Today was Saturday, it’s my favorite day of the week.
I woke up to Adam’s arms wrapped around me and his beard tickling my cheek (I may have accepted the beard, and I might even think it looks dang good with it; but I’ll never get used to the tickle) as he lay asleep on my shoulder. From the next room I could hear #LivyLu singing very loud and very off key, that's my favorite, ‘Truly Scrumptious’ (from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang), but she says it more like Twoo-wly Crump-shhh-ous. Oh how I love those sweet toddler mispronunciations.
After everyone was up and the first round of diapers were changed we turned on some music that we are currently obsessing over (Joan, ever heard of them? Well they are AH-MAZING!) while we made and ate breakfast. Then Adam suggests we go sledding, since we have nothing else planned for the day and there is a fresh blanket of snow on the ground just waiting to be played in. I agreed that did sound fun and we started to get ready…. Why did no one prepare me for getting three kids ready for the snow….
Adam started on round two of changing diapers (seriously why do kids go through so many diapers???) and getting kids dressed in very unstylish outfits (why do we have such bright obnoxious colored sweats?), but hey they will be warm and its going under a snowsuit. I quickly threw together some Russian tea (it’s not really tea and I have no clue why it’s called that, recipe below) in the instant pot (because the only thing I’ve learned to do with that thing is boil water) to warm us up when we get home. Then the rushing around like crazy parents begins. Searching every closet for socks (not matching just any socks that will stay on), gloves, snow suits, coats, hats, and anything else that will keep us half way warm in the snow. Cleaning toys, picking up #ClaraBelle (because every time i turn around she is standing there and I always seem to knock her over which causes tears…. So many tears). Stopping to feed #OBoy. Cleaning up breakfast dish…. Errrr…. Scooping up breakfast dishes and dumping in the sink to be cleaned later. Packing snacks and bottles. Dealing with a toddler tantrum from #LivyLu. Ok pause-- mothers who have toddlers-- do you ever find that when you have something fun planned your toddler throws a tantrum which ruins the activity? Because this happens to us like 85% of the time. Today I was not going to let her ruin this activity (sometimes I get so determined that we WILL HAVE FUN that I end up forcing my kids to participate).So as soon as she started her full blown tantrum I placed her on my bed for a time out, called Adam into the room then turned and left leaving him to deal with it (poor guy). Five minutes later all was well again and we were back to rushing to get out the door.
By the time we were all packed and ready and sitting in the van, it had taken us just under 2 HOURS to get ready! (Golly gee, why????) But of course it is around this time that #OBoy decides he needs another bottle (why do boys eat so much more than girls?) The doors were having some issues and were beeping at us which reminded us that our maintenance light has been on for a week (oooppps? We meant to take that in) So instead of going straight to the sledding hill we drove around trying to find a place that could tell us what was up. Long story short, nothing resulted from our 30 min car investigation, except that we should be fine to wait till Monday to go to our regular mechanic (golly that's an adult statement!).
Finally we make it to the sledding hill. But now we have to bundle up the kids. Adam took #LivyLu and I took # ClaraBelle. 10 minutes. Thats how long it took us to stuff, shove, squeeze and over dress our kids so that they could (fingers crossed) stay warm in the snow.
#LivyLu and I take the first run. Golly how I love those sweet giggles. #ClaraBelle was next, she enjoyed the whole thing till she tried to stand up and realized her arms and legs were too stiff from wearing so many layers that she really couldn't move. This is when the tears started and they didn't end till we got back in the van. Minus a sweet giggle here and there when Adam would toss snow into the air. There was lots of picking up kids to wipe noses and helping them stand up, lots of running to check on #OBoy (who slept through the whole thing) and lots of walking up the hill with a sled and kids in tow.
There was a sweet moment when I was sitting in the van with #OBoy, who was sleeping, and #ClaraBelle who was consoling her sorrows (she really hated the whole thing) in apple juice and Curious George (is there anything that Curious George cant fix? He is seriously my best friend). I was watching out the window as #LivyLu and Adam were playing in the snow. They attempted to build a snowman and they did several runs down the hill, each ending with laughter and smiles. And suddenly the long morning that took much longer than it should have became worth it.
I see a counselor every week, and something she is helping me realize is that each day is full of many moments, some good, some bad. And just because a day has many hard, challenging and bad moments, it does not mean the day was a bad day. I am truly a pessimist at heart. I dont like hard things, I dont like tantrums and I dont like tears. This morning was hard to keep the vision of having fun in mind. It was hard to not give up and say “Fine, lets just stay home”. It was really hard putting layer after layer on my kids to not get depressed when i think that they will wear them for only 30 minutes then I will have to take all these off and wash them all. But when I saw the smiles squished between frozen red cheeks it was all worth it.
I’m not sure who said it, but someone once said “ The best things in life are not things, they are moments.” When the day is over and my laundry pile is much bigger than I would have hoped, I can lay here in my bed and say that despite all the challenging moments I had a good day because of a few perfect moments. And that’s enough for me.
Just look at my little girl go! I wish we had gotten a picture of her smile.
Russian Tea
Fill pot with as much water as you would like (I filled my Instant Pot half way). You know the cheap orange tang that every kid loves and every college student has a large supply of? Use that to flavor your water with that to your liking (dump and taste till you say yum). If you have mulling spice, add as much of that as you would like; if you don't, use 1 cinnamon stick, a sprinkle of nutmeg and a little whole allspice. Quarter 1 apple and 1 orange and add to pot (this will infuse AH-MAZING flavor). Simmer on low heat for at least an hour, but you can let that stuff go all day if you would like (it will make your kitchen smell heavenly!). Serve as is, or if you like a little spice (like my husband) than add a few red hot candies (Adam is convinced they are called cinnamon imperials; you will never hear me call them that).
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