Friday

6:45 ::Wake up. Try to go back to sleep.

7:00 ::Not going back to sleep. Get up. Make bed. Take Ibuprofen. Check email.

7:15 ::Shower.

7:45 ::The boys are still asleep. They must have really gotten worn out yesterday! I read my Bible for a little while.

8:00 ::Turn on lights. Open up curtains. It is dark and wet outside.

8:16 ::Leif and Levi wake up. I send Levi to empty the dishwasher. (He moans and complains and falls over and starts coughing and tells me he is sick. I tell him he can go back to his bed and stay there or empty the dishwasher. If he complains he can empty the dishwasher and then go to bed.) Leif is wet, and I put him in the bathtub. I decide that my dry erase calander board needs to be changed to October. I make breakfast.

9:00 ::Pancakes are ready. Luke is still asleep (what?!) and Levi is still emptying the dishwasher. Leif and I eat pancakes and OJ.

9:10 ::Luke comes sleepily out of the bedroom. Levi is finally done with his chore. They sit down and have pancakes. I decide to read some poems while they eat. I get one line read and Leif's finger (the smashed one) is bleeding and he must have a bandaid. I get that taken care of and one more line of poetry read. Levi and Luke both ask for more pancakes. I get them served up and finish a couple poems over Leif's racket.

9:30 ::The boys get dressed. Levi heads to the couch with a book, Leif and Luke upstairs to play (after Luke begs to do school, and I tell him we can if he plays first. Grin.) I clean up the kitchen and finish getting makeup on my face.

10:00 ::The boys are playing nicely, so I make a couple phone calls and pay a few bills. I make an appointment with the chiropractor for Monday.

11:00 :: Corral the boys on the couch and read about Sparta, Athens, and Persia. Set Levi at the kitchen table to do his history copywork. He has to go to the bathroom. He always has to go to the bathroom when there are chores, handwriting, and math to do.
12:00 ::Feed Leif leftover taco meat, cherry tomatoes, yogurt, and cranberries. Pour myself a Dr. Pepper (it actually sounds good today!) and eat leftover pizza. Give the other two boys a big chunk of cheese and a pile of baby spinach leaves. Make chocolate chip cookies! (Someone please tell me you have lunches like this occasionally, at least!!)
12:45 ::The kitchen is a mess. Again. But the cookies sure are delicious. I made them with half whole wheat, organic sugar, wheat germ, and cranberries so that I could pretend they were healthy... A load of laundry in the washer. (Levi finally finishes his copywork when I tell him he doesn't get a cookie until it is done.)

1:00 :: I chat with my best friend on the phone while the boys play.

1:30 ::I'm ready for a nap. Lie down on couch for a few minutes. Get up and waste time. Try to pick up a book to read. Make it through a paragraph or two. Wander aimlessly.

2:30 ::Laundry. Change stinky diaper. Cringe at the mess in the schoolroom and bathroom. Try to ignore it. Avoid going upstairs to see the mess they've made in the playroom. Various body parts are hurting. Sit down with Levi at the piano for practice time. Put Levi at the kitchen table with a math worksheet. Levi draws pictures on his addition worksheet and Luke and Leif fight while I throw the dishes in the dishwasher.

3:00 ::I stand over Levi so that he will finish his math paper. Luke is on the couch reading an art book. I put on a Little Einsteins show for Leif and get out a drawing project with Levi in the kitchen. Poppy arrives with Ilex. He watches a couple minutes of Einsteins with Leif while Ilex takes over the drawing project with Levi.

Ilex draws with Levi, reads to the boys, oversees the mayhem, and then heads upstairs to help the boys pick up the toys in the playroom. I have no idea what I do.

5:30 ::Start on spaghetti for dinner. I am suddenly really, really tired. Really tired.

6:00 ::Feed all the kids. (Sneak some spaghetti for myself.) Poppy comes to pick up Ilex. Russ comes home and eats.
6:45 ::I am sooo tired. Look at the kitchen sink and wonder if I should just leave it. Decide that it will only take me a minute if I get right to it. Yep. Only takes a couple minutes.

7:00 ::I put away laundry, sneak in a grammar lesson with Levi, and get the boys in their jammies while Russ gets suckered in by a phone salesman.

8:00 ::Boys snuggle with daddy, then head to bed, which is where I'm going as soon as I post this....

I'm so glad tomorrow is Saturday.