A Day in My Life--May

It's once again time for Little Jenny Wren's "A Day in My Life." Actually I'm a day late posting. There was just no time last night to tell about my day.

I woke about 4:30 this morning with a noisy baby. She and I moved to the rocker recliner in the living room for the rest of the early morning so everyone in the back of the house could sleep. We both fell back to sleep and I dreamed that I was having a party but couldn’t find anything to wear. In my dream I was also doing mountains of laundry. Someone removed the wire shelving from above the washing machine and wouldn’t put it back, which was a catastrophe in dreamland, just as it would be in real life. I love my laundry room!

I ended up oversleeping with my snuggly baby, and jumped up just in time to fix Billy a quick breakfast before he left for work. I made the kids and me some toast with the bread I made yesterday. It’s from the last of our wheat, which isn’t readily available here. Fortunately my parents should be able to bring me some more soon.

I showered and quickly dressed the kids and we took Elizabeth to speech therapy. She was having a difficult time with the R sound, but a few sessions with our therapist friend from church have solved the problem. Her therapist said she doesn’t have to come back any more!

After her session we dropped by the dollar store for pencils. Elizabeth had a few dollars burning a hole in her pocket, and she insisted on buying a small gift for each of us. I put a limit on how much she could spend, or she probably would have spent it all. One of the things I love about my girl is her giving spirit. She loves to give gifts!

At home I put on a load of laundry (from the real laundry mountain) and nursed baby Grace, who is 5 weeks old now. Then warmed up leftover spaghetti while the kids watched Dora the Explorer. I’ve tried to be even more conscientious about using leftovers since the cost of food has gotten so high.

Elizabeth got the mail and came in shouting, “Jack is here! Jack is here!” Billy and I have recently gotten hooked on the show 24, 6 years late to the party. We don’t have cable so we have been ordering the complete seasons from Amazon, which saves bookoodles of money. Season 4 arrived today. The kids are not allowed to watch it, but E knows we have been keeping our eye on the mail box!

After lunch I sat down with the middle littles while they fell asleep. They are not fans of naps, but still really need them. I have learned that it works much better if I supervise them until they are asleep. Silas lays down on the futon and Sarah and I take the rocker recliner. It usually doesn’t take long before they are out and I can go about my day without wondering what they are up to! Elizabeth is reading over my shoulder and giggling at this as I type. She has been working on her school work while I get the littles down. Somehow new pencils made it more fun today.

I was ready to shift into high gear for the afternoon when baby woke and needed to be fed. I enjoy the chance to read, rest, or spend time with God during our nursing times, and I try to not take them for granted. The newborn stage is so short. There are times when I feel frustration that I’m not being more “productive”, yet what is more productive than nurturing a sweet little life, an eternal soul made in the image of God? Mopping can wait. I did coach Elizabeth on her schoolwork during that time.

Finally I was able to spend a couple hours cleaning and doing laundry before it was time to leave for church. I accomplished one of my goals, which was to clean off the top of the pie safe. In our last house it became an unsightly collection spot for this and that. When we moved in here I thought perhaps if I put some nice decorations on top we might avoid that. No such luck. It looked worse than ever.




I filled my biggest mixing bowl with all that stuff!



Whew, much better! It’s a beautiful piece of furniture, and I hate to see it cluttered with junk.

We have family suppers at church on Wednesday night. Last night they served red beans and rice. It is soooo nice to not have to cook on that night!

I didn’t actually get to attend church because Grace needed me. I spent most of the time in the nursery. I don’t typically leave my babies till they are older, just because they are so tiny and I don’t like to subject them to all those germs if I don’t have to!

We visited with friends for awhile afterward and got home about 8:00. We put the kids to bed and watched a couple episodes of 24. Actually we would have headed to bed earlier, but Grace was having tummy trouble and we would have been awake anyway.

Finally Grace fell asleep and we turned in around midnight. Sweet dreams!