Friday, June 26, 2009

What I did today. . .

*Woke up at 5:50 to the sound of a hungry 10 month old.
* Nursed him and rubbed his cute little fuzzy head.
* Showered, made coffee, and held 3 little boys in such a way that they all thought they were sitting on my lap and sipped coffee without burning anyone!! :-)
*Checked email, my calendar, and made breakfast.
* Kissed Erik goodbye.
*The boys and I prepared a small cooler with bottles of Gatorade for the garbage collectors to pick a drink from. Posted a sign on cooler instructing them to do so and letting them know we appreciate them. Oh, yes ma'am, we appreciate them!
*Got boys dressed and ready to play.
* Put Erik Daniel down for morning nap.
* Boys played inside while baby slept.
* Erik Daniel woke up and I took boys outside to play and to wait for garbage truck.
*An hour later, sweaty and still waiting. Decide to regroup, make lunch, and have picnic in the 90 degree heat.
* Hear garbage truck coming. Boys are giddy! Garbage collectors see cooler and wave with big smiles.
* Boys are more than pleased!
* Hey, wait a second, they took the cooler! They weren't supposed to take the cooler ~ just the Gatorade! This concerns Joshua. I assure him that we can replace the little cooler. All is well. Joshua says to JCT, "Doesn't it make you feel good to do something nice for someone else!" I think he has heard that line before??? :-)
* Finish up lunch and head inside for afternoon naps and rest-time.
* Nurse Erik Daniel and put him down.
* Sing to Elijah and put him down.
* Settle big boys in their room with puzzles and books.
* Go downstairs and spend 30 minutes looking for a babysitter to watch the little boys while I take Joshua to 2 birthday parties on Saturday. No babysitters available.
*Call Erik and complain that I cannot find a sitter to save. my. life.
*Unload dishwasher and reload.
*Straighten kitchen.
* Read a friend's blog.
* Tell big boys that they can come back downstairs.
* Hear Erik Daniel waking up, nurse him, and pack diaper bag.
*Wake up Elijah and load the boys in the van to go get hair-cuts.
* Call 2 of Joshua's friend's moms on the way to salon and ask if they could possibly take Joshua with them. Strike 2 and 3.
* Joshua overhears me talking on the phone and from the back of the van I hear my sweet boy say, "Mom, I don't have to go to both parities. Really, I don't. Just don't worry about it. I don't have to go. I'll just stay home."
* I assure him that I will get him to both parties ~ no worries!
* Spend the rest of the drive threatening JCT not to touch anything that doesn't belong to him at the salon.
* Get to salon. Load Erik Daniel in stroller and walk inside. Want to cry when I see a customer sitting in our hairdresser's chair with wet hair. Begin to point out chairs for each boy to sit in when I notice sidewalk chalk sitting on a little table.
* Ask Ann (hairdresser) if we can play with it. She says yes, and we head out to find a little corner of concrete to write on.
* Ann comes out to get us, and boys get hair-cuts.
* Laugh at my Elijah as he is getting his hair-cut. The child who never sits still looks as if she has put him in a trance! :-)
* JCT obeyed! He managed to keep his hands to himself! Hooray! Ice cream for everyone!
* Drive to Sonic.
* Make one last attempt at finding a babysitter.
* Bingo! The brave soul agreed to watch my boys! :-) God be with her and bless her abundantly!
* Pull into parking place at Sonic and order ice cream.
* Receive order, get boys out of car seats and head to picnic table area.
* Grab entire roll of paper towels from van.
* Feel like Mother of the year as I walk my well-behaved little boys in a straight line to eat their ice cream.
* Oops. Not feeling like Mother of the year anymore. Mother of the Year would have realized that eating ice cream in the summer heat would not be a good idea. Ice cream is literally running down their arms, their shirts, and onto their shorts and crocs.
* Have to laugh at what a bad idea this was and at how adorable my little men look with ice cream goatees!
* Try desperately to clean them as they eat all the while holding Erik Daniel on my hip.
* Attempt to sit down and look as if this is easy and very much under my control since I have a captive audience of hamburger eating folks gawking at me. But, when I sit down Erik Daniel grabs the roll of paper towels on the table behind me, and it falls to the floor unraveling all over the dirty concrete.
* I attempt to collect myself and the runaway paper towels without dropping the baby!
* Praise God when one by one they begin to finish their cones!
* Head back to van.
* Go to the library because I love books, and it just makes me feel good and peaceful.
* Let the boys pick out one book each, then head to the front to check them out.
* Realize that my library card is at home in our library bag. Where else would it be?
* Ask if she can just look me up in the computer.
* She says she needs to see my drivers license.
* No problem, only it is in the car. So, I leave books at desk and haul all four boys back to van. Elijah begins crying because he thinks we are leaving without his Barney book. I assure him that I would not do such a thing and try to explain that we are coming right back.
* Go back inside, check out books, and head to park. . .
* Yeah, I'm a sucker. They asked and the park was completely vacant, so I said yes.
* Drive to park, load Erik Daniel in stroller and head out to play.
* Again feeling a bit like mother of the year until I hear. . .
* Wailing and Gnashing of teeth! JCT realizes that he! has! a! blister!
* Go back to car where I remember seeing that someone stuffed their sock in a cup holder. I have been meaning to bring it in for a week at least, but I'm glad that I didn't! Give JCT the sock to put on and head back to play.
* Play for 30 or so minutes until JCT is almost asleep on the swings, then load everyone back into van and head home.
* Get home, make dinner, bathe boys, read to boys, take out Rain, slowly one by one put boys down.
* Take 2 Extra Strength Tylenol for my aching legs, get a glass of milk and three chocolate oatmeal cookies and sit down at the computer. . .
* Talk to Erik, and now I am calling it a day.
* Amen.
* And, amen, and amen, and amen.

8 comments:

Barbie @ Mamaology said...

Amen....can I say that "I hear ya":)!

But I think you have a bit more energy and patience then me...I'm working on it though.

Enjoy those little boys.

Linda said...

I am thoroughly exhausted just reading your about your day Erin.
Please accept from this grandmother the mother of the year award. In my book, you absolutely deserve it!

Jenny said...

Phew! It's a hard job, but we are glad to have it!! You are a great mom, Erin!!

FaceforGrace said...

Makes you want to laugh because I know you probably hear all the time something along the lines of "What do you do with all of your time since you are ONLY a stay at home Mom?" or "Ask Erin to do it- she doesn't Work!" Ha Ha! Man- you are too sweet- we don't do the park until at least September or October...too hot in Louisiana!

Christi said...

What a fun Mama you are - and what a blessing to your boys!

Sarah said...

Oh, sweet friend! This was so precious, but I'm writing this with tears in my eyes, because I know how long you've been doing this alone on weekends, and how hard it's got to be. I'm so sorry this has all happened, and you know if I were even a day's drive away, I'd come over, scoop you all up, and bring you here to spend the weekends with us! I love you to pieces, and I'm praying healing speeds up so you have Erik home again soon!!

p.s. Your boys are BLESSED to have you as their mama.

Jill said...

What a great mom you are.

We've done the Sonic thing before and now we've switched to slushes; less mess. Even 12 year old boys have melting problems.

Sounds like you could use a day at the spa to recover!!

Bree said...

are these what our days look like when written down?! God is good :)


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Hi! I live in a sweet country home overflowing with love and laughter. I have been blessed to journey these days beside a man that I love, respect, and admire. He is my soul-mate and best friend. Together we are seeking to raise our seven children to be lovers of God, to be wise and discerning, and to be all that our sweet God created them to be.



 

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