my date

We were in need for some girl time. It's been hectic ! So hectic, in fact, that I haven't been blogging as much as I would have liked.
Sunday was just what the doctor had ordered. The Husband stayed home all day with The Boy and watched the Laker Game. The Girl and I hung out. She has been very into dressing up and getting all "fancy" so I sported a skirt (for the whole day) just for her. She had her favorite pink sparkly shoes from Aunt Lara and her new pink dress and we were off for a day of fun!

We headed over to the Festival of Books and literally spent the entire day there. We watched shows. We had sugary snacks. We walked around. We had lunch. I had a coffee. She had an ice cream (or rather, two licks of an ice cream). We took pictures. We were just together. It was wonderful!

She watched Hi-5 perform twice. She took a picture with a lady on stilts, a fairy and a police officer with his parrot. It really was a magical day.

Later on in the day we met up with some friends, watched some shows and had dinner.
We even saw one of her preschool teachers there with her daughter.

But it wasn't just a grand day for us. It was also a much needed day for The Husband and The Boy. They stayed in all day and got along. Little Man took his nap. The Husband watched the entire Laker game without any interruptions from me. They hung out.

At the end of the day, The Girl asked that we "do this everyday." Though I can't guarantee a festival of books everyday, I can try for some quality alone time. I do think that these marathon "dates" are needed. She was the object of my affection and attention for the whole day. Little Man wasn't there to bug her or need me. She got to sit on my lap without having to scoot over to share. She had all the sweets for herself (she had the opportunity to finish a whole pretzel, churro, bag of m&m's, cotton candy and an ice cream -- and she had just bits of all but the m&m's she had a good handful of that....the lesson, splurge a little once in a while, you'll find out that it wasn't the candy or the sweets that they wanted, but rather the chance to have the candy or the sweets. Everything was so "OK" that she didn't really want it). She didn't have to slow down for her brother or even have to look out for him. She could just be. She could just be with me.

Today, the Little Man wanted time alone with me. He didn't need much. We dropped off the girl at school and headed off to a local coffee shop that had a train table. There we met some friends and hung out a bit. Then he helped me get gas for the car and pick up Daddy for lunch. To him, it was perfect. And it was. (It's actually our Wed & Fri routine but I gave it a name and did it today.)

This evening we had a general meeting at school. When we got back home, the living room was a wreck and the kids were still up. Oh well, it must have been wishful thinking to think the grandparents could get them to bed and clean up after themselves. Luckily, it was a snap getting them to sleep. A quick bath, a story, milk and a few more stories and they were out.

Actually, I left the room while there were still awake and Little Man was upset that I had left. The Girl said, "I'm trying to sleep. Be quiet!" So, they started giggling and talking and two minutes later, they were purring.

Ahh, the sound of sleeping kids.

Currently I am listening to the sound of the spin cycle as I type. Then I'm off to clean the living room and put away the kids' dishes from dinner. Yes, they're still on the table, waiting for me. But heck, at least my parents were able to 'watch' them so we could go to our meeting.

I must find a 'mommy's helper.' I really must. I can hang out with the kids just fine. I'd love help in the laundry, dishes and cleaning department. I suck at those. The mom thing, I'm pretty good at. Not perfect at. But I like what I do and I do what I like. And I Love my kids :)

Festival of Books