1 Week, 4 Days

This morning, I woke up and started to feel very nostalgic about my year off. With Pk, when she was a baby, there was nothing that could be called a routine (or, whenever I thought we were getting a routine, she would change it). I am in a routine now that I really like and I thought I would try and capture a typical day. It didn't end up being all that typical but who cares. I don't think this will be the most enjoyable post for you so feel free to ignore this one but it's fun for me to write and I hope to be able to look back and remember a really wonderful year.

Each morning starts out VERY early. Dh gets me up at 5, I have a brief prayer time and then it's off to work out. Three days a week, I do a weights workout at home (that was this morning's routine) and three days a week I run. After my exercise, I make tea and coffee and then have a shower. Dh thinks it's hysterical that as I dry my hair, I read. It seems like a great use of time to me.

Once I am showered, I start to get everyone up. We have a space heater in our room because Baby Bean is still sleeping with me and doesn't sleep well if the room is too cold. The cat is a big fan of the heater and is always in this space when I get up.
At some point during all of this, Pk emerges and always loudly announces to all of us that she is up. She often then decides to go back to bed but this morning, she was up and ready to go.
While I get dressed, the kids (and dogs) hang out in our bed. It's one of my favourite times of the day. I love hanging out in our room and, when we aren't rushed, this is a great time for some stories.
Our next move is into Baby Bean's bedroom. I make the bed, tidy-up, put away any laundry that is kicking around and then get Baby Bean dressed. He is generally a very happy little man at this time of day.
We often spend a bit of time playing in his room. Today, it was the mouthpieces. Dh grew up in the Salvation Army and brass banding is HUGE in his family. His father gave both kids trombone mouthpieces in the hope that they will play. They did this morning!
Stop number 3 is Pk's room. That isn't the most fun part of the day. Her room is always a disaster (and we are working together on learning to tidy) and she has the worst bedhead and is VERY resistant to having it repaired. This photo doesn't do it justice but getting these tangles out is not fun.
The next step is breakfast. This morning, Pk wanted toast, Baby Bean had cheerios and pears and I had my usual poached eggs and toast. While we eat, I usually try to get some cooking done and today was no exception. The next few days are incredibly busy so I got the slow cooker ready for tonight's dinner (we have dance class on Mondays so it was lemon chicken which is delicious!) and tomorrow is music and Wednesday both kids are swimming so we are going to have a family favourite that is super fast - sloppy joes. We love this recipe but we modify and use beef instead of lentils.
Around this time, Baby Bean goes down for his nap and Pk and I do some "work". We work a bit in her books and we try and do something fun and hands-on with some learning connections. Today was fairly routine, just her books and then she really wanted to play the Veggietales games and have some of the stories read to her at www.Veggietales.com. I am shocked at how independent she is becoming at using the computer (another day I will discuss my mixed feelings about kids and computers).
We ended up with a bit of free time so I spent some time working on sorting out clothing. We have been really lucky to have wonderful friends lend us clothing for the kids but since we have had three different families share with us, it's hard not to be overrun. I did some sorting and cleaning today so that we might actually be able to use the downstairs spare room for company.
After Baby Bean got up, we spent some time in the living room. A squirrel and a mourning dove were jostling for the bird feeder and it gave us some good entertainment. We really do need to splurge on a squirrel-proof feeder!
Baby Bean's activity for this week from Slow and Steady involved scrunching paper. Needless to say, Pk was eager to help. He adores her and she loves him so much - it's really heartwarming!

Our big treat today was that we went down to have lunch with Daddy at work. The kids were really excited to be there and Dh's students thought it was really interesting to see that Mr. N actually has his own family.

The only problem with going to see Dh was that the kids missed their regular naptime. Normally, they would fall asleep in the car and I would just sit in the driveway and knit while they slept but today, the little stinkers woke up as soon as I pulled up to the house. It meant no quiet time for mommy. I decided to use the time to do someone work to get ready to go back to school. All of my teaching stuff is in the garage and it needed sorting. Pk had a blast riding her bike (it was raining so she couldn't ride outside anyway) and Baby Bean played with some of my classroom toys. It did a lot to put my mind at ease to get some work done.

We went inside and had a brief snack and then it was time to set off for Pk's highland dance lesson. She loves going and it's really fun for her but a bit of a drag for me - it's 25 minutes drive and then Baby Bean and I have to kill time for 45 minutes and then pick her up and make the drive home. Today, we spent the time getting things at Walmart that he will need to start daycare next week. He was tired and very, very grouchy.

Pk has her highland dance exam on Saturday morning so we got her outfit on to make sure it fits properly. I think she looks adorable!

The day finished with our normal bedtime routine - dinner, bath, t.v. for P.k. and stories for Baby Bean and then it all gets repeated with Pk. I never thought they would go down but now they are, so I am off to knit.

I hope I didn't bore you with my mundane but wonderfully fulfilling day. See you tomorrow!