As I was on my run tonight I was thinking about what a lovely and full day I had. When I got home I decided to write it down, just for my own sake. If you happen to find it interesting, then please enjoy!
27 Jul 2011
8:30 – Wake up to Ryan getting ready to leave for work. The kids seem to be sleeping late, so we’re glad to get some time to hang out before he has to leave.
9:00 – Ryan leaves.
9:20 – Oliver is up. He is exceptionally cuddly, so we just hang out in bed together for about 20 minutes and catch a bit of Sesame Street.
9:40 – I leave Oliver to get breakfast started. Waffles, yogurt, blueberries & milk.
9:50 – I call Oliver to the table and head upstairs to wake Hazel up. I find her laying quietly, just waking up slowly. She’s so happy to see me and give me a big hug, then chatters her way down the stairs.
9:53 – Over breakfast I have a quick pep talk with Oliver about the day. We talk about good patterns (obedience – he thinks of this in terms of circles and stars) and bad patterns (disobedience – squares and x’s). Not sure if the logic is super solid on this, but it has been working for him for days. He tells me he’s planning on an all circles and stars day. I agree that’s a good plan.
9:55 – Hazel is upset that Oliver gets butter and syrup on his waffles and lets the whole house know it.
9:56 – Oliver gives Hazel a square.
9:57 – Oliver sneaks her a few bites of his waffles.
10:00 – Breakfast is over. I clean up while Oliver and Hazel head up to the playroom where they play happily and I do some picking up in the downstairs.
10:15 – I head upstairs with something I ordered online last week. Oliver is geeked and I spend the next forty-five minutes installing it, it failing, and installing it better. Oliver and Hazel play with it and while they play I shoot some images for a post I’m planning to contribute for The Land of Nod’s new blog, Honest to Nod next month. (Have I mentioned that yet? HUGE honor! EEE!) Stay tuned. :)
11:00 – Hazel communicates in no uncertain terms that she would like to rest. I lay her down and she’s out in minutes. Oliver continues to play and I sit down to check my email and read this lovely daily devotional.
12:00 – Ryan is home for lunch! I greet him, then hop into the kitchen to make this quick Salsa Chicken recipe.
12:30 – The family sits down for lunch, sans a sleeping Hazel.
1:00 – Ryan has decided to work from home this afternoon. He and Oliver get cozy on the sofa and he tries to teach Oliver how to play Monopoly on the iPad. I put finishing touches on the Oliver’s Picks post and publish it.
1:15 – Oliver has lost interest in Monopoly.
1:30 – I take a moment to pull myself together for the day (yes, up until this point I am totally in my jammies. don’t judge – you have to be comfy to use power tools!)
1:55 – I decide to take advantage of having Daddy at home to monitor the kiddos, so I head out to the salon for a quick eyebrow wax.
2:45 – I have the green light to stay out (and conveniently packed my swimsuit, towel and a book just in case!), so I stop at our neighborhood pool where I read Bossypants
(on loan from Keight) and snack on Sprees for an hour or so. (Lemme tell ya, all politics and whatever aside, Tina Fey is FUH-NEE!) Trying to save the rest of the book for vacation next week, but it’s disappearing before my very eager eyes.
(on loan from Keight) and snack on Sprees for an hour or so. (Lemme tell ya, all politics and whatever aside, Tina Fey is FUH-NEE!) Trying to save the rest of the book for vacation next week, but it’s disappearing before my very eager eyes.4:00 – I return home. Hazel had woken up at 3:00 (a four-hour nap!) and just finished a very late lunch. She is sitting halfway up the stairs exclaiming, “maMA! maMA!” when I come in the door. Oliver sees the towel on my shoulder and is very put out that I would even consider going to the pool without him. He feels betrayed. Shoot – definitely should have ditched the towel.
4:05 – Something smells foul. Hazel needs a new diaper, yo.
4:10 – I grab some tube yogurts (organic!) out of the fridge and sit down on the rug in the living room to help the kids with their snack. Ryan is working in his chair near us. I like it when he works at home. :)
4:20 – Quick wipe down of paws and faces and the kids and I head upstairs to play with our new apparatus some more.
4:50 – It’s almost time to leave to go to dinner at church but Hazel is communicating that we will regret taking her anywhere without a quick nap. I lay her down. She shakes my hand and goes right to sleep. She might have even signed ‘thank you’. Okay, maybe not.
5:30 – We start the van to get the A/C blowing, make sure Oliver’s wearing underwear under his shorts (he wasn’t – glad we checked!), wake up a surprisingly refreshed Hazel and load the kids up.
