This morning I felt like a flood of inspiration hit. I realized some things I could do with the kids on a daily basis that would be fun and educational, and I was so excited that I planned out the next couple days hour by hour. Today everything went according to plan…except that right now instead of blogging, according to my plan I should be five minutes away from serving dinner. Oh well. We all ate a big snack an hour ago and this is my first moment of down time all day.
Everything else stayed on track, though! We went to story time at the library and then stopped off at Barnes and Noble so I could buy some workbooks for the girls. I also bought a dinosaur book and a book on anatomy since Lydia is very interested in those subjects right now.
Mary had a massive melt-down in Barnes and Noble. After she pooped, I told her we had to go home to change her diaper. She followed me screaming and crying. I felt very blessed because I didn’t feel at all annoyed or embarrassed, but instead we eventually worked it out. I told Mary if she learns to poop in the potty then we won’t have to leave places to go home and change her diaper (especially since I always forget to bring diapers with me). Clearly, I am ambivalent on the potty training front. One day I hate the thought, and the next it doesn’t sound all that bad.
At any rate, Mary cheered right up, and as soon as I cleaned her up at home, she ran straight to the potty and tried to teach herself to poop on the potty. At lunch time I announced we were going to start home schooling. I should have said “together time,” but home schooling best term I could think of (at the time) for the couple of work sheets and music lessons I plan on starting as part of our daily routines. Lydia slumped in her chair and said, “I don’t want to learn what “home schooling” means.” I thought that was a hilarious and apt reflection on my past attempts to educate Lydia at home. I always fail because I end up sucking all the joy out of learning and push her too hard.
This time, though, I’m excited because I have no goal in mind other than to provide us ALL with happy together time that also happens to be slightly educational. Today it worked, too! We all had a good time, and the girls even asked for more when I announced it was time to get ready for ballet.
Abe showed up at ballet and surprised the girls. Afterward they ran to him crying, “Daddy” or, in Mary’s case, “My bud! My bud! My bud is here!” Here are two vidoes of ballet.
After ballet, the girls jumped in puddles. They love their puddle jumper rain boots.
We are now debating whether we should head out to buy me some jeans. The weather has changed and I have only the three outfits I’ve worn all summer long. I hate to buy pregnancy jeans so late in the game, but let’s be honest. At 211 pounds, I can probably get a lot of use out of these jeans long after Ammon arrives. So, if I have the energy to make it to the mall, that’s how we’ll end this lovely day.
