Hello, did you miss me?

I missed me - and you, too!  I've been busy trying to get my new "working-mom" life in order again.  It takes practice and planning and I'm still getting the balancing correct, so thank you for being patient with me.

I just put Finn down for a morning nap.  He's got five teeth brewing in his face and that makes for a tired and cranky boy.  Did I mention that he's walking now?  That makes for a very mobile and tired and cranky boy.  Last week when I was working, Uriah had the day off so he and Finn spent it together.  I'm sure it was the first day that they'd been together, just the two of them, since April.  Uriah took it upon himself to teach Finn to walk.  Not to worry...he video recorded those monumental first steps for me to watch when I got home from work.  I cried a little bit at first that I missed it, but to be perfectly honest, I'm more glad now that he's walking.  I know kids do things in their own good time, but I was starting to get a little worried.  And now that he can do it, he tries to walk all of the time; he falls down and picks himself right back up again to try again.  By the end of the day, I'm tired of holding my breath during the big spills and cheering so loudly for his accomplishments, but I'm so happy that he's got his little feet semi-solidly planted underneath him.

Abby's fully into her volleyball season and, although she hasn't had a game yet, they have practice every night after school, so she comes home tired and cranky, too.  Do you see a pattern here with my tired and cranky kids?  She's also waiting not-so-patiently to get an instrument in band.  Since homecoming is right around the corner, the band teacher has been working on marching with the students that played an instrument last year.  Until his time is freed up just a bit and he can work with the new band students, they are given an "interim" instrument.  Abby's playing The Woodblock.  You can imagine how she feels about playing The Woodblock (I think it's kind of funny, she does not.).  I'll be happy when homecoming is over and she can play an instrument that lives up to her lofty band expectations and stop complaining about The Woodblock.

Uriah's first summer season is done...thank you, Baby Jesus.  Hopefully now he'll be home a little bit more, although tonight he's going to hit some golf balls around the course after work, so maybe I'm just trading the busyness of the summer season with the faux-busyness of fall golf?

In an effort to make my life a little bit more organized, last week, I implemented cleaning zones.  I spent way too much time cleaning everything chaotically and randomly during the week, or cleaning whatever I felt needed the most attention on a daily basis, and yet somehow I still felt like I'd accomplished nothing.  Now, each day of the week has a different zone to clean and organize.  So far I feel much less like a chicken running around without a head, trying to catch up on laundry and ironing and dusting every single day, and more like: one day at a time...one chore at a time...it will all get done in its own time.  Speaking of zones: today is bedrooms, so I'd best get my tush into my room for a dusting and sheet changing and floor vacuuming flurry before Finn wakes up from his nap and we clean his room together (which, trust me, takes a lot longer, but I know that he needs to learn to "help.").

Happy Hump Day...it's all down hill after today!  Daniel will be home for a short leave (although it feels like he just left, but I guess that's the military for you, right?), so we'll be at my mom's this weekend reveling in a Post-Family reunion and a birthday party celebration for my special boy, Dane.  I can't even wait!