Late

I am sitting at my computer at 11:40 PM with an infant who is loopy from a mixture of Tylenol, tiredness, a large quantity of snot (sorry), and a short and late nap.

Whee!

Let's see.  We were all up by 7:00.  We then spent two hours eating some yogurt, getting dressed, and painting our nails.  (It was Mimi's idea, I swear!)



School lasted from 9:00 to 11:30.  WOW, and we didn't even finish!  I introduced Ernie to the wonders of double-consonant word ending that make ONE sound (ll, ss, ff, ck, tt, etc.) and how to write those (/s/)  We got through math, and a lot of sound labeling.  We didn't get to the first-ever spelling lesson or the science lesson.  Since she reads so dang well, I've been making her spell out loud whatever words they're asking her to learn to read, so spelling shouldn't be a huge challenge.  I hope.

I completely chickened out on lunch today for the girls: Top Ramen.  And I made Ernie prepare it.  Hey, Wonder Boy was asleep on my lap and if a baby has a cold and he's sleeping?  YOU DO NOT WAKE THAT CHILD.  (This cold is impressive- I set him in an easy chair, and he fell over.  By the time I got to him, he had a river running from his nose to his ear.)

The girls finished their lunch, and predictably declared themselves starving for more Top Ramen.  Two packages ought to be enough for two small children, right?  They're like camels: bird appetites most days, until something good comes along.  Then, stand back!  We spent 10 minutes cleaning up all the clothes and books off their floors and beds in their room, and tucked them in for naps.

I got some good pictures taken for the shop while they were down- the hydrangea background was my favorite of the day.





This last one is too far away, but aren't those flowers amazing?  I have a collection of hydrangeas (among other things) on my kitchen table in assorted vases and cups- the girls love to bring me flowers from wherever they are.  I hope Grandma is OK with the hyrdrangeas they love to claim as souveneirs from her  yard!


I tried a white background, but it just didn't look pretty to me.



All of these are in the shop now, hooray!  The pretty pictures aren't there yet though.  Goofy, I was so excited to get things in the shop!  I also have necklace material being shipped to me- I'm excited about that!  I chose a shiny 2.4mm "ball" chain.  I think it will look chunky enough to balance out the visual weight of the nests, without looking overstated.  I wasn't thrilled with any of the chain options I could find- so many of them just look cheap and flimsy!  (Even if they're not cheap OR flimsy.)

We spent the entire evening at a far-away baseball game- it took at least an hour to get there, and the game ran about 7-10.  By the time we pulled into our driveway at 10:45 we were all exhausted!  The game was adorable- just a minor league game, we sat on the grass behind the outfield and ate cheap hot dogs and peanuts, and the kids got to run around the bases after the 9th inning.  I wish it wasn't so far away!  Unfortunately, Wonder Boy woke up from his little nap just punchy as you please, and ready to play and blow raspberries.  But now it is 12:07...and he's stopped blowing raspberries on the ottoman where he's laying next to me...and that sucker is CRIB BOUND!

August 22nd

Wonder Boy is getting quick hands, and a taste for carbs.  None of this pureed garbage, none of this processed rice cereal.  He wants chunks of grains, thankyouverymuch.  Cooked oats and rice, little nubbins of bread....he wants to KNOW what's in his mouth, and he prefers it be placed there by hand.  Spoons and forks are highly offensive!  Oh and yes: He is the most charming lump of a son I ever did see.  What's the term?  Fat and Happy?

We celebrated a friend's wedding over the weekend- she and her husband had a small ceremony back in June, up in Alaska near their own home (and his family), and threw a formal reception down here for her hometown.  I think the opulence was lost on the kids (catered by a fabulous steak house?  Set in a museum?  Did I mention the steak?) but they zeroed in on what mattered: we had the (after-hours) run of an insanely cool flight museum, and there were large sacks of jelly beans at EVERY place setting.  Instant kid points.

Wonder Daddy fits in a jet fighter.



So does Ernie.  Don't get any ideas, guys.



Ernie and I also attended a funeral in the afternoon, for the mother of a former classmate.  She had a nasty run of cancer, but didn't consider the end of her life as losing.  She figures she won the fight against cancer: she got to leave, and it had to stay here.  We also gave God a big round of applause for sending someone as wonderful as Jan, all against a backdrop of bright balloon bouquets.  Oh, and her son is a stand up comedian and did a bang-up job speaking.  It's a terrible, terrible time for his family, but I've never seen a funeral so full of hope, and that's exactly they way she wanted it.  (She even proof-read the eulogy her best friend wrote.  So yes, everything was exactly the way she wanted it.)



I'm having way too much fun making our nest pendants- three have gone out the door this week, and I'm waiting for the go-ahead on a few more.  The most recent one I've made has SEVEN EGGS.  My gracious.  I love the tear-drop shape it took on, though.  I've almost gone through all my favorite beads- these are howlite stone beads, dyed to such a pretty aqua shade.  They're only 6 mm, and smaller than most beads that I work with, but I love the marbling on them.

