Sorry it has taken me so long to post these pictures, but here was our Halloween!
When the decision was made last summer to close my workplace on Fridays, the move was highly publicized. A lot of people know that my schedule was affected by the move, and so I am often asked the question: "what exactly do you do on Fridays?"
We made the decision at that time that Colleen would go into the office on Fridays, and stay at home the rest of the week. Ben and Lydia would no longer be dumped off at their poor grandmother's house during the week. Under this setup, Fridays were now my opportunity to spend quality time with the little rugrats.
On a recent Friday, I decided to take a few pictures to show people exactly what I do on Fridays (though many of the photos were taken by Ben). Perhaps this will save me the trouble of answering the same question over and over again.
Here's the short version:
8:45: Colleen heads out the door to go to work. She normally has Lydia up and fed by this time, and leaves her and Ben to play on the floor with an admonition to "be good for dada--he's had a long week, and this is the only day he can get some sleep"
8:48: I'm awakened by sounds coming from the adjoining bedroom, indicating the need for me to intervene. I find that Lydia is, of course, bullying Ben.
9:03: Breakfast is served. Today, Ben asks for cereal, with a side of chips and soda.
I have no idea why he's wearing that blue ring around his arm as he eats.
Lydia seems to have a thing for sour cream and onion.
I try to read as much of the newspaper as I can before Ben swallows all his food and starts talking again. Pretty normal news day: the stock market is slowly crashing so that nobody can ever retire again; Sarah Palin is being castigated by the media for making comments almost as stupid as those being made by Joe Biden, and the novelty of that $685 million Legacy Parkway seems to be wearing off, as everybody is going back to I-15.
9:15--Lydia and I are done eating chips, so it's time to get dressed. She seems to be taking her role as a diva seriously today.
9:38--Ben is finally done eating his breakfast, and so has dressed himself. And done his own hair. He didn't do too bad today, actually; he normally ends up in sweat pants--summer or winter--when he chooses his own outfit.
10:02--time to start laundry. I've got several loads to do today. Because Lydia does not like being left alone, I sometimes have to be creative to get her down the stairs with everything else I have to carry.
10:29--I tell Ben we need to go to the store, so he had better use the restroom before we go.
10:38--me: "Ben, are you done in there?" Ben: "NOT YET!"
10:43--me: "Ben, hurry up in there" Ben: "O-KAY!!!"
10:47--me: "BEN????" Ben:"and dada, go away"
11:15--we finally arrive at our friendly neighborhood grocery store. We have a lot of shopping to do: we need to make a soup for the Halloween party tomorrow with Colleen's family, we need more cereal, and I'm making dinner on Sunday for our anniversary (Colleen and I are both looking forward to a romantic dinner at home with just the four of us). The menu will consist of BBQ ribs, fresh pineapple, fresh baked rolls, potatoes and gravy, and double blueberry pie from Marie Callenders. This kind of meal would cost a fortune at a restaurant, but is relatively inexpensive when it come from Jared's kitchen.
Lydia seems to enjoy going grocery shopping...
as does Ben
11:40--all finished shopping, it's time to head out to the car, everything safely loaded onto the cart
11:55--Back at home, my strategy is to find a way to distract the oompa-loompas while I get all the groceries put away. This is easy with Ben, who is ready for lunch. He declines my offer of chicken nuggets in favor of cereal.
Lydia, however, doesn't seem to want any lunch. I allow her to play on the floor and hope she'll just stay out of the way.
However, Lydia seems to have other ideas:
Opening the refrigerator when a crawling munchkin is around is comparable to turning on your porch light when a moth is perched nearby. Both will become transfixed and make a beeline right toward the source of the light. They have no apparent plan or purpose, other than to flutter about and be a nuisance.
After extracting Lydia from the open refrigerator, and prying a bottle of soy sauce from her cold little hands, I head downstairs to put away the remainder of the groceries. Cake mixes and pasta noodles were had today for only .69 cents, so I stocked up a bit.
12:25--I want to put Lydia down for a nap, but I know she's not going to consent to that idea until she's had some lunch. Since she wasn't acting hungry before, I head to the cupboard and search for the most enticing, delicious looking vat of baby food I can find. The results: Gerber white turkey stew with rice
MMMM! Delicious. Lydia offers her compliments to the chef.
Pretty soon, I see that glazed look in her eyes that indicates she's ready for a nap:
12:45--time for cleanup. I find that the nifty hose in my kitchen sink works equally well for cleaning both the highchair tray and the baby:
1:00--with Lydia safely in bed, Ben and I head out into the yard to do manly stuff. First on the agenda: replace the leaky old hose faucet.
