In The Cat Cave: Tuesday

It’s Tuesday.

6:55am.

“Mama”

Calmly, Jack repeats my name until I arrive. With his two trucks and blank-ey in hand he gestures to get up in my arms for a hug and then to carry him down the stairs. We have spoiled him - I always carry him down. He’s getting heavy now but I still love holding his tiny squishy body. I take him all the way down to the couch and fetch him a yogurt drink.

That’s the way the mornings go half of the time. The other half of the time Jane walks into our room and into our bed. She either goes back to sleep or she’s bouncing on us to go downstairs.

My plan is to change my routine to get up before the kids. I feel like I am getting closer to that but I am certainly not there yet.

After plopping Jack on the couch, he had some peaches and then started to line up his cars. It bothers me that we have to have covers on our couches but that’s the life we have with the kiddos.

Jane finally gets up after Ryan goes into her room. It’s unusual for her to be groggy in the morning or even to sleep in. It didn’t take long for her to be on high energy. She dragged all the pillows from upstairs and tucked them into a corner. Then she dragged her brother into the mess. “Mommy, look! Mommy! Mommy! Mommy! Look! You gotta see this! What a cute baby!”

On a typical morning, I’d be muttering about saying ‘Jane, get dressed please we are gonna be late'. But this morning’s early rise allowed me to enjoy it.

She’s dressed but she won’t let me put up her hair and she is roaming the main floor on her outdoor scooter. I was too busy tackling her brother. Mr. Jack seems to be ready to be potty trained but he doesn’t want to sit on the potty. He also doesn’t want a diaper on. He makes his body limp and laughs about it. This morning I was laughing too but my muscles were not happy. Ryan was taking pictures of the scene and Jane was flinging her hair around like she was one of the Go Go dancers.

Finally, we are out the door. And since I am more organized today, I attempt a family selphy.

It’s an attempt.

Next stop is Jack at his daycare called The Gingerbread House. Jane just had her last day there and is attending gymnastics camp again today but she wanted to shout and wave at her old friends in the window.

At work, I grabbed a coffee and turned on Canada AM then began plugging away at the bills from the previous day. On Ryan’s way back from Jane’s drop off, he got me a Lime drink from Starbucks. I love any kind of coffee delivery. *hint, hint. *

Mom and my father went to play golf, which meant Ryan and I were on our own for lunch. I had already planned for Ryan to have “make your own sub” from yesterday and I would have some leftover salad and homemade meat pie.

The afternoon went by quickly as it usually does and I managed to get everything done workwise. Ryan picked up Jane from camp and since she had gymnastics class at 6, he decided to take her out to supper at Jungle Jims. He lucked into “pay by the height” night and only paid $1.10 for her meal. #luckedintothatone

Today is probably going to be the hottest day of the year here.. for real life.

And Jack was sweating buckets.

A miracle happened and he let me take off his shoes, which always need to be emptied from all the sand at the Gingerbread House. (It’s an outside job) Again, he let me take off his hat and socks – maybe its heat stroke or is he finally coming around? I kid, I kid.

I really felt like it was too hot to cook but I’ve been trying to eat healthier and cleaner. We’ve also been trying to eat what we have. I bought a stir fry pack at Colemans so I cooked that up and had a surprisingly great supper!

With just Jack and I, I got a head start on my Monday WITL layout.

I also admired the dump that I ordered to have placed in our driveway today. I have big plans for tomorrow to dig out our garage since a mouse family decided to move in over the winter. (Who am I kidding - they move in every winter)

When Jane returned Ryan went off to soccer and I began the process for bed. Both kids usually complain when I say its bed time. But this time I mentioned that I would read them both a story together (usually I do this separately). They both went upstairs and brushed their teeth without a fight.. until they both wanted to stand on the stool. It worked out when Jane moved over to make room for her brother.

When I started the story, I thought I should do a self timer photo. And this is what I got! It’s not perfect but in my eyes, its exactly what I wanted - It’s real. There’s a futon mattress on Jane’s floor because a couple weekends ago she had a sleepover and we still haven’t moved it. I guess you could say we are lazy but she loves doing tumbles and flips on it so its a win-win. It was perfect for storytime.

I managed to get the kids to sleep by 9:00pm. The heat in the house upstairs is noticeable but we will all survive. No such thing as AC in most residential homes here – its not really necessary with exception to maybe a dozen days if we are lucky. We aren’t so lucky this year. It’s our coldest summer on record.

I needed to unwind so I grabbed a glass of wine. (Yes, I remembered after yesterday. Ryan was even good enough to have some already in the fridge) I headed for the deck, which is also unusual but it was cool and quiet. I thoroughly enjoy the quiet these days. Rooney laid next to me enjoying the slumber.