A Quiet Afternoon

Ernie came to me with a few yards of fabric, and an armful of my most colorful spools of Gutterman thread, asking to "draw with thread."  I wish you could have seen how she lit up when I carefully stretched a piece of fabric into  a hoop, and showed her my boxes of embroidery floss.  She picked out a dozen of her favorite colors, piled them into an old basket, and started "drawing" with her thread, all straight lines, all different colors.  Mimi chose her own colors, and criss-crossed her own hooped fabric with yards of embroidery floss and a sharp needle- this project has kept the girls busy for the better part of two days now, in their spare time.  Every few minutes they come back to me with a needle and a new color of floss, and I string them up.

I've had to bite my tongue to keep from "helping" Ernie.  Does it really matter if she's cutting off the thread, so close to the fabric, without knotting it?  No.  Does it really matter that she doesn't care if the knotted end of the thread is in front or back?  No.  When she says it's finished, I'll help her glue it onto a piece of cardboard to put into a picture frame, so it can't unravel, but I love seeing her create and dream and work so hard.  

The Week That Ended

First off, a HUGE thank you for your kind response to my pretty new project.

This one is for the shop!


I've been feeling decidedly lack luster lately, seeming to always be needed as accompanist and never as a soloist, the one that makes impressively good wheat bread while everyone goes gaga over someone else's decidedly more flashy style of baking.  I get it, I do, and I'm happy that there are flashy people in this world, and I LIKE doing plain and simple things....but can I say how lovely it feels to post a picture of a new project and have FIVE people request it for their own?  And I made it myself?

(Did I mention that I auditioned for an upcoming show, and was passed over in favor of BYU opera students with enormously huge and fabulous voices?  No?  Well...I didn't have time for rehearsals anyway I guess.  But I'm looking forward to hearing my little brother and husband perform in the show!)

We're so happy to see a new week around here- I was Monster Mom last week, honestly.  I said things, in frustration, to the kids I promised I'd never say.  I stormed and stomped and slammed and made an enormous fool of myself over and over.  Wonder Boy decided to stay up until 2:30 one night, and then the next threw a party from 2 till 6.  I slept in when he slept in, which means the girls gorged themselves on cartoons and marshmallows (judging from what I found after the fact,) and the kitchen was a disaster.

Saturday rolled around, and found my husband working in the office for the day.  The kids and I managed to get out the door by 9:00 (after an hour of foot stomping and hustling on my part) to pick up our produce basket.  We ran errands at the bank and library, and came home in time for lunch with all three children howling about one thing or the other.  It took nearly an hour to clean the girls' room enough to see the floor AND the beds.  And then....Wonder Boy fell asleep.  I got the kitchen entirely cleaned.  My saintly dad showed up to help me weed in the back yard- he told me, once he arrived, that "If you point out to someone they have 6 foot tall weeds in their backyard, then it's your job to come and help pull them."  Ahem.  We spent an hour and a half pulling and digging and stuffing them all into the yard waste bin, while Wonder Boy laid on a blanket in the grass.  Mimi came and joined us after a few minutes, the STINKER.  But Ernie slept.  And for the first time that week, I felt like we were getting somewhere, so thank you Dad.

(Oh, this is what Mimi looked like at 4:30 that afternoon.  She slept till 6.)


While nursing Wonder Boy this morning, around 5, I heard Mimi start to wail.  She was REALLY mad.  I threw Wonder Boy back into his crib, and went in the girls' dark room...no Mimi in her bed.  Turned a bit to the right...bingo.  Feet sticking out from under the bed, and one really, truly angry curly head under the bed frame.  How on earth did she end up sleeping under there?  I heard a thump around 1 in the morning, which might have been her coming off her own mattress (a cheap-o Ikea mattress that has the added benefit of being about 5" tall.  Tumbling off it is no biggie.)

This morning went great.  Real oatmeal for breakfast, I was up with the girls so no clandestine sweets, we all painted our nails, school was fabulous, lunch was delicious, we had time to read a whole stack of books before nap time.  Unfortunately, the girls chose to not nap.  Instead, they came out every 10 minutes or so to request something new, and wake up Wonder Boy (again and again) as he lay dozing on my lap.  Ernie is achingly crazy now, sobbing in her room because I won't let her watch cartoons, and Mimi walked too close to her, and she's afraid of toddlers, and she won't stop crying if I say NO again, and.... I think we'll spend some time painting this afternoon, once she's had a good cry out.  She's desperately tired, I can see that!  At least the kitchen is clean.

(Wait.  News flash: My little sister is coming...the SMOOTHIE SISTER.  And she's bringing smoothies for all of us.  We're saved :)  

A Nest Pendant

My sister, Aunt Lolo, is doing an enormous favor for me this week in her craft room, so I cornered her: Give me an occupation or I shall run mad. (Bonus points if you can name the actor and film!)

