Since we started dating, Matt and I have had Matt Night and Shannon Night. We have preserved nights of the week for alone time, and we have continued through getting married and reproducing. Monday night is Matt night. So what that looks like is we have an early dinner then I take the kids out of the house for an hour or so while Matt runs around naked or plays guitar or watches manly movies or whatever (okay, let's be honest here--he burns a hole in the desk chair while he plays video games until his eyes fall out). When we just had Ben, I would conduct bath, bed, etc. duty. Then the rest of the evening we would do "independent study" (Matt plays video games and I have my own nerd time). Now that we have two littles, the bedtime routing is a two-man job. But once the kids are in bed, it's back to independent study. Wednesday is Shannon night. Matt takes the kids out while I have the house to myself (luxury!), etc. Well, this week we were going over the child care schedule for the next several days (I have to go back to work, but daycare and preschool don't start yet). Ben announced, "Wednesday is Ben Day. I stay home by myself." So I guess that should take care of any questions about his parentage. He's mentioned it several times in the last couple of days. I've tried to tell him that it's actually frowned upon for parents to leave their four-year-olds unattended. But he's convinced he's going to have Ben Day tomorrow, all by himself. Which makes me wonder what exactly he would do with a Ben Day. I'm guessing it would involve a lot of TV, legos, and sugar.
We found a new daycare for Emma! She is licensed, and she's on the board of directors for child care or something, so she's probably not going to kidnap our daughter. Her house is lovely and immaculate, and she works around my district's schedule. It's more expensive than the last babysitter, but again, she probably won't abscond with our child. So it's worth it. She starts next Tuesday.
We have a beefy personal trainer as a neighbor/friend. Turns out he's an extreme coupon-er. I went over there the other day to get some tips. There's a filing system. Whoa.
Emma has an appointment with a pediatric ophthalmologist in October to assess her lazy eye. My friend Brandi begged me to make Emma a pirate for Halloween if she has to wear a patch. That reminded me of the Halloween when I had an eye-patch because I'd just had surgery. She really is a chip off the 'ol block.
I have seven friends (it might be more...I think I've lost count) that are pregnant and due during the month of February and early March. SEVEN. And that's just February/early March. That's not counting the several other friends due before that (or who've had a baby in the last month or so). What's great is that this really solidifies our decision to not birth anymore children. I mean, I'm going to have seven little nuggets to knit and sew for and snuggle. That should be plenty for me to get my baby fix and not feel the need to have another. But I've got a lot of knitting and sewing to do. I should probably start now so I can spread it out.
Speaking of my womb, I finally got around to listing our baby things on Craigslist. We're coming up on September, which means, as all you teachers know, that we're broke. I sold one item within an hour of posting. When I went to deliver it, I decided that I really liked the couple that bought it. I had to stop myself from asking them to tell me how the birth goes and send me pictures (not of the birth--of the baby), because I'm not actually friends with them and that would be weird and creepy.
Despite my last post, I must say that my summer has not been terrible. I have had a lot of fun. In between disasters. I've loved the sewing, and I've loved spending oodles of time with my littles. The other night we all cuddled in Ben's bed and sang our songs. Except Emma doesn't like to cuddle, so she kind of ruined it. But it was a really sweet 26 seconds.
I tried growing a vegetable garden in our "back yard." It yielded one tiny tomato. It was doing okay until the nasty heat wave hit and killed everything. Also, I think the fact that it only gets a couple of hours of sun a day is not optimal. Some plants are still growing. So maybe we'll get more. Or maybe I suck at growing things. Either way it was kind of fun trying.
We had a crotchety old lady in the other half of our duplex. She used to yell at our kids. But they moved out several months ago, and the unit has been empty for quite some time. Which was actually kind of nice, because we share one wall, so it's been quiet. But our new neighbors are moving in today, and they're great! We met them a couple of weeks ago. It turns out they go to our church and have a little boy who's a year old. Yay! We were really hoping to avoid cranky old ladies, so this is good news. Now our little "quad" has 3 four-year-olds, a three-year-old, 2 one-year-olds, and a five-month-old. Yay for friends for our kids! Now if we could just get rid of the wife-beater and the grumpy man who thinks he owns the city, we'll be all set.
Yesterday when the kids and I were having lunch with my step-dad, Ben said this about Matt: "His name is Daddy Matt Miller Duck. Because there's a duck in there." (Matt's middle name is Donald.) Ha!
We're letting our Disneyland passes expire this year because the cost for an annual pass is out of control. We are sad. I know, our first world problems are so overwhelming. But it was fun while it lasted.
Ben won a goldfish at the fair and it's still alive. If you ask Ben was his fish's name is, he will say, "Nothing. It's just a fish." Take that, PETA.
Emma's awake now, so I should probably go. One of these days I will do Emma's one-year post and a summer post and...wow, I'm already feeling overwhelmed. So let's just call it for now and say I'll try to not let this blog die.
Happy Tuesday!
