8:45pm... must be bedtime!

Yep, that title refers to me, not my kids. I went upstairs last night at 8:30pm and had lights out by 8:45pm. I was pooped! I am realizing that although 7 hours or less of sleep a night didn't faze me at all when I was working, it just doesn't fly when I have to take care of the kids all day! Where do they get their unbelievable energy from? I feel like the only time I sit down all day is right now, during quiet time. Or when I'm driving. So, at 8:30pm last night, I looked over at Chad (who was working on his laptop beside me) and said, "I'm going up to bed now." And he said, "Well, maybe I'll go to bed, too, and then get up when you do at 5:15am and do some work before I catch the train." I start laughing so hard - it was just the most un-Chad thing to say! Seriously, I've known Chad for almost 12 years, and that was the first time I've ever heard him talk about getting up any earlier than was absolutely necessary. So yea, I got up at 5:15am and called out "wakey, wakey, eggs and bakey" - that traditional good morning call - and he just looked at me and shook his head. Nope, not getting up. Now that's my Chad. 

An interesting side effect of Chad's having to leave the house at 6:45am most mornings is that Brandon has been getting up way earlier, too. He told me that he doesn't want to miss seeing Daddy in the morning. So sweet. But, today, he apparently heard my car leave at 5:20am to go to the gym and decided to get up then, just to make especially sure that he didn't miss one moment of the morning excitement. Well, we all know my reaction to the boy's waking up early... early dinner, early baths, early bed. In addition to waking up early, Brandon is also on this oatmeal kick lately - we have been having oatmeal almost every morning. Luckily, I invested in the 64-pound box of Oatmeal at the Costco. There could be a worldwide oat famine, and I'd still be sitting pretty for the foreseeable future. Parker likes the oatmeal, too, but he doesn't get so stuck on having the same meal every day. 

I realize that I haven't updated since last Friday. Slacker. Here's my update from the weekend: we did nothing! We were so low-key. We did go to Ellen's  house on Saturday night for dinner, which was really fun, but besides that, we barely left the house. As feared, my Sunday morning spin class was canceled because of the snowstorm (we got around 6 inches this time), so I decided to go a little bit crazy and just take the day off. I know, I know, but every so often you gotta treat yourself. Especially when the roads are impassible. I did get out to shovel a path to the grill on our back deck - a little snow isn't going to stop us from having our grilled salmon! Which, by the way, Brandon declared the best fish he's ever had. I'm going to take credit for this, although Chad did the grilling, and I used a store-bought marinade. 

Yesterday morning, Parker and I played with Jen and her son while Brandon was in school. I had so much fun... the boys got along so well and actually played games together, and Jen and I got a chance to talk. Good stuff. Today, we went to the library for storytime and then to the grocery. So, now everyone is caught up on the last 4 days of my life. What a relief.