She finally admitted she'd been hankering for a nest pendant, and someone to show her how it's made. Done!

She chose beads to be her two kids, her Phoenix and Dragon babies. This was really fun to make, I see a lot more of these in our future.

Q&A

Wow guys-  thanks for indulging me last week in my marathon of by-the-minute updates.  That was actually really fun!  Honestly, I forget about most of my day by the time I go to bed at night, so it was funny to just jot down whatever was happening every time I passed the computer.

I was surprised to find myself a little depressed at the end of the week, though.  I had hoped that writing down everything I did would prove that I DO get a lot of stuff done, but all I saw was day after day of me being busy from 3:30 AM to 10:30 PM and I still didn't get everything done that I needed to.  Weeding?  Vacuuming?  Bathroom cleaning beyond the emergency spot-wiping and mopping that happened every few hours in Mimi's bathroom?  Grrr.  And this isn't even a busy time of year- starting in September I'll be teaching piano 7 hours a week.  Mom's right- I should hire a house cleaner!

Anywhoo.  There were some questions that popped up over the week, I'll answer them here.

The video I shared on August 3rd was put out by "The Piano Guys."  They are steadily gaining a rabid fan base on You Tube and Facebook.  I can see why!  I fell in love with their music when I first heard Jon Schmidt perform Michael Vs. Mozart with Steven Sharp Nelsen.  The Piano Guys own a Yamaha piano dealership in St. George, Utah, and they love to make videos.  They record artists that come through their shop, and publish the videos on You Tube!  Go to their You Tube site, and you can find links to the various artists, as well as links to Facebook and Twitter and all those kinds of places.

Our homeschool curriculum this year was purchased through Calvert School, in Maryland.  They produce their own, original curriculum for grades pre-K through high school graduation, in addition to extracurricular courses like art.  It's a textbook and workbook heavy curriculum that's been wonderful for Ernie so far.   We received our supplies in one enormous box, including everything from textbooks to pencils and paper.  The course comes with a daily, blow-by-blow lesson manual that makes teaching the lessons fool-proof.  My mom used this method when she home schooled my brothers for a few years, and recommended it highly.  The lesson manual is a life-saver: I don't have to think about how to integrate 11 required subjects over the course of a year.

In general, Ernie is SUPER EXCITED to do school every day.  She's a creature of habit, and if I tell her to go get started on her math, she pulls out her math manual and two workbooks, and starts working down the daily check list of required reading and problems, finishing up with a daily "test" online.  Yes, there are days that she's distracted and we don't get everything done, but the beauty of starting school in June is that we have some extra lee way.  We've settled into a rhythm of school in the morning, and then the girls play a bit before lunch and have the rest of the day to themselves after nap time.  There's normally a day every week that school just doesn't happen, and I'm OK with that.

The Baby Bjorn that we've used with all three of our kids is fantastic.  I've heard the Ergo is great too, and we've used a faux Moby Wrap as well.  Mimi preferred the wrap, and Wonder Boy hates it.  He can be happy in the Bjorn for hours, and doesn't mind facing towards me (which is much easier on my back.)  My shoulders get a little sore, but Wonder Boy is nearly twenty pounds...I'm not surprised!  If he insisted on facing out all the time, I don't think I could wear it nearly as long.

"The Berninger" is a friend from church- 3 years ago she basically bribed Ernie to talk to her by offering candy, and so won Ernie's devotion for life.  Kids ADORE this woman.  I think she's pretty great, too!

August 5th

3:30 Wonder Boy gets up to eat

3:45 Wonder Boy goes back to sleep.

4:00 I hear a thump, and wait for the creak of the door.  I meet Mimi in the hall.  "There's a spider in my room."  No there's not.  "I peed in my diaper."  (I check) No, you didn't.  Get back in bed, Mimi.  I tuck her in, and go back to bed.

4:20 I hear the creak again and meet her in the hall.  "Can I sleep in your bed?"  ....Fine.  I forgot that sleeping with Mimi is like sleeping with melted cheese.  She plasters herself over whatever surface is available to her- my face, my arm, my back...and she hogs the pillow.

7:00 Cartoon time for the girls!  Wonder Boy is up, and I feed him again.

7:30 The girls install themselves at the table and start chanting for breakfast.  Umm...well, we're out of bread....you won't eat my smoothies anymore....I make instant oatmeal for both of the girls.  Mimi declares she hates apples, can she have sugar and syrup in her apple cinnamon oatmeal?  (No.)  Ernie says she loves it...but wants to eat it later.  Much, much later.  I load the dishwasher, put hot water and yeast in a bowl for our bread, and start slicing a peach and apple for my breakfast.  I only use half the apple, and give the other half to the girls.

