead…

Owen goes in the bath.

Monday is laundry day, so I sort the laundry and put a load in the washer.I help Owen wash his hair and get out of the bath – and give him his clothes.  Then do the dishes.

The monkeys play with their paper airplanes throwing three at a time.

Time for vitamins, getting shoes and coats by the door so they are ready when it is time to go.  Then when it is time to go, Owen goes to the bathroom for forever and Jack decides that he needs a different coat that he can wear in his carseat.  (I only let him wear a hoodie in the car – not a thick coat.  I am a car seat crazed Mama who holds tightly to car seat safety rules.)

Drive to Owen’s school and drop him off. The car is freezing, so the monkeys cover up with their coats.

Back home.  More laundry.

Jack has a bath because he didn’t have time this morning since he took a million years to (not) eat his eggs.

We play puzzles and watch the snow fall. Jack asks for cookies.  I call Eric to make sure it is not snowing in the “real world” down the hill – it is not, so I don’t worry about picking Owen up early.

Jack asks fro a cookie at least 4 more times. I indulge him once with his snack at 10.  I sure that I have just bought myself another round of begging…Jack hides in in the pantry and plays with his toys while I clean the kitchen counters and stove and fridge.Lunch for Jack – PBJ and mango and water.  Jack wants another cookie.

Change over and fold a few loads of laundry.

Jack  watches a show while I take a nap.  I keep telling myself that I cannot nap during the day but I laid down to try to get Jack to take one, and got too tired…

Costco run for fruit for Jack’s snack tomorrow and Owen’s school teachers on Wednesday.

Pick up Owen from school.  He is starving after school, so I always have a snack ready (usually a Cliff Bar) and he will finish his lunch if there is anything left.

Owen ends up in tears as we head into the house.  He doesn’t want to unload the groceries from the car, his backpack is too heavy, and Jack shut the door instead of holding it for him.  We cuddle on the couch and talk for awhile.  Mondays can be hard.  Owen is still getting used to the full day of school and is tired.

Owen’s class costumes arrive for his show later this month.  We open the box and Owen is relieved that the pink skirts are not for him.  What a stud in his 50’s jacket.  The pants are terrible so he can just wear jeans for the show.

Puzzle time! We all work on a 100 piece puzzle together.Great fights break out between the monkeys and we have 15 minutes of room-time (I put away the Costco supplies and listen to an audiobook)  We then finish the puzzle together!  The suggestions of saying “excuse me” when someone’s hand is in the way are working miraculously now!

I make Owen try on two shirts that I bought for him yesterday. He likes them! ( I am my father’s daughter and bought two identical shirts in different colors…the other one is grey.)

Monkeys off to play upstairs while I do more laundry…

They return a bit later and play with my camera while I heat up dinner.  Boys!

Daddy’s late – so we start dinner without him.  Tonight is leftover spaghetti and a rotisserie chicken and canned green beans.  Pretty lame meal.

Daddy arrives in the middle of dinner and eats with us.  Later he reads Owen’s book from school.  Owen made it with the other children in his French reading group – the topic is - things the kids would do- if they could- while their parents are asleep.  There is a lot of chocolate eating, also some tank stealing, construction sight working, and Owen would knock our house over with a wrecking ball??

I cut mangos for Jack to take to school for part of his snack that he has to provide for the class.  I dawns on me that I might not be able to bring this to school since snacks have to be store-bought and not prepared at home…  Oh well, I will bring it with the rest of the snack and see what they say…

Bedtime.  Monkeys put on their pajamas, Eric brushes teeth with them.  They watch a show (Diego) and I fold a load of laundry and put the last load in the washer, and load the dishwasher.

7:10 Jack reads a book to us, then Owen reads part of a longer book. 

I tuck in Owen and talk to him.  Daddy tucks in Jack and talks to him.  Afterwards we switch kids for hugs and kisses.  Kids in bed by 7:40.

I start water for tea and forget about it.

I get the monkeys’ clothes ready for tomorrow.  They are on the couch downstairs.

Label the costumes that go to Owen’s school tomorrow.  Checking my email to make sure I give the correct size to each child.

Off to download photos upstairs.

I remember my tea so I head back downstairs to make it.  Eric and I make the bed up with the clean sheets while the tea steeps.

Blog time.  Jack has come into the office about 5 times.  He usually doesn’t get up, but I think it is too tempting knowing that I am close by.  “I need medicine for my lips that I have not been licking” (I get some Vaseline for his lips) “I need to find my red truck” (you can find it tomorrow)  “I think there is a scary noise in my room that I might hear.” (go back to bed) “I wish I was sick so that you would sleep with me.”  (one last hug, then off to bed!)  “Thanks, Mama!”

Now I am off to read Dracula and watch a Glee…

Week-In-The-Life: Sunday

When I went through the photos of my grandparents of their family I was really curious about the day to day events of their lives.  So many photos were of  being dressed up for special occasions and I was curious about daily dinner and what their every day clothes looked like.  And while I record lots of my daily events on my blog, I thought it might be interesting (at least it might be interesting in 40 years…) to see what the details are. 

So this week, I am going to try to record  all the day to day stuff of our lives.  We’ll see how it goes.  Already I can’t say that I did a great job with the details of today.  I only lasted through the afternoon, and wasn’t sure what to record.  But here is to a start…

Morning.  Eric woke up with the monkeys and let me sleep. I woke to coffee on my bedside table.  Jack always jumps up and gives me a big hug in the morning if Eric wakes up with him. (Like I have been gone away for a few days??)   I love it.

We cuddled and talked for a long while. (Then Daddy decided he needed to shower and comb his hair if he was going to be in any photos…)

Owen reading a Henry and Mudge book to Jack.  Jack not letting go of his paper airplane that he made with Daddy this morning.  After the book was lots of paper airplane throwing from the landing.

Daddy is off reading; Owen playing in his room; Jack and I fold the final load of laundry left over from last Monday.

Lunchtime.  Jack is frustrated with me for something…

Trying to cut up mangos to pack for Owen’s lunch tomorrow.  They are a bit too popular now… I cut up four, but only have about one left – it’s enough I guess.

Dishes – exciting!

Owen and Jack work in workbooks that they are really into right now.

I may have lost track of things after this.  Eric read and did the taxes sometime.  I read, and napped and took a shower somewhere in there.  Eric and I also watched a Glee in there somewhere too.

Later I went out to run a bunch of errands.  Eric made Spaghetti with the boys (their favorite) and played and made popcorn and put them to bed. 

Henry And Mudge

One of my favorite series of books from my 2nd grade teaching days are Henry and Mudge. When Owen was about three he fell in love with the books and I read the whole series to him over and over.  I had most of them, but Owen would also check them out from the library – even the ones we already had.

As Owen started to ask for the series less and less, I grew a little sad.  I had been looking forward to listening to Owen read them to me when he was at that reading level.   But now I figured that he probably wouldn’t be interested in them any more since we had read them so much.  I purposefully have avoided reading these books to Jack for this very reason.

Today the monkeys were playing up in their rooms together, and I went up to see them as it had been quiet for quite some time… Owen announced that he had just read two Henry and Mudge books to Jack. 

 

I felt so happy to hear that Owen was still interested in the books. And while I can’t wait to hear him read these books to me, it was so proud to hear that he was reading them to his brother.  How sweet is that?!

More Snow Play Photos

A Snow Day!

Add hot chocolate with marshmallows,

a nap,

board games and puzzles,

reading books,

homemade chocolate chip cookies.