A (Wednes)day in the life..

Wednesdays are our new Library storytime days (instead of Tuesdays like they were before we moved).  Going out always means gearing everything in that direction, with that end in mind.

The kids all slept late this morning, which is no surprise, seeing as how almost every night is like a slumber party for them.  We can hear them in their room laughing and talking sometimes up to an hour after we've said our 'goodnights' and shut the door.  As long as they aren't too loud we generally leave them alone.  

Anyway, since they are shaving an hour off their sleep time at the beginning of the night sometimes they gain it back in the mornings.  And then some of them don't exactly come bounding out of bed in the mornings anyway.  But then, neither do I. :)

All that to say...the kids slept late this morning.  For several mornings in a a row I had people clamoring for breakfast by 7:30, so I adjusted my routine and started having it ready by then.  At 7:30 this morning I had a plate of pancakes on the table and not a kid in sight!

After breakfast we got the dishes washed and the little ones dressed, then began gathering our library books and our accessories, since the theme for storytime today was Crazy Hat Day.

Alan spent a while the night before working on a fancy/crazy crown:

Dale and I were both greatly amused by his use of a tiny souvenir baseball cap:

But then he changed at the last minute when I found a forgotten cap from his old Mario costume.

We went with the obvious choice for Miss B:

Tyler balked on all the options we had laid out for him and went hatless.  He seemed quite comfortable with that choice (I had his hat in my purse the whole time, and he knew it), but he was happy to wear the crazy visor he made as a craft afterward.  Go figure.

We go home and dove into school and getting ready for lunch (cheesy spaghetti - yay!).  Just for fun I made a microwave peach cobbler.  It turned out pretty good.  I also used this time to crank out a couple of loads of laundry.

Brooklyn went down for her nap right after lunch.  She was ready!
Me: It's naptime for you, girly!
Brooklyn, all smiles: I know!
Then, climbing onto the rail of her crib: Need blanket!
I tossed her in and gave her a blanket: Night, night!
Brooklyn, still all smiles, popped her thumb in her mouth, flopped over onto her side: 'Night night!! 

I don't know when I've ever seen her so happy to go to bed.  But, come to think of it, she was in a great mood a lot today, so maybe that had something to do with it.

After getting Miss B all tucked in, I had a nice phone chat with my sister while I nursed Daniel and the big boys played.  He doesn't nurse himself to sleep very often, so today I just enjoyed holding him for a while, taking in his sweet baby face.

I finally laid him down with at least half a dozen things on my "should do" list, but I sat and just enjoyed the quiet and some internet for a while.  I gathered the big boys to finish their school.  Whether out of laziness or to save my own sanity (there's a thin line there, I think) I didn't bother trying to make Tyler nap today.  I decided he might as well tag along for afternoon school with Alan, which consists of a quick Bible reading, some science and some History.  It's pretty light, and pretty fun.

I love that "school" can happen anywhere.  Today we all ended up piled on my bed (a first for us, I'm pretty sure) learning about Columbus and classifying African animals.

Pretty soon the babies were up and we all snacked, and before I knew it it was 4:00.  I had to get supper made and the kitchen clean and everyone ready to go out the door in just over two hours.

Long story short: we made it.  Instead of our usual Wednesday night classes, Greg was the guest devotion-giver at a nursing home service.  We decided earlier this week to take the whole family along.  Greg played his guitar and the big boys stood by him and sang a few hymns.  I sat nearby and sang along, bouncing Daniel in my lap and watching Brooklyn fidget around and flirt with the nearest old lady.  I don't know if they heard a word of Greg's devotion, but the residents were more than thrilled with our passel o'kiddos.  

We had time for a quick walmart run on the way home.  

With fresh bananas, a bag of fritos and a can of raisins, all's right in our world again. ;)

Pj's, a snack, and everyone hustled off to bed for another slumber party.  Life's good.