8:00 Shower time!  Ernie starts her math work, and  I bring Wonder Boy in to chill on the rug in my room, and I come out to find Mimi entertaining him with two bike "U-Locks" and a popped bike tube.  Sister Fail!  However, once again I am wearing mascara, AND eye liner, and a pretty shirt.  Plus a braid in my hair.  Despite the sweat pants (they're velour, is that fancier?)  I'm feeling slightly put together.  I really need new pants, I only have exercise pants and a pair of jeans.  However, I despise clothes shopping.  Pants shopping was hard enough before my third pregnancy, and all the weight I'm still packing around...but knowing that my belly button is currently hanging out around my knees is just depressing, and it looks ridiculous in most clothes.

8:30 Get started on the rest of Ernie's school work, but end up just working on some pages we left out the other day.

9:00 Aunt LoLo comes to drop off Ming Wai for the day.  Hooray!  I send her with all my baking sheets and pretty platters for this weekends' wedding reception.  She intends to spend most of the day making potato salad, sliders, and enough cookies for 200 ice cream sandwiches.  Better her than me!  I'll gladly do the shopping and menu math to help out though- she's promised to pay me in ice cream.  Which, given my renewed efforts to lose weight...isn't ideal.  But OH, her cherry chocolate chip ice cream is yummy!

9:30  Oh yes.  The bread.  My yeast is WELL PROOFED now, and I grind wheat to make the dough.

10:00 Dough is rising, and Wonder Boy is hungry again.  I start to feed him.

10:02 Mimi unleashes a geyser...thankfully in the kitchen.  I order her to NOT MOVE, and for once she listens instead of running around.  Mostly because every step she takes lands her on her bottom (caution: floor slippery when wet.)  I put Wonder Boy on the floor and go to mop up the flood and dispose of her wet clothes.

10:15 Girls all run outside to pick raspberries.  I pick up Wonder Boy to finish his interrupted meal- he falls asleep, and goes into his crib.

10:30 Girls are back inside now, and playing with marbles and dolls and jars in their bedroom.  I punch down the bread dough for a second rise.  This is going to be a funky batch of bread...

11:00 Wonder Boy is up!  I start water boiling to make noodles for lunch.

11:30 Lunch!  Top Ramen for the kids (with more sliced apple) and another green smoothie for me, with a handful of raw almonds.  Yum!!  The kids insist on sampling my smoothie, but I'm on to them: each gets 2 tablespoons in a cup, so that when they start dancing around and singing about how disgusting it is...I don't have to throw away too much.

12:00 Feed Wonder Boy, and put him down for a nap

12:15 Call an end to lunch time, and put the girls in their room for a nap.  Ming Wai collects a pillow, a stuffed animal, and a book (??? she can't read??) and heads downstairs to watch a movie for her quiet time.  I throw the bread in the oven, switch a load of towels, make the bed, and drop some mail in the slot.

12:45 Wonder Boy is up.  Le sigh.  I promised a good friend a meal tonight, and I am stressing over it (even after she made me promise not to.)  It's not the cooking, but I want it to be GOOD.  And, there are three adults at the house whom I've never met: what do they like?  I'm leaning towards a big pot of brown rice, with lots of toppings: garlicky braised kale, ginger chicken with shitake mushrooms, chives, cucumbers, and a green salad on the side (my garden needs trimming...trimmings=green salad.)  Ginger is an amazing de-gasser, and we all know how much gas needs to come out of the system after a surgery!!  (Or even after a birth for that matter.)  I'll make a batch of jum jills too, for those late night snacks.  And send a fresh loaf of bread.  But what's for dessert??

12:50 Clean up!  Wonder Boy is well and truly awake, and in need of a diaper, shirt, pants, and bedding change.  Way to go, champ!  (Ew.  Poo!)

1:15 Another feeding for Wonder Boy....

1:30 Feeding was a bad idea!!  He's now spit it all over his outfit and mine.  Aw man....I liked that outfit!  Oh well.  Leggings and a jersey dress now, since my jeans are in the wash.

2:00 Ming Wai's movie is over- she comes upstairs to draw a picture.  It includes every single stamp marker, and every scented marker.  The smellier, the more beautiful!  Ming Wai is totally a smell girl.

2:30 Ernie is up from her nap.  The girls are hungry, and I'm feeding Wonder Boy.  I tell them to get out the animal crackers.

2:35 Our friends arrive!  Little Miss C, Little Mr. M, and their mom.

2:40 Wonder Boy is asleep, I put him in his crib and go check on the status of the animal cracker snack.  Every child is kitted out with a bowl of almonds, a bowl of animal crackers, and a mug and saucer.  There is a creamer of milk, and a creamer of Nesquick.  Dream Big!  I'm petty, though, and warn the girls I expect them to drink the milk they've poured for themselves.  (I've thrown away multiple meals in the last few days, and am might tired of it!)

