Paul and Wesley, our Campus Pastor, went camping this morning. They’ll be back at some point tomorrow. So far, this is what has happened in our day since Paul left at 5:00 am.

1. I scrambled to find something the kids would eat for breakfast. Thank goodness I had some nutritional off brand Cookie Crisp in the cabinet or the kids would have had meltdowns having to eat toast.

2. After Caleb’s nap we journeyed to three different stores. In some cases only to get one or two items. Caleb and Lily were both covered in graham cracker crumbs in my efforts to ward off any crying, screaming, tantrums, meltdowns, breakdowns, and fighting. The crackers worked like a charm. Let’s hear it for portable snacks.

3. After lunch we made chocolate chip cookies. We proceeded to eat multiple cookies after they came out of the oven and cooled for a bit. Had it just been me I would have devoured them piping hot right out of the oven, but that’s not so great for the mouth of a toddler who can only handle things lukewarm at best. 

4. Nap time…peace and quiet.

5. More cookies were eaten.

6. I cleaned out the car seats discovering that years of cheerios, crackers, M&Ms, juice, goldfish, and cheez-its had crumbled or spilled their way to the bottom of said seats. It took me a good 20 minutes to get the cloths attached from the seat so I could wash them. It’s like the manufacturers want your kids to sit in all that built up gunk. Why else would they make it so hard to remove the fabric away from the molded plastic frame?

7. The kitchen was cleaned for the twentieth time. I refuse to clean it anymore today. My hands would like some time to deprune themselves.

8. Caleb woke up early from his nap. Guess instead of reading that book I will have to stare into the deep blue eyes of the boy who stole my heart. Life is so hard.

9.  Untangled the yarn that Caleb and the cat decided would be fun to string from one end of the house to the other. Ok, it wasn’t from one end to the other, but I still have a tangled mess on my hands. You know how hard it is to crochet a blanket when every 10 stitches you have to untangle a knot? It’s pretty not fun, let me tell you.

10. I switched litter boxes for one that has a hood on it. Hurray for no more cat poop being kicked up on my laundry room wall.

11. We read books. And they sat and listened!

12. We laid on my bed and tickled and laughed. My children jumped on  me. I am pretty sure Caleb almost broke a rib, but who cares? A good time was had by all.

13. I got really bored about 3:00.

14. In efforts to cure my boredom I decided we could clean out the craft boxes. The kids proceeded to string my yarn all over the office, throw tiny balloons everywhere, and mark themselves with permanent marker while I tried to make tissue paper flowers. Turns out that is not a good craft for a 3 year old or a woman with no crafting skills whatsoever.

15. Caleb knocked the bottom hinge off Lily’s door. Before you think I have Superman in 18 month size running around, the hinge has been loose for a while. I attempted to screw it back in the door frame. We’ll see how long it stays.

15. The kids did puzzles together while I sat on the couch and took a breather.

And we are now at the end of our day. Caleb is fast asleep. Lily will probably be up for the next 2 hours because it rained this afternoon and she had no outlet for her energy because her mother was bored and could not think of anything to do except make tissue paper flowers that she was not able to help make.

I wonder what kind of fun tomorrow will hold?