Monday is typically the longest day in our house. You see, since our "weekend" is Tuesday, Monday is the "big push" day. Daniel sometimes squeezes a stop at home in the 5:30-6:30pm hour before he heads off to the ESL class, but most weeks it's just not worth the gas money and travel-time. Staying in Potsdam during that hour means another student he can meet with, and it also means that I'm not frantically preparing a meal that will need to be completely ready the minute he walks in the door, which is very hard since I have a 10-month-old who typically hangs onto my pants and takes every step with me and 2 older children who are usually bored and getting into trouble during the evening hours. (The chance to feed the kids PB&J on paper plates--thereby eliminating the evening frenzy--usually outweighs the benefits of seeing Daniel for an hour.)

Of late, Mondays have been particularly draining since our weekends have been extremely packed and sleepless. I sure am enjoying the Courtship Series Daniel and I are teaching Sunday mornings, but it's meant a lot of late Saturday nights. 8:15am yesterday found us at the church, running around like crazy people, after a pathetic 4 hours of sleep. (Have I ever mentioned that I love sleeep?)

On the agenda for today:

1. Laundry--lots of it. The new washer is here, the dryer has a vent that is long enough, and I have HE laundry detergent in my possession. I am embarrassed to tell you that it has been over 2 weeks since our bedsheets were washed, as I decided it wasn't worth the effort to clean them when I didn't have a working washing machine here at home. (Don't worry, they were the first things in the washer this morning!) In addition to "catching up," I also need to get laundry done so I can pack for our trip to Pgh tomorrow. (Fortunately for me, if I get in a real pinch and have to pack some dirty laundry, well, my mom-in-law is a pretty gracious lady and will just probably let me do it at her house.)
2. Cleaning--for departure. I don't like coming home to a dirty house and I really don't like coming home to moldy food, so this means I want to clean bathrooms, dust and vacuum, and clean out the refrigerator before we leave tomorrow. This is a very do-able goal when not considering the 3 children I have to care for.
3. Bake pies--what Thanksgiving is complete without apple pies? I really hope to get this done!
4. Wrap Christmas gifts--for Pgh family members. This has always been a very enjoyable task for me, since I like wrapping and giving gifts, but it has become one of those "tricky" things to accomplish now that I have kids. Paper, ribbon, scissors, and Scotch tape are just so intruiging to little people that I spend almost as much time removing said things from little fingers as I do wrapping.
   
5. Bathe kids--I have yet to figure out how my mom bathed us 1x/week on average growing up, since it seems as though my children are constantly getting food in their hair, dirt on their faces, etc. My 3x/week bathe-the-kids schedule barely keeps them decent-looking, but I don't dare try to bathe them more often since it would probably make me insane. (Baths are not fun around here.)
6. Care for my children's souls--not just their bodies. Sometimes I forget this one, but this morning while showering I was reminded again of what is truly important. There are too many days when my agenda is cleaning, guarding, and preparing the outward, when awakening their spirits to Jesus is so much more critical. If all else fails, I want to take time for this

My list looks a little overly-ambitious, I confess. But the positive element of Daniel being gone until 10 or 10:30 tonight is that I have lots and lots of time to focus on the kids and the house. And today I am really enjoying the idea of being a homemaker. (This feeling, while not essential, sure is helpful!)