3:30 Start brown rice for my friend.  I've settled on black bean patties, brown rice, braised kale, and a loaf of bread.  My visiting friend holds Wonder Boy, and we harvest kale, chop onions, and get everything ready.  Between now and 5:30 when I leave the house, Mimi will poop her pants, Ming Wai will run sobbing into the house trying to "hold it" while she goes to the farthest bathroom because that's the one she wants, Little Mr. M will repeatedly remove his shoes and his mother will request he put them back ON while he's outside, and life just continues.

5:30 Hit the road!  I have hot rice, braised kale, fresh bread, korean cinnamon tea, and bean patties.

5:45 Drop the girls with their Grandpa for the evening, and discover the hot cinnamon tea is on its side, and the lid has come undone.  Sadness!  I lost half the drink :(  (1 quart water simmered with 4 cinnamon sticks, 5 coins of ginger, and a 1/4 cup sugar.)  Dad lends me towels to sop up the mess, and a big plastic box to complete my journey.

6:00 Drop dinner off, and coo over an amazingly perfect little girl.  Born 7 lb. 11 ounces, I have NEVER had a child that small.  She's perfect, and lucky to be alive.  (Triple wrapped cord at the time of the C section, and she had to be resuscitated.  Poor thing!)

6:15 Pick up Wonder Daddy!  It's date night!!  We go get my bi-annual "phone upgrade," eat enormous take out burritos in the car while I nurse Wonder Boy, and hit a Krispy Kreme drive-thru on the way back to pick up the girls.  I order a chocolate dipped cone...that sucker is at least 6 inches above the sugar cone.  Luckily Wonder Daddy doesn't mind when I repeatedly shove it in his direction and basically force feed him half cups of ice cream at a time.  Thanks, Wonder Daddy!

9:15 We are home, we've read scriptures, girls are ready for bed, and it's lights out!  Now, Wonder Daddy rounds up his tools to re-string his guitar, I'm typing with Wonder Boy on my lap and rocking him to sleep, and life is looking pretty good.

I'm just going to call today the Day of Body Fluids, OK?  

August 4th

3:30 Feed Wonder Boy

3:45 Back to bed

3:46 Why do I hear music?

3:47 Checking the girls' room for music.

3:48 Find out my husband installed a new alarm on his phone.  It's playing music.  I shake him awake, and shove the phone in his face: "It's playing music."  He acknowledges the fact of the music, hits snooze and rolls over.  At some point, I fall asleep again...hooray!

6:00 Up again to feed Wonder Boy, and Ernie wanders out to see if she can get up yet.  "No, it's not 7:00.  Go read your books."  "But MOOOM!  It's going to take to long to get to 7:00!"  Can't argue with that logic, can I?  She still has to go read, though.

6:30 Wonder Boy back to bed

7:00 Ernie leads Mimi into my room, announcing "She's Poopy!"  Joy and rapture!  Change her diaper, and get breakfast started (big pot of oatmeal.  What we need around here is fiber!)

7:45 Breakfast is over, I go outside to water the greenhouse and garden.

8:00 I have time to get dressed...and I'm even wearing mascara.  Life is looking good today.

8:30 Wonder Boy is up.  Start shunting the girls towards finishing their chores so we can leave and see their cousins!

10:00 Finally roll into their cousins' driveway.

12:30 All the kids are down for naps except Wonder Boy, I blow a kiss good bye and dash out to run errands.

3:00 I'm back!  Wonder Boy missed me, but had a great nap in his aunt's Ergo carrier.  From what I hear, those things are part hammock, part magic.  I have a trunk full of groceries for a wedding reception my sister is catering this weekend, I have a book from the library.  I worked in the temple, and I mailed my packages.  The twin studies we help out with is collecting DNA samples....but we're going to finally find out if we're identical or not!  We're pretty stoked about that.  (Can I just reflect here on what I might get done if I didn't always have children in tow?  But if I didn't have children, there wouldn't BE so much work.  Wow.  Tough cycle!)

4:45 Start moving kids towards car.  One runs off to find shoes, one runs off to finds toys.  Oh, now one is running off to use the bathroom.  The other is collecting hugs and kisses from everybody.  OK, now bathroom girl is demanding marshmallows for the amazing feat she just performed....Wonder Boy is just chilling in his car seat, watching the circus.

5:05 FINALLY roll out!

5:45 Oh dear.  Lots of traffic, and a late start.  We are 15 minutes later for Wonder Daddy's first real bike race, a criterium at a park in the city.  The kids see a play set, and I see cyclists trickling by, so I let them go play while I watch the cyclists for Wonder Daddy.  The girls have been SO excited for this!

(Here's Mimi, practicing her cheer this morning for when he reaches the finish line)



7:10  I give up, and the kids need dinner.  We never saw Daddy, except for one glimpse of his back.  I know the race consists of a loop done over and over, but I never saw him come back.  We head to the car.  I wish I could have found my phone this morning before we left.... is he still racing?  Are the loops insanely long?  I ask a cyclist when the 5:30 race will be over, and it ended at 6:00.



