Weekend

Yesterday was one of those dull days that could make for quite a boring entry. Nonetheless, here I go.
I woke up to my alarm @ 6AM but left my husband to wake up & get going to his Drill. For some reason, I am getting this morning & yesterday quite confused. I'm pretty sure that he overslept & I rushed about emptying his car of the carseats & various paperwork that needed to be refiled. Both girls were still sleeping when he finally departed.  My oldest awoke & we sat cuddling in a sun-bathed kitchen chair. Rather than speed my way through what I assumed was going to be a long day, I opted to simply enjoy my joyful 4 year old's presence by gently combing through her "bed-head" hair & gleaning whatever thoughts came to her lips. It was a tender few moments & one I hope she will not too soon forget. The "baby" woke up shortly after & I tried to cuddle too, but she was hungry & the oldest wanted to get dressed.
The rest of the day really did pass with me mostly cleaning (lots of vacuuming), getting the girls to help me clean, them playing on the deck & in their room, folding laundry, having lunch, & all the while, me attentively listening to the audio book of Dracula.  It is the last aspect that I think makes yesterday such a blur. The house is cleaner, the kids were dressed, fed, entertained, & tasks were done... but my mind was truly on the narrative & following such an engrossing classic story. I do know that I had to put it temporarily away about 3PM for I had agreed to babysit my neighbor-girlfriend's children that afternoon-evening. I got my kiddos down for their naps & re-confirmed my services to my neighbor via text. Almost a full half hour after their expected time, my girls woke up & their family arrived apologizing & explaining that their little boy had fallen down some steps just as they were leaving. Assuring that he was alright & returning across the street for some footwear for their pj-wearing child, they finally headed out for some couple time at the local mall.
I gave the kids all the freedom to do a number of activities while I finished folding a clean laundry load. I put dinner in & on the oven (Shoyu Chicken, white rice, & baked broccoli) & we then took our German Shepherd out for some fetch in at the neighborhood dog park.  After each kids had their turn throwing her toys, we returned to our house for more play while I got dinner served. Dinner was mostly a success & after the promise of ice cream for anyone who finished their whole plate, I helped them to select a movie. My territorial (oldest) child pouted much after the eldest guest selected Bolt for the evening entertainment. The ice cream was to be served after the movie. Within 10 minutes of the actual movie beginning, all the children were quietly enraptured in the story & I had time to clean up the kitchen, put away clothes, & while continuing Dracula.
My uniformed husband returned home, joined me for dinner, & went upstairs to change into "civi's" (civilian clothes). Bolt was reunited with Penny (the conclusion of the movie) & the ice cream was served. My husband went down to his office while I played some of the special features of the Blu-ray for the kids. Once bordem set in, I had the kids read books until their parents returned. The couple returned, their kids said their farewells, & we worked to get our munchkins to bed, too.
After the bedtime rituals & countless "goodnights", my husband selected a Netflix movie for the evening. I missed most of the first 20 minutes helping the girls "go potty", getting the old crib mattress out for the "scared" little one who had decided something was wrong with her new bed, reprimanding, & essentially issuing threats of punishment for further bedtime rule breakage. For missing so much, my husband & I still enjoyed Immortals, giving it a good rating & then heading to bed.