Last Week

Last week, I switched Tyler to morning preschool. The afternoon schedule wasn't working for us anymore. And really, I wasn't thrilled about afternoon preschool anyway. This all happened because Tyler was signed up for the early 5's class at preschool, but it was only offered in the afternoon. I was willing to sacrifice afternoons if it meant he would be in the early 5's. But the school called me over the summer and said that they did not have enough kids to do the class, and he was now in the 4's class and the only available spot was the afternoon. Anyway, long story short- I had no choice. And I kind of liked it at first. I had visions of Collin napping while Tyler was at school and I would get 2 whole hours to myself! That only happened maybe a handful of times. Collin's nap schedule ended up being at 10 and 3:30. Collin was awake the whole afternoon and didn't nap until 3:30, right when Jake and Tyler got home. Now that Collin is older, he really only needs 1 nap and it needs to be in the afternoon, without having to be disturbed with pick up and drop off times.

 Each day started with me trying to schedule a nap, lunch, drop off times and then pick up times. I dreaded it, and I had a hard time planning it out because it didn't work! Finally I had a realization that Tyler really didn't  haven't to finish the year out. He could be a drop out preschooler. I told his teacher that day and she mentioned they may have a spot in the morning class. Perfect! I was worried about having him home all day, because the previous day when I had finally had enough of my crap schedule, I just didn't take him to school for that day. He spent the day asking me "mom, what can I do?" He was bored. Now, we are all happy. Not to mention he went from 4 days a week to 3 so it is less money, less driving, and more time with him. I wish I had done it sooner.

So Monday, I dropped Ty off at his new class. I thought it would be hard since it is so late in the year, but he was fine when I dropped him off, and the teacher told me he did great. I felt so bad doing all this switching around, but he told me he already made a new friend, Jack. Collin and I went grocery shopping, which I usually do on Mondays. I was way more energentic and alert being that I was still on my coffee buzz. It was so much easier shopping in the morning and I loved the feeling of getting it done in the morning and having the rest of my day to do whatever I needed. We picked up Ty, had lunch, Collin laid down for a one long nap, and I got my housework done.

No school on Tuesday for Tyler, so we got Jake out the door, and I did some organizing around the house. I love organizing and cleaning stuff out. Today I tackled the hall closet and moved a ton of games the boys never play to the basement. I know they are done with them, but I still want to keep them for Collin. It makes it hard to get rid of things when I've got another boy coming through the ranks. I'm not really sure what else I did on Tuesday. It seems like it was raining. I think after Collin laid down, Ty and I headed to the basement so I could work out on the treadmill. I remember playing a round of Candyland too, because it got dug out of the closet.

It was really warm on Wednesday, so after I dropped Jake and Ty at their schools I decided to get the Gator out of storage. Ty had been asking for it a lot and it I figured we are hopefully done with winter. Collin and I washed it down while Ty was at school. I left it sitting out so he could see it from the van when we pulled in from the driveway. He spotted it when we were at the stop sign to our road, um, 75 yards away.

He drove that thing all day long. He waved to me when I was at the bedroom window and it is an image I wish I had caught with the camera, but I don't think it would have captured the happiness or the pure joy in this eyes. The funny thing is his knees are cramped into the dash, and he really has out grown it since last summer, but he still loves it. Collin on the other hand, has finally grown into it. Last fall his feet dangled, now they rest on floor. I can't keep Collin off it either. He throws major fits when he doesn't get a ride.

After Jake got home, the kids and I ran to the library and then made our first trip to the park for the spring. Collin climbed right up and went down the slide like he had been doing it for years.

I don't remember much about Thursday. Another day off for Tyler so I know we didn't have to go anywhere. David has early work meetings on Thursday and once the alarm went off, I couldn't go back to sleep. It was 5:45am. At 6:00, I decided to have coffee and then I decided why not get my showering done for the day in peace while the kids are still sleeping. Right in the middle of my quiet shower, I hear the pounding of feet coming through the hallway. When I peeked out, I was surprised to see Collin with them. The boys somehow manged to get him out of his crib. I spent the last 10 minutes of my shower trying to figure out how they got him out. When I went up to get clothes for him, I saw they had moved the glider against the crib and hoisted him out. By lunch, I was sooo sleepy. I quickly put Collin down and Tyler and I climbed into my bed. I was again thanking myself for switching to morning preschool, because normally I would have been leaving to drop him off at that point. Now we were snuggled up and it was raining out. We read a quick story and it was all I could do to keep my eyes open. I said "Tyler, I have to close my eyes for a minute." Just like my mom used to do to me. I think I had been asleep 2 minutes when I heard in a whisper "Mom." Seriously? "Mom- can I watch nerf shows on the computer?" Had I been in a right state of mind, I would have plunked him down in front of the tv for the duration of my nap. "No, Tyler go play" I told him. Fall asleep again. I was asleep maybe 3 minutes this time. "I'm all done!" This means Tyler went and laid a turd in the potty and I have to wipe him. The timing on this kid! I gave up on my nap. I really don't know the rest of the day after that, I was still too groggy to recall anything.

I was looking foward to Friday. That night I was invited to girls night at Duck Lake. We did a drop off at schools and Collin and I got some wine supplies for the weekend. My orginal plan was to drop the kids off at the in laws right after Jake got home, but I tried cramming a work-out, shower, pack myself, make brownies & rice krispie treats, and pack the kids all between 1-3pm. I left the house at 4:30 and didn't get out to the lake until 6. I had a great time having cocktails and talking with the other mommies. I really wish every weekend started that way.

I had to pick Collin up in the morning on Saturday so the older boys could do fun stuff with Grandma. By the time I got home, Collin and I had some lunch and he laid down. I spent the rest of the day cleaning up from my mad scramble out the door on Friday. After rounding the kids back up at 4:30, I made dinner and then we had a movie night planned for the boys.

We watched Where the Red Fern Grows. I didn't think it was all that great, but the kids liked seeing the characters we read about in the book. I love Collin in the background chillin in the bean bag. Of course, I cried again when the damn dogs died. He's an up close of Collin in the beanbag.

I love movie nights! An hour and a half I don't feel guilty about putting the kids in front of the tv. It's planned out and we all sit and watch a good movie as a family. Tylers next request is Puss In Boots, so we are going to try and squeeze that in next weekend.

I also love documenting our life by weeks. Although I hope that they are not all this long! I've been at this computer for hours. I can tell I haven't blogged in a while because I tend to ramble on about everything and every little detail.