7:30 Pull into the driveway.   Just before him.  He left the park at 6 on his bike, rode to where he parked his car about 10 miles away, and drove home.
Didn't he see us at the park?
Why didn't I go to the upper loop?
What's an upper loop, you told me to be at the play set, and all the cyclists were going by!
Those guys were warming up, the race was on another road.

In the end I feel stupid, and he's relieved we're not in a ditch somewhere (I have 4 phone messages waiting for me when I find my phone, under a chair.)  I make the kids sandwiches for dinner, and everyone gets ready for bed.  Oh yeah, and feed the poor baby.  He hasn't eaten since 3!  He's getting older, he went five hours without much fuss, but most of that was either in a car seat or Bjorn.

8:00 My friend is here!  We're walking buddies, but have fallen off the wagon lately.  We go out for a good LONG walk and talk, with Wonder Boy in the Bjorn.

9:45 Home.  Deposit Wonder Boy in bed, and find some dinner for myself.  Does anyone else eat their oatmeal raw?  1/2 cup oats, some dried fruits and nuts, a little sugar, and some skim milk.  Is this meusli?  It's very, very good!  (Filling, cheap, and fast too.  Not bad!)  

August 3rd

Going strong!

12:15 Wonder Boy up for a feeding and diaper change

1:15 Wonder Boy back to sleep

4:45 Wonder Boy is hungry again...

5:00 Wonder Boy back in his crib

6:30 Mimi climbs in bed with me, installs her curly head on my pillow, and attempts to put her hand on my face.  Thumb suckers have nasty smelling hands.  Just saying.

7:00 Cartoon time for the girls!

8:45  Umm....am I seriously just now getting up?  Yes, I am.  Wonder Boy eats another breakfast.  The girls have toast and milk.

9:00 The Berninger calls...she's coming to visit!

9:15 The Berninger is here.  I'm lucky she's not shocked by the sight of pajamas and messy hair, because that's what I've got going on this morning.  Bring it.  I'm also lucky she doesn't mind chatting with the kids for 10 minutes so I can get a shower...because, really, we all know it's the kids she came to see!  (Oh, did I mention I put Mimi is big girl underwear yesterday?  I'm in trouble: there's only one pink pair in the pack.  I'm in big trouble.)

10:30  The Berninger has left the building, and we start school.  I pull out a bowl of pretzels for a morning snack, Ernie gets dressed, and the math workbooks commence.

11:00 Groupon for a baseball game!  Wonder Daddy was going to take the girls this month, and this will save us a ton.  Hooray!

11:30 Wonder Boy is asleep, and Ernie and I have gotten through most of what we need to do together on her school work.  She works on her pages while I make lunch.  Ernie has a ham and cheese sandwich, and Mimi just has bread and cheese.

12:00 Wonder Boy is up, girls are down for naps.  Boy and I head to the basement to watch the nutrition series, eat a cookie (yum,) and have MORE FEEDINGS (and more lap napping.)  Because I'm pretty sure he's too small.  *snort*

2:00 Ernie is up, and my first two afternoon lessons are here.  I haven't seen them since the beginning of June, and THEY'VE BEEN PRACTICING!  Hallelujah.  One of them went ahead and started the NEXT lesson since he finished everything I assigned, and the other learned two new songs from his "extra" book.  Sweet.

3:00 A small break between lessons.  Feed Wonder Boy again, and get Ernie started on the school work she didn't finish this morning.  Mimi wants to play on my phone, and I say no, and I'm pretty sure I'm a disappointment to her right now.  Wonder Boy falls asleep in my lap, and I put him in the crib.  What are the chances that today he learns to sleep in a crib during the day?  Instead of dropping off wherever I have him laying?  There's always a little fussing before he drops off, which doesn't go over well during piano lessons.

3:30  Last piano lesson of the day is here (my 4:00 and 4:30 cancelled for VBS.)  I teach Ernie to "Never Eat Shredded Wheat" and label her picture with the compass points.

4:00 Piano is finished for the week!  Send a last minute text to all our 12 and 13-year-old girls at church, reminding them that we DO have an activity tonight, and they DO need to bring their scriptures and Personal Progress books (an achievement program for the girls, with activities and studies to do and pass off.)  Call and check in with our convalescing Young Women's president (and her days-old baby).

4:30 Start dishwasher, dole out marshmallows to Mimi after she uses the toilet again (yay!  dry underwear!) and send Ernie across the street to see if their friend can come over and play.  She's 8...I don't know how long this friendship will last, but Ernie is smitten with having a playmate so close.  And the playmate is smitten with our garden.  Win-win, right?  Wonder Boy wakes up, and he is MAD.  I'm grateful for the hour he spent in his crib!  The friend isn't home.

