It seems that every so often I inadvertently take a blog break. Sometimes it is computer issues, but mostly, it is just life. Too many events, too little sleep etc. I thought it might be interesting to explain a day in our life so you might better understand where we go and what we do. To see a day in our life, you have to accept that our days don't really end, the clock just turns over. Eleven oclock often finds us lecturing to older kids about the need for sleep, or threatening to take computers and ipods that entice them out of slumber. Jack of course makes multiple trips down the stairs for a drink, or a snack, or just to make sure we are still there. One trip or another to take him back to bed will include a stop in the girls' rooms to confiscate the aforementioned technology. By 3 or 4 am, Jack or Lucy or both have joined us in bed. Some sound has caused Jack's eyes to flutter and he shoots down the steps like a cannon ball. I bolt up as a freight train zooms into our room. If Lucy has joined us, she is most likely signing/ talking about whatever upcoming event she is terrified she will miss or be left out of. We are careful not to fall asleep because Lucy will use the opportunity to bite or pull hair. Falling asleep isn't usually a problem as Jack beats any bed mate to a pulp and I'm normally clinging to the mattress piping. And then the alarm goes off.
Make lunches, fix snacks, fix breakfast. Take the ipad from Jack multiple times. Argue with oldest about why actual food must be packed in her lunch box. Finally get people to the table for breakfast so oldest can call homemade french toast "revolting", because "It tastes like dawg." We don't make a practice of cooking dog so not sure where she ate that for comparison purposes. Finally, I leave all at the the table so I can get in the shower and Brian supposedly loads everyone into the van. If it is a good day, I just endure multiple trips in to tattle, but bad days mean exiting the shower (a decision usually has to be made while in the shower- hair or body; there is rarely time for both) where I am greeted by oldest with an outfit in hand because, on my own, I choose clothes that "make you look fat" or "poor." Seriously, most days I am headed to Sams or home to make spaghetti sauce or clean out a closet. I thought I was looking okay in my jeans without a hole and my new Allen County Basketball sweatshirt. Finally, we fly out of the drive. Are you keeping up? We are just at 7:05.
The trip to school is always eventful. Most of it is spent arguing over who's music should be playing. We also attempt to do prayer and praise requests. Brianna always says "Are we late? I'm thankful we aren't late." Lucy is always thankful for cheer and herself. Jack is thankful for something superhero related or whatever we just saw outside. Hadley is usually asleep. Unless of course she is belting out the latest Toby Keith song "RED SOLO CUP....." thus making her rap loving sister crazy. Then drop off begins. I once yelled "Have a great day" out of the window at the middle school, but this was evidently a passive aggressive attempt to ruin Brianna's day and so unfocused her she tripped in front of some 8th graders. I am so evil, I plotted that for days.
By this time, Lucy has probably played in poop. Yes, this is a terrible thing and we are doing our best to stop it, but as the distinguishing factor of all Lucy's entourage is our matching pinch marks, we sometime pick our battles. On this particular day, Lucy then gets it in her hair. I pull right up the cafeteria loading ramp and rush Lucy into the building. Her wonderful support people helped me clean her partly up before going to the nurses station for a hair washing and clothes change. Still with me? 8:00 am.
Part 2 is coming
