This is the way we fill the day

We are half way through the second week of school and I can already tell that our bodies and minds are beginning to adjust to the change. I am still tired in the morning but no longer feel like I am getting up in the middle of the night. The kids are stirring in the morning and getting out of bed on their own. We are all definitely getting back in the school mode.

Evan and Spencer are at school right now and Hailey is napping. It is strange how quiet the house is. After a summer bursting with activity, this small bit of solitude three mornings a week will be pretty nice. Of course by writing that I have no doubt jinxed myself and next week will signal the end of Hailey's morning naps. I can't remember when the boys dropped theirs, but I am thinking it is not far from her age.

The days go by quickly - more so than I thought they would. We have been walking Spence to the bus stop (which they just moved closer to our house, which is awesome) first thing after breakfast. We get back home a little after eight. If Evan has school he gets his backpack ready, brushes his teeth and hair, goes potty one more time and then we are in the van ready to drop him off by 8:45. If he doesn't have school we just come home and relax a bit by watching Curious George or Super Why on TV or play one of his many made up games. Evan and Hailey have been playing really well together. I think not having Spencer around has brought them closer. He is very patient with her and very willing to include her in whatever we are playing. One of their latest favorites is tea party. They set up the tea set then Evan always asks me to "call" him on the phone and invite him over for tea. We originally set it up with Hailey's babies also invited to the party, but Hailey quickly threw the babies out of the chairs and replaced them with Evan's dogs. Poor little babies!

Paddy waiting for his tea.

I still tend to forget sometimes that Spencer is gone all day. Like yesterday I was making an appointment for a haircut and they had an opening that morning at 11:30. My gut instinct was that I couldn't make it because I had to be home for the bus. Duh! Stuff like that is bizarre to me, that I have the whole day without having to worry about pick up or getting to the bus stop.
When I would tell other Mom's that I was a little worried about first grade because he had never been gone all day before, they would laugh and tell me that I was going to love it. I have to admit that only having the two kids all day is immensely easier. So far the fighting is less, the TV is on less, I feel like I actually play more with the kids - plus since they both (fingers crossed) nap on some days, I actually get stuff done around the house. But...I miss Spencer. I do. I feel like I never see him anymore. He is gone from eight in the morning until four in the afternoon. He gets home and he wants to relax in front of the TV - which I let him do. His brain has been working all day - let it turn to mush for an hour. We eat dinner and get to talk a bit, but dinners are not very relaxing in our house. Most of dinner is spent trying to coax somebody to eat or dealing with a screaming baby girl. After dinner we might be able to play a bit, but then we have his nightly homework and then it is time for jammies, books and bed.

I can see where it could be easy for families to drift apart - and we only have one in FIRST GRADE! I can't imagine what it will be like when all the kids are in school full time. They will have their other activities on top of school - will we ever get any time together? It just makes me realize that we are going to have to make a big effort and take every spare second of time that we have to connect and make sure that our kids still feel connected to us. Once again, it makes me so grateful that I am able to be home with the kids during the day. Seeing and feeling for the first time what it is like to have one gone all day has made me appreciate the time I have with the ones still at home a little more. Those six years Spence was home with me went by in a blink, I am just so thankful that I got to experience so much of it first hand.


Another exciting new occurrence around our house is that Hailey has finally developed a taste for books. A LOVE for books. I hope this is lasting and not some phase that she is going through. She is bringing me books constantly and then climbing up on my lap to have me read them to her. She is actually listening to the whole book and not just hopping down to find something else after the first page. She empties her bookshelf in her room on a daily basis. Often she throws her dolls (seeing a pattern?) out of her rocking chair so she can sit down with a book. I notice her babbling a lot more recently. She still has hardly any words but will point to almost anything you ask her to on a page and is correct. She has known what a dog says for a long time but now she knows what a cat says - Maow!

She is fearless of bees, but scared of butterflies! She is so funny! Check out her cute little camo pants. I got them yesterday at a second hand store they are so stinkin' cute - they look like hippie pants with patches all over and the words "love" and "peace" on the back.

Hailey in the book pile.

Maneuvered her way into the big rocker.