House in the night

We get our kids ready for bed the second we're finished with dinner.  It's up to the tub, towel off, lounge around naked, get dressed, get medicines, brush teeth, brush hair and then read a book or two or three or four.  Sometimes on rare occasions, by mistake, we fall asleep.

It is no joke to put these three rascals to bed. Although, they seem to think it's a party most of the time.

And now, note what June is doing.  Staring at a book.  A book she's been obsessed with.  Caught rocking in the rocking chair with.  House in the Night.  She fixates on one single picture the entire time.  I can't really figure out what she loves about it.  The millions of little lines? The violin case?  The music stand?  Certainly not the cat (Kat)...

June had one of the best days of her life.  She played with toys like a normal child and enjoyed swinging and bouncing at the park.  She ate without stuffing her mouth, was focused and delightful at therapy, and was just all-around happy. BUT the best thing by far was the unexpected thing that happened at snack time.  I am 99% sure she said "more" to me.  She looked at me in the eye when we were done with snack and said "Moaaaaw Mama" in a very low and deliberate voice.  I about fell over, but then I promptly got her more pretzels.  Just so I knew it wasn't my imagination, the therapist said she did the same thing today in therapy.  She was done playing with a really really cool toy that the therapist was holding and June looked at her and said "moaaaaw" as well.  Okay, we'll take it. And Hallelujah!

And now this house in the night is all quiet and vacuumed.  Good night little house. Good night sweet children. Good night husband who helps me put the babies to bed.  Good night friends. Good night Lord...and thank you. 

Stuck in a fleece

Have you ever been stuck in a fleece?  I mean, you wear the same
old fleece day after day after day because your butt continues to be cold?  I didn't realize I was actually doing this until my husband said to me the other day..."Hey honey, next time you get a fleece, could it be a nice color like pink or something?  I mean, you've had that dull gray thing on for years.  It's sort of a seal color...."  I tuned out after I heard the word "seal".  Really? Aren't seals big, fat and ugly too?  Oh I am telling you it is REALLY hard not to join a health club in January, but I need to hold out because every single January I do this.  I join a health club and go faithfully til it gets beautiful outside, then I don't ever want to go in that steamy place again.  So, maybe I'll try yoga once a week or something.  Something you only have to commit to in 8 week increments. 

So, besides the wearing of the daily fleece, all of my kids have been eating me out of house and home lately. And, I mean they're eating real food.  Not doritos and swedish fish.  I don't know what to make of it when my five year old has a peanut butter and honey sandwich with pickles, carrots, hummus, raisins and blueberries for lunch, then has an apple for dessert and then, not 10 minutes later is telling me he's hungry.  Or...when, my three year old gets off the bus at noon, just having a complete lunch, and makes her way to the table to get something more or steal the cheerios out of Charlotte's hand or off the floor.  My 9 month old went from (very free) breast milk to a full blown menu just over Christmas.  I even found her tinkering around in the pantry the other day.  My grocery bill is starting to sky-rocket and my husband is noticing. 

My babysitter must have thought I was absolutely crazy when she was about to throw a carrot away that had fallen on the floor and I stopped her in mid-throw to catch the carrot in the air to tell her that we do, in fact, eat off the floor.  And then 10 minutes later, I was on my hands and knees picking up all the Cheerios off the floor one by one to put them back on the table for the girls to eat...because have you seen how expensive Cheerios have gotten?  I'm buying the fake brand from now on.  Besides, is anyone else wondering about this gmo thing??  My sister has me worried about it.

Well other than gmo's, today was a good day. God painted the sky bright blue just for our family, so we got outside, got our cheeks a little sun-burned, and headed to the park.  I also got to take off my seal gray fleece and now I'm about to watch Downton Abbey. 

Yikes! I just found a picture of me in the gray fleece from 2 years ago!