We have been busy with family. The best kind of busy to be, but I’m calling it. We need a day to recover. It is Saturday night and I am officially designating Sunday, get-your-life-in-order-day. Thursday night we gathered with my family over a meal at my parent’s house. My mom knows Eleanor’s affinity for accessories and picked up a clearanced package of pretty girly dress up clothes.
I couldn’t believe how much Eleanor squealed with delight. She put on every single piece and then some.
Heels, wings, crown, earrings, necklace, gloves, ring, bracelets, wand–all of it.
As it goes when you are visiting with family–you always stay later then you should. I always dread getting home with three very tired little kids late at night. From the second we pull into the driveway it is utter chaos. Getting everyone in, through the snow. Eleanor wants to be carried, Hudson needs to be carried, Quinn is sleeping in the back and, without fail, there are 8 million other things that need to be carried in as well. Then there is always the traffic jam at the front door where we try to get boots off without getting snow on the hardwood, and navigating anywhere with that darn baby carrier/car seat is the biggest pain the butt.
Then we have to convince exhausted crabby kids to go potty and brush their teeth. Regardless of how tired they are, they never forget about that darn bedtime story.
By the time all the kids are in bed, all the plans I made to finally get laundry done or pick up the disaster that is my house are out the window.
We clearly didn’t learn our lesson, because we pulled the same thing Friday night and Saturday night.
Friday afternoon I took the kiddos over to visit with my grandma. I had my trip to Utah, and then she went on a trip with a few of her kids to Florida so it had been awhile. The kids were crazier than usual. They have a lot of energy to burn. It.has.been.a.long.winter. You have no idea! My grandma hardly seems to notice. I guess mothering twelve kids will give you that kind of stamina. My grandma lost the love of her life and she amazes me with her strength. She is a joy to visit, loves being with the kids and still has so much zest for life.
Friday evening we visited with Ross’s family. His sister lives about 45 minutes away, so whenever they make the trek down, we try to get over there to visit–especially now that they have a sweet little baby girl. Again, we stayed too late and repeated the same frazzled evening/bedtime routine from Thursday.
Saturday we attended my cousin’s daughter’s birthday party. The kids had a blast. It was at one of those jump house places, which was perfect because my kids NEEDED a place where they could climb and jump and burn up some energy.
I have kind of gotten in a habit of putting presents in some sort of container. I hate paying a few bucks for a paper bag and a jar, basket, bin or plastic container are reusable and can run around the same price. Quinn picked out Spot It. He got it for Christmas and we have really enjoyed it as a family. We made a little family game night bin complete with Spot It, juice boxes, popcorn and jelly beans.
On our way home I got a group text from my sister looking to see if we all wanted to get together. I cannot even begin to tell you how cool it is that we can gather my parents, all four of us kids and our spouses and children on a moment’s notice.
Nothing but trouble, right? Little guy is starting to crawl and get a little more mischievous.
Anyone want to guess how Saturday night went? Same song and dance–left late, tired kids. Then, as we were getting out of the car Quinn just started bawling. Absolutely hysterical. He said he just cannot stop thinking about great Grandpa. Eleanor joined in.
After lots of hugs and kisses Quinn and Eleanor decided that looking at pictures would make them feel better. So through my tears, I clicked through the file on our desktop titled, Grandpa.
I’m exhausted! We are all fighting colds and even when it is the best kind of busy, sometimes you just need to slow down.
So I’m calling it. Right now. We are not leaving the house Sunday.
Want FREE printables and more. Join my newsletter!
Subscribe to get our latest content by email.