5:45 – Quick stop at the Chick-fil-a drive thru. Don’t ask what I got. And definitely don’t ask if it included a cookies and cream milkshake. Just don’t.
6:00 – We join our friends and their kids at the church for a “brown bag” dinner in which about 90% of their brown bags have names of major fast food chains emblazoned on them. Ah well, it’s the fellowship that counts!
6:30 – We wrap up our meals and head to the sanctuary for a screening of Babe, complete with microwave popcorn and a 1-year-old who has no interest in sitting still.
7:30 – We give up, say goodbye to our friends and to Babe, load the kids in the van and head to the library to return a stack of summer fun and give Bea a ride back to her house since she was Oliver’s date.
7:45 – Home again, home again, jiggity jig. Ry takes the kids upstairs for jammies and bed and I make a quick change into running clothes in an attempt to beat both the heat and the sunset.
7:52 – I hit the pavement and run a surprisingly pleasant 6.54 miles. Kind of a nice way to wrap up the day.
8:58 – After a cool-down walk I’m home – hot and thirsty. Also, pretty stinky.
9:10 – Shower, work on some things for the Finding My Feet St. Jude team, shop online for rafts for the ocean (no luck – anyone have any good suggestions?), chat with Ryan, then think to myself what a lovely and full day I had.
10:20 – Spend 40 minutes trying to recount my day on here – just for a fun memory of a full day as a Mommy.
11:00 – Publish
(ps – Oliver made it through the day with all circles and stars! Well, there probably should have been a few squares in there, but who doesn’t find themselves in need of a little grace now and then?)
Hope your day was circles and stars too! :)
>What a fun idea! It's neat to look back on a day and notice all of the sweetness. :)
>Love the circles & squares! SO unique. :)
>I loved this entry. As a stay at home dad in the summers (I'm a teacher) I can relate to a lot of your blog posts. This one was such a perfect snapshot of all the great little snippets that parents rarely get to enjoy. I got a chuckle out of the "Home again, home again, jiggity jig" as I have only heard my wife say it. (almost daily) Well played.
>Love the circle & stars logic! Kids are so darn creative!
Super jealous of how much Hazel sleeps!! I have an 8mo old & I'm lucky if he gets 2hrs of naps all day! And he currently goes to bed at 7:30pm & wakes up at 6am! I hope he eventually learns to sleep in…
Can't wait to see what kind of cool toy you got from the Land of Nod–LOVE their stuff!
>oh my. the only person in the world i've ever heard say "Home again, home again, jiggity jig" is my grandmother. Just made my day knowing other people say it:)
>Wow, wish I could go to the salon and the pool during the day! Working mom's don't have this advantage. I work 9-5 and come home to work more (house duties). A little "me" time would be great.
You are so lucky!
>Love the brown bag "fast food" dinner. Hey… whatever works! cute post :)
>Such a fun way to savor your day. Yeah to circles and stars… maybe my 4 year old can take a hint.
>I love it! Really, what a wonderful lovely day…I need to do that more often just to remind myself…
Thank you for sharing your sunny outlook and happy day with us.
>What a fun post…thanks for sharing. Makes me wish I had kiddos to be at home with during the day. i work from home, so I still get to spend the day at home even though it is in my office for 8 + hours!
6.54 miles….good job. I am working up to a 5K again (was there about a year ago and lost it over the cold winter). Got to ask, do you wear a watch to keep track of your distance. I have been looking for one, but have no idea which one to get…there are so many!
Always love stopping by your blog.
>Sounds like a lovely day! I find myself saying "home again, home again, jigety jog" quite often and my kids look at my like I'm crazy! As for rafts for the ocean, we've found that inflatable rings work best- we buy them each time we go. This year we found two discarded boogie boards near the trash cans on the beach and used them all week until we left them outside our condo door and they were stolen. But the rings are great!
>Cute idea to record your day… lucky girl to be able to duck out like that! Jealous! (I'm totally in my pjs ALL day most days!) ;)
>I can't get over how much your kiddos sleep!! Hazel got up at 10 – took a total of 5 hours of nap and was in bed by 8pm? That's AMAZING. So jealous. I don't think my 4 month old sleeps that much. ;)
Love your squares and circles concept – totally going to try that!
>that is too cool. love this quick peek into your daily life!
>You give me hope that having 2 kids will be manageable. Sure sounds like you have some sweet kiddos… the maturity of that Oliver just astounds me sometimes! Good job Mom and Dad!!