at the moment I'm... no. 5

pictures from our first family trip on the T last weekend

grateful...that everyone is sleeping and it's almost 6 am.  It's been weeks since this morning time was private.  It's a toss up because I do love the extra snuggle I can get when Elliott wakes up early or Milo staggers out asking for milk before his eyes are even open, but this quiet time feeds me.   

sad...that vacation is over.  This would be a no-brainer except I am normally very desperate for our routine and I don't think I've ever gotten to the end of a summer or vacation and not been very excited to get back.  I was kind of startled on Sunday night when I realized I would miss being home with the boys.  Maybe it was because no one was sick this time, or because work stress is more ramped up than I ever remember it being, but I could have gone a few more weeks playing stay-at-home mama.  That's why I'm lucky to be a teacher- April vacation isn't too far away.

dreaming...of the summer.  For obvious reasons, and also because I really want to get into more "homeschool" kind of activities with the boys.  I'm watching Milo's language explode, and I want to capitalize on this spongy period.  Last summer we did theme weeks, and I'm hoping to maybe do color weeks this summer?  Or a week of colors, a week of shapes, a week of numbers, a week of letters.  I also want to ask around and see if any other local families want to come over once a week, just circle time and a craft?  I can't think of anything better.

proud...of my Sunday night food prep.  It took me three hours to food shop, plan, chop, cook, and bag things this week, but all of it was time saving.  I chopped and bagged up five days of veggies for Ben and I for lunches, bagged five days of popcorn for Ben and Milo for lunches, bagged Ben's lunch snacks (I put a cheese stick, fruit snacks, granola bar, and veggies all in one bag to make it easy for him to run out the door) prepped five containers of hummus for lunches, shredded a rotissere chicken, drained and rinsed beans, chopped two heads of broccoli, made a dozen egg and ham breakfast muffins, roasted a pan of sweet potato wedges, cooked a huge pot of a rice, and made a huge pot of chicken vegetable soup.  It seems like overkill, but when I get home from work at 4:20, I have to pack four lunches and have dinner on the table by 6:00.  Add in that I usually want to play with the boys or do some little art project, and I have so little time.  If you're thinking that I should pack lunches after they go to bed, please understand that on a MAJORITY of the nights of the week, by the time Ben gets home, I am very close to falling asleep on the floor with my nose in The Little Blue Truck.

At the moment I'm still rested from our February break and not yet exhausted from being back in the swing of work and classes.  It's only Tuesday, but I'll take it for now.  

*I borrowed the idea of at the moment posts from yourwishcake- her blog is a do not miss.