Spinning Plates

I laughed when I unearthed this week's to-do list this afternoon, buried as it was under the evidence of a week full of projects. I couldn't cross off a single thing. 

Don has been away at a school all week, meaning I have been in full plate-spinning mode, doing my best to keep everyone fed, schooled, and reasonably entertained, all by myself. On top of that I've been on a spree of self-imposed projects around the house. It's all been fun, but just to account for my exhaustion, humor me while I go through the highlights.  

This week: 

I put new sheets on our bed.  Flannel. Very lovely, though I felt like a fool making that change on the day that happened to top out near 70 degrees. But winter is not over yet. 

We finished the second quarter of school. Halfway, yippee! Amy read aloud a bit at the school's Mission Fair today and I was surprised by her rather good public speaking skills. I'm also considering adding an additional morning per week of school for William, as they have some openings now, but I really can't decide which way to go on that. 

We continued swimming lessons, and W accomplished jumping into the deep end and swimming forward and turning into a back float. He's awesome! Caroline continues to like the water, and gets all excited if we talk about Pool or Swimming or she catches sight of the swimsuit bag. 

We took an honorary snow day on Tuesday. Amy had had a feverish night (as she always does when coming down with a cold) and William was sniffly, so we just all stayed home. It ended up being a delightful day since everyone was feeling mostly fine. We did lots of art projects and even made playdoh. Why have I not done that before now? The smell of homemade playdoh took me zooming back to my own childhood. 

I read a whole book! With lots of pictures, but still, go me. It is called the Nesting Place and gave me a lot of good inspiration to freshen up some decorating choices around here. I even whipped up some new curtains for the living room, having not really admitted to myself how much I disliked the ones that were there when we moved in. I also switched the mantle decor, finally moving on from the display which I had pointedly declared "not that Christmasy". It was Christmasy. It is better now. 

I pulled fabric for a new quilt, and made a nice pile of fabric to give away. I cut some pieces for yet another quilt, but it wasn't quite working so it's has been sidelined. These and about 5 other projects are strewn about my sewing room in a lovely creative mess. Need to get serious at some point. 

I did NOT sit at my desk, which means I did not start on the taxes like I had hoped to this week, or deal with a million other paper-pusher tasks that are in need of doing. Urg. 

I made no less than 3 trips to walmart with the younger two...geez. But it always fits, after we drop Amy at school. William loves to look at the toys, I can grab some groceries, and Caroline finds it fairly entertaining to see if she can pitch things out of the cart faster than I can put them in. So it's a win-win. The only pathetic part is that we are there at nearly the same time each day (and a lovely time it is, as we have the store to ourselves), and pass by the staff's morning meeting, which always ends with the same little song/cheer pep-talk thing... and now it's stuck my head. 

We played outside a lot, and I've begun some preliminary thinking about what might go in that big garden this spring. 

I've neglected my knitting, resting on my laurels of the completed projects I shared the other day. Time to fix that oversight and get cozy with some yarn and the tele. Thanks for helping me think through the week. There was more I assure you, but I think you get the idea. Wishing you a happy weekend!