Information station...no thanks!

I have realized that most of my readers do not like the informational articles that I post.  What's the matter?  Already bombarded by the torrent of terrible news each day?  I suppose I'll keep ya'll happy and stick with the stuff you like...humor about myself and my kiddos.  :)

So yesterday was crazy.  That's right, crazy.  It was a mommy day that equals bitter-sweet.  We had a packed day, so we got started early.  We woke up at around 9 (hey, that's early for the first day of spring break), and got ready to go to the gym.  I did some paperwork when I realized that my class wasn't until 11:30 and the kids finished up with tooth brushing and hair getting did.  We jumped in the car at about 10:30 when I realized that we hadn't gotten a present for the birthday party we were attending later. 

ZOOM!  I start to back the car out of the driveway when Ethan says," MOMMY!!!  You haf to buckle me up!!" 

Oops!  I stop the car and reach into the backseat to get him safely tucked into his booster.  I continue to back down the driveway and make it to the mall in record time.  We run (literally) through the mall in a mad search for Claire's.  My daughter picks out some overpriced little girl goodies and we run (literally again) back out to the car, after a quick stop into Victoria's Secret of course.   

We get back into the car and hit it down the road toward the gym.  I get the kids into their little classroom, which is awesome by the way.  I even want to play in there!  Anyway, I go into the workout room and start up an hour and a half FIESTA! workout.  It was pretty amazing, just so that you know.  If you have a chance to do it, do it.  Once the workout is over I smell and look terrible, so I go into the ladies room to refresh myself a bit, which doesn't really work.  I go and grab the kids and we rush home.

At home, I jump into the shower after throwing a crappy lunch together for the kids.  I wash the stank off of myself and thrown some clothes on. 

"EMILY!!  Are you dressed for T-Ball????"

Of course not.  So we rush to find a red shirt, because of course their uniforms STILL aren't in.  She's been borrowing Ethan's shirts, because we seem to have a shortage in her closet. Yup, my 5 year old can wear my 2 year old's clothing.  He is huge.  I grab some snacks for Ethan during the game, throw Emily's hair into some messy pigtails and off we go.

We get to the game and my husband is already there.  He's been at work all morning, but made time to come watch Em play.  :)  He and I take turns chasing our 2 year old around and trying to coach our little catcher, who played pretty damn well, I'll have you know.  We watch the Rangers play their little hearts out, struggling to catch up with the other team, which seems to have a neverending lineup of star hitters.  The game is over and we didn't win, but the team is upbeat, nevertheless.  We walk away from the tournament and drive home to get ready for the birthday party. 

Emily whines about wanting to wear her T-Ball uniform to show her friend, and then we argue about why it's not really very good birthday party attire.  Plus she was staying the night with her friend and I needed to throw the red shirt and pants into the washer.  I finally get her to put on a cute striped green shirt with some blue jeans, fix her hair yet again, and once again we make our way toward another destination. 

We get to the birthday party, filled with kids, most around 7 and under, who are eager to bowl, eat, and play the assortment of games that lights an entire section of the building we are in.  The kids get their bowling shoes on and play a couple of rounds of awful bowling.  Remember, these are little kids, so they can barely make the ball all the way down the aisle.  My son even got one stuck at one point.  Oh, and did I mention that he ran down the aisle a couple of times, busting his head at least once?  That kid is a walking concussion.  Once we got a ramp for them the games finally got moving.  They had a blast, and all of the adults, who outnumbered the kids by about 3:1, had fun watching them. 

Well, mostly.  Ethan was entertained for about 10 minutes.  After that, he decided that my workout at the gym that morning had not been enough.  He proceeds to run away at every available chance, and I have to chase him down and bring him back.  This continues throughout the party...birthday cake, presents, everything.  I even had to enlist the help of the staff at one point in order to locate my little delinquint.  By the end of the party, Ethan is so tired that he probably won't go to sleep later, if you know what I mean.  We gave Emily her kisses goodbye (this is her first real sleepover), and I walk away wondering if she will miss us tonight. 

Did I tell you that Ethan is PISSED?  He is so mad that he doesn't get to go with his sister.  In his mind, this is complete bullshit.  He ALWAYS goes with sissy!!  "Why can't I go??????? I want to go with my sissy!!"

We calm him down by way of rock music and the gentle sway of the car as we drive toward our house.  We decided that since Emily was gone, what a great night to have a date night!  My dad agrees that if Ethan is asleep, he'll have no problem keeping an eye on him for a couple of hours.  So we try to get Ethan to fall asleep.  Alas, no.  It is not to be.  The child who has not slept in a full day is STILL pissed off that Emily is not home and he is.  So he cries.  And he whines.  And he fights.  And finally...wait, is he.....fast asleep. 

By this point, I don't know if I want to go on a date; I am so ready to fall on my pillow.  My husband convinces me that it will be fun, so I get dressed and we head out.  We go to our favorite restaurant and eat some delicious Iron Chef looking food (I'm telling you, this place is phenomenal).  I am stuffed and tell him that I want to go home and put myself into a food coma.  He says, "No!  We're going OUT!"  Sweet man.  He takes me to an indoor mini putt putt golf course and we have a blast playing.  We haven't been out on a real date like this in SOOOO long.  We even took those goofy pictures together.  You know, the 4 pictures on strip with goofy faces?  Yeah, it was fun.  We play a game of table hockey and I smash my finger hard enough for it to go numb, and so we end the night. 

As my head hit the pillow I realized just how worn out I am.  And yet, I feel happily fulfilled.  What a day, what a day.