Weekend Recap

As a working mom, sometimes I feel like all my living is done on the weekends.  I am constantly trying to work on that, but the time I get after school with the kids seems so short once they do their homework and their chores. Plus, whatever sport they are involved in usually has a practice during the week.  Weekdays are just no fun.

I let Ellie skip school (so unlike me, I know) so she could go camping with her cousins.  My brother kept sending me pictures while I was at school on Friday and I was actually jealous of my daughter.

Since Ellie was off having fun and Tom had a work thing, I decided to take the boys to the Batman Lego movie.  We all loved it.  I got a large popcorn and refilled it once.  I never ate a single kernel.  Basically, Sam and Jack had popcorn for dinner.  Mom of the year.

Tom had a track meet on Saturday so I took Jack to his basketball practice and game.  His team is undefeated and Saturday was the first tournament game.  They won!  One more game next Saturday to determine the championship.  Jack got the Week Sportsmanship award so he was thrilled.  Sam just hung out on the bleachers with his toys and snacks while all the 'basketballing' was going on.

Right after basketball was over, I had to take Jack to baseball practice.  It was over two hours long.  Luckily, it is at a park with a playground so I was able to keep Sam mostly entertained.  I think Jack was supposed to go to batting practice at another location after baseball practice, but I "forgot."  The day was already long enough,

Sunday was church as usual. Actually, not so usual.  Three minutes after getting to church, Ellie informs me that she is sick so I had to drive her back home.  Maybe my #sundaybest picture should have clued me in.

The kids were off from school on Monday, but I had to work.  Ellie spent much of the day working on her GT project.  The assignment was to think of something that annoys or bothers you and come up with a solution or invention to solve it.  She thought of how her brothers bother her and invented earplug jewelry.

Dancing, Monster Jam, and Valentines Day

This weekend was so fun.  Ellie's school did a daddy daughter dance as a fundraiser on Friday.  I took Ellie over to her Aunt Sabrina's for hair and makeup because we all know I am hopeless at that sort of thing.  I swear, as I was taking pictures of Ellie and Tom, I was getting all misty-eyed.

My girl is growing up and soon the guy in the pictures won't be her daddy.  Ugh.  They had a blast at the dance, though.  There was a dance off and Ellie swears she and Tom made it almost to the very end.  Tom is such a good sport.

It is so fun to have cousins at the same school.  My dad even got in on the action.

Saturday was busy.  Jack had a basketball game in the morning (his team is undefeated), then he had baseball practice followed up by a baseball team social. Tom took Jack and Sam to Monster Jam in the evening with my brother-in-law and his boys.  Jack and Sam loved every minute of it.  

While the boys were living it up at the very loud, the very crowded Monster Jam, Ellie and I were enjoying a quiet evening at home binge-watching Gilmore Girls.  It was a perfect night after such a busy day.

Today is Valentine's Day.  The weather is terrible.  As I type this, we are actually having a Shelter in Place situation at my school due to a tornado weather.  Luckily, it was only sprinkling when I left the house at 6:30 am.  As always, there wasn't time for much fanfare in the morning.  The kids were pretty ecstatic about their emoji pillows, chocolates, and Pop-Tarts (strawberry and cherry so it would seem more Valentinesy).  My parenting strategy is to set the bar low, so my kids get really excited about stuff like that.

Remembering that I actually enjoy my kids

Yesterday, Jack and I took the day off school to take care of some business - hair appointment, dentist, and eye doctor.  Even though Jack had to get 2 cavities filled, run errands into a few stores, and wait on my appointments (which always lasted longer than his), he still proclaimed it the BEST DAY EVER.  And, honestly, he was such a delight the whole day.  I had the same experience with Sam a couple of weeks ago when Tom took the older two kids to a track meet.  My kids are awesome one on one.  It's like their siblings bring out the worst in them.

I got my burger lettuce-wrapped and didn't even touch Jack's fries. My willpower is always amazing at the start of each year.

Jack was the only one with an appointment, but they talked me into getting my teeth cleaned while I was there!

Look at this kid, patiently coloring away.

I really have been making a conscious effort to spend time with each kid individually.  I've been taking these 2-3 mile walks around the neighborhood lake and I will take either Jack or Ellie with me (but not both at the same time).  Then, most nights after Jack and Sam are in bed, Ellie and I will watch an episode of Gilmore Girls.  Jack got a little jealous so he and I are watching Netflix's new Lemony Snickett's Series of Unfortunate Events (so cute!).  It is hard to find time to watch it with him since baseball has started and he is still in basketball, but we get in an episode or two on the weekends.  I just need to find something to do with Sam.

Anyway, I think I mainly wrote all of this to just remind myself to spend one-on-one time with my kids.  I need to be reminded of how awesome they are underneath all that day-to-day bickering.