Hop, Skip, and Jump!

Very busy day yesturday!

In the morning I drove George to work so that I could have our car for the day. I dropped off some movies at the library (I LOVE that our library has free movie check out) then went home to get ready for the day. George ended up calling to say he'd forgotten something, so after me and the kids were all dressed we went to deliver it to his work. I didn't want to go through all that hassle just to drop something off, so instead of going back home we went to Fred Meyer to pick up some odds and ends. I bought the kids some new shampoo, not because they were out, but because I was getting tired of the scent of their current one. :P I also got some new lipstick (beautiful colors too!), and the kids each got a pair of sunglasses for the summer, and a cookie from the deli. They also got to ride in one of the car-shaped shopping carts, so it was an exciting trip for the kids.

About mid-day Raia's new elementary school held a "Kindergarten Introduction" class. They invited all of the incoming students and introduced them to the Kindergarten teachers, the music teacher, the PE teacher, and the librarian. They also had a school lunch and a short Kindergarten class. Raia LOVED it. We've been pointing out her new school to her whenever we've driven by, and she knows it's going to be her all-the-time school eventually. There were at least two students there that she knew (one from church, one from pre-school), and she's such a social person, that I'm sure she won't have a hard time making friends.

The school made it very plain that it was only the *students* who were invited to this, so while Raia was at the class I drove from the new school to her preschool, to see if it would be possible to get her there on time for her regular classes (it starts at 1:15pm, and the kinder class ended at 1pm). I'd purposely only mentioned that she was going to her new school that day, because I didn't want her to think she'd be going to *two* schools, and then find out that she'd be too late for pre-school and would have to go home. Errol fell asleep in the car while I did this, so when we got back home I left him and Patrick (who'd been asleep since dropping off Raia) in the car, in the garage, and went inside to get some pre-dinner preperations done. (with a little baby I try to start dinner preperation early, because I never know if he's going to decide to take a fussy spell right at 4:30, causing us to not have dinner until 7pm or later). Errol woke up just as it was time to pick up Raia, so I grabbed him a sippy and we went to pick her up. I ended up getting her to pre-school with time to spare, so she got to go to two schools in the same day. She thought that was so cool! :)

By then Errol had been in his carseat or stroller for almost 3 hours, so I decided he'd earned a trip to the library, which is somewhere he loves, but doesn't get to go to often. I don't like taking all the kids there all by myself, and with George in school there aren't many evenings where he's free to go with me to help. Patrick, amazingly, slept through all of this. With him asleep at the library I got to focus solely on Errol, and he had fun going through the books and picking some out to take home. We got home shortly after 2pm, Errol got to play outside in the gorgous sunny weather, and I got to read a book. Patrick didn't end up waking up until *3*, and only because I woke him up! He's a drowsy little guy.

When it was time to pick up George from work I started doing some mental calculations to see if a trip to the beach would be feasible, because it was SO gorgeous outside. Unfortunately George's school work got in the way (as always) so we'll have to wait a couple more weeks before we're able to do that. I'm so anxious now for summer to start. I want to get into the water! :)

Dinner ended up being roast chicken with potatoes and onions, and rice pilaf. Thankfully the pilaf was from a box mix, because I ended up burning the first batch (forgot to turn down the heat), so it wasn't too difficult to pop open another box and start over. And the potatoes and onions served as the "roasting rack" for the chicken, so they were easy to prepare. When I make roasted chicken I put a bed of quartered onions and red potatoes in the bottom of a glass baking dish, seasoning it with whatever I'm seasoning the chicken with, then put the chicken on top. Then it holds the chicken up above it's own pool of drippings, and the drippings cook and flavor the onions and potatoes. By the time the chicken is done the potatoes are tender, and the onions and soft and very yummy. I coated the chicken in olive oil, then rubbed it with a mixture of kosher salt, freshly ground black pepper, and dried thyme. It's my favorite way to make roast chicken. :)

Today will be much less busy than yesturday. No hopping from place to place and picking up here and dropping off there. At most I may take the boys for a walk around the lake while Raia is in pre-school, but otherwise I'm ready for a nice quiet day at home!