What I did today

Nothing monumental to report right now. I have a few back-logged posts I'd like to write sometime. But right now I just thought I'd do one of those every-day posts that are sometimes lacking from my blog. So, my title: What I did today...

I'm really tired tonight, because my morning started at 5ish. I was having a disturbing dream about driving with my cousins for hours on a not-so-fun road trip. All of sudden from the deepest reaches of my subconscious, I could hear a whimpering Sammie outside our bedroom door. This is common, and I usually rouse myself to herd her back to bed and redistribute her blankets (the main reason for her night waking seems to be that her blankets get in a tangle. sigh.) But this morning, I just laid there and tried to continue my annoying dream. Poor Brian dealt with Sammie, while I listened from afar. He came back to bed and gave me the report, and then of course I was wide awake and couldn't fall asleep again for 15 mins.

Just as I drifted off, the whimpering started again (sooo frustrating). This time I took my turn, and convinced her for the second time in half an hour that she did NOT want to sleep upstairs. She fussed a lot about it and eventually woke up Spencer. Once I got her back to sleep, I soothed him again and checked to make sure he didn't need more medicine for his fever (he's teething and has a cough). Back to sleep for 20 mins until Brian's alarm went off at six. I winced again, wishing I had gone to bed before midnight. Why do I torture myself with these late nights (like now?!)

After several minutes of tossing and turning, I did manage to sleep again, until 7:29, when Spencer REALLY woke up, with some loud screeching and poopy pants. I wish sleep wasn't so important to me. I wish I didn't spend time calculating in my head how much sleep I DIDN'T get. (Note to those with newborns and babies-who-refuse-to-sleep-through-the-night: I do not compare my suffering to yours.) After a good change, Spencer seemed content to cuddle and suck his finger, so I laid with him for awhile, then put him back in bed. I tried to go back to sleep, but never really succeeded. Oh well.

Samantha was in a rage this morning. She said she wanted Raisen Bran, because I was having Raisen Bran for breakfast. But I know she never eats it, so I offered her every other kind of cereal under the sun. She settled on Fruit Loops (oh-so-healthy). I then started cutting a banana into my Raisen Bran. She acted interested so I offered her some. No thanks, Mom. But when I came to sit beside her and eat my banana-laiden Raisen Bran, she changed her mind and wanted banana in her Fruit Loops. Okay, I just took a spoonful of my bananas and scooped them into her bowl. (The spoon was clean, I hadn't eated any yet.) Whoah!! You'd think I'd tried to cut off her left pinky finger. She proceeded to throw one of those fits that I wish I'd never witnessed in my entire life. She didn't want some of MY banana. She wanted her OWN banana. Goodness! If she hadn't been so out of control, I might have obliged. Instead, she got in two big time outs, and eventually ended up with her Fruit Loops in the garbage. We started over with oatmeal an hour later, and she was more cooperative.

We went to the library this morning for Story Time. I rarely make it there, and have yet to make it there on time. I was close today, but of course, as I reached for Spence to put him in the car and go, I could smell an extra 5-minute diaper change that made us late again. No big deal; Sammie still enjoyed "If you're happy and you know it" and got a dinosaur sticker. She was especially thrilled that her friend Madison was there. They played in the kids section while I picked out books for her and me. We ran a few more errands after the library, and got home in time for a late lunch and a verrry late nap for Spence, poor baby.

I started making dinner for the missionaries -- a last-minute thing because their original appt ended up with sick kids today. Then my visiting teachers came and talked about how important it is to keep our families strong. It was a good lesson and chat, though I got a bit worried about time because we talked so long and that dinner wasn't about to cook itself! Samantha was loving the lengthy visit, because one of the ladies brought her two daughters who played Princess with Sam. Lucky! I was informed by the older girl that Sammie did NOT share her wand. A selfish princess, indeed.

After they left, I made delicious chicken-corn chowder (bacon is the delicious secret, as it turns out), and rolls, salad and veggies. The missionaries arrived for an early dinner at 5pm, since we had a bball game for Brian at 6 (church ball tournament). Unfortunately, Brian was still gone to his afternoon newspaper meeting, so they had to wait in their car for 15 mins until he got home. Oh well. Dinner was good, even if the salad was from a bag, the rolls were Rhodes freezer bake, and the brownies were from a mix; the soup was authentic. ha!

We all went over to the church to watch Brian play ball for an hour. Actually, Sam played with Madison & co. in one of the rooms on the stage, while I talked with other moms and tried to keep Spencer from crawling off the stage or eating anything off the floor. Afterward, we came home and put Spencer to bed and finally got to read those fun library books (all SIX of them!) with Sammie before getting her off to bed.

Brian went back to the church for another ball game, and I organized our closet (finally!!) and then worked out while watching whatever was on TV (I could write another post this very second about the valueless, meaningless, moral-less stuff on nighttime TV). Then I practiced some piano -- I'm working on playing in different keys besides my two staple "easy" keys. Sounded pretty good in B flat tonight.

Now it's bedtime, people. I still have ambitions of reading some scripture, having some meaningful prayer, and maybe peeking at the novel I brought home... all before sleeping. I bet Brian will talk me out of the third option, and the lights will hopefully be out before midnight. Signing out...
That's what I did today.