Worn Out

It's official.  This summer is killing me.  Softly.  Hahahaha.  No seriously, though.  I am WORN OUT. Between kids not going to sleep until super late at night and then babies waking up with the sun in the wee hours of the morning I am averaging a not so hot number of hours of sleep each night.  And then when you throw in the fact that I've biked 28 miles and ran 6 so far this week you can see how I'm just a little bit physically exhausted.  And THEN, when you factor in dealing with 5 very spirited children each day I can assure you that I am just as drained mentally -- if not more so.  I'm pretty sure I'm going to have a nervous breakdown before this summer is over.  Mostly because bedtime is just a joke every single night (and the afternoons are not so great either).  Our 2 current contenders for most difficult to get to sleep at night are Grace and Jane -- although Ethan and Sophie are not trailing very far behind them.  You know the saying "you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink?"  Well, it's also equally true in this household that you can put the kids in bed but you can't make them sleep.  Long gone are those blessed days when I could put the little ones down at 6:30 or 7 and close the door and be done.  For the WHOLE NIGHT.  I'm tired.  I wish I could go to bed at 6:30 or 7 these days!  But enough about me.  Hahaha.  Here are some snapshots into our everyday life.

• First up is Scott at "his station."  Hahaha.  Poor Scott.  He does the dishes more than anyone else in this house.  It is indeed his station when he gets home from work.  I'm still working on "training" the kids to take over for him.  I'll let you know how that goes.

• Quiet reading time is not really happening every day during nap time like it's supposed to.  A couple days ago I modified the rules slightly in hopes that it would work out better if the kids did a "read aloud" instead of reading quietly to themselves.  It worked for that day and since then I don't think any reading has taken place at all.  Here is Ethan during our one successful afternoon reading "Tikki Tikki Tembo" to Grace and Sophie.

• All I really want to do in my spare time is read.  Or sew.  I've been able to squeeze in both, but only because I'm not using spare time.  I don't really have any.  So, I've kind of been letting it usurp other responsibilities such as laundry and cleaning and other household type stuff.  Judge me if you must.

Miscellaneous quilting project with no specific purpose just yet.  {Although for the record, these blocks were sewn up several months ago.  I'm just now getting around to arranging the layout.}

Possible quilt block for Grace's baptism quilt.

 

And the laundry room.  Yes, those clothes are all dirty.

 

• Alex turned 10 months old this week!  It's really so hard to believe.  In just 2 more months he'll be one year old.  CRAZY.  Also happening in 2 more months?  Ethan, Grace, and Sophie will be going back to school.  All day long.  Monday through Friday.  But no, I don't have a countdown going or anything.  Hahahaha.

This is how I find him a lot of the time when I go and get him out of his crib.

 Adorable, right?

• I'm sore.  This ironman business is killing me.  Not so softly.  Hahahahaha.  Yet at the same time it's been kind of awesome.  I have felt a HUGE sense of accomplishment each day this week after I've checked my workout off the list.  That alone is what is keeping me going -- because otherwise sheer exhaustion would overcome me and prevent me from getting anything done.

• It is officially difficult to take all 5 kids to the pool.  Nothing more to say about that.  And because it is so difficult there will probably never be any pictures to document our outings.  Juggling a camera plus 5 kids and water is a recipe for disaster.

• Grace's nightly meltdowns about wanting a dog have abated for the time being.  For some unpredictable reason she has once again glommed onto her Pillow Chum that she got for Christmas a couple of years ago and treats it like a real pet.  Aside from sleeping with it every night, she has also taken it for a few walks, tried to give it a mohawk, and yesterday she took it to the park with us where she pushed it in the "inclusion" swing for a good few minutes.  It was hilarious looking.  I literally laughed out loud.  Several times.  To the point where Sophie kept asking me what was so funny.  It was hard to explain.  Something about the way she was so lovingly talking to the dog like it was her baby and then pushing it in the swing just slayed me.  

Snuggled up with her dog while watching TV in the basement.

• Kind of random, but since we're documenting life here I guess this makes the cut -- Food items that we go through the fastest in this household:  MILK (about a gallon a day), Peanut Butter (it seems as though I'm opening a new jar at least every week and a half), ketchup, and hot dogs.  And Catalina Light salad dressing.  Sophie goes through this like it's water.  She puts it on salad of course, but she also uses it as a dip for tortilla chips.  I promise I try and feed my family real food, though.  

Snack time.

• I'm still in love with my hutch.  It is PERFECT for stashing all of my quilting junk.  An added bonus that I discovered after moving it into the dining room is that the ledge on top of the wainscoting is JUST RIGHT for stashing my giant rotary cutting mat behind the hutch so that it is virtually invisible from the front.  Perfect, I tell ya.

And that my friends is that.  I am going to try and squeeze a nap in before the little ones wake up and the older ones start to badger me.  Wish me luck.