Peaceful Takeoffs & Crash Landings {#31days}

Let me welcome you into my world as we begin this 31 day adventure...  (Don't worry. The posts won't always be this long. Just sharing a tad more of what a typical day at home looks like.)

Sometime around 6 am my eyes will either just open on their own or the alarm on my phone will tell home. o "get up or regret it" (seriously). Sure it sounds insane to wake up early when you are already lacking in the sleep department. But, if I didn't do that, then I would get to enjoy this:

Coffee. Not just any cup of coffee. This is the first coffee of the day and it won't get anywhere near that microwave. That first cup in the morning is something quite enjoyable when you can take a sip that is still hot.

And, while I enjoy this coffee before wild monkeys take over house my children arise from their sweet slumber, I actually get that much needed quiet time to pray. Which is something that every mother needs. Coffee and wine can't do it all... And, thankfully, I have a new devotional for these mornings. If you haven't heard of Blessed Is She, please go check it out. It is wonderful to have the daily readings and encouragement before the day truly begins.

And, it begins at 7 am. On the dot. It doesn't even matter that I have a time to wake up clock. Oh, no. We have the squeaky breaks and backing-up-while-beeping-louder-than-anything school bus as their alarm clock. The running and squealing comes next. Followed by "I'm hungry!" from the bigger 2 and "Ma! Mama! Ma! Mama!" from the tiny one. The cereals come out and for just a moment all is quiet...NOT! They giggle and laugh and yell about the days events or whatever they did yesterday. It's pretty funny listening to their conversations. And, it's even better when Austin starts getting into the convo with his random baby sounds. Time for coffee number two (and, yes...this one had quite a few trips to the microwave)...

After breakfast, morning jobs are done. Some with way too much whining involved and some done but with an eye roll. We say our goodbyes to Daddy as he heads off for the day. And, since I have a bit more on my list to handle, they get to watch Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood until school time.

Today's school was all about Transportation and they LOVED this one! Alex worked on some tracing pages and Andrew worked on writing the colors of the cars on his pages. Austin got to be a Mr. Man and was throwing stuff across the kitchen so you know where he headed. It was time for his morning nap anyway. GASP! What?! I know... Almost 11 months old and I haven't made him drop that morning nap. Well, guess what? Oh, well. With child number 3, you stop doing a lot of things. He won't nap for long, though...maybe an hour. So, we get to the rest of our work:

• Alex - tracing pages, dry-erase workbook for letters, numbers, and telling time.
• Andrew - copy work, writing on his own practice
• Both - learning to read a map, what the different road signs mean, and the Parking Lot Game to practice our counting (Alex) and addition (Andrew)

One school is over for the day (well, technically we are done - but they boys loved playing that parking lot game so they are still doing that). I take advantage of Austin sleeping and get this post partially done. Only, as I wrote that sentence someone is calling for me to come get them. Oh, and it is now time to get lunch going. Ah, motherhood.

{insert elevator music}

Lunch. Lunch is when things begin the slow fall down the hill from the morning calm. I have yet to figure out why...

I get them hot dogs, grapes, apple sauce, and some bunny crackers. Now, we don't usually have hot dogs, but I grabbed them while at Costco last week. Because...hey, why not? Apparently that was not what they wanted. Because...why? "Why do we always have to have hot dogs????" Seriously? When was the last time you had hot dogs, boys? Oh, yeah... Andrew's birthday party. But that's always, right?

While they finished lunch, I caught up with the happenings in Florida from Mom. Then, of course Austin wanted to get down and go tear up the house play as soon as he saw his brothers get up. Only they decided they wanted to watch Peg + Cat and he decided to rearrange the only kitchen cabinet that isn't locked.

Eventually, we were all playing on the floor building with the Duplos and dragging out the castles to blow up the houses that were built. Why do boys ALWAYS want blow stuff up? They all want to destroy things. All. The. Time. And, they think it is hilarious if they mess up something I made. Sheesh! This is why I don't play Legos and stuff that much. My houses always end up in looking like the ruins of Pompeii or something. Stinkers.

Now, if you follow us in Instagram, you may have seen this earlier today:

Let me tell you something about this picture... Sure it looks cute and you think they are playing so sweet. Um, no. There was a fight of some sort starting. Something about a knight and why he should be on this horse instead of that one. And why this cannon belongs to that castle. And, in the meantime, the highest pitched squeals are coming from the smallest of the bunch (but not by far). And woven within the arguing and the squealing, is me saying, "Y'all quit!" "Share!" "I WILL TAKE IT ALL AWAY!!"

UGH! There are about 14 different knights, 3 horses, and a couple of other things. Why is it SO hard to share?! They were fine moments ago...

Anyway, it calmed down shortly once Andrew and Alex decided they wanted to play Legos. Also, Austin was rubbing his eyes and saying "me me me" (that means milk...I think).

Peace has been restored once again in this kingdom. Now, it's time to get the house put somewhat back together, figure out dinner, and switch out the laundry while Andrew and Alex go play outside. 

{insert your favorite podcast while I get to cleaning up around here - this one, this one, and this one are my favorites!}

Why is the witching hour so hard?? And, when will it quit?

Those wild ones are running nonstop in the house, outside, down the hill, over the sofa. Oh my. Gosh. I have already asked them, told, them, yelled at them about the fighting probably 20 times within the past hour. I know, I know... They are boys. I know.

I get the laundry put half away (at least its folded and put into the right room). The bacon is in the oven (which apparently is burned). Yep. We are "being silly," Andrew says. We are having breakfast for dinner! Oh, and, of course, Austin sees that I had a food item of some sort (the raw bacon) and begins the very loud screams of half-words that may only make sense to me right now. So, he goes into his highchair. Its 5 pm, man. Dinner is at 6. At least it is usually at 6. I just got a text from Jason saying he will be home by 630. Sweet.


When is bedtime again? And, where's my wine?

It's rather comical how my tone changed throughout the day, don't you think? It started off rather peaceful and now we are coming in for a crash landing.

And, so goes the end of the day routine. Dinner, bath, pajamas, story, prayers, and - finally, bed.

{insert sigh of relief and a Target run}

There you have it. Another end to another day at the House.

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Want to start your day off better? Kat Lee from Inspired To Action is the one who...well, inspired me to wake up early. If we are grouchy in the mornings, if we don't get that first cup of coffee/tea/beverage choice, if we don't get those prayers for strength/peace/etc, then we aren't going to make it through the day. Try it out and see for yourself. It is amazing what even just waking fifteen minutes before the kids will do for you.