Today, I wanted to capture a little bit about our routines. Our weekly morning routines are pretty much, well routine. Evenings are often dictated by whether the boys have any activities going on. This time of year Jude is playing Cal Ripkin baseball and Ethan & Jess are umpiring in the same league on the coach pitch field.
The first minutes of my morning are pretty much controlled by the furry children.
Dax often wakes me up even before the alarm goes off and after he stretches he lets me know it's time to eat & then he is ready to go out for the day.
Once Dax is out I let the girls upstairs and feed them. Here lately we have been leaving them upstairs during the day while we are at work and school. They seem to like being upstairs and having more light and a bigger area to run around in.
This morning Smokey was still inside. Most mornings he likes to wake Ethan or me before dawn to go outside. He immediately wanted out, only to come in less than an hour later to hang out inside while we were gone.
Ethan drops Jude at elementary most days and it's Jude's responsibility to close the garage door after Ethan pulls his car out. Really need to invest in a garage door opener.
As for me, I really thrive on routine. I walk almost everyday before I eat lunch. I used to walk outside, but I prefer walking the halls these days because I don't get sweaty. After lunch today I began working on reading lists for the upcoming year. There are a lot of choices and I try to pick a wide variety of books that meet my students needs & interests.
There were no after school or evening activities today, so we got home pretty early and so there was time for Ethan to relax and once it was dinner time for Dax we let him in to eat. After a little bit of scratches & love he was happy to lay down in the living room. I got leftover supper and breakfast dishes done and started on super nachos for supper which was a request from the boys. Jess is still in DeQueen with his Dad, who remains in the hospital with pneumonia.
Carter made a quick trip home for supper and to have me iron his clothes for the end of year athletic awards ceremony at school.
Carter stayed long enough to eat & play a little Nintendo with the boys. Carter and Ethan told Jude all about playing the same game when they were closer to his age and laughed about the teams that Carter built that are still on the game today. The player's names are horribly misspelled, thanks to Carter. He swears he spent a tremendous amount of time building those teams.
Favorite pictures of the day: As Carter left out, he made sure to hug both of his brothers & tell them he loved them. I am incredibly proud & thankful for the relationship that the three of them have. I never take a moment when I have all three of them under the same roof for granted.
It seems only right to end today's photos with more of the animals. Smokey has a pillow on Ethan's bed right next to Ethan. He is quite a spoiled kitty boy. Tonight Dax came in to Ethan's room to give Smokey a little love before he went to our room to lay down on the floor on my side of the bed. They do take a little more care & they drive me crazy a lot of mornings, but our home would be quite empty without our sweet pets.
