I wish we could have slept in today (and by "we" I'm obviously talking about me since the kids get up with the sun). However, Nora still had her Monday morning ballet class. I was slightly dreading entertaining the boys there for an hour, but it was actually kinda awesome.
I consented to letting the boys bring electronic devices (iPod and Nintendo DS) to entertain themselves. Nolan spent most of his time building elaborate towers with the wood blocks in the dance studio waiting room and playing with his mini ninja action figure.
Griffin made a friend.
Yes, you read that right.
My little Griffin was playing his DS when one of the other big brothers got out his DS. This boy was probably a couple years older than Nolan. He had forgotten his stylus that he needed to play his game, and Griffin's game didn't require him to use his stylus. So, with me there to offer him courage, Griffin let the other boy use his stylus. Then he asked me to ask the boy to come sit by him. Those two boys sat next to each other playing their games and discussing various strategies for the remainder of our time there.
My heart was happy.
Watching Nora do ballet in her little leotard and tights always makes my heart happy.
Our drive home was full of Griffin's sweet little voice singing. His repetition of the same songs over and over annoyed his siblings but made his mom smile. I said, "Griffin, you're such a good singer." He replied, "I kinda think I am, too." That was another fun moment since he's usually pretty hard on himself.
I asked him if he's going to sing in his Christmas program. He said he doesn't know. I decided not to push it right now.
When we got home, I had the kids bring me the dirty laundry hampers (or "hamsters," as Nora calls them) from around the house. Then I had the kids sort the laundry into piles of similar colors. Why have I never had them do this before?? They raced to see who could empty their hamper of dirty laundry first. A little bit of healthy competition gets the job done.
After I started the first load of laundry (one of many), the kids helped me make a batch of sweet bread dough. I make rolls with this dough, and in my house they're known as "Mama's rolls." Nolan coined that term years ago. I am responsible for rolls at our family Thanksgiving, and my homemade rolls freeze very well. It's just one more thing that I can get done ahead of time, and it seemed like the perfect task for our day at home.
At first Nora was my only helper as the boys sat at the table looking at their Scholastic book orders for school. Just like I did when I was a kid, they look at the flyers and circle any books they want. Then they put stars next to the books that they really want.
When the boys finished with their book orders, they joined me and Nora to work on the bread dough. The kids took turns adding ingredients and stirring until I had to take over stirring in that last bit of flour. I snapped a couple quick photos on my phone with my flour-covered hands as the kids worked together.
It's not the best picture of Nora, but you can see that she's still in her ballet leotard.
Once we set the kneaded bread dough aside to rise, the kids went downstairs to play TOGETHER. They were so stinking cute coming up with games and schemes together.
I played Christmas music on Pandora while I emptied the dishwasher. There's nothing like some festive music to liven up one of my least favorite tasks!
The day is less than half over, and already it's been amazing. This is some much-needed down time after our jam-packed weekend and before the craziness that's packed into the week ahead.
I'm so thankful for the joy packaged into little moments in this day. I hope you unwrap the joy that's been prepackaged into your day!
Jessica
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