5:00 Get a pot of water started for (whole wheat) spaghetti, and I'll braise some kale and onions, and cook an eggplant with black bean garlic sauce.  Ernie is on the phone with her Nana...and tells her I'm not making dinner (Hey!  It's on the stove!)  and I'm just sitting at the computer (HEY!  I'm nursing Wonder Boy!)

6:00 Dinner is over, for me at least. Mimi is heart broken that I required her to taste the egg plant, and Ernie couldn't possibly eat her kale and eggplant unless I put it in her mouth.  Yes, it was good she said.  But still...I had to put it in her mouth.  Darn straight it was good!  I over ate, it was delicious.  Wonder Boy was tired of chilling on the floor, can't say I blame him.  I always eat too fast when I have babies- I want to get as much eaten as I can before the baby needs to be held again!

I try and keep the Wonder Boy entertained with this video, but he's not buying it.

6:45 Wonder Daddy gets home, and I rush out the door for Young Women's.

7:00 No one is at the building, so Wonder Boy and I spread a blanket on the grass and wait to see if any girls come.  One does...so we pass off some of her requirements, and play a two-person game of Apples to Apples.  It's rather boring, but I'm glad to have the chance to chat with her- I haven't before.

8:45 She asks to  use my phone...poor thing!  She was probably bored stiff, and I thought we were waiting for her mom.  I gave her a ride home.

9:15 SMOOTHIE TIME!  I've been trying to get to my sister's smoothie shop since last week, and I'm finally here.  Thumbs up for smoothie shops that stay open till 10.  She fixes me up with a coconut water-mango cooler, with a "probiotic boost."  Wonder Boy and I chill out in the shop for awhile.

9:45  I'm home, and feed Wonder Boy one last time.  I deposit him in his crib, and go clear up the dinner dishes and put away the leftovers.

10:30 Kitchen is clean, Wonder Daddy's lunch is packed away for tomorrow, and the day is over!  

August 2nd

Tuesday!  There was some serious juju going on last night: all three kids slept ALL NIGHT LONG.  9:30-7:00! I feel alive!

7:00-8:00 Made a smoothie for breakfast: 2 cups kale, 1 cup yogurt, 1 frozen peach, 1/2 cup sugar, 1 cup frozen cherries, 2 cups ice, and water.  Mimi and I loved it, but it nearly made Ernie cry.  Fed Wonder Boy, practiced piano a bit, and got dressed.



8:00-10:00 School time!  Taught Ernie's lessons, made jum jills, and started a batch of wheat bread.  Mimi was excited about that- she told me this morning she doesn't like white bread.  Umm...OK!  Got the kids' laundry started too, Wonder Boy is wearing his last clean shirt, and dirtied his last pair of pants this morning.  Oops :)  Ernie did her chores- fed and papered the worms, emptied the kitchen scrap bucket, and swept up the crumbs under the table.



10:00-11:00  Got the bread shaped and in the oven, folded 4 loads of laundry (while the girls played a computer game) and put them away, and fed the girls a snack (half a banana each, and some jum jills.)  Fed Wonder Boy again, and got the girls started on cleaning their play room.

11:00-12:00  Helped the girls clean their playroom, and fed them lunch.  Bread with peanut butter and ice water.

12:00  All the kids are down for naps...the good juju continues!  Let's hope at least the two littles sleep well, they need it.  I putter around on Pinterest and e-mail, and wonder "If I go outside and transplant basil, how long till Wonder Boy wakes up?  And will he wake up the girls before I can save him?"  It's a tricky thing, which is why I rarely get much done during nap time.  More shame to me.

12:30  Never mind.  Mimi is awake and LOUD.  Pretending something.  Maybe her shoe is a bear, and it's going to eat the cup?  "No no!" squeaks the cup!  I have no idea what she's talking about, but that's as good a guess as any.  At least the baby is asleep!  I remember that I'm teaching the lesson to our girls at church on Sunday, I'd best prepare that lesson, eh?  Lesson 29, "A Change of Heart."  Hmm.

12:45 ....and Wonder Boy is up.  Well, that was fun!  I badly want a cookie.  He and I went downstairs to begin watching a DVD course on nutrition my dad lent me.  Super interesting!  I get more laundry folded for the kids, and feed him.



2:00 The girls join Wonder Boy and I downstairs.  (No, Mimi didn't stay in her room that whole time, but YES I kept sending her back!)  The girls dress up, dance, listen to cassette tapes of Disney songs, and play picnic.  Wonder Boy chills and eats and naps in my lap while I read a book.  The girls eat more jum jills for a snack in the afternoon, and I see Mimi fetching otter pops from the freezer.





4:30 Time to make dinner!  I throw everything I can find into a blender to make gazpacho, slice up a melon, and slice some thick pieces of bread for the girls....who I KNOW will not appreciate my soup.  Wonder Daddy won't be joining us for dinner tonight, but I know he won't find it funny either.  A man needs something to chew!  There's bread, eggs, and chicken in the fridge for him.

