long days

some days are long.
we're exhausted at the end... in a good way (most of the time).
i suppose the longer day, the more things you get to live...
today began at 6 am.
joel was on his bike to work before the little ones and i
crawled out of our warm, soft bed.
most nights, some little one creeps into our bed before dawn.
every once in a while all of the little ones make their way in.
eva had awoken from a bad dream.
mara joy came in crying about her candy (those darned easter eggs).
and jonas (as we found out later in the day) had a double ear infection.
despite a bit of a sleepless night, the morning had a calm beginning...
reading over eating breakfast, getting the chores done,
and little bit of playing before our trip to the pediatrician.
unfortunately, this was the third trip to the pediatrician in the last five days.
and theres one more to go... at least thats a well visit (for the moment :) ).
turns out jonas has a double ear infection, again,
but at least the other four children were angelic (those wonderful easter eggs).
the afternoon was filled with a renewed interest in the birds.
last year, the kids were crazy over birds.
there must have been a few dozen handmade feeders and houses in the yard.
then, suddenly, they lost interest.
well, with the return of spring has come a return of love for the birds.
with the sun finally shining, they busied themselves filling feeders and baths.
then, some more reading (the horse and his boy) over lunch.
now with jonas sleeping came online math lessons,
some computer programming (elias), a reading lesson (micah),
some handwriting (eva), and playing (mara joy).
then joel came home. we took a walk... getting jonas' prescription,
delivering a meal to a neighborhood couple who just had a baby,
and paying a visit to the library.
one of the things we so love about germantown is
how we can walk most anywhere.
after eating dinner and getting the little ones to bed,
it was on to the boys' skateboarding reports for the co-op.
and, after that, a long quiet night for me.
joel has been replacing a part in the van since just after eight.
its now after midnight...
the blessing and the curse of being able to do so many things yourself.
and the reason i'm writing so long, so late.
i have the hardest time falling asleep alone.
but i'm enjoying the end of my quiet, albeit long, day.
mondays are quiet because its mostly us (not that we're quiet, of course).
the rest of the week is filled with people... people we love.
i just love the quiet, too,
which makes its worth making the day just a little longer.
but now its time to say goodnight. i think i hear joel finally coming in.