My Morning..Monday

Well, ladies, I had to choose Monday for the day I will showcase. Most Mondays, here, are probably similar at your house. Just another manic, frantic, madhouse, laundry-killing, getting-back-in-the-mode Monday.

The day started out early. Very early. 4:14 to be exact. Rocking the baby. Laying her down. Three times to be exact. Her waking up all three times. A zillion thanks to my dear husband for getting up and rocking her with his magic touch. Oh, did I mention the rocking took a solid hour? So, by now, it is well into my prayer time/devotions. I get into the Living Room with my hot cinnamon/apple spice tea (oh, and a, urm…honey bun leftover from some junk food snacks purchased after Sun night church), get into Exodus chapters 10-13 and really enjoy what I’m reading. It is very chilly in the living room, so for my prayer time, I bring up a chair by the heater and begin dozing…uh…I mean, praying. I fall asleep so many times (I promise, it’s not like this always…:) that finally I tell the Lord that I will get back to Him during my many rocking sessions (which make for some great prayer times, btw) and snuggle on the couch (could it have been the honey bun?). I set my timer for 40 minutes and awaken when my dear hardworking, breakfast-deserving, husband comes in the living room, ready to head to work. 7:40. Yipes. I see him off, reluctantly, as usual (I tell him daily, “Just stay home, please?). And thus my day begins!

These messes greet me this morning…

Getting the weekend outta the house, yk?

Youngest son is the first one awake. He even beats Ella. I wonder why? :) She has a reason to sleep in! I put on Smile of a child TV on for him to watch, but he comes in the kitchen to watch me instead. I don’t mind. :) Notice he still has on his Sun Night church clothes. Tell me I’m not the only one who does that occasionally. Whew. Thanks.

He loves to sit in Ella’s Bumbo.

I start a load of towels and washcloths and then begin unloading the dishwasher.

I cook breakfast, which will be toast from this bread made the previous night, and

this…

While breakfast is cooking, I make a quick call to my honey to ask where the checkbook is so I can make the van payment.

At 8:30, oldest son is up and we have breakfast. I started getting the kids up at 8am, but I usually allow them 30 or so minutes. My oldest daughter had had a rough time going to sleep the previous night, so I allowed her until almost 9 to sleep in.

By this time, I have had a few slight discipline issues with youngest son (2.5 yr old) so I’m thinking this is a ‘testing’ day. :) He is very sweet and respectful, but he likes to sneak in a disobedience. For example, if I told him yesterday that I don’t want him standing on the counters, then he will try it the next day to see if I remember. :)

We have our ‘gummies’ and whole food vitamins and some other things as we all have sinus issues going on…

At 9, everyone is up and it’s time to nurse the baby. My oldest daughter doesn’t care much for breakfast, so she chooses not to eat. They sit on the couch with me while I feed the baby and we read our daily Proverbs. Then, they choose another book for me to read. Today it is a book from the Sesame Street Treasury about “Oscar’s Bad Dream”. :)

Oldest son has kitchen duty with me (each day the kids take turns), so he clears the table and sweeps under the table.

At this time, I reboot the laundry, folding as I go. My first batch of clothes folded looks like this:

Ella plays good during this time. She is really a good baby until she is sleepy. She lets ya know when it’s time to rock. :) I make my bed, pick up in the room while Ella plays on the bed. I get dressed and since I’m including every detail with the exception of our bathroom habits (lol), I’ll tell you what I wore. I had a long sleeved brown T-shirt and a straight khaki skirt. It is very cool today. I keep on my house shoes. In fact, here is a pic of Ella and I after I dress her and me:

And, no, I don’t usually fix my hair unless I have to go somewhere. In case you thought it was fixed.

The kids make their beds (my helping the 5 yr old and making the 2 yr olds) and clean their sections (we divide the room into 3 parts and they have to keep their part clean)

I’m not really sure what the kids have been doing during this time, but I think they were just playing imaginary games, you know with their toys and such. They didn’t start school until 12:00, so they were playing during the late morning hours (couldn’t go outside…too cold). Oh yeah, Evan was getting into his sister’s lipgloss. He had it everywhere!

What the living room looks like now:

Get Ella back to sleep for late morning nap around 11:15.

I reload the dishwasher and start it back. I also clear off the counters, wipe them, and sweep. Then I turn off the light in the kitchen (I absolutely love to do this…anyone else?), stand back and admire it being clean. For 30 minutes, maybe. It is 11:45.

My hardworking man comes by to get the computer for a presentation he is presenting to our Homeschool Asso. Chapter on the Parental Rights Amendment. Very proud of him for his speaking out for our parental rights. I didn’t go to the meeting because I just really didn’t want to. It was cold…I just wanted to be home. I don’t go to every one, just about every 3 mtgs. Anyway, we are always glad to have Daddy come by!

Well, that’s all for my morning. Come back to read about my afternoon! :)