Bedtime Stories

I'm beat!  And it's the kids who are doing the beating.  Hahaha.  The reason why I'm so wiped out this morning revolves (as usual) around lack of sleep.  Let me walk you through a typical bedtime routine in our house.  In theory the two little ones go down at 6:30 and the older ones go to bed at 7 without a fight.  And then they all stay in bed, go to sleep, and STAY asleep the whole night long.  That my friends is what we call a FAIRYTALE.  Hahaha. 

In actuality what ends up happening is highly dependent on the 2 year old.  Because Jane is the one who has been beating me to a bloody pulp these days.  Pretty much ever since Jane stopped sucking her thumb over a year ago she's been a terrible sleeper.  But now that she's decided she wants to give up her naps she's been even worse.  If she takes a nap she seriously won't fall asleep until 10 or 11 o'clock at night and sometimes it's midnight before she finally succumbs to the sandman.  If she doesn't nap, she WILL go down at 6:30, but then she's a melting down mess of a monster from about 3 o'clock on.  And she will fall asleep in the car if we drive anywhere during that critical time.  And then she won't go to bed until midnight.  It's a delicate catch-22 we're navigating here.  Especially because the other problem we have with the no-nap scenario is that 9 times out of 10, she will wake up about 3 or 4 hours after falling asleep and then it's party time for a couple of hours until she goes back to bed.  And even if all the stars align and we manage to get her in bed at a decent time with successful results she still likes to wake up in the middle of the night and climb into our bed.  Like last night when she was up at midnight and then again at 4 and then up for good around quarter to 7 this morning.  But hey -- at least it was just Jane this time.  Alex usually likes to throw his 2 cents in around 3 o'clock as well.  Hahahaha.  Cute little lover boy is not always this cute in the wee hours of the morning.

{Please ignore how filthy his sheets are -- it's on my to do list.}

As for the older kids, well let's just say that ever since I started promising 20 peace points apiece for going to sleep at bedtime -- or at least for not BOTHERING us at bedtime -- they have been doing a little bit better.  Do we still have to go up there and break up a few fights every night (especially between the bunk-bed-sharing Ethan and Sophie)?  Absolutely.  And do we still have kids coming down at various times saying they're hungry, or thirsty, or not tired?  Yes.  BUT, things have gotten a little better.  And that's a good thing!

In other news, we've got a busy week as usual.  Here's the quick run-down before I have to get these kids off to school.  I've got visiting teaching this afternoon, Cub Scouts after school, a digital Film Festival tomorrow evening featuring something that Ethan has done (?) or is in (?) -- I'm not really sure of all the details, and then on Saturday my lil sis Laura (aka MUFFY!) is coming in town for a week. 

He's really excited about this "VIP" badge.

Betwixt and between all of that I've got some regular stuff to do -- like trying to keep the house clean, keeping up with the laundry, and actually making some meals for my family.  With any spare time I have I'll be working on a few OTHER things that I'm desperately trying to finish up -- namely: our anniversary is coming up on Monday and since it's the big 1-0, I'm going all out and there are still a few projects I have in the works.  Also, my sister Emily and I are collaborating on a surprise for a good friend of ours, and last but not least I've been asked to speak in church on Sunday.  The topic?  Keeping the Sabbath Day Holy.  Hmmmm.  Perhaps a review of our current activities are in order.  I'll keep you posted on how that pans out...