Yesterday

Yesterday we had a good day. The other day without my knowing it, Ethan had prayed that I would "play with them all day". Something I admit that does not happen around here. I am not one of those mom's who gets down on the floor and "plays". I am happy to cook, bake, or do project but not much of a play dolls or trucks kind of mom. I wish I were but I'm not, there you have it. Ethan told me that I failed because I didn't play with them. So yesterday at breakfast Ethan again prayed that I would "play with them all day". Wow that's a lot of pressure. Thankfully I had a few things planned. First we had a yummy breakfast of pancakes with fresh blueberries. Then after we were all ready we went to the library to get new books and pick up the kids rewards for participating in the summer reading program so far. Then we played at the library playground until lunch time. After lunch my only real incident was when Kate came out of my room in full "makeup". She had found one of my plum lip-liners and basically colored in both of her eyebrows and lips. She was quite the site and admittedly I could help but laugh. I should have put her in time out after cleaning her up but it was nap time anyway so I just put her to bed. I read to the kids for 20 minutes or so from our new books and then let Ethan and Anna play wii and the computer so I could rest for a minute after feeding Jane. I read a little in some books I got at the library. After quiet time I gave the kids their surprise for the day. Since Randall has been gone I got them 2 little surprises to help them have good behavior and told them they could have it in the afternoon if they have been good. Yesterday's prize was a box of "Pop-its". We went out in the back yard and of course were done with their box in a matter of minutes but they loved it. After that I spent some time in the "adventure backyard". This is the big huge grass area just outside our back fence. I pitched to Ethan for awhile so he could practice his swing for his baseball games. For whatever reason his hitting and throwing have become worse since playing this last month, oh well. We did that for a while and then Ethan went to ride bikes with a friend and the girls and I made dough for home made pizza. The pizza turned out great and we made a fruit shake for dessert. After that I bathed the baby and put Kate down and then let Ethan and Anna watch the season premere of "Wipeout". Ethan loves that show and has been counting down the days for it to start. I think it's funny to watch but Ethan loves it and laughs and laughs. After that I put the older kids to bed and tried to read and get Jane down for the night. I read my book for a little bit and then went to bed.

I guess I passed the test though because even though the day was full of just little things that aren't all that exciting, at dinner Ethan was very excited that he had such a great day and said "I was the best mom ever!" I'm glad I was able to finally answer his prayer to play all day.

The only problem is Randall comes home from his business trip tonight and I still need to do all the laundry, clean our bathroom, mop the kitchen floor etc etc so that when he walks in the door he won't turn around and never want to come back to this messy house again. I'm just glad we had a good day.