quiet time

• Lila and George, you two vacillate between love and hate on a minute by minute basis.  It's exhausting.  We decided to split you up for a bit today.
• Jane, you worked from 10-2.  You woke me up at 9:47.  OMG!  What the heck.  It takes about 7 or 8 minutes to drive there.   I jumped up, got into the van and drove like a seasoned race car driver.  I was merging like a pro.  I got you to work at 9:56.  Not bad for a middle aged, sleepy mom in her nightgown and bedhead, driving a minivan.  But perhaps give me a little more time tomorrow?
• Katie, your friends came over for a bit then I took you down to Value Village so you could do some thrifting.  Of course, I made you do some garage portraits.  Your friends think I'm so weird, but they'll get used to me.
• Lila, I made you come with me when I drove the girls.  After we dropped them off, I asked you what you wanted to do.  Ice-cream!!!!   That was your only wish.  But then you stopped and asked if maybe we could buy the ice-cream and take it home for Georgie...or maybe he could have a different treat like a lollipop...or maybe daddy could buy him some ice-cream.  How sweet that you thought of your brother.  You said it just wouldn't be fair if you got a treat and he didn't.
• After ice-cream, I asked what you wanted to do next.  You requested a walk in "the forest with the turtles."  We found your little net and set off to find the turtles.  You settled in on the rocks and waited quietly for them to come to you, which they did.  You really wanted to catch one and take it home for a pet, but Jane (over the phone) and I convinced you the turtle would not be able to live a fulfilling and happy life outside of the pond.
• George, you did a couple errands with daddy this afternoon and hung out together.  Daddy did end up getting you ice-cream, so you were pleased as punch and Lila was relieved to hear it.  
• George and Lila, we met Sandra and Gigi at Blue Mountain Park in the late afternoon.  It's really hot today, so it was so nice to cool down a little before dinner.  George, you had a few tantrums while we were there.  I think you're feeling the effects of losing our nice quiet routine we had during the school year.  
• Jane, you made a surprising announcement at dinner.  You told us that when you grow up, maybe you'd like to study the effectiveness of toothpaste.  Honestly, I didn't see this one coming.  It sparked a very interesting conversation though.
• George, I put you to bed earlier than Lila.  You fell asleep immediately.  Lila, you went to bed an hour later and decided you need to "talk to George about something...not fooling around things...but really important things."  So you woke him up.  Sigh.  Another hour of giggling and talking and fooling around ensued.  You two are going to drive me over the edge.