6:15 I've eaten my dinner (YUM!) and the girls are still eating theirs....they're on round three of bread.  Mimi has yet to last 3 minutes without crying during this meal.  As we say, "She's epically two."  They end up having four slices of bread each.  Yikes.  Carbo fiends.  At least it's whole grains...I ground the wheat this morning!  (Ernie enjoyed the melon quite a bit, but didn't think the soup was very good.  It ended up pretty garlicky.)

6:30-7:30 The girls play, sing songs, and bash away on our musical instruments (drum and piano mostly, while singing from a Coldplay book.)  Wonder Boy and I cuddle.

7:30-8:00 Girls get ready for bed, Daddy is home and he mows the lawn, we read scriptures, and Wonder Boy and I cuddle.

8:00 Daddy tucks the girls into bed

8:30 Daddy finishes tucking the girls into bed, since they are NOW done putting away the laundry and magazines and toys they spread all over their room during the afternoon.  I feed Wonder Boy.

9:00 Wonder Boy goes to bed.  I stay up for a little bit, watching more of the nutrition course, finishing my book, folding ANOTHER load of laundry, and tidying the kitchen a bit.

10:00 Day is done!  Looking back, I can see why I don't get anything done: I hold the baby all day long!  Can't say that I mind, but there must be a way to get more done during the day.  I should put him in a backpack or baby carrier.  It's time to plant my fall garden.  We got through the laundry today...tomorrow, the garden chores!  

August 1st

There's a "day in the life" meme going around right now...and it lasts a full week!  Wouldn't it be fun to see what everyone is up to?

My twin and I are part of the "twin registry" at our alma mater- we help out with research studies, and it's kind of fascinating to think what can be learned from studying twins in relation to diseases!  At least, it's fascinating to me.  Part of the last study asked about daily habits, and I discovered that I work 15 hour days, but umm....well, the vast majority of my day is sitting down.  Obviously, since I'm sitting here right now.  Still, rather horrifying.

Onward!

This morning started early- Wonder Boy had a hard time sleeping last night, and so did Mimi.  Between the two of them I was up about every hour after 1, and finally gave up around 6:30.  Oh, and had rip-roaring nightmares about Ernie driving off in my car, and I couldn't manage to chase after her in any other car for one reason or another, even though she was only going slowly on the shoulder of the road.  She said she had to get something at WalMart.  Ehhh?  (Oh, and Dad, you were in my other nightmare- you were taking pistachios from a tree and saying "Oh, he won't mind!  We're doing him a FAVOR!"  Then "he" came out and was pretty furious.  But in the end, you were right- he didn't mind.)

We taught two piano lessons this morning, did Ernie's school work, and had snacks and lunch.  The girls cleaned up their room before naps.

During "nap time" Mimi spent most of the time shaking a tambourine and bellowing out a song.  Ernie read.  But, when "nap time" was over, Mimi was asleep, Wonder Boy was napping in my chair, and Ernie came out to play.  I spent nap time playing with Wonder Boy, listening to Spotify (you've tried it?  You love it too?) and looking for garden ideas on Pinterest.  (And I'm SURE you've signed up for that, too?)  Oh, and waiting for my doctor's office to write me back- I want the go-ahead to take some cold medicine, something I haven't done since before Ernie was born I think.  No particular reason why not, I just generally prefer to not be on medication.  Tylenol and ibuprofen are around for when I get a bad pain somewhere.  I'm hoping there's something safe to take to try and get rid of a mystery sore throat!

By 3:30, everyone was up, and we met our cousins at the neighborhood beach for the afternoon, and got home by 6:00 for baths and dinner.  I warmed up leftover terriyaki salmon, and threw some quinoa in the rice cooker, and some cut broccoli in the steamer basket.  Mimi and Ernie LOOOVE quinoa.  Mims had 3 scoops, which I was happy to oblige her in.  Our little vegetarian doesn't get much protein in her, and quinoa is a pretty good source.

By 8:00, we'd eaten dinner and had our "Family Home Evening."  Mimi chose the song (Rain is Falling) and Ernie read us a story from her scripture reader about Joseph Smith.  Daddy read the kids a bed time story, and lights out!  Kind of.  Wonder Baby was still splashing in the bath, and by 9:00 Mimi was still popping out to ask if I'd tuck her back in.  Kid just won't sleep!  I got caught up on piano studio billing and started mapping out next year's schedule.

I spent the rest of the night cleaning up the kitchen, dawdling on the computer, and trying to wrap my head around a death I learned of in the morning, via Facebook.  I've decided Facebook is a rotten way to find out something like that.  I also found out about a birth, and two more friends who are "expecting."  Facebook just kind of splashes life around indiscriminately, doesn't it?