October 9, 2007

Wow. What a busy day. This is the third time I've been able to sit down today, the first being at the pool with Mae in my lap and the second at Alex's parent teacher conference. But I'm getting ahead of myself...

7:15 Drop off.

7:30 Breakfast - hot cereal.

8:40 We dropped Alex off for a playdate then Ariel and I went to the mall for stroller class.

9:00 Stroller class was good. I don't think I'll be as sore as last week, but it was still a tough workout. It's a funny crowd there. Except for a three year old girl, Ariel is the oldest child there. Most babies are around a year old or younger. It's neat to see Ariel being a big kid instead of tagging along with Adam and Alex. Of course, she spent the most time playing with the 3 year old but they were both happy. We also walked outside along the perimeter of the mall and at some point Ariel chucked the nuk and that one is gone for good.

10:35 Left the mall.

10:50 Got home. Ellen got to my house at the same time I did. I was expecting her an hour later. I retrieved Alex and then got lunch going for everyone. Ariel had mac & cheese and yogurt.

11:20 I left to go get Adam, Ellen put Ariel down for a nap while I was gone.

11:40 Got home, ran Alex over to school.

11:50 Got home again, ate a quick lunch.

12:10 Did a kid swap with Ellen. Ellen was feeling unwell in a non-contagious sort of way, so she stayed at home with a napping Ariel and a crazy Adam while I took Mae and Sam to swim class.

12:30 Mae's swim class. Since Adam started lessons when he was over 2 1/2 years old I never had to do the under 2 1/2 class which involves a parent in the water. Doing the hokey-pokey. Mae cried for the first 5 minutes of class (which is normal). She stopped when I put her on a float with me and we kicked around the pool. I had her swim a few times to the castle and the wall, then the teacher worked with her. Then more fun songs, the obligatory hokey-pokey and then we were done. Sam started class while Mae and I got dressed.

After Mae's class, I told her she could pick out a treasure but the head instructor saw her and told me that the babies aren't allowed a treasure until they are in a non-parent class. I thought that was a pretty silly rule (and I had already told Mae she could pick something) so I got myself a treasure and gave it to Mae. After that class, I definitely deserved something.

1:35 After Sam was done with class, I got him dressed and we went home.

1:50 Got home. Ariel had just woken up from her nap. I started some pumpkin bread (I told Alex I would make some). By the time I got the bread in the oven, I had 5 minutes to talk to Ellen before I had to run over to Alex's school to pick him up.

2:40 Ellen stayed a little longer so I could take a quick shower.

2:55 Ellen left. I got dressed and then started Wendy Project #2 - making a big batch of Marinara sauce from this month's Cooking Light. We don't have tomatoes from our garden like last time, but this was with real onions, garlic and canned crushed tomatoes. And it required simmering for nearly an hour. But the good news was that it makes 12 cups so I could freeze a bunch for future use.

While I was cooking, the kids enjoyed some fresh pumpkin bread. It had chocolate chips and therefore was a big hit, even with Ariel.

3:50 I unloaded the kids on my next door neighbor and then Jeremy and I went to Alex's parent teacher conferences. Conferences were good. Alex is apparently very smart and way ahead on all the assessments. She showed us some work and he had written a small book and had spelled a few words phonically all by himself - icecream, Lego (which he got right) and nits for knights. He's also doing well in math, problem solving and pattern recognition. And socially, he's about average with his lack of personal space issues.

4:30 Got out of conferences and and retrieved the children.