Not as Young as I Used to Be

Having 4 extra people in this house (for a total of 8 and 1 bathroom) and 3 of them being young children has brought me to the realization that I'm not as young as I used to be. I am tired.

Oh ~ so ~ tired!

I want to curl up under my treasured flannel quilt, sink into that precious Tempur-Pedic mattress and hibernate...

until March....

no, make that April.

Today I was in my PJs until 9:00! That's unheard of! I could not find time to take a shower. I was up at 6 folding laundry (love that new washing machine!) and straightening up the chaos that comes with having little children in the house again. It's been a long time since I stepped on a stray Lego and was asaulted by a plastic dinosaur.

I started the bacon, made homemade pancakes, washed grapes, cut up a pineapple, set the table and started hugging little sleepy children as they stumbled from their warm nests.

The minute breakfast is devoured, they were clamoring for colored pencils, crayons and coloring pages. DH and his brother visited as children climbed up and down from laps and new yo-yo tricks were displayed. I headed to my ever familiar kitchen and began yet another load of dishes ~ in my pjs. I have forgotten how difficult it is to get a shower when there are litle ones around.

After gathering up shoes and coats and guns and ammo and safety glasses and shooting vests and children, 4 of the 8 persons head out for another morning of quail hunting and DS entertained cousin number 2 and 3 while I snuck off for that much anticipated shower ~ finally!

Much better!

And yep, you guessed it, I'm back in the kitchen. Ribs in the oven. Baked Potatoes to be wrapped. Bread to make. Vegetables to chop.

This afternoon we're making lollipops! My niece and I went into town yesterday in search of shoes. She made it to our home with only 1 pair of pretty white dress shoes. So while the boys went quail hunting and DD and DS went to their 4-H Officer meeting, she and I ventured into town. She's such a fun kid and we found the coolest shoes! Wish they had these in my size!

Then we stopped in at Starbucks for some hot chocolate and a piece of lemon poundcake before hitting the aisles of Hobby Lobby (for smilie face lollipop molds), the scrapbook store, the kitchen store and the feed store. At the library we scooped up the remaining patches of snow and had an impromptu snowball fight. Made me wish mine were that age again.

Oh yeah! I forgot! I'm not as young as I used to be and I am tired.

Now Dh and his brother, DS and cousin #1 have gone off to shoot Skeet and Trap. I have since tackled the enormous stack of dishes and am about to begin making DH's birthday cake (he's a New Year's Eve baby). Cousin #2 and 3 are sharing their sidewalk chalk artistic inspiration with all the barn cats out on the concrete slab. The cats will have their very own version of the Louve within the next 30 minutes. Our cats are very well rounded and quite sophisticated!

Wish I could share some of the darling pictures I have taken, but since these little stinkers are not mine, I had better not post them here. Suffice it to say, they are way too cute for their own good!

Tonight we are having homemade Chicken Quesadillas with Guacamole and chips. After that we'll be busy with baths and then popcorn and a movie sounds like a good choice. I'm hoping to make my way towards that flannel quilt by 9. Seven sounds better, but I don't think that'll happen.

Oh goodness! There goes the phone! A new neighbor and an old friend wants us to go out with them tomorrow night.

I need my sleep. After all, I'm not as young as I used to be!