Our Five Ring Circus: Mom Life Lately

Tuesday, June 12, 2018

Mom Life Lately

Mom Life Lately

I always say that May is the busiest month of the year, and it is, but June is shaping up to be just as busy this year! Summer Break isn't exactly going as I envisioned it. The truth is, life in a big family is always busy and loud, and there's NEVER a dull moment!


Here's a glimpse at life lately with a husband, 4 kids, a blog, and an extra chromosome...and don't forget the 4 rabbits, the hermit crab, and the puppy!

Monday, June 4th


This was our first "relaxing" day, and I can't really call it that. I worked from 8 AM until 4 PM, while trying to wrangle Liam and Ella. Dylan, Lexie, and Lily had school, and when everyone got home from school and work, we watched The Lion King for Family Movie Night. The kids loved it! We ended the day by playing in the backyard until after dark!

Life with Down syndrome

The Lucky Few

Tuesday, June 5th


I spent another day at home without leaving. Two days in a row? Unheard of! Lily's class was having themed reading days at school, and it was Beach Day. She took in a beach towel, sunglasses, and beachy books, and they had so much fun reading in the "sand!" After the older kids got home from school, we spent the evening playing outside after a huge thunderstorm came through, only pausing long enough to eat dinner! With just two days of school left in the school year, the kids were already in summer break mode!

Raising Readers

Childhood

Tree Swings

Brothers

Kids Sleeping

Down syndrome blogs

English Mastiff

Wednesday, June 6th


Lily was so excited to go to school for another themed reading day...this one was a sleepover theme, so she got to wear her pajamas and slippers, and take her sleeping bag! Most of Wednesday was spent at home. I got some work done in the afternoon, took Dylan to CVS to spend his allowance on candy and gum (he always buys something for each member of his family, too), then had a mini photoshoot for sponsored work when the girls got home from school.

It was our last school night of this school year, so we spent the night at home, playing in the backyard and preparing end of the year teacher gifts. Dylan fell asleep super early, Liam put himself to bed, and the girls were very bummed about the end of the school year. They didn't want to leave their awesome teachers, and Lily doesn't want to move up to a new school in the Fall and leave her current school behind! I spent the night tossing and turning, so it would have made more sense for me to work through the night!

Raising Readers

Jumping Jack game

End of the school year teacher gifts

Thursday, June 7th


It was the last day of the school year!!! I woke up Dylan at 6, and we had to scramble to get him ready for his last day of 7th grade, because he went to bed before getting things ready the night before. We rushed to pack his lunch, pick clothes, get ready, and charge his (almost) dead phone. He made it out the door on time, excited to head off to his last day.

We repeated the chaos an hour later, when the girls had to get ready for school. Lexie and Lily both forgot about shirts they needed for the day, so we had to search for those, and lots of tween hormones came into play because she was sad about the last day of school. We gathered up the teacher gifts and headed out the door so I could drop them both off at their schools.

Grant was working from home, so we spent the morning working on our laptops side by side, while Liam read books and watched learning songs on YouTube Kids. That afternoon, Liam and I ran to Agway to get bedding for the rabbits, stopped at the library to get some new books, and picked up a few groceries at the local grocery store. 

Life with Down syndrome

Life with Down syndrome

We made it home just in time to greet Dylan as he arrived home from his last day of school. An hour later, I waited in the backyard to greet the girls as they got off the bus. They both seemed excited that it was Summer Break, despite their feelings earlier in the day!

After looking through last day of school stuff, thank you notes and playdate requests, we quickly cleaned the rabbit cages, then I took Lily to dance. The next two hours were spent chatting with friends while Lily went to her classes. Back at home, we had a very quick last day of school photoshoot, ate dinner at 8:30 at night, celebrated the start of Summer Break with root beer floats, then Grant drove Lily to my parent's house for a sleepover, while I cleaned up the evening mess. Everybody stayed up late, enjoying the fact that we didn't have to get up at 6 AM the following day!

Last Day of School Photo

Friday, June 8th


It was our first day of Summer Break, so we all slept in. The day didn't go as planned, though. I woke up with hives all over my face, Dylan and Lexie were bickering by noon which gave me a headache, and I had 10 loads of laundry to do. We ended up spending a nice afternoon and evening with my parents, thankfully. We sat on their deck, ate dinner together, and my dad took the girls to get ice cream sundae's for all of us. We headed home late that night. After getting a few chores done around the house, I headed to bed, only to discover I had hives from head to toe.

