Being Sara

Parker still refuses to pose for pictures - this was the only non blurry one I managed of the two of them...

If you read my last post you already know that we’ve been pretty busy lately.  This means that Zach and I sometimes are running in different directions (usually him out in the yard trying to pick up or mow or plant things while I’m busy cleaning or cooking inside) and when it works out, the boys are left playing on their own.  This doesn’t mean they are locked away in some room by themselves, but they are in the living room or the play room while I bee-bop around them.  On both Saturday and Sunday this weekend they amazed me with their ability to play so well together.  On Saturday they played together for over an hour without a single tear or screech and no interaction with me.  I watched from the kitchen while they played (mostly with a big cardboard box) for an entire hour.  It reinforced my belief that kids really do love their siblings, and although they fight like cats and dogs some days, there are other days when they are the best of friends and at least in our house, at least for now, they play more than they fight and I love it!

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We tend to be a pretty busy family.  It is rare for us to have a weekend with absolutely no plans.  Summer time tends to increase the number of activities we have any given week or weekend.  This summer is proving to be especially crazy.  I think I’m going to have to start adding “event planner” to my business cards soon.

Next weekend we’re having a 1.5 birthday party for Parker.  We decided that December 30th was difficult to celebrate.  We of course celebrated with family – had a small brunch and cake with a candle, but we didn’t do an all-out party like with did for Xander’s first birthday.  We instead decided that we’d celebrate half birthdays in the summer time (at least until Parker is old enough to make an informed decision on when he would prefer to celebrate).  So, we’re doing his party at 2pm, and then a housewarming party the same day at 5pm.  We’ll have people coming and going all day long.

A few weeks after that, Zach is hosting a bachelor party at our house (the kids and I are relocating for the evening)

September will see a bridal shower and then Xander’s birthday party.

October I am the maid of honor in a wedding.  I’m also the defacto wedding planner.  These are just the events that I’m personally planning.  This does not include the dozens of other parties and events we are attending this summer.

For example, this weekend Parker is spending his first night with Grammy and Grandpa just him (he and his brother have always slept over as a package deal).  Zach and I are taking Xander to see Toy Story 3 and he’ll run some additional errands with us in “the big city” then we’ll help some friends prepare wedding decorations for their celebration next month.  Sunday we’ll travel again to visit with Dads.

Other events this summer?  Well, this is what I can remember off the top of my head, but I’d have to check calendars for things that I’m surely missing:

- Bridal Shower

- July 4th (no plans yet, but we’ll have some – fireworks, barbecue, something…)

- Thomas the Train Experience

- Trip to the ocean

- Clark’s Trading Post

- Baby Shower

- Trip to the beach

And that is just through July.  August isn’t firmed up yet.  Sometimes I wonder if we over schedule ourselves or our kids.  On the other hand, they really do love the extended family, and many of these trips include people near and dear to our hearts.  It’ll be busy, and the week nights are filling up as well, but hopefully we’ll have some fun, make some good memories and maybe sometimes remember to bring along a camera

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I never realized how much I took time for granted until I had kids (and really, multiple children – looking back, one seems like a piece of cake!)  These days I sometimes hear someone talk about their weekend, how they “puttered around in the yard” and took a nap.  Or sometimes I’ll hear college students complain that they are bored.  These types of comments start a subtle twitch near my eye.  Words like bored and nap (unless referring to a child’s nap) left my vocabulary 4 years ago.

Now there is never enough time.  Not enough time to sleep, not enough time to clean the house or put away laundry.  Not enough time to cook real food or play with my children.  Everything I do is done quickly and usually half-assed because there isn’t time for more.  This past weekend is a perfect example of what our lives are like:

Friday night – Zach played golf with some friends from work.  Sara took the boys home, fed them dinner, bathed and put them to bed.  No time for playing or enjoying children, just time to get the bare necessities done.  Then a little time for folding laundry.

Saturday – We are all up by 7am.  We shower and get the kids dressed and fed and leave the house by 10am.  We have to stop at a friend’s house because Zach forgot his laptop and keys in the car when he was dropped off after golf the previous evening.  Then we rush south to the nephew’s baseball game.  We are 15 minutes late (as usual).  We move from the baseball game to the niece’s softball game.  This one is slightly more stressful with Parker because there is a dirt road behind the dugout with  a slow but steady stream of traffic, and Parker thinks that running into the road is the best game ever.  After the softball game we grab some lunch with the family.  Then we pop into Lowe’s for a housewarming present, and head to a housewarming party (both kids crash in the car, which is a relief).  We stay at the party for several hours until Parker starts with the ear piercing screaming.  Zach and I have gotten used to it (the hearing loss helps I think) but we didn’t want to subject the rest of the crowd to his noise.  We got home in time for me to jump in the shower to rinse 8 hours of sweat (it was sooo very hot and humid that day) and dirt off before a friend arrived to bring me to a bachelorette party.  I arrived back home at 2:30 am.  My sweet husband let me sleep until 9:30 the next day, then we rushed to feed the kids brunch before heading out the door for a birthday party.  We arrived home Sunday night at 8:30 pm.

The piles of laundry and dishes and general house tidiness that I ignored last weekend are shameful.  The lawn is ridiculously shaggy.  The litter box has been ignored for far too long.  The list goes on and on.  Children are a choice.  Zach and I chose this lifestyle and 80% of the time I am completely satisfied with it.  However, when I hear about spontaneous vacations, naps on lazy afternoons, boredom, and a thousand other things that I no longer have now, that ugly green jealousy monster rears it head.  There is just never enough time…

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