The Groft Zoo

Lily has been reading a simplified version of Pride and Prejudice. I wasn’t sure if she would really be able to follow it, since the reading level is still a little above her and the plot is thick and full of unfamiliar concepts, even at this simplified level. Still she kept plugging along.

She was reading it to Posy in the car on the way home from ballet the other night when she reached the part where Elizabeth dances with Mr. Darcy. She yelled out, “Oh my gosh!!! Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy?!?” and giggled.

I think she gets it!

Molly has been reading up a storm too, lately. She likes for me to ask her how to spell words when we are in the car on the way to school. After acing several simple 3 letter words, I said, “Now this is a harder one, Molly. See if you can figure it out. Grass.”

She worked it out in her head, taking a few seconds to go through the sounds. Then said, “G-R-A-S.”

I told her, “Wow, that was really good! Some words have two of the same letter at the end. Like this one is G-R-A-S-S.”

She threw her hands in the air and yelled, “How am I supposed to know that?”

Yesterday was such a day! I’ll take you on a ride through the busyness.

5:15am: drag myself out of bed, there’s never enough sleep around here. Coffee, prayer, bible study, plan my day.

6am: I wake up the kids and start trying to figure out what to make for lunches. Realize I need to go to the store. Homemade lunchables it is! Jay works on lunches while I grab a quick shower. Put Lily in the shower so I can put her hair in a bun for ballet tonight. There won’t be time later.

6:45am: Ben and Tessa leave for school, our carpool kids arrive, three girls aged 7, 9, and 11. Max and Lily go to play with their friends and I have to keep reminding them to get ready for school.

7:15am: Everybody in the car! Time to drive to school. They all sing Frozen songs the whole way.

7:45am: drop kids off at school, pray the rosary on the way home, Gus and Molly complain about not having Frozen songs to listen to anymore.

8:20am: Back at home. More coffee, a little breakfast, fold some laundry.

9-11am: Work on new layout for my Circling Jericho blog. Molly and Gus play and fight in the family room. Brief breaks for reading a book and fetching drinks and snacks.

11am: Slap some makeup on to try to look presentable, realize I forgot to moisturizer so it looks all blotchy. Oh well, it will have to do, James is watching the kids so I can go to Adoration for a little while! (20 minutes in Adoration.)

12pm: Pick up lunch on the way home. James has cleaned the kitchen! Yay! A good friend who is also a realtor comes over to catch up and talk about our moving plans. We had a very nice visit and resolve, like we always do, to not let it be so long before next time.

2:15pm: My friend leaves, I realize that I should have been packing some snacks, but now there is only time to change a diaper, send Molly to the bathroom, grab some granola bars, and run out the door to pick up kids.

2:45pm: Both kids sacked out in the car, I guess I’ll go through the pick up line to buy a few more moments peace.

3:20 Lily gets in the car just as Molly is starting to wake up. We drive to the other side of the parking lot and park, we have to wait for Max while he goes to tutoring. Gus stays asleep even after I move him out of the car. Lily and Molly okay in the grass.

3:40pm: Realize that we should be driving away right now instead of waking across the campus to pick up Max. Oops. Things are about to pick up speed.

4:00pm: Driving away from school, finally. I drill the kids on what will happen when the get home. Max will get himself a snack and get his boys choir folder, Lily will change into her ballet uniform while I make her snack, Molly and Gus will NOT take their shoes off.

4:25pm: I make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for everyone (gluten free bread for Molly, of course) and pack some coloring books and crayons while telling Max to pick up a couple of water bottles. I realize that Lily’s ballet uniform is filthy.

4:35pm: Out the door and back in the car.

5:05pm Arrive at boys choir 5 minutes late. Drop Max off. Drive towards ballet studio.

5:10pm: Construction zone.

5:25pm: Arrive at ballet in the nick of time! Lily goes to class, I try to coach Molly and Gus into eating their sandwiches as neatly as possible without the help of a table, with reasonable success.

5:45pm: Sandwiches are done, time to color.

6:00pm: Coloring is boring, time to climb on chairs and run in circles. A lot.

6:30pm: Lily is done, time to get back in the car. Drive to Tessa’s friend’s house to pick her up.

7:10pm: Arrive at Tessa’s friend’s house, Molly has to go to the bathroom, drag the whole crew into the house, then round them up again. Finally head for home.

7:20pm: Construction again! I told myself not to take this road, but apparently I’m too tired to override my autopilot.

7:40pm: Home at last. Now all I have to do is get the required bedtime snack (I hear that refusing a bedtime snack is some kind of child abuse.) give medicine, brush teeth, police the shower times, put pajamas on them, and get these hooligans to stay in bed. Ben and Tessa both are helpful.

8:10pm: They’re in bed at last, not asleep yet, but in bed. I work on the website a little more.

9:30pm: Let Ben use the computer, get ready for bed, set the coffee maker, read until…

10:30pm: Go and let the cat out and make sure the computer is off and locked. Finally time to sleep.