Tuesday 10-21

Tuesdays start a little later for me, although Dale had a meeting down in Eugene, OR at 8:00 am and had to be at the office by 6:00, so he left home at 5:20 AM. I woke up just before 8:00 AM and got Hannah and Justin up and ready for school. They always watch Spongebob while eating breakfast and getting dressed. Breakfast usually consists of cereal (lately honeynut cheerios) or frozen waffles (cooked of course) with syrup for Hannah or jam for Justin. I also throw together Hannah's lunch, which is usually a PB&J or turkey sandwich (although today it was a turkey/cream cheese rollup in a tortilla), applesauce or fruit cup, some type of chips or crackers and fruities or a fruit roll. Today we drove to school since we were a bit rushed and I did not want to take Owen out in the cold with the cold that he has. After dropping them off, we drove though Starbucks, and I used a free coupon to get my favorite Pumpkin Spice Latte.

Once Owen and I are back home, things slow down a bit. Owen usually watches Dora and Diego while running around and gathering his trucks to play with on the couch. I check on email and message boards on the computer and get some stuff done around the house. There is always the aforementioned laundry. Also, today, I actually managed to make our bed, which usually does not get done. I have also been going through a pile of clothes that the kids no longer wear and they've been passed on to cousins and friends and come back home. I am sorting through them to see what is worth consigning and what should just be donated. Everytime I see the clothes, I remember the kids wearing them and get very sentimental, and I have a hard time getting rid of them. I let myself get way to attached to inanimate things--but really it is just the memory I'm attached to.

Owen also made sure that I had an extra household task today. First of all, before explaining this, I need to back up. Yesterday, while I was in the garage pantry getting something, Owen got ahold of a whole section of Otter Pops (in the unfrozen liquid form). He was playing with them on the kitchen floor, and while I was doing something else, he managed to tear one open and spill it all over the floor. That is impossible to get clean and unsticky without getting out the mop. So back to today. He managed to get yet another section of Otter Pops out and was playing with them on the table with his trucks. Whatever possessed me to even think this was a good idea at all, I have no idea. I guess I figured I was there, and he was being gentle. I had meant to put them away but just didn't do it before heading upstairs to make the bed and do other things. When I came back down, I saw a big wet spot on the couch, and closer investigation showed me that yet again, an Otter Pop had been torn open and was all over the couch. So out came the little wet vac, which then turned into a larger job of cleaning all the little spots around the family room that have been bugging me. Okay, enough about the Otter Pop incidents. Hopefully I've learned my lesson by now.

At 11:30, Owen and I walked up to get Justin and when we got home, they instantly started playing like the had the day before even though we had power today. They played with the kitchen some more and made me another feast. I made them mini ravioli for lunch, which is one of the few non-snack items that Owen will actually eat really well right now. I'm so looking forward to when he's willing to eat more types of foods. He used to eat pretty much anything, but especially once he turned 2, he has become a very picky eater. After lunch, the boys watched a little tv and then Owen went down for his nap around 1:30. Hannah got home at 3:00, dropped her backpack off and instantly ran back down to Braiden's to play outside. She rode Justin's bike around since we sold hers a month ago because she really needs a bigger one and because she is "so DONE with Princesses." as she says rolling her eyes at you. The weather this week has been so great. It starts out overcast and very cold in the morning but has been clearing off and getting really warm. Because it was so nice, I told Justin he needed to go out and play too. He would much rather stay inside and watch tv, so I often have to really work hard to get him to go out. I think it would be different if he felt comfortable riding his bike, but even though he had ridden it great, he is not confident in his ability to stop without falling over. We definitely need to work with him more on that and get his confidence up.

Dale came home a little early since he had left so early and he actually made quesadillas for dinner while I ran to Fred Meyer to get some food items we needed but also stuff for a Halloween party that Hannah convinced me to have on Saturday. The other thing Hannah convinced us was to let them carve their pumpkins that night. It was against my better judgement because if they're done too early, they'll rot before Halloween, but she wore me down. She has been bugging us non-stop ever since we got the pumpkins over a week ago. Hannah and Justin did awesome with their pumpkins. They drew their own faces and did a lot of the carving. We even carved Owen's little pumpkin. Owen wasn't as into it as he was last year. He was interested in what was going on, but thought the insides were "Ewwww, yucky."

Once done with pumpkin carving, it was time for the nightly bedtime ritual of pj's, brush teeth and reading in the hall at the top of the stairs. Often times on Tuesdays, Dale is not around for bedtime because he plays indoor soccer every Tuesday. This Tuesday, his game was not until 10:00, so after getting the kids down and getting himself ready, he was off to soccer, so he had a very long day. I went to bed around 11:00 and hoped to get some good rest for the next morning when I get up early again.

I had too many photos from today to try to line them all up, so I made a slide show.