What's in a Day?

People often ask me what I do all day-not because they wonder if I do anything (although if they saw my house on some days, they might wonder), but because sometimes it's hard to grasp the notion of caring for 5 little kiddos and to think of how it's even possible to keep them all alive- Let alone do laundry, clean bathrooms, wash dishes, make my bed, get myself dressed... Here are a few highlights and noteables from our day today just to give you an idea:
1)7:25 (should be more like 7:00)Wake up Reilly and Shea to get them ready for school- pick out clothes for them, and remind them to brush their teeth
2)Make lunches (PB&J for Shea, ham & cheese for Reilly), fruit, cookies, drinks, and chips and get them PB Captain Crunch and some Smokies for breakfast, do Shea's hair, make sure back-packs are filled with homework and all the right papers, permission slips, signed behavior reports, etc.
3)Drive them to school!
4)Get the rest of the crew up to get ready for Master's Kids (Kurt was still home while I took the big kids to school)
5)Pick out 3 more rounds of clothes for the little girlies, help them with shoes, change the baby's diaper, dress her
6)Get them all breakfast, do their hair, and pack food for Macy, diapers for her and a pull-up for Cam, and remember to feed myself (I could afford to forget this part a few times) #6 sounds simple, but remember some girls don't always wake up with a smile and get particular about food, and some want to be held while I'm doing everything, some don't like the clothes I pick out, some want cookies for breakfast, some don't want to eat
7)Load up the baby in the car seat, make sure I remember the songs I'm playing-I'm the music person (run through them one time on the piano), grab my Master's Kids bag and double check the "things to bring" list for today, wipe faces and load em' up in the car
8)Drop off Cam in the nursery, enjoy TMK (The Master's Kids). I love this program- mom's get a good hour and a half to chat and laugh without interruptions (except for a little snotty-nosed Macy who wasn't healthy enough to go in the nursery)
9)Eat lunch at church with daddy, Cam, Macy, Kinley, and some friends on campus
10)Head home, feed the kids a snack, rest (did I say rest?? I don't usually get to rest, but Kurt came home with us from work and I have had a terrible back pain the last 2 days and haven't slept well). I got a whole hour of rest, then woke up to crying Macy, who was tired of the exersaucer and ready to nap.
11)Get a bottle for Macy, warm her up with a blanket (she had gotten cold by the open back door!), and rock her to sleep... I love that sweet time upstairs in our dark, quiet room when she lets me rock and hum with her and she just puts that little head down on my shoulder and goes right to sleep.
12)4:00 Send Reilly and Kurt off to basketball practice while Cam finishes her nap (oh yah, we put her down for a nap after TMK) and the big girls play games on A+ math (on the computer upstairs).
13)Come downstairs, put a few things away in the kitchen, think about what to make for dinner, make a batch of cookies per Cam's waking up request (the dough was already made and in the fridge), then sit down to the computer and check out some friends' updated blogs, decide to write my own since it's been a few days
14)It's now 5:17, and I should get dinner going! Kurt and Reilly should be home in the next half-hour, and will be hungry for dinner! I guess that's my cue to end this blog!
I know this may not be too exciting, and quite honestly, this has been a slow day without much craziness. Yesterday, however, I found myself cleaning up pee three times (twice from our potty trainer, once from the kitties), doing three loads of laundry, cleaning toothpaste from all over the bathroom counter, wiping Cam's drawing off the living room wall, doing a craft with Kinley (she requests this every day while Cam and Macy are napping), finally putting away my clothes from the top of my dresser from our vacation (did I just admit that?) almost two weeks ago, working through the stack of papers that was building up for weeks on my desk, and more...
Anyway, I love what I do, and love my little mess-makers! I wouldn't trade a day of this (okay, I'd trade a week if I could go to Grand Cayman again with Kurt!) for anything! I guess I should re-phrase that. I wouldn't go back to the days before kids for anything- I love my "promotion" to mommy and these sweet kids!