Continued...

12:10 p.m. I read a book to Belane and Marcus (10 Terrible Dinosaurs) three or four times, although the last few times they just want to skip to the end where they can growl and wake each other up. :)

12:30- Changed Marcus’s diaper and put him down for a nap.

12:34- Had Belane go potty and put her down for a nap. I left the room to her door open and folded laundry, and by the time I was done, she was asleep.

12:45- Had some lunch…bagel and cream cheese, apple and yogurt. Read some blogs and checked email.

1:15-2p.m.-Worked on blog posts on hair care.

2 p.m.-Belane woke up…we snuggled.

2:30- I went out to sign Maggie and Amanda off of the preschool bus.

2:30-2:45- Talked to the girls about their day, unpacked their backpacks, got them settled in my bed with Belane to watch Cinderella (the girls always need a rest after preschool).

3 p.m. - My “big” kids got off of the bus (without Mercy, who stayed after for math help.)

3-3:30- I unloaded backpacks, had Des and Nate do their math sheets, talked to kids about their day, gave everyone a snack.

3:32-Marcus woke up…changed his diaper and gave him a snack.

3:35-Josh brought Mercy home and spent a few minutes with the kids.

3:35-4:15- I finished up my posts on hair care, while helping Mercy with her homework, while the girls finished their movie and the big kids played.

4:15- 5- Had Shane, Ben and Des get their baths done while I started dinner (double batch of hamburger helper, biscuits and carrot sticks, with cookies for dessert). Ryan and Nate got in the shower (not together). :) The little girls played dress up and the boys had lots of Legos going on.

5:15-5:30- Kids set the table and all sat down to dinner.
6 p.m. - Mercy got in shower and everyone else went off to do their 30 minutes of reading. I cleaned the kitchen. Nathan (who is on extra chore duty) emptied garbages and the dishwasher.

6:25- Mercy started reading. I started vacuuming upstairs and down.

6:30- Everyone took turns brushing teeth…some kids watched TV, some kids played. The boys needed several “reminders” not to be too wild.

6:55- Mercy got done reading and had the little kids play in her room with the karaoke machine. Belane sang “Twinkle Twinkle” and Marcus sang the “ABC” song… Maggie and Amanda did some sort of dancing, flag waving variety show.

7 p.m. - My best friend called, we talked about 15 minutes (really good for us!)

7:30-7:45- We all hung out in the living room.

7:45- Started family prayers

7:57-The eight big kids went off to bed, and Marcus, Belane and I went room to room to tuck them in and say good night.

8:08-8:30- I got the little two into their pajamas and they ran around like lunatics chasing each other.

8:30- Belane got her three night time medications

8:35- Put Marcus to bed.

8:40- Put Belane to bed (in my bed)…I cuddled with her for 10 minutes and then said good night. I never heard a peep out of her.

8:50- I got on the computer…caught up on my favorite blogs, answered emails and did some writing for my blog. I also had three articles to write for our newspaper.

10:45 p.m. I got ready for bed.

11p.m. - I called Josh to see when he was coming home.

11:15- Josh finally got home and we went to bed.

Tuesday is one of two days each week (Monday and Tuesday) that Josh works really long, obnoxious hours, but the trade off is that Wednesday, Thursday and Friday are very relaxed and he can come and go as he pleases and spends lots of time with us.

Tuesday is also a day without any activities for the kids, which is nice…no running around. This was a good day… no body was sick, no major catastrophes, the kids were well behaved…

There you go. A day in the life of me. :)