Mom on the Go

Saturday, June 9th


Although we slept in on Saturday morning, we had to leave the house quickly for a picnic/casual wedding reception for Grant's co-worker. We stayed for a few hours, then headed back home to spend the rest of the day with friends. Lily was so excited to finally get a chance to ride in our friend's convertible on the way home! After we got home, Grant drove Lexie to her best friend's dad's house so she could spend the weekend with them, while the little kids and I played in the backyard.

English Mastiff

Best dogs for kids with special needs

best dogs for kids with special needs

Kids and Dogs

Puppy Love

Family Dog

English Mastiff Puppy

Life with Down syndrome

Bubbles

Mom Life

That evening, I ended up taking Dylan and Lily to a nearby park for our township's community days fireworks. Liam stayed home with Grant, because he freaked out at the same fireworks show back in September.  We ended up sitting in one of the best spots for the show, and my dear friend showed up, coincidentally choosing a spot near ours, so we pulled our blankets together to watch the fireworks.

Life with Kids

Fireworks

After the show, I drove the kids home, then went for a drive with one of my besties in his convertible. I never get out without kids, so it was so nice to drive around and chat! When we got back to my house, we watched a few shows. It was really late, and I, of course, was the first one to pass out on the couch...party over!


Sunday, June 10th


After such a busy week, it was nice to have a bit of a break at home on Sunday. Lexie was still hanging out with her best friend, so there was no bickering to deal with. I took Lily and Liam outside to play, and we ended up staying in the backyard for hours. We planted a few things, cleaned up the sun porch, and started setting up the backyard for Summer.

Down syndrome

That evening, after Lexie returned home, Dylan and I went out to do the grocery shopping for the week. I rarely get to spend time with just him, so it was nice! When we got home, we put away all the groceries, then grilled indoors since it was raining. Grant and I watched Westworld before he headed to bed, and I started my work. And as for those hives? STILL itchy!

Although we are so excited to be on Summer Break, we have another busy week ahead of us. Lily's dance recital is on Saturday, so she had a finale rehearsal last night (Monday), has her regular dance classes on Thursday, has her dress rehearsal on Friday, and the recital is on Saturday. And as much as I wish I could say we'll have a break after that, we won't for at least another week...so much for our unscheduled summer!!!


Down syndrome

Mom Life Lately: Life with 4 kids, a husband, a blog, and a giant dog! #motherhood #momlife #Downsyndrome #momblogger


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13 comments:

  1. I still can’t get over how big your puppy is!! So cute! Your grocery shopping helper this week was pretty cute too!

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    1. She is going to be huge! Our last Great Dane was tall, but I think Ella just might catch up!

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  2. Yikes girl! Hopefully you get a few days coming up to chill!

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  3. Did you find out why you had hives? That's awful. The dog has gotten so big! Love the pictures with Liam! Did Lily really fall asleep on the table?

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    1. I think it was a new conditioner! I never have allergic reactions, and I try a lot of products, but the hives showed up hours after I used the conditioner for the first time! So weird! And yes, she did fall asleep on the table. She can sleep anywhere!

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  4. OMG Mom life is so busy!! You guys are always up to something but it's always fun (but I'm sure so exhausting because I'm exhausted only with 3 LOL)

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    1. Mom life is always busy! We need to have more days of just staying home!

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  5. That little shopping cart is too cute! Sounds like such a busy, but fun time! :)

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  6. You are such a busy Mum! You mentioned doing a photo-shoot and working through the night - are you a photographer? BTW your pup looks like a lioness in the first pic - with her head not in the photo she could be one. What a softie she is! Does she pull a lot on the lead? Sorry for all the questions! :)

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  7. Wow summer has been pretty busy for you so far. I am so sorry that you got hives. I hope you are ok and it doesn't happen again. Yay for summer break and I hope it smooths out a bit :)

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  8. Busy, busy! Love all the pictures of your dog though - especially that first one. Too cute! Mmm...I could really go for a root bear float right now. Fun way to start the summer. Love Lily's themed reading days at school. How awesome is that?

    Hope this week is going well!

    -Lauren
    www.shootingstarsmag.net

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