Tuesday: This morning showed how tired we all were... Taylor and I got up around 8:30 and Sydney and Parker didn't wake up until 9! It was a rush to get in the car by 9:30 to leave for swimming lessons. Raegan and her mom met us at the swim lessons (they had a late morning, too!), Taylor and Parker did their lesson, and then we headed to Stone Mountain to go to their playground! It was the coolest playground. Almost completely shaded, there were all these rope structures and obstacle courses, picnic tables, slides, and more. We stayed there almost 2 hours. We came home, hung out, showered and ate an early dinner, then headed to VBC again! Tonight was definitely less hectic, thank goodness. It was another late night going to bed!
Tie Dye tank!
VBC
Wednesday: We all woke up later this morning, ate breakfast and rushed to swim lessons. Taylor is improving so much! The girl who was terrified of the pool last year is now going all the way under, jumping in, and swimming on her own... for a few seconds at a time. Yay! And the best part is that she's excited about it. We came home, and our babysitter came over to play! Stephen is gone all this week, so I planned a little mid-week break for my mental state. ;) I literally did nothing of importance, but I spent 3 hours walking around shops, walking at the park, and running to the grocery store. We made homemade pizza for dinner, then rushed to church for VBC. We didn't get home until about 10 PM.
VBC
Thursday: Last day of swim lessons!!! Woohoo! Parker did not want to get in the pool this morning... (I swear, these three have been soooooo cranky this week), but he finally managed to submerge himself. Taylor has improved 3000% in these past two weeks, and I am extremely grateful for that! (Parker, not so much... but, I think it got him more comfortable with the water. He went from holding the teacher's hand to jump in to finally jumping in by himself. I'll take that.) On the way home, we swung by the haircut place to get Parker a much-needed haircut. Once the lady started cutting with the razor, he flipped out. Kicking, hitting, screaming. Lord, help me. It was awful. It was awful for him, me, and the poor lady. When we got home and I got a good look at him, I noticed how badly uneven it was everywhere. It wasn't the poor lady's fault... I know she just couldn't do anymore. We hung around the house, played outside, had a few timeouts (me, included), ate another early dinner, and then went to VBC. Things were much slower tonight than they've been all week so far. Parker refused to go to his little group, so he stayed with me the whole night. We are all counting down the hours until Stephen gets home tomorrow evening!
This was right after swim lessons... Parker was following suit.
This was when we got home... tears still coming and totally uneven hair!
Finally, a smile!
Friday: Whew. Y'all. This week needs to be put in the books. I think the combination of late nights, swimming lessons, no Stephen, and them being together the rest of the day has taken its toll on all of us. I literally, at one point, told the kids that they don't have a mommy for an hour. Isn't that terrible? I told them I was going to be invisible, and that they would have to realize how much I do for them that they never appreciate. Don't worry... before you go calling DFCS, know that I was just in the office at the computer the whole time. It turned out to be a pretty cool experiment because they ended up teaming up to make their own lunches, helping each other cleaning things up, sitting together to watch some tv, etc. We were going to go to Chuck E Cheese's this morning, but Parker got mad and started hitting Sydney (he's going through this awful hitting stage right now), so I cancelled the trip. Then, things were improving, so we were going to go to CFA for lunch and to play...but Parker and Sydney got into another fight over Beanie Boos. Screaming, hitting, biting. That's when I lost it. I was D-O-N-E. So, they fended for themselves for a bit. Taylor was the only one who didn't seem to like it. She kept coming into the office, saying, "How many more minutes??" and laying her head in my lap. Things looked up in the afternoon. I managed to get my whole chore list done today, we went on a little nature scavenger hunt, Stephen made it back (yay!), Parker stayed with him to ride the lawn mower (his fave), and I took the girls only to VBC tonight for the FINAL night! Woohoo!
Batman came to VBC!
Saturday: Ahh, the freedom of weekends... and having your husband home all day. I was able to go on a leisurely walk, trying to finish up a book in a weekend, and dilly-dally and chat with several friends I ran into while grocery shopping in the morning. When I got home, the kiddos had been entertained and fed (score!) and we played outside. Our neighbors across the way invited us over for dinner, so we headed there around 4:30. The kids played, we chatted, we had a gourmet meal and dessert. Then, we headed home and ended the night watching a soccer game. A great, chill day, one that is especially nice after this rough and exhausting week!
Sydney's dragon creation
Sunday: I took another leisurely walk (darn book, I'm almost done!), then we headed to church. It was our pastor's last Sunday with us (sniff!) so they had one big service today, followed by a big pot-luck lunch. It was a bit emotional, but it was fun getting the chance to talk with other church goers, say our goodbyes to the family, etc. Stephen took the girls to our friend's pool to practice Taylor's swimming, and they had a really great time. When they got home, I headed to Dunwoody to meet a friend for dinner and a movie! We saw Me Before You (the darn book I was trying to finish! I got within 50 pages of the end!) but it was VERY good, a definite must-see, if you like romantic movies. Just bring some tissues. I didn't get home until after 11, but it was a fun time!
