Did a load of dishes and another load of laundry while Doug played on his computer. While I put in another load of clothes Doug asked what he could do to help me. I asked him to give the dog her meds (my very old dog has to take hormones or she dribbles). His answer was “O.K. I’ll do it in the morning.” I’m going to file my nails and go to bed.

Doug has tried very hard today to control his temper and be tolerant of Tommy. It has made this a pleasant day for everyone.

This afternoon I stretched out on Tommy’s bed for a few minutes and Amy took it as an invitation to play. She stood up on my stomach, jumped in the air and landed on her bottom over and over again. In between jumping she would lean forward to rub noses and occasionally bite my nose and lip. She giggled and laughed that magical laugh that makes all your worries disappear and everything seem right in the world. She is a wonderful child.

The washer and dryer are still chugging away in my effort to get a week’s worth of laundry (for our army of 6 + dog + 2 cats) finished in one weekend. I have this great system of 3 color coded laundry baskets for the children to sort their dirty clothes into, but apparently they’ve been suddenly struck color-blind as all the clothes are in a heap on the bathroom floor.

Now I’m torn between my desire to go chill in bed with the stack of magazines my mother handed down and the need to go do dishes. Hmmmmm.

Folded almost all the clean laundry. Need to get out of the house and do something fun. Can’t do something fun in the house cause “I’ve served my purpose.”

Doug looks so cute today. I still melt whenever he kisses me.

Picked up Noah, bought diapers and played around in the children’s section of a bookstore. Tommy still didn’t start a single load of laundry. I need to do major cleaning. All I want to do is crawl in bed.

Straightened the living room and sat down to read the newspaper when Tommy started chanting “underwear, underwear.” Apparently there are no clean undies in his drawer and it is my job to fix that the instant he demands it. I told him to go do something while I finished the paper. He continued his underwear chant until I threw him out of the room. I’ve gotten some laundry done but haven’t found any of his undies yet. Did realize that all of Noah’s pants now fall above his ankles. I guess he grew when we weren’t looking. Tommy needs long pants too. It was fine for him to wear shorts when he stayed home all day, but now that he goes out every day he needs more than 2 pairs of long pants. Doug finished his meeting and then went to visit a friend of his. It’s almost time to go get Noah. I should eat something before I have to leave but I better start another load of laundry first.

Got Noah dropped off and am now going to do some cleaning. Amy fell asleep on the way home, so I didn’t stop and buy diapers like I had intended to do. I should probably get something to eat first. Doug is still at the STAR mtg.

Tommy has turned all of us off. He isn’t listening or responding to anything but the TV.

No time for a bath this morning. Maybe this evening.

Trying to get self, Noah and Amy dressed and a gift wrapped. Doug is attending a meeting about Tommy’s riding therapy. Sarah still at my mother’s.

Just took Sarah and her friend to my mother’s so they could have a sleepover without loud, messy siblings around. The drive over was hellish as Tommy irritated Doug and Doug snapped and cursed. I wish that Doug would do some soul searching about how he really feels about Tommy. Unfortunately, sending Tommy to live with his birth father for a while just isn’t an option.

Amy didn’t want to go to bed without her sister in the room. “Ra-ra ?” We have a baby monitor in the room and it so sweet to listen to the two girls whispering at night. Amy was too tired to keep up the fight. Noah fell asleep 5 minutes into Fantasia. Tommy is stretched out on the couch absorbing the movie. I am going to get a load of laundry started and go craft in bed while drinking an IBC black cherry (yum). I might make some popcorn later. The temperature outside is in the teens but the woodburning stove is blazing and our room feels wonderful. If we had a gate around the stove Amy and I would stay down there and play on cold days.

Sarah found a friend to sleep-over. She is happy now.