Regular Day and Ramblings

This morning was shaping up like any other until the boys were chasing each other and Easton fell hard. On his face. My poor neighbors in our apartment building! As I cuddled one screaming child, another approached whining she wasn't being held too! And this episode made us miss the bus for the first time in our short bus goin' career. Traffic getting to the school just ten minutes away took us 45 minutes so we were 15 minutes late. Grrr! At least it allowed me to keep an eye on Easton a little longer to make sure his cheek's goose egg wasn't something more serious.

The rest of the day went pretty leisurely. I got to plan out a couple of my Sunday School lessons and do my chores while Morgan napped and McKay was at kindergarten. A little chill in the air today had my feet frozen so when Morgan woke up early from her nap needing a bath, I threw my legs over the side to warm them up! I also filled the tub up more than usual and it was fun to see her try to slurp up water too fast and sputter through a grin. The few inches of water she's accustomed to in her baths always kept her busy splashing, but a full tub had her clapping and sputtering. She's such a funny little gal! I'm getting a kick out of her fake laugh to get attention, periodic standing up in the middle of empty rooms just to show she can, and now the fun clapping!

We went to pick up McKay and I got to practice a little of my German on some neighbors. It's fun to hear and understand a smidgen more here and there! Today was made even better because I got McKay to finally take a much over due nap this afternoon! YAHOOOO!!! Unfortunately I got listening to a BYU Kennedy Center lecture by a guy in the Foreign Service rather than doing my budget assignment. And then all of a sudden it was time to go catch Easton from the bus. I love the autumn colors and the slight chill in the air!!! But today, Easton and Morgan are both feeling a little warm and a lot cranky - 100 degree temps. Morgan had shots yesterday, Easton . . . Hmmm, I foresee EARLY bedtimes in our future!

Getting accustomed to having a school age kid has truly been a mixed bag. It's forcing me into a new schedule and we're all growing into the quirks. For instance, Easton never eats everything I pack for his school lunch/snacks which is fine by me. He eats the Gogurt first thing and eats his PB&J sandwich at lunch. Somewhere in there he ate his applesauce which today left his cucumbers, string cheese, apple and one of the graham crackers w/ PB. His teacher called the other day to check in on this situation because he hits the "snack cafe" first thing every day. When she mentioned what he ate from his supply, I had a laugh. Gogurts. She was wondering if he was just not much of a breakfast eater or needed to eat more. Nope, he's just loving his independence to eat what he wants when he wants!

On the Gogurts, aren't kids and food interesting when you send them off on their own? I have sporadically bought these Gogurts before. The boys beg for them, but McKay has taken a long to time to finally master pushing the yogurt up and out which until last week required my help and/or a mess as he learned. Too much work for an afternoon snack sometimes with a 3 yr old who wants to do everything by himself! That and I have a personal love-hate relationship with all the handy kid-sized foods out there. I'm constantly confronted with a surge of gratitude for something easy to grab tempered by a nagging little voice in my head whispering that all that packaging is so wasteful and it's the lazy way out of doing something it would take a couple minutes to do myself in reusable containers. Alas, gratitude usually wins out at this stage of the game!

As for the lunch leftovers, around 4pm every day, all three of the kids have scavenged Easton's lunch remains. I get a kick out of this. Easton will ask for a snack and when I say, "Finish what I packed you today," he whines until he realizes I'm serious. It's the only way I can make sure he gets the healthy stuff eaten, silly boy! Morgan particularly relishes the leftovers afternoon ritual! She does get quite frustrated by packaging barriers on the string cheese and cucumbers, but that apple is becoming one of her faves - always accessible and more fun with more chompers up top - can ya see 'em in the pic above?

It's 5pm and time to get dinner on the table as the kids play outside. Oh how I love this routine when they're not fighting! And Mon-Wed I don't really cook full out meals because Ryan's got class M/W and we all go to class Tuesday nights. It makes for long days for Ryan without much face time with the kids, but he's only got another week. I am loving the classes! I am finding lots of opportunities to practice and slaughter my German and we're both enjoying our Dave Ramsey's financial peace planning.

I just plain love to learn and with peers it's even more fun! For instance, yesterday in German class some gal did her belly dancing demo for us because she teaches a class. Anyone want a sparkly, jangling hip sash? My funny German instructor is DYING to have one in every color available! Not to belly dance, but to accessorize her wardrobe and she means business! Some conversations in German class are purely trivial, but I'm enjoying lots of insights into German culture whereas Ryan wants to plough through more German. I wonder if that's because he's already proficient in another foreign language and absorbs new ones easier whereas my brain takes more time to make it click?

Last weekend we took the kids to see "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs." When the boys were asked about their favorite parts, Easton loved the inventions, McKay loved the action and violence. McKay recently likes to run through upcoming events in our schedule to be assured that everything goes according to his preferences (meals, bedtime, playtime - you name it!). I get a kick out of hearing him also recently saying "Darn it!" and "Holy Cow!" while playing mixed in with "NEIN!" whenever bothered, usually by Morgan. He is quite the ham and cuddlebug. My favorite is how he still randomly says, "Mom? . . . I love you." In his German kindergarten, it is fun to see that he's willing to try new German words they are teaching him and heartily participates in all the activities.