Manic Monday

Another weekend gone and the countdown to spring break is on! This time in two weeks, I'll still be in bed. I won't have to pack two lunches or pry two little sleepy heads out of bed for the Monday morning mad dash to school. It will be a little preview to summer and I can't wait.

Yesterday was a good day for Ray and me. Not so much the boys. We had several things around the house we needed to get done and the boys were forced to occupy themselves and play with their toys (gasp!) We told them in the morning they could dig in and help us or keep to themselves. We made it clear there would be no trips to the park, no trips to the ice cream place or no bike rides until we got our work done. At first they dove in and helped, then they got bored. Then they whined, and fought with each other, and whined some more, and begged, and well-you get the picture. They had a house full of toys, books and movies, an open back yard, and each other. When I was little, that was the world. You would have thought we'd given them a death sentence. However, we did get a lot done. We started a master bathroom project quite by accident, yet cannot turn back on now. We unstacked our stackable washer and dryer (don't ask), fixed a few things that needed fixing and cleaned a bunch. By 6 o'clock we realized we had no plans for dinner (the extra light in the late afternoon is really throwing us off, you'd think we didn't know how to read a clock) so we ordered pizza. RJ went with Ray for the pizza run and Jackson and I took advantage of the time to ourselves and ventured out for a bike ride. It was gorgeous out. That was the first time we left our little neighborhood. He was warned over and over about the rules of safety, and he was a champ. We rode our bikes to the park and had the place to ourselves. We spent some time swinging and climbing (Jackson is now a pro at the monkey bars) and got back on our bikes and rode some more before coming home. It was an amazing end to a rather mundane day. Sometimes when you have two children so close in age, you miss the time alone with each of them. The sheer joy on his face and the pride he had in himself for riding so well made his "boring" day well worth it. It's one of those moments I will never forget, even though it really doesn't seem like that big of a deal.

Well, I'm off to start my day. Only five more days til the weekend!