a day in the life of a sleep deprived homeschooling mother of a newborn

i have the greatest husband in the world. every morning he feeds the kids, cleans the kitchen, goes to work. comes home for lunch where he does dishes and cleans the kitchen again. throws the boys around a bit and fills the role of "fun parent." comes home at the end of the day and makes dinner. cleans the kitchen. brushes kids teeth (the job i detest the most in all the world). prays with them and puts them to bed.

this leaves me to do what exactly?

i'm not real sure.

but i'll tell you what i don't do... shower, sleep, clean the house, iron (oh wait, i've never done that), return phone calls, blog... and yet, each day feels extremely full and goes way too fast and leaves me completely exhausted.

so basically here is a rundown of my day:

stumble out of bed with a crying baby and hear such things as "me eat." "mom, what is my schoolwork for today?" "mom, can we go somewhere today?" "me watch movie!"

change diaper. remind kids about such things as getting dressed and cleaning up their rooms.

feed baby while trying to also feed myself.

cry when anthony leaves for work.

feed mason again.

get griffin to sleep. leave him in baby swing in the kitchen since this is the room where i spend most of my day. that way i can stick the pacifier back in his mouth when he wakes up.

feed mason.

remind kids again about cleaning their room and getting dressed.

be thankful that they have yet to notice the irony that this rule apparently does not apply to me.

feed griffin. remind myself to brush my teeth when finished.

referee.

change diaper.

feed mason.

make coffee.

wipe rear ends. wipe kitchen counters.

make snacks.

start schoolwork.

feed griffin.

change diaper.

threaten kids to not wake up griffin, asleep in the kitchen.

attempt more schoolwork.

feed griffin.

feed mason.

it's lunch already? i still haven't brushed my teeth.

make kids clean up the schoolwork we never finished in order to make them a lunch they'll most likely complain about and i'll respond that if they don't show some more appreciation they'll have to eat mud cakes like the poor kids in haiti but it doesn't really change anything because we all know i'll never actually do that.

rejoice because daddy's home for his lunch break. and he doesn't even point out that i'm still in my pajamas.

take a moment to walk around in a daze and wonder what i should do first... brush my teeth, get dressed, wash my face, make my bed, plan a history lesson, wash a load of laundry... instead, i check facebook.

feed griffin.

impatiently attempt phonics instruction and yet give up and send my kids outside to play so i can get griffin to sleep.

make more coffee. my dear friend kat reassures me its ok because drinking coffee helps my sanctification. (this is her godly way of reminding me its ok to drink coffee all day so i don't turn into a raging psycho of a mother. i'm wondering if the same principle applies to tequila shots.)

get mason another snack.

change diaper.

referee.

feed griffin.

brush my teeth.

finally get a few minutes of schoolwork done. and then let the kids watch youtube videos of snakes eating alligators so the lessons of reptiles will forever stick in their heads.

feed mason.

(seriously this kid eats all day long)

threaten the children to not wake griffin, who is asleep again in the completely logical location of the middle of the kitchen while they run back in forth in their swimsuits into the frigid backyard, shooting water guns at each other.

change diaper.

feed griffin.

change myself. finally. since i have baby poop and spit up all over me.

feed mason.

referee.

rejoice because anthony is home for the duration of the evening.

do such things as eat dinner, feed griffin, clean up the house, tell my kids 1 million times to put on their pajamas and clean up and wonder why they have given up minding me and then watch them cower in fear when their dad tells them just once to do the exact things i've been asking of them forever.

read stories like George Mueller to my kids and remind myself that prayer is a powerful thing and God will do amazing things when we have the faith. pray my kids grasp this concept and other powerful spiritual lessons in spite of the fact that their own mother can't get it together enough to teach them a consistent bible study each day.

clock out at 8 pm. bedtime. hallelujah. i love you, you are a blessing and treasure from God. good night and don't come out of your room unless its on fire.

contemplate working out. bake brownies instead.

prepare for another unproductive day of homeschooling where we never get done everything we should be doing.

go to bed. wake up to mason's nightmares. feed griffin. change griffin. feed griffin. change griffin.

sleep.

and repeat.

(ps i totally love my life and although its crazy right now, i wouldn't rather be doing anything else.)

(well, except for sleeping of course.)

boys weekend

"Each day of our lives we make deposits in the memory banks of our children."

- Charles Swindoll

so anthony took bennett and mason on a camping trip last weekend.

it was all pretty awesome. they loved every minute of it.

fishing...

frolicking in frigid water...

shooting guns...

and fortunately... not dying even though mommy wasn't there to prevent daddy from leaving you on the slippery bank of a raging river all by your lonesomes.

i'm thankful that my boys have a dad who loves them and invests time in their lives.

(and also that he will hold the tweezers to pull the tick out of mason's head and then spend his lunch hour taking him to the doctor to inquire if it really is an issue that the tick's head is still embedded in mason's scalp.)

(it's not, by the way. an issue, that is. it is most definitely still embedded...)