The Week in Review

So, there were several times this week when I wanted to sit down and blog about this and that, but sometimes I just can't get to it.  

I've never been as busy as I am now that I have the three little ones, which I guess would make sense.  But I figured once Em started kindergarten, things would get easier, and they're not!!  

First, I have to get up every morning in the dark to get her up and off.  I know this is the norm for most people around the world, but I guess I've just been spoiled by our slow paced, taking-it-easy mornings.  Or maybe it's because I have already gotten up once in the night to feed J so it aint fun to hear that alarm go off.  So, off she goes at 7:30 with our neighbors and then at 2:00 every day I have to go pick her up… which usually means I have to wake J up from his nap (grrr…. waking up a baby is never a good thing!) and get C out the door so we can all make the 15 minute walk to the school.  Which really, I'm the only one walking.  I've got J in the ergo and I'm pushing C on her tricycle.  It's quite the sightly contraption.  

And then there's the after school routine we're trying to nail down… homework… um, what's the deal with homework in kindergarten?  I swear I didn't have homework until like the 5th grade.  Maybe my memory is spotty, who knows.  And now Em is starting piano, taught by... guess who???  Meeee…  And she's taking German language on Friday and C is taking gymnastics on Thursdays.  Then it's time to make dinner.  Ben doesn't get home until almost 7, we eat (and go to battle with Caroline), do dishes, the bedtime routine, and then I fall down on the couch in a comatose state and try to spend some quality time with Benny Boy which usually entails watching a masterpiece mystery or classic and me falling asleep 15 minutes into it, if that.  

So, that's my excuse for not blogging every chance I'd like to.

Don't get me wrong, I love my life.  I feel so blessed to be a mom of three healthy, beautiful children.  Sometimes I just get tired.  

Which reminds me… I came across this list on my friend's fb page.  It hit a little too close to home. 

24 Clear Signs you're a Mom

(I highlighted the ones that most apply to me… which ones apply to you?)

1. Instead of running from projectile vomit, you run towards it.

2. You do more in seven minutes than most people do all day.

3. Happy hour has become the 60 minutes between your kids going to bed and you going to bed.

4. A night of drinking requires more recovery time than minor surgery.

5. A glass of wine counts as a serving of fruit.

6. You have mini-therapy sessions all day long with anyone who will listen.

7. Going to the grocery store by yourself is a vacation.

8. You can experience heaven and hell at the same time.

9. You think of physical pain on three levels: pain, excruciating pain and stepping on a Lego.

10. You have the ability to hear a sneeze through closed doors in the middle of the night, two bedrooms away, while your SO snores next to you.

11. You'd rather have a 103 degree fever than watch one of your kids suffer with it.

12. You'd rather go to sleep than have sex.

13. A 15-minute shower with the door locked feels like a day at the spa.

14. Peeing with an audience is part of the daily routine.  (TMI??)

15. You use baby wipes to clean up random spills and the dash of your car.

16. You lock yourself in the bathroom just to get a break.

17. You love Moms' Night Out and Date Night with the Hubs.

18. You have a secret chocolate stash because frankly, you're sick of sharing.

19. You've been washing the same load of laundry for three days because you forgot to dry it.

20. You realize you've been watching Nick Jr. alone, even though your kids have been in bed for over 30 minutes.

21. You can cook dinner, breastfeed, talk on the phone and yell at the kids, all without breaking stride or missing any of the TV show you are watching.

22. You get more excited about the Mini Boden Catalogue than J Crew's.

23. You decide to stick with your car for the next decade because a) you can't afford to switch and b) you haven't found a car wash that knows how to get all the milk stains and glitter removed.

24. By the end of the day, brushing your teeth feels like a huge accomplishment.

So, now this post has gotten kind of long because I went off on a huge tangent and haven't even blogged about what I originally intended.  I should save the rest of the material for another day, but as you now know, I don't have much time for another day, so it's now or never.  You'll have to deal.

Last week...

James turned 4 months.  My brother commented he looks like a bald 60 year old man in this photo.  I personally think he looks like Bruce Willis.  Take your pick.

Ben turned 35….  errr… not exactly 35, but it just so happens a 3 and a 5 were the candles we had on hand.  

Em did a fabulous job of putting the candles on the cake

The girls participated in a lantern walk… another German tradition.  I really love that they have so many traditions.  Every November to celebrate All Saints Day, the kids do lantern walks at night, and sing this awesome German song as they go caroling from house to house.  Em's German teacher organized one here on RB.  We caroled to lots of friends and neighbors, but no one threw candy out to us like they were supposed to!!

 I attended Super Saturday (quickly becoming my favorite Saturday of the year) where I learned to crochet!!  Yep, it took me TWO HOURS  to complete that bad boy.  It was supposed to be an ear warmer for Em.  It turned out to be a rat tail.  I was definitely the most remedial of all the students.  I think the instructor, my dear friend from the ward, was ready to strangle me.  So, in case any one out there deals with feelings of inadequacy, I'm glad I'm here to make you feel better.

Two hours of my life I'll never get back

And this disturbing new fetish…. C is eerily obsessed with The Cat in the Hat.  Every night before she goes to bed she looks at it in her bed.  She spends long periods of time staring at the pictures.   I think she's intrigued by all the mischievousness.

And that's a wrap!!  Until next time...