Election day!! Tuesdays are traditionally centered around OMSI and the kids' science classes there. We attend 11:15-12:15. Tami and her kids attend with us.
I ask Samuel to prepared dinner for us this morning - his specialty is crock pot refried beans. He has the recipe memorized by now. The only one of the kids that actually likes to cook is Juliet, but I force Samuel to as well.
A typical breakfast table is Sis and Boss eating their oatmeal and me coaxing the older boys to eat their eggs at some point. Jude eats very little during breakfast, and then complains of hunger 1/2 hour into school.
Sis always goes to the store with me - I think she craves girl time. I generally spend more when she's in tow, but that's ok. We head to New Seasons early (around 8:30 am) to get lunch stuff so as to avoid eating out at the coffee shop Tami and I will be at with kids after OMSI. I end up spending $69. It would have been cheaper to eat at the coffee shop. We buy coconut milk egg nog for Colin, bread, milk, half and half, lunchmeat and lots of apples - some for Boss' graphing project for school.
Boss sits at his own table at the coffee shop. He really is a free spirit.
I love capturing moments between Colin and Boss. They have so much fun together - either Colin is laughing at Boss' inappropriate jokes, or tickling him, playing football together or just snuggling.
One of Boss' chores is to empty the plates out of the dishwasher. Oddly enough, it looks like today he's putting bowls away as well.
Any chance they get, Boss and Jude sneak upstairs and play Legos together in the absolute disaster that is Jude's room/Lego table. Boss is inherently messy as well, so they work well together. I've given up on Jude's room at this point. He likes it messy so he can see everything.
Breakfast.
Today is a red letter day - Jude helps Colin with breakfast prep. He's learning to crack eggs and I love his expression - he of course got shells in the eggs. It's all a learning experience :)
At OMSI, Boss grabbed my camera and wanted to snap a photo of me. I always love to see the lens through my kids' eyes. It also helped me pause and think about what influence my hobbies have on my kids. Will they have a bent toward photodocumenting life? Will they be crafty? Perhaps I've done too much of this and they will be sick of it? All good questions to ponder...
In the evening, generally speaking, Colin and I are exhausted. We went through such a long spell of just being on our phones or iPads at night in bed and going straight to bed early, but lately we've been watching shows together. It feels bonding. We have story lines to discuss. Except for sports, we enjoy very similar tv shows and movies. Tonight we watch season three of The Killing.
Heading in the car to OMSI and Samuel takes a picture. "A picture of yourself, Mama? Really?" Sigh. I refuse to feel vain just because I want the entire family documented.
At bedtime, the kids choose for me to read the manners Berenstain Bears book. Boss and Jude are sitting on the other couch looking at a Lego book. Boss keeps asking to look at the pictures and finally joins me for the read aloud time.
Tami and I collectively have 8 kids at OMSI. We call ourselves "sister wives" and I think it's very appropriate.
After OMSI, Samuel goes home with Eli to stay the night and go to yo yo club. These kiddos watch a Reading Rainbow video based on an apple book. Boss is not amused with Reading Rainbow. I feel guilt over letting my kids always watch fun things and maybe ruining them for watching educational stuff. Mommy guilt is a real thing.
We have our elderly neighbor, Leroy, over. He thoroughly enjoys the dinner company and we enjoy having him. He leaves with homemade leftovers and cookie dough. We all talk politics (it being election night and all). He compliments me on the fact that my cookie dough tastes the same as when he was growing up. I take that as a huge compliment.
Bedtime prayer doesn't happen as often as it should. I loathe being in Jude's messy room and I often am completely out of energy by 8 pm.
Sis is always in the boys business in the backseat. She usually is bossing Boss, telling him he can't have gum in the car, etc.,. Once Sis grabs onto a rule, she follows it to a T and requires everyone else to do the same.
Observations: Food is so expensive!! Election coverage between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. Tonight is the big night and Donald Trump (to everyone's astonishment) wins. I found this election year to be really hard as far as voting. No one felt like the right vote. I should have wrote Ben Carson in, but I chose the lesser of two evils instead. I feel like washing my soul after turning in my ballot.
Gratitude: Thankful for the right to vote and a free country. Thankful to have a house big enough to open up to a dinner guest. Thankful for too much business.
Overheard: kids kept asking me who I voted for. I'm not proud of it, so I dodge the question.
Favorite moment: reading to the kids.
Meals: Breakfast - oatmeal, egg scramble with chicken sausage; lunch: turkey sandwiches for kids, pasta fagioli soup for me and honestly I don't know what Colin had when we weren't there. Dinner:
taco salad; other: apples slices and homemade caramel sauce for dessert.
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