Why Our Weekends Count.

I am not filled with working mom guilt. Sometimes I even fell guilty that I am not filled with working mom guilt but I love my job (most days), I love the little adult conversation that my job allows, I love doing what I am good at and hopefully making a positive impact on a few kids along the way. But I do love weekends. I will not say I live for weekends, but I like to live up the weekends. The weekend is my battery recharge and my time with my family. During the work week I only see my children at their worst and the weekend I get to see all of them- the good, bad and ugly.

What do I mean? Well... I do not see my kids in the morning. I leave my house at around 6:45 (well, I try to anyway) and they are all still in bed. I pack lunches, lay out clothes and all that jazz, but Stuart gets them up, fed, dressed and out the door each morning. They are usually so happy in the mornings and I don't get to see that. By the time I get them in the afternoons they are grumpy, they are hungry and we are all tired.  I pick up Clark from school as soon as I put my school kids on the bus. I usually walk right over to his school from my bus line and pick him up. He then comes to school with me for about an hour and a half while I wrap up the day, go to meetings, grade papers and close down room 204. He usually plays on my iPad, watches a TV show or colors. Not a whole lot of interaction as I am still in work mode. We talk- yes, but he does not have all of me.

At about 4:30 we head to pick up the babes. They are always excited to see me, but the excitement is short lived. By the time we walk in the house they are all standing at the pantry whining for food. I am trying to give them something to eat to keep them at bay while I struggle to find something to fix for dinner.  (I am the queen of- "oops I forgot to lay out the meat"!) While I cook dinner they are at my feet. They are whiny. They are usually in tears. They are on my nerves and I have only seen them for such a short time. I hate that they are on my nerves and I try to remain clam, but usually at least one night a week someone if not all of them end up in timeout and I need a beer while cooking dinner.

Then we eat. After we eat we clean up. After we clean up it is bath time- sometimes we will take a walk depending on the severity of the mess and the weather outside. After clean up or walk it is bath time. After all are bathed it is usually bedtime. Yes, that quickly. The little ones go to bed at 7:00. They are toast after 7:00. So 7:00 it is. After bedtime routines we have about 45 minutes to an hour with Clark before he goes to bed at 8:00. We usually work outside- he loves that, play a game, watch a show or play in the play room. At 8:00 he gets  bedtime stories from daddy and I am cleaning something. By 9:00 I am toast too. I can be found on the couch watching mindless TV, reading blogs, and playing Facebook or Instagram. I clean up the kitchen, put in some laundry and pick up any toys that are scattered first, because once I sit down there is no going back. If the dishwasher and the washer are both running it makes me feel better about sitting down- like I accomplished something anyway. I should be working out, I should be blogging, I should be doing something productive- but I just cannot. Our evenings FLY by. We are like a machine when we get home and by the time they are in bed I am not far behind. I usually make my way to bed between 10 and 11depending what is on TV and if I have fallen asleep on the couch already. Exciting I know.

SO- This is why I NEED the weekend. I need to see my kids when they are happy. I NEED time to talk to my husband. I NEED to be outside. I NEED no schedule. So yes, our weekends are usually packed full of activities- but we always have down time and I try to soak it all in. I have a great job because I get summer break, spring break, fall break, holidays and I NEED them all. This time is wild, but I would have it no other way. Summer break is in 23 days and our days will change drastically.  I will have all of them everyday all day and yes, it will be a new challenge but I am so excited for it. I NEED it.


Some visual examples of why I heart weekends:
 1. There is time for patio dining and playground playing in our neighborhood.

2.There is time for birthday parties with friends.

3. There is time for outdoor festivals.

4. There is time for ice cream dates.

5. There is time for dress up and light saber battles.

6. There is time for picnics at church.

7. There is time for parties at C's school.

8. There is time for so much more than whining, dinner and baths. Yes, all of that is included in our weekends too- BUT there is time for other things and the other things are much needed.

What do your weekends look like?
Am I the only one who is thankful for weekend time?

Easter Weekend 2013

We had a pretty low key Easter weekend which is just what I needed seeing as I got back at 6:00 am Saturday morning after spending a week in Washington DC with my 5th graders. I was worn out but came home to a clean house thanks to my mom for staying with my tribe while I was gone. Stuart could have totally done it alone, but the house would not have been as put together and that was NICE to come home to. I also bunny shopped before I left so that was all taken care of too, and I made lunch reservations so that I would not have to cook (me cook...ha!). Saturday I napped and we hung out with my parents and colored eggs.

Sunday my parents and Stuart's parents both went to church with us and that was so nice. The sermon was great and I loved having everyone there with us. We attempted a few pictures after church and that was wild as usual and then we went to lunch at the restaurant in our neighborhood. Where they cook, they clean up and we walk away. NICE. After lunch all the grandparents left and 4 of the 5 Snyders napped while Clark ran the house then we had our own front yard egg hunt.

They had a baby lamb at church!

I tried. They boys were in, but SK was having none of it.

Quick picture with mamaw Loschert.

They would not sit still, they would not smile- but by golly they would show their bellies!

Seriously. The best I could do...

Snyder Boys.

Grandpa Snyder was the entertainment at lunch. 

Our egg hunt  was quite fun seeing as how we missed the church egg hunt by about 30 seconds the weekend before...Yeah- we got there, baskets ready to go as we were getting out of the car they sounded the bell and by the time we got to the correct spot for our age groups they were done. We got ZERO eggs and Clark was not happy. So we waited until all the kids unloaded the goodies from their eggs and put and returned them and I took a bag full of empty eggs and tossed them around in the grass for them to "find". That was good enough for them and the promise of  a Happy Meal afterwards made Clark forget that the eggs were empty. So when we hunted eggs in the front yard and they were FULL of money, goldfish or candy Clark was thrilled! It was fun to watch he and Sara Kate go for them. Shepard just enjoyed romping through the grass dragging his basket behind him. Eggs Shmeggs. He just loved being outside running around.

Church egg hunt. Notice the sad face and empty baskets.

Our pretend egg hunt.

She was an old pro.

My tiny egg hunters.

My biggest egg hunter.

At home- Easter Sunday egg hunt. We found EGGS!!

Ready for the hunt.

Post hunt treat check.

In action.

Empty basket but loved the adventure.

Me and my babies. 

These little Snyders are a wild bunch and made for a pretty entertaining Easter weekend.
If you read this post thanks for sticking around this ol' blog. I know I am hit or miss and overload with pictures, but life is wild and my kids are pretty cute so I rarely have time to blog and I take loads of pictures.
Have a GREAT week!!