The Details of Life

I did it again...I do it all of the time and typically get completely stressed and have no one to blame but myself. I try oh I try to blame my husband and my children, but when it comes down to it it's just one of my many inadequacies. I try to do too much! Well this time was different ~ I didn't get stressed or place blame!

But first some pictures from the week...

New pajamas for all, and boy do we love them. The little things truly can provide such joy! The picture of Mary Frances does not show the butterfly, but she wore her "butterfly" 3 nights last week {and probably asked to wear them two more times}, and they were clean each time. If you ever wonder how much laundry a family of five makes, that comment alone answers the question.

A playdate for Mary Frances ~ This was Wednesday and there was a method to my madness. First of all we need to be better about having playdates to work on sharing and serving. Secondly Frank was out of town, and I hoped to have everyone in bed by 7:00 so I could sit down at my sewing machine. My master plan was to have Stephen fall asleep in the car waiting for carpool so that I could transfer him to his bed {it is the easiest way to get a nap these days} while letting Mary Frances and friend play during nap time so they could all go to bed around 7:00. It worked, the girls played beautifully {inside and out} so I was able to do some chores and make some phone calls. Stephen took a much needed nap and woke up refreshed and ready to join them. We went on with our afternoon/evening routine and I was sitting at my sewing machine with a clean kitchen and folded laundry by 7:30.

Look at me ~ When Frank saw this picture he asked if we had Popsicles! And the answer is no just sidewalk chalk. Don't worry, I checked, it is nontoxic.

All tuckered out ~ No nap for my two {almost three year old} and a visit from Granddaddy and YaYa means bedtime comes early and what could be better than in the arms of Granddaddy while reading library books.

Okay now for the title... First grab a cup of coffee or maybe your pilllow because I might get long-winded and ramble.

I'm notorious for committing to something without thinking through all of the details of the getting it done. I do it all of the time ~in fact, in some way {some big, some small} I probably do it everyday. My biggest problem is that I want to be able to do it all, but the reality is that it "all" takes time and time is a precious commodity especially with three little ones running around.

Well yesterday was one of those days. Sundays are always a bit harried with the getting to church routine. And then to add to the chaos we try to go to the grocery store after church. The details of getting to the store after church mean I have to have my menu and grocery list planned prior to the children waking up Sunday morning.

Done! Now feed and dress everyone. Off to church, Sunday school, and the store. Well make that two stores, because the Piggly Wiggly had some great buys, but I can't do all of my shopping there yet I needed things from both stores for the rest of the day. Come home, grab a child and the bags that I can from the car, run in the door, change clothes, throw peanut butter on a piece of bread to eat in the car and I'm off to complete my shift work for Bargain Carousel {more on that in another post, hopefully}. Worked for three hours, back in the car and returned home to a filthy yet empty house {the children and Frank were down at his dad's house ~ napping and cleaning out Tootsie's closet}.

Yikes ~ we have company coming in one hour!

It is amazing what our family can do to a house in 24 hours! There were breakfast and lunch dishes on the table and little scraps of paper all over the floor {my children love to cut} among other clutter and mayhem! The sad part is that our house was not only clean, but also picked up when the day began on Saturday.

And that was clean to the standards of having house guests. Another aside... I guess I have three standards of clean 1) clean for small group and really close friends or family 2) clean for house guests 3) clean for parties, church luncheons, etc...

I begin tidying while finishing a conversation on my cell phone to a friend who I hadn't talked to in several weeks. Then I raced to the kitchen to throw together dinner ~ appetizer, entree, side, dessert. Frank arrived home and did the bulk of the tidying and vacuuming, and we were prepared for our guests. Please overlook the pile of dirty dishes in the sink!

Okay, for our evening. We spent a delightful evening outside with some friends. The kids played and the adults visited. Well the two Carolines visited and the men played as hard as the children.