day by numbers - Monday edition

9:50 - time I received phone call about a house showing

11 to 12 - when they said they would be here

4 - times I encouraged the boys to finish up their schoolwork

2 - boys I sent upstairs to clean their room

3 - rooms I swept

4 - rooms I tidied

1 - basket of dirty laundry I hid behind the shower curtain

5 - times I pleaded with the boys to clean their room more quickly

11:00 - our departure time

12:15 - time we arrived back home after fetching eggs and milk, followed by my noticing that there was no business card to be found (he had specifically said he would leave his card!)

12:18 - time I called to make sure they had been here; nope, not yet.

30 - minutes until he thought they would arrive to see the house

3 - boys removed from their carseats

2 - boys given the job of entertaining Owen while I made a quick lunch

4 - lunches I prepared

2 - number of time Owen burst into tears during lunch preparation

10 - minutes to spare when we climbed into the van again

1 - picnic at the park

2 - minutes eating before someone had to use the Port-a-Potty

4 - lunches left on the picnic blanket while we scurried away

1 - biker who got into the Port-a-Potty just seconds ahead of us

3 - minutes pawing through my bag in search of hand sanitizer

12 - times I wondered just when I lost control of my day

30 - minutes playing at the park after we finished eating

1 - child crying when it was time to go

3 - boys upstairs in "quiet time"

1 - completely exhausted mama

Lord, come quickly!

last gasp

Today we squeezed a teeny bit more pleasure from the outdoors. It was such a beautiful day, after a week or two of rain! What a treat. I decided to take the boys to the park for a picnic. Jeff was in Seattle for a few days, so we missed his company. But we had a great time, even so.

Ben and Kyle were dressed in raincoats...just in case?

Owen enjoyed playing near the picnic basket. He is quite fond of my water bottle!

Pre-lunch

I think Kyle's sunglasses add a certain distinction, don't you?

Ben really enjoyed pushing Owen in the swing (Owen enjoyed it too, although it's hard to tell from this photo!)

What a great day.

memory lane

Kyle: Mom, remember that time when you and me and daddy and Ben and Owen went to the park, and had a picnic?

Me: Yep, I sure do.

Kyle: And remember that I needed to go poop?

Me: And Ben and Daddy had gone home for a minute, because Ben needed to go potty too? And there wasn't a bathroom at this park?

Kyle: Yeah. And I needed to go poop, so I decided to go.

Me: Yeah, and I had an empty chips bag and I told you to try to poop into the chips bag?

Kyle: Yeah. (silence) We should do that again. That was fun.