Time on Our Hands

It seems to me that people measure how busy we are the same way we measure our senses of humor; that is, just as everyone feels they have a great sense of humor, everyone seems to think they are incredibly, unbelievably busy. Commercials love to appeal to this feeling. My favorite one is for Boniva, in which Sally Field tells us how her unfortunate friend has to "schedule time" to take her osteoporosis pill once a week (gasp of horror!), whereas one only has to squeeze in time to take Boniva once a month. Can we even fathom how anyone manages to "schedule time" to put a pill in their mouth and swallow DAILY?! That's four seconds we just don't have, people. We're on-the-go! We're movers and shakers! We don't even have time 2 text the word "to"!

Anyway, if I'm really honest with myself, I'm not all that incredibly busy. I mean, I do a lot on any given day, but I waste a little time watching TV, messing around online, texting, and doing other such activities for which the Amish wisely have no use. And, when I get in the mood, I have a tendency to set my lengthy "to-do" list aside and take on a completely unnecessary project.

For example, my current "to-do" list consists of finishing Elliana's bedroom before she turns twelve and outgrows the ladybugs; putting my grandpa's 80th birthday cards into a scrapbook for him; putting 6 months' worth of photos in albums; and planning Keira's upcoming princess/Halloween birthday party. Yet, the other day, I decided on a whim to pick up a calendar from the teacher section at Michaels and customize it for Keira:




In case you missed it, that would be Bear's head appearing on his days off, Grandma's head featured on the days she babysits the girls, and icons to mark birthdays, parties, and gymnastics (which she's re-enrolled in beginning this month, after a lengthy hiatus during which she learned how to jump...and jump....and jump). Is this really necessary in life? No. But it sure was fun, and now Keira knows what's happening tomorrow and is learning the days of the week, too. I figure that by the time she starts kindergarten, she can be That Kid Who Could Practically Teach the Class and Now Needs Enrichment Because Her Mom is Both a Teacher and a Total Dork, and Therefore Has Already Exposed Her to Most of the Kindergarten Standards. (Wow. What a long title for such a small girl.) My apologies to her future teacher.

Keira has plenty of time on her hands, too, but always manages to fill it. Here she is, inspecting a tiny spider she found on our popup canopy in the back yard:


"Wait, lemme get my magnifying glass..."


As for Ellie, she's still spending a great deal of her time trying to suck, gnaw, or drool on people's faces. Look out, Pop-Pop!


And then there are the toes...a source of hours' worth of entertainment!


And what's Bear up to these days? Oh, just getting up at 5am, making the hour-plus drive to and from work, cooking dinner at least half the time, playing "Super Soccer Kick" with Keira whilst holding E-bug, conducting the bathtime rituals, exercising for 45 minutes before bed, and becoming a complete master at caring for the girls while I'm at work on his days "off." In short, he rules, and we're all ridiculously lucky to be his girls!