so, this morning I woke up (as usual, my husband was irritated with me sleeping later than my children - I don't know why mornings are so hard for me, 7am just feels SO early - school is gonna be brutal, waking at 6am) I fed the baby and did all that morning stuff, looked around at all my clutter and all I needed to do and decided to get outta here - lol! I needed to go to the post office to mail a couple "buy it now" items I sold on ebay; so I packed up the items, packed up the kids and headed out! It was only 10:30am but the kids were hungry ... happy meals anyone? Of course they were thrilled, but really wanted to "go inside" ... no, cause I have a lot to do at home. Well - the drive through was closed at the closest McD's and I didn't have a bottle with me for Zoey ... I told the kids we'd head home, make a bottle, and go to a further one that's not under construction ... and they could "go inside" (oh they were overjoyed)! After lunch we came back home for mama to pump and make up another bottle, then for the BIG surprise ... I decided to (finally) take them all to the pool! What an adventure that was:
first they had to sit for a couple photos of all of them, that's the rule - no pics, no swim - ha ha!
we were barely in there and I turned around (we had already put life jackets on the boys) and they were all in the kiddie pool! the lifeguard kept telling Annicka she needed to really
watch "him" - I told her if we were going I'd need her help with Liam, as he's really never
been to a pool and I had no idea how he'd be in and around water ... well, I learned
that Annicka is not quite mature enough to handle that responsibility, she turned around to
tell me how much Liam was liking the water and he slipped and his face went in -
that was the end of her being my helper, lol! He was fine and didn't cry or anything, but I
had him sit out for a bit while I figured out what I should do?
meanwhile, Jericho (& Annicka - somehow I never got a pic of her in the water) were
swimming away and loving it!
my friend grabbed a smaller life vest and I decided there was no choice, I was gonna have
to roll up my sweats (literally) and walk around in the foot and a half deep water with
my little man ... while at the same time keeping an eye and ear on both Jericho and Zoey (Annicka was over in the big pool now - there's lifeguards, she was with a friend, and she swims well - so I wasn't worried about her) ... Liam did love the water - and, btw, he doesn't seem
to have any fear of it!
we stayed not quite an hour - that was enough for me! Liam had three rounds with me, we'd go in for five or ten minutes, then get out and see Zoey or feed her, then go back in, etc. He was
so cute doing ring around the rosie and by our last round he was lifting up his legs and
discovering what would happen (I was always holding his hands)! No one had a fit about leaving,
which was great, they were all hungry - so we headed home for snacks! I sat Zoey in her
little seat-bed and she fell asleep almost immediately!
the kids had treats and played games to relax for a bit, then they moved to the tv and
continued to relax ...
he was obviously quite tuckered out, he really never does this! of course, he missed his nap - and I wondered how he'd be? he was asleep for a good hour and then rolled over and nearly fell off the couch - daddy ran and scooped him up (I was feeding Zoey, so couldn't do anything but
yell) ... that pretty much woke him up and he was a crank for quite a little bit, he was still
trying to wake up when our dinner guests arrived - WITH dinner! how awesome is that, pizza - yum!
it was so super great to get to see friends we hadn't seen in a year! It's so cool that they're moving back to the area! All the kids had super fun, no major meltdowns - that's always a good night (though there were a few minor ones, my kids were obviously tired). After eating us grown ups were quite entertained by a certain little center of attention - no, not Zoey - Liam! He was being quite the ham - "shake shake" dancing, telling us to "cose your ice" and then yelling "a prize" (btw - that's "close your eyes" and "surprise"), he counted for us, he sang songs for us, it was great! We said goodbye, as they had to go set up camp - literally! We're hoping they'll get their house and be living here soon so we can get together more!
so in the end, I didn't do any cleaning until 3pm - but in less than two hours I got quite a lot done (dishes, sweeping, vacuuming, cleaning the bathroom - getting the downstairs presentable) ... it really felt good to completely ignore everything that needed to be done around the house and just spend some time with my children. Of course, I do have an upstairs that needs major attention - but I know all the organizing and cleaning will sit there and wait for me (ok - if I leave it too long it will migrate back into the boys' room and be disastrous - again ... or my hubby will do it "his way" and then I'll be mad at myself for not getting to it sooner - but barring the technicalities) and I know that the precious days of childhood will be gone all too soon - I want to remember that! I want my kids to remember fun times with me, not me being a maniac about the house being spotless - I don't think there's too much concern that will happen - lol! But seriously, I want them to know that being tidy is important ... but so is spending time together and having some fun ... that's what today was!
... it really was, a magnificent monday!
Zoey's our own little superstar!
happy baby girl
my GIRLS!!!
dancing around and being goofy - Liam is in his "new" (yard sale) cowboy boots
another yard sale find, how awesome is this cute little shopping cart? ... and it was so funny when Liam climbed into it - all by himself ...
my little cutie on friday, ready for her appt up in "SLO"
he wanted a picture with her ... I think it's so sweet how he does that
