So Far - So Good!!!

This is the way I feel in the mornings when the alarm goes off at 6:00 AM and I stagger blindly out to the kitchen to brew up a cup!

"So far, so good!"

I love that line from The Magnificent Seven!

Our time here with the quads while their parents take a much needed vacations has been good!

That's mainly because Amber had set us up for success!

Coffee to jump start our day and wine to end it!

Tuesday Lunch

The key to keeping the schedule running smoothly on school days for me is to get up and hour and a half before the kids do! That gives me time to shower, dress, put on my make up and have at least one cup of coffee before I start packing the lunch boxes.

Wednesday Lunch

I do as much prep as I possibly can the night before.

Backpacks lined up and ready to go!

I put breakfast things out and the cinnamon rolls or biscuits in the oven to bake while we are getting the kids ready.

Then at 7:30 Louis Dean and I both go upstairs to wake the children up.

I wake Trystan and Logan.......

and Granddad wakes Harrison and Kailey.

Amber has taught them to get up, wash their face, brush their teeth, and get dressed - ALL ON THEIR OWN!! They only need help with clothes that have buttons!

We all go downstairs together and they get their shoes on while we put breakfast on the table.

We have about 15 - 20 minutes to eat before it's time to load up.

We were the 6th ones in line at school on Tuesday.

(A little bit later on the  second morning - as in 13th! and the 12th this morning!)

There are 5 hours to do what needs to be done before we are back in the pick up line!

Louis Dean used some of his free time to pick up a few things at Walmart.

I enjoyed some alone time - very precious since I don't get much of it!

Tuesday is always Art Day - and that's exactly what I did!

Painting on the gesso covered burlap canvas took over TWICE as long as on a regular one!

Those hours passed so fast that before I knew it  - it was time to leave!

Granddad had bought chocolate donuts for after school snacks for the quads while they did their homework. Last week they worked on the letter E. They have moved on to F now but I think it's good they do homework based on what they learned last week!

A little afternoon exercising for a special sticker at school the next day!

We also cut eyes and ears from magazines - all fun things to do and they count as 'homework!'

I decided to let the quads help me base in the background for my second Santa and I used a plain canvas this time!! While Louis Dean cooked dinner, I finished basing in the the rest as the kids  wandered in and out to watch me from time to time.

They were pretty impressed when I cleaned up the table!

They smelled the oils and turp as soon as they came in from school and asked what that smell was!

I told them and they all agreed that - to them - it smells like bubble gum!

I wish you could hear the sweet prayer Logan prayed at dinner that night.

This is a cute video of the quads at dinner Tuesday night - but just look at how intensely Kailey is talking to her Granddad....only to have him pat her hand which CLEARLY showed that he did NOT know what she was talking about!

He watched this and said, "AND she loves me ANYWAY!!"

Yes, she does!

Kids bathed, shampooed, and in bed asleep a minute or two after 8:00 PM!

Wednesday breakfast was cinnamon rolls.
When we were upstairs getting ready we told them what we would be eating and Kailey asked, "YOUR cinnamon rolls??" No, but I bet he will be baking some soon!!

The kids got a kick out of pulling the rolls up into spirals.

They didn't eat them all so I told them I would save them and put their name on their roll and they could have it when we got home.

As we were on our way to school, Trystan got a picture of that in her mind and started laughing.

She told the others, "MeeMaw is going to write our names ON our cinnamon rolls!!!"

She realized it would really be on the Ziploc bags but she thought this was so funny!!

That afternoon we took a trip to library straight from school.
I took a bag of snacks and they each had a thermos of water from their backpacks.

Kailey was Little Miss Congeniality!

She made friends with another little girl and her friend.

The kids all found something to do and selected more books to bring home with them.

Harrison did the self checking in of their return books and the self checking out of the new ones.

Granddad did what he does best - SIT and keep his eyes on the door from the children's section that opens into the main library to make sure no one wanders off.

See that computer right beside him? We tried and tried to figure out how to turn that on and failed.

Then Kailey flounced her little self over there, sat right down and turned it on immediately!!!

We should have asked her in the first place!

My sweet Harrison!!

Amber's Golden Schedule is working like a charm!

 Wednesday was my turn to make dinner!

First things first!

We have been running right on schedule and I think the quads are doing well since they are comfortable with their normal routines.

Amber and Mike are having a great time!

Of course they are missing the kids but they really and truly needed some time to spend with each other!

They sent a video to the kids and we showed it to them after they were all ready to go to bed last night.

Then we opened the gift bag they had left for them after wards.

Their Aunt and uncle had sent them this Doc McStuffins set along with a book which I read to them before we turned the lights out.

We usually stay with them in their rooms until they go to sleep.

Last night Harrison had requested that I stay with him and Kailey and let Granddad stay with Trystan and Logan. I fell sound asleep right there on the floor beside their bunk beds!

When I woke up I stumbled downstairs and told Louis Dean I had to go to bed!!!

No sitting up like adults and talking or watching a program.

We were both exhausted! It does take everything both of us have to try to do some of what Amber does on a daily basis!!

I close with a Throwback Thursday pic of my first born and last born children when we were in San Francisco on this very day 3 years ago!!!

Normally, I journal at night after the day is done,,,,,,,,

Guess that's not happening now!

We may be tired but these kids are so much fun and so good!

That's what makes it easier!