I get up, make myself a pot of coffee (much needed pot of coffee) and realize that my husband, Mike, was home, he had jury duty today. He works a split shift at a Tech College teaching auto mechanics (his classes right now are automatic transmission in the morning and engine performance at night), and we maybe see each other for 2 hours every day if I stay up at night (he usually gets home between 12:30-1 am). I go out to the garage to find him in his man hole playing some computer games (nothing interesting, solitaire) and tell him what our plans are for the day and to ummm, fork over some cash because my trip to the grocery store yesterday brought me down to zero.
Come back into the house, make myself my coffee and hear Marshall waking up. Go into the bedroom and grab him, change his diaper and awakes Madeline upset that Alice wouldn't wake up (that girl could sleep through a train busting through the house). I tell Madeline to get her Coconut Yogurt out of the fridge and sit down and eat it, we had to leave soon. I peel Marshall a banana and pour Madeline & him some Coconut Milk and sit down at the table with him & Madeline to drink my coffee.
We get done with our "1st breakfast" (more like a snack for the kids) and I go and wake up Alice. I tell both girls to get dressed, (they dressed like twins - they are both 4 about to be 5) we have to go. I grap some fruit pouches (you know, with the pureed fruit in them, no sugar or stuff, just expensive pureed fruit) for the road since Alice hasn't eaten yet. Everyone out the down, it's 7:45, yeap we are going to be late. Mike cuts me a check, so now I get to go to the bank after we pick up D. Get the girls in their seats, get Marshall in his, hand Alice & Madeline their fruit pouches and off we go. Between getting caught by 2 trains, yes, just my luck, we end up being about 20 mins. late.
The groomer was already started on her first pooch when we arrived. D was playing in his walker and we were ready to go. She tells me that it shouldn't be any later than 4:30 to pick him up this afternoon and she was low on diapers. No problem. We leave, go to the bank (un-eventful) and then stop to put gas in my Suburban.
D (left) and Marshall (right - D is sitting in Madeline's usual seat)
Madeline (left) & Alice (right)
Everyone was done with breakfast, got the boys out of their chairs, the girls went off to Madeline's room to play barbies. The boys were fairly entertained with old remote controls and the little ride on trucks, so I was able to get the floor swept and mopped before they really noticed that I wasn't right there with them. I am so glad we held onto old remote controls, that and old cell phones make the best baby toys!Madeline and Alice came out and both wanted to watch a movie. Well, when you give the choice of movies to 4 year old girls, your gonna bet you will get some sort of princess movie as a decision, this time was no different. The Princess Frog it is. It's a little after 11:00 at this point and time for the boys naps. Marshall always goes down first, nurse him to sleep and put him in bed, time for D. Get him a bottle of Coconut Milk and rock him to sleep, success, both boys to sleep.
Diapers are in the washer and needed to be hung to dry, girls are entertained by the movie and under instruction if they hear either boy to come and get me and NOT to go get them out of bed. They are helpful, but sometimes a little too helpful. Get the diapers out of the washer and take them outside and hang them on the line. Smells like rain, but no clouds around. I didn't get a chance to watch the news yet, so we'll see what happens.
Around noon, Mike gets home from jury duty, not selected. I was starting on lunch which was "safe" hot dogs (Applegate farms organic hot dogs that contain no dairy, soy or gluten with the added benefit of nitrate free), strawberries, kiwi, blackberries, blueberries, apples, baby carrots and raw baby spinach. Both the boys wake up as I was serving the girls lunch, good thing I already made their plates. Mike goes in and grabs Marshall, I get D, diaper changes, then lunch time. I sit down and eat a bite realizing that I missed breakfast due to cleaning up the kitchen. Mike goes to take a nap with a request to be woken up at 4, he had to attend a graduation tonight.
Lunch done, the girls continue on with their movie and the boys now full and full of energy are romping around the house squealing and having a good time. I sit down on the couch to finish knitting some shorts for a friends son. Get a call from D's mom saying that it'll be more around 5:30-6:00 before she can come pick him up....she had to pick up her car at 3:30 and then wanted to go get her hair and nails done, then pick up her boyfriend from work, take him home, etc....that's fine, I'll feed him dinner and he'll be ready to go.
4:00 rolls around, time to wake Mike up. Go in there, wake him up (or I thought I did) and then went outside to get the diapers off the line. Get back inside, Mike still in bed, go in there and stir him out of bed. He comes in the living room and gets bombarded by the kids happy to see him. He gets ready to go to the graduation and I fix him a plate to eat before leaving. He goes out to his garage and is late getting back in so had to skip dinner. Kiss him goodbye and he leaves, I fix dinner for the kids and I (around 5:00-5:30), chuck roast, veggies (carrots, peas, lima beans, green beans) and mashed potatoes and sit everyone down and we eat. Get finished and the kids were still eating, clean up the kitchen, etc...
After dinner, Marshall was a little fussy, so I put him on my back in my Mai Tai. Look at the clock, it's 6....where's D's mama. Time for the girls to get a bath, draw them a bubble bath and give instructions to keep the water IN the tub. Both girls get in armed with toy dolls that are bath safe. Play with D, Marshall is happy and content on my back, so he stays there. D's mama showed up around 6:45 and asks if I could watch him again on Monday. No problem, he's a wonderful kid.
Get the girls washed and out of the bath, Marshall's turn. Get Marshall out of the tub, dried off and diapered. Both girls are requesting to get their nails painted. So we go to the living room, paint their toes and finger nails and the cruel punishment of they have to sit still while they dry. Madeline is getting tired, Marshall as well. It gets to be around 7:45 and we start getting pajamas on for the night. The girls pick out a movie to watch in bed (Alice's last night here visiting for the summer, they wanted to watch a actual non-princess movie - shocking - Charlotte's Web). Put the girls in bed, get Marshall ready and nurse him to sleep.
Me time! Pour myself a glass of wine and decide, I need to post to my blog, so, here I am. Mike got home around 10 from the graduation which he said was packed, so I am going to go visit with my husband now.
Good Night Blog World!
