My story...

Travis and I have been married since 1996. We have 4 beautiful children: Madelyn (1998), Jacob (2001), Bryson (2004), and Allyson (2007). I love being a mom and wouldn't change a thing (most of the time!).

Saturday, May 10, 2008

5 blissful hours

Yesterday I experienced something I only vaguely remember doing before. I spent the whole day shopping by myself! No kids crying, fighting, complaining, whining, etc. It was beautiful. Now, don't get me wrong, I LOVE my kids, but as I tried on clothes in the dressing room and no one was making someone else cry or complaining about how bored they were, I relished in the quiet. As I sat by myself peacefully eating my lunch, I looked over at the next table and didn't envy the grandmother who was sporadically eating while holding her granddaughter and trying to keep her hands out the food while trying to feed her a bottle. I just smiled and enjoyed my peaceful lunch. I didn't have to wait in 3 different lines in the food court to get everyone what they wanted, didn't have to hurry anyone along so we could just get done and be home for a nap, didn't have to cut up anyone's food, wipe everyone down when were finished, etc.

How did I get 5 hours to myself on a Friday you may ask - well Travis had taken the day off work because it was our ward's father and sons camp out and they planned on leaving as soon as Jacob got home from school at 2:45. Well, due to some sort of scheduling mix up they had to move our camping location and the only place they could find on short notice was 2 hrs. away instead of just 30 mins. Jacob has a basketball game every Sat. at 9:30 and today was the very first game that Travis was able to go to because Bryson's game wasn't until 11. If they went to the further campsite, they would not be able to make Jacob's game. The boys decided to just camp in the backyard so that Jacob could have Travis at his game. Since Travis already had the day off and didn't need to go anywhere, I took advantage! Happy Mother's Day to me! :-)


The ironic part about camping in the back yard is that Travis and Maddy camped in the back yard last weekend, since she never gets to go camping. (The father and sons yearly camp out is about it as far as camping goes for us.) We decided to make it a tradition to let Maddy sleep in the tent with dad the weekend before, since Travis sets up the tent to make sure everything is still OK w/ it. If we would have known last weekend that the boys would be sleeping in the backyard too, they all would have just slept out there this weekend. What can you do? The kids have just as much fun in the backyard as anywhere else. Travis took the grate off the bbq grill and let them roast hot dogs and marshmallows - which they wouldn't have been able to do at the campsite because no fire was allowed.


Maddy and I had a "girls night". We roasted hot dogs and marshmallows w/ the boys and then we stayed up late watching Maddy's new DVD, Nancy Drew, while eating our snacks. We had a great time too. The best part is, after the fun we got to sleep in our nice comfy beds. ;-)

3 comments:

Brooke said...

Sounds like a great weekend! Camping in the backyard sounds much better to me (access to indoor bathroom, clean running water, electricity, etc etc) How fun that you had all that time to go shopping. I try to take advantage of the fact that Allary is a really good shopper and I only have one child at the moment. I know it only gets harder.
Happy Mother's Day tomorrow! You are such a great example to me and I admire you so much as a wonderful mother and an amazing wife to my brother. Thanks for all you do. Make sure they continue to pamper and spoil you tomorrow. :)

Carolee said...

What a great day!! We all love our kids but it is nice to have a break every once in a while:) We had an "adults only" dinner at my moms to celebrate Mothers Day. It was so nice to be able to visit with my family without any interruptions.

Mikelle said...

How fun, and shopping by yourself--what more can you ask for! My wardrobe is suffering because I refuse to try clothes on when my kids are with me!! And I am with you on backyard camping--set up and clean up are way easier!!!