I guess being single and not attending school has its advantages, mainly for parents who want to get away and leave the kids behind for a while. A family in Smithfield that is involved with the Gators Swim Team has had me come and watch their 4 kids 3 different times. They recommended me to another Gators family in Smithfield and so here I am watching 3 boys and 1 girl! They are really fun and super well behaved children. The older boys (14&15) help me out with the younger two by cleaning up dinner, putting them down for naps, and getting them breakfast. Since none of these kids are picky eaters, that makes my job of meals WAY easy. (Not to mention their mother left a menu!)
Since the youngest is 4 years old, I have taken off work to be at the house with him. This little boy has quite the imagination! My bag was a buried treasure, a boat, a donkey, and a dog. And that was all before preschool! In the afternoon, Ben and I went outside and he had a blast chipping the ice (about 1" thick) off the front porch. Everything that broke off was one of his "coins"! Who knew chipping ice would be such a fun thing for a little boy! After the other kids got home from school they went right to their homework, piano lessons, and swim practice! After delicious turkey tacos on garlic pesto tortillas, Josh cleaned up dinner and then we went outside to play basketball, chip ice off the sidewalk, and throw snowballs at one another. Jenessa (8) and Ben had fun trying to dodge the snowballs that older borther Josh would throw at them. After a lot of laughter and once it was dark and we were sufficiently frozen, we came in and watched "Kangaroo Jack". Since we all had been up SOOOO early, we were wiped by bed time. Everyone just fell into bed and were probably asleep before our heads hit our pillows.
Since we were all so tired, the younger kids slept in a little bit this morning. That was awesome seeing as I really only want morning to start after 8 am. (They usually get up before 6!) Ben slept in an extra half hour and Jenessa slept in an extra hour. Jon and Josh couldn't sleep in since they had to leave to catch the bus at 6:45, but they got themselves up and quietly got their breakfast. Then just before they left, they got breakfast together for the younger kids that had just woken up! They are such great big brothers. Ben and I walked Jenessa to the bus stop and then went to the grocery store to get Garlic Bread to go with tonight's lasagne. Then I got some me "small craft" time while Ben played on PBS.com. Since it is Friday, the kids will all be getting out of school early and because Josh has what his mom calls "the magic", he is going to put Ben down for a nap!
I'm sure we'll come up with something fun to do tonight and tomorrow!
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