Tonight is the night-- the first night in seriously I can't remember where I finished the jobs and it was still light out and the kids were in bed and I thought, "What should I do?"
Lately there has just been an endless list of tasks-- thank you letters for donations given to Empty Arms, sewing projects for nieces and sisters, birthdays to organize, meetings to run, choruses to sing in, summer clothes to pull up from the basement and the endless task of making room for them in the drawers, laundry, laundry, laundry.....
But tonight, I really didn't have anything hanging that made me cringe. So I wandered outside and I weeded my garden, and I talked on the phone to my sister about her newborn baby girl, and I felt swimmingly happy. I poured black, wet mulch on the spots I'd weeded and my garden, which has been untended for two summers now, began to take shape. I smiled in the semi-dark as I emptied my weed bucket and said goodnight to that project. And now, I write.
Aoife had a small bout of mono earlier this month which was very sad, she was just flat on the couch and devoid of energy. It felt so sad to see her little body so weary and sick, hot with fever, day after day after day. I spent lots of time with her but with the girls underfoot it never felt like quite the quality of time one might want to spend with one's sick daughter. A few times I was lucky enough to farm the little ones out and that made for some nice, long hours tucked in bed with her reading. She is making a good recovery but still feels tired almost every afternoon. We only have 10 school days left and I'm happy that she will soon be able to sleep until 8 every day (which she loves to do, unlike my other early birds).
Liam is just joy, joy, joy. The boy is always happy, no matter what. He never complains, he is rarely rude to his sisters, he's always nice to me. He loves all the kids he meets. He plays street hockey by himself because I'm too busy to play with him and he doesn't mind. It breaks my heart, but he's happy. I need two of me. It's hard having big kids and little kids.
The girls are a whirlwind. Having a baby and a toddler is hard, but having two toddlers is just exhausting. They are playing together so adorably-- from puttering on the driveway together in twin Cozy Cou.pes to pushing dollies in the swings to cuddling up under the covers of every bed they can find they are just so darn cute. That being said, Fiona doesn't nap anymore and there is always a moment sometime after five. You know, a moment. She has been such an easy girl we've pretty much avoided moments until now, but we seem to be getting them more and more. Alas, but oh, well, carry on. Maeve's coasting with the very clear exception that every time we get in and out of the car she pitches a royal temper tantrum wanting to do up the buckles of her car seat (without her in the seat). Despite the fact that I now religiously NEVER let her do this, she screams and carries on every time. I need a dummy car seat for inside the house to satiate her.
Here's where I am at. Not fine writing, but just something for me to remember tonight by.