a day in the life

5:45 am: My alarm goes off and I hit the snooze...twice.
6:01 am: I get up, let the dogs out, fill their water bowl and head in to shower and get my hair dry before Avery comes downstairs.
6:56 am: Avery comes down dressed for school but I have to coach her a bit on tying her shoes, something we have been working on lately. I warm up some frozen blueberry pancakes for her breakfast then move on to making coffee and lunches.
7:10 am: After I fix Avery's hair she goes to play a computer game until its time to leave. I unload the dishwasher and then reload it with whatever didn't fit last night.
7:25 am: Jeff and Avery head out the door for school and work. Jeff already has hayfever so the day ahead doesn't look good for him. Fortunately, its his day in the office, so maybe it won't be that bad.
7:30 am: I have just enough time for a quick bowl of cereal and a glance at cnn.com before Ethan and Hannah wake up. He gets frozen blueberry pancakes for his breakfast, she gets instant Strawberries and Cream oatmeal and I think to myself that I am grateful not to be living in a pre-microwave era. While they eat I take some chicken out of the freezer to thaw for tonight's dinner and pour myself a generous cup of coffee.
8:15 am: It's Wednesday and that means that the sheets and towels in my room need to be washed, so I throw in a load of towels while the kids play in the playroom. Wednesday also means that Hannah is home from school so I head back to the playroom to ponder our morning's entertainment.
8:40 am: I decide to go ahead and get the vacuuming done downstairs so that I can mop the wood floors while the kids are napping later. I am always amazed at how much fuzz and dog hair accumulates in my house...
9:05 am: I herd the kids upstairs to get them dressed. While I am up there, I notice all of the old baby items stashed in Ethan's closet and resolve to clean it out sometime in the next week.
9:30 am: I come downstairs to find that Shelby, in retaliation for having been banished downstairs, has taken my very large, very favorite bottle of lotion off of my nightstand and chewed the pump off. Ahhhh!
9:40 am: I load the kids into the double stroller and head out for a walk. The air is cool and the kids are happy to be outside. When we return home, we head out to the backyard for some more outdoor time. While the kids and dogs mill around the yard, I chat with the nurse from the pediatrician's office about giving Ethan an OTC allergy medicine in an attempt to stop his runny nose.
10:40 am: I head inside to make lunch for the kids. Pizza for Hannah, bread, cheese and yogurt for Ethan.
11:25 am: I put the kids down for their naps and head back downstairs to switch out the laundry and mop the floors before I have my lunch.
12:30 pm: I finish cleaning up the last few lunch dishes and start to work on assembling our chicken enchiladas for dinner tonight.
1:35 pm: I am just finishing the clean up from my enchiladas when Hannah comes downstairs and demands to know, "What's that smell?" I assure her that dinner will taste good and we start to work coloring masterpieces in her coloring book.
2:00 pm: Ethan is awake, relaxed and refreshed. After a 2 1/2 hour nap, who wouldn't be?
2:37 pm: Armed with snacks and water bottles Ethan, Hannah and I head out the door to pick up Avery and spend some time on the school playground.
3:45 pm: We arrive back home, wash hands and Avery and I start in on her homework. I wish that someone would have warned me about 1st grade homework. Reading, spelling and math every night!
4:17 pm: I put the sheets back on the bed and sneak in a few minutes of Oprah while I work.
6:00 pm: The enchiladas are out of the oven, Jeff is home and we all sit down to dinner.
6:40 pm: Jeff offers to take Avery and Ethan for a car ride while he runs an errand. Hannah and I stay behind to clean up the dinner dishes and do some tattoo removal before her bath.
7:08 pm: The kids line up for their nightly dose of allergy medicine and we all trudge upstairs for their baths. Hannah and Ethan take a bath together then Jeff entertains them while its Avery's turn.
8:14 pm: Everyone has been bathed, teeth have been brushed, stories have been read, and all the kids are in bed.
8:35 pm: I sit down for a bit of computer time, checking email, reading Facebook, etc.
9:04 pm: I crawl into bed and fall asleep listening to whatever was on the History International channel.

labor day and lemonade

This Labor Day weekend Jeff headed out to west Texas for some dove hunting. So, the kids and I were left to create some fun of our own. On Saturday we went over to Gramma Judy and Allen Pop's house for dinner and some play time at their neighborhood park. On Sunday Avery and I baked some Oatmeal Chip cookies from our handy Paula Deen cookbook. And then the grand finale was the lemonade and cookie sale on Monday afternoon. We did some pretty good business thanks, in part, to our neighbor Zoe and brought in a whopping $16. Tomorrow we are headed to Target to spend our earnings!

hannah's turn

Yesterday was Hannah's turn to start school. She was very excited about taking her new nap mat and getting to use her lunch box again. But otherwise she had a few mixed emotions. Hannah kept telling me, "I don't want to go to school. I will miss you all the time!" In reality I knew that she would miss me for about 15 seconds and then go on to have a great day, which is exactly what happened.

I got her up, fed and dressed no problem though she did insist on wearing lip gloss (thanks Gigi). Then we headed out the door for our 2 minute ride to school. When we got there, she proudly carried her lunch box to her classroom, gave me a kiss goodbye and went right in to play at the dollhouse with her friend Gillian. I picked her up at 2:00 and after we got Avery from her school, we celebrated Hannah's first day with ice cream.

Now my only dilemma is how to keep myself and Ethan occupied for 2 days a week while the girls are both at school...yeah, not really. I have plenty to do and not do, as the case may be. :-)