Operating in the Lowest Common Denominator Mode

It is Tuesday morning. The kids are back in school after a week long spring break and I have logged on to this blog for the first time since February 22nd. March is gone and it is already April. For a number of weeks now, I have just been going through the motions of being a mom, really just trying to get through each day and trying to figure out what has to get done that day and what could be put off until the next...what is the least common denominator for the day. Most of the time, I try to be positive, I try to remember in the middle of our chaotic days that this won't last forever, that I will miss all this one day, that my kids will never be this age again so enjoy the moment...cherish the moment, but reality is, I just can't do that everyday, all day. Reality is, I'm frustrated with my kids after I've told them a million times to not leave food in the basement because we will get ants and now our basement is crawling with ants and I have to pay an exterminator to get rid of them. I'm frustrated with my kids when I call home from the car after dropping off one kid and now tell the one at home to be ready when I get home so I can get him to where he needs to be and is still in the basement playing xbox when I arrive home, not ready, not dressed for practice, not waiting by the door like I had asked. I'm frustrated that I had told the kids not to use the desktop computer because I had to bring it in because we were having a disk problem and they used it anyway and now it doesn't work at all. It also doesn't help that as I write this on April 2nd, it is 30 degrees outside and still feels like winter. It doesn't help that it actually snowed during our spring break and as I was backing out of the driveway the car slid down the driveway...right into the basketball hoop and moved it about three feet. It doesn't help when one of your kids calls you and says he hit his head when he is all alone at home and ended up needing staples in his head. It doesn't help that three of us got the flu, me included, and it just sucks every ounce of energy you have even weeks after. Yes, lately I've been in survival mode, we eat dinner but it has been take-out. I do the laundry, but not until Chris tells me that he has no more underwear or socks. I've paid the bills but haven't worked on my Project Life album or written a blog or finished the book I've been reading. 

But it is a new month, the last quarter of school starts today and summer is within sight. Two vacations are planned already for this summer and I am working on trying to get us back to Disney. The last time we were there Molly was three and now she is nine. The boys are signed up for two basketball camps and Molly is signed up for a farm camp. There are only 46 days left of school and summer is within sight. Even if I can't feel the warmth of the sun at the moment, I can feel it in my mind. I can hear the crashing of the waves at the ocean, feel the sand between my toes, I can see my kids swimming and biking and fishing and smiling and laughing. I think about this and start to think again, enjoy the moment. I'm going to miss this someday, Shannon is about to finish her first year of high school, Ryan is going to graduate from Sanders Corner and move on to middle school. I'm only going to have one kid left in elementary school next year. How did this happen?

So even though, March was not the best month for us, it really was not all bad. We had birthdays and spring break and soccer tournaments and basketball tournaments. We even got a new bunny. So here is a quick positive month in review...

 I brought Molly pizza for lunch on her birthday.

 For lent, we decided to do random acts of kindness. This was one of them.

Molly's fortune the day before her birthday.

 Molly's birthday dinner.

 Finally received all the books that I ordered for the donation for Mrs. Hwang.

Shannon made the Stone Bridge JV soccer team and so far their record is 4-0.

A visit from Grandma in the Red House.

Snow storm supplies.

A snow day.

The one and only time this winter Ryan wore his heavy jacket.

Finding friends on the soccer field.

Shannon, Molly, and Chris all took Tamiflu and never got it.

Receiving a real letter in the mail.

 All-Star Basketball.

Championship Game.

Third grade bowling night.

 Spring Break snow...it is pretty.

Molly wanted attitude glassses.

Third Grade Animal Fair.

Shannon's birthday was spent on the soccer field.

Second Place...Way to go Loudoun!

Birthday Shopping with the girls.

Shannon's birthday dinner.

Funny faces...enough said.

 Favorite Shows.

Relaxing on a $4000 couch with built-in docking station for your iphone.

This picture does NOT do the moon justice on this night. It was the biggest, most orange moon I had ever seen. Ryan had a basketball practice in the middle of nowhere. We drove down these back country roads for miles before we found the school he was supposed to be at. On the drive home, I was concerned that we would get lost because it was so dark. And then, as we continued driving down the tree lined road, we saw it and truly didn't know what it was at first. We were moonstruck. I actually stopped the car and we just looked at it and soaked it in. Again, my phone camera could not capture how magnificent it really was and we ended up following it all the way to the main road. Once Ryan saw the main road, Ryan breathed a sigh of relief. He was actually nervous driving on those backroads and was happy once he knew where he was.

Caps vs. Islanders Game

Cotton Candy

Our Newest Nealon...Thumper.

After we picked up our new bunny, we stopped at the tractor supply store to find the rabbit food that he has been eating. The kids wanted us to get some chicks. They were cute, but I put my foot down to the chickens.

Happy Easter!

So there it is, the bad and the good of March. Today I will go through my to-do list before the kids get home, bring Molly to horseback riding lessons and then cheer on Shannon at her Stone Bridge game while our homemade dinner is simmering  in the crock-pot. Truth is, being a mom is tiring, exhausting and overwhelming, and you never get to take a vacation from it. So sometimes you just have to go into the lowest common denominator mode until you can find your groove again. Mine had disappeared for a few weeks, but I think I can see a glimpse of its reappearance.