Not only is this going to be a functional and aesthetic upgrade, but it gives me a chance to use the nifty plumbing wrench I bought for $3 at the NPS Store.
1:15--Ben and I head into the back yard to take care of all the leaves that are falling off the trees. This is a chance for me to use my new favorite toy: my chipper shredder vac.
This thing is awesome. It vacuums up all the leafs, cuts them into little pieces, and stores them in a bag you can dump in your garden. It also shreds sticks and branches. These things are kind of pricey, but we bought ours lightly used off KSL.com, and got a great deal. Having 15 trees in our yard, it seems like a good investment.
1:20--I've checked the oil, filled it up with gas, connected the spark plug, and fired it up. I'm ready to quickly and efficiently take care of these pesky leaves.
1:22--Ben is jumping around like his Superman underpants are on fire. I turn off the Machine to ask him what's wrong:
Ben: "You're not s'posed to do that. You're s'posed to make a big big pile for me to jump in"
Me: sigh
1:26--the Machine is safely shut down and put away, and it's back to the old fashioned method
1:52--I've raked up enough leaves to make a pile that, I imagine, would seem pretty big if I was only three feet tall. I instruct Ben that he will jump in this pile, and he will like it
"Whatever," says Ben before his daring plunge
2:14--I head inside to check on Lydia. She's still sleeping, though I don't imagine she's real comfortable:
I'm hoping to quietly sneak out of the room, when I hear a little voice yell down the hall:
"and dada, is superbaby awake?"
She is now.
While the temptation obviously exists to leave her behind bars, I figure she'll be in a better mood now that she's had a nap.
2:23--You want to know a good way to help a baby wake up? Put her on the floor and let her chase after a robotic vacuum.
The IRobot Roomba is Coleen's favorite new toy. She scored it at the NPS Store at yet another bargain price. It might occasionally crash into a baby, but I don't feel too bad because it's her Fruit Loops it's vacumming up.
Despite his best attempts, Ben can't seem to come up with a solid argument for me to put this thing away in favor of a broom (sorry, I'm still bitter about the incident with the leaves).
2:43--while I'm vacuuming the living room, I head downstairs to attend to the laundry
"and dada, don't put the baby in the dishwasher," Ben points out.
I'm hoping to wash and fold all the laundry before Colleen gets home. Not only would it put me on her good list, but it gives me a chance to sit down for a while, and I have a basketball game I recorded that I'm itching to watch. This is the New Orleans Jazz vs the New York Knicks from February 25, 1977. Pistol Pete Maravich had 68 points in that game! (this was before the inception of the three-point line). Unfortunately, the clock was working against me by this point, and I never got around to folding.
2:54--While we're downstairs dealing with laundry, Ben asks if he can watch a movie. This sounds like a wonderful idea to me. "Which movie do you want to watch?" I ask. "Hmmm. Buzz Lightyear and Woody," he replies.
Never saw that one coming...
...since his Buzz and Woody toys have a semi-permanent place in our TV room.
I decide to leave Lydia downstairs with him, and see how long they can entertain each other. My guess of ten minutes proves to be pretty accurate.
3:09--While the kids are occupied for a few minutes, I set up to begin making that soup for the Halloween party. The potage of choice: crab chowder. I get all the essentials together: crockpot, dicer, santoku, laptop computer, cutting board, peeler, and a TV on the table.
While slicing and dicing, I flip between sports and the news. I haven't had much of an opportunity to read my newspaper today; for all I know, John McCain has succumbed to his age and gone to that big White House in the sky, and we're facing the prospect of President Palin (but wouldn't it be fun to have eight years of winking ;) through the State of the Union address? You betcha it would).
The chowder proves to be a difficult project, as Lydia has insisted on joining me in the kitchen and is continually tugging on my leg. I'll occasionally pick her up, but she seems to want to play with the sharp instruments on the table. Not a good arrangement. This goes on for what seems like forever, until...
4:34 pm--Colleen walks in the door. "Hi!," she says. "hehehehehehehehe," Lydia replies. "Here," I say, holding the baby out with one hand in Colleen's direction. I'm vividly aware that a person coming home from work might like a few minutes to change clothes and adjust to this other aspect of life; I'm also aware that this is the one day per week I have to return the favor to Colleen.
All in all, not a bad day. No major injuries, nobody was left at the grocery store, and I got a few things done around the house. I even have photographic evidence to prove it.