She Will Amaze You

We've been crafting away the rainy days this week. I made Ellie a mobile, which she loves, and I was happy to use up scraps of fabric! Haven't photographed it yet, been busy with other things!

Here are some of those things :
A felt leave garland! Jakob helped cut out the leaves, and I sewed them all together. Fun and perfect for fall.
A mail-sorter. Love this so much!
Magic milk painting. Google it, it's amazing.
People ask me all.the.time how I manage to "get so much done". I don't know that I really do get that much done, but I seem to have things in order, and I don't like to be bored, so here is a rundown of a typical day in our household. I'll use an example of when DH is working, because that is more often than not, and we get more crafting done on those days!
Today looks like it's going to be a typical day.
I got up with Ellie at 6:30am. She sleeps in our bed. I don't care what people have to say about that, I don't care what you do, what you don't do, this is what works for us. She doesn't usually cry, but her little kicks and snuffles let me know it's time to get up. I pump, and then change her, usually at the same time (thank you hands-free bra). After she's clean, I feed her, then get myself washed and dressed. If Jakob isn't up yet, I fall back into bed for as long as he sleeps. Usually we are all up and going by 8am.
Little man is a lot like his mama, he doesn't want to do anything until he's had his breakfast. So, we go downstairs, and I fix him his breakfast. These days, he likes cereal and fruit with a glass of milk. Easy peasy. I make myself coffee, and something to eat, and I put away the dishes that washed overnight. I load in the dirty dishes from breakfast, and we chat about what craft to do.
When we've decided - usually that involves scouring the internet or Pinterest for ideas, we set up the craft, and he gets started. Meanwhile, I start on whatever chore it is I've decided to attempt to do. Today, it was clearing out my fridge. My goodness, there was a lot of junk in there! I saved all the glass bottles, and loaded them in the dishwasher. Always happy to have more glass to etch!
When my fridge was clean, Jakob was bored of cutting things up. So, I had him clean up everything, and turned on an episode of Dora the Explorer. I am not pro-tv, but it's raining cats and dogs today, and he's feeling a little under the weather. Besides, Jakob now knows more Spanish then I do, and chooses to use it on me when he is feeling clever. Thank you, Dora.
With him happy for a half hour, I decided to make a batch of caramel sauce that I found here. It is DIVINE! Took me just under half an hour, so I had time to do the dishes before Dora was over.
Then Jakob came bounding into the kitchen, and somehow convinced me to make vanilla ice cream. We did, just easy homemade vanilla ice cream, in our old crank-style maker. He started going around the house collecting things, I'm not sure what, in a little basket. He's happy, I'm happy.
I put Ellie in the sling (up until now she's been either in the bouncy chair staring at her mobile in wonder, or lying on her play mat, staring at herself in the mirror). I make homemade mac&cheese muffins from this recipe. They're pretty great, with the addition of some extra spices, and a substitute of cream for milk. Mmmmm...
I wake up Jason, so he can get ready for work (it's about 1 at this point). Feed Jakob, feed Ellie, and remember that I forgot to pump. Feel boobs, they can wait a little longer. Jason eats the mac & cheese like it is going out of style. Will have to make that one again for him. Jakob wasn't all that impressed. All he wanted was ice cream. I force feed Jakob the rest of his lunch, and we all have ice cream. It is GOOD.
My Skype starts ringing, it's my parents in the UK. We talk every day. I miss them.
After lunch, I clear up the dishes, and look at the laundry waiting to be folded and put away. Not in the mood. We visit with Daddy before he has to leave for work, send him off with coffee in his travel mug, and Jakob and I watch the rain for 10 minutes, before we both get a little chilled.
Jakob says he is tired. I am tired too, so now we're contemplating napping, although naps usually happen around 4pm. Only an hour early, I guess that's not bad.
The dishwasher is drying, I am going to unload it, and then check on my thawing chicken. Not sure what I'm going to make for dinner. Not so fun to cook when it's only Jakob and I.
I call my mother-in-law. No answer. Would be nice to have somewhere to go this afternoon, but they must not be home yet.
Jakob asks to play with his train set. I get that out for him.
Then, I go online, and check things out. Check my email, FB, FF, and find a minute to blog :)
The rest of the day is going to be pretty slow. I have to put the laundry away, or it's going to get out of hand. I'll probably set up another craft for Jakob while I make dinner. He's been asking to paint. He really liked glue painting (add food coloring to different bottles of white glue, and "paint" on white paper), so maybe we'll do that. He's also been asking for Halloween crafts... too soon, maybe? Going to play with glowsticks and balloons when it gets dark.
Both kids are due for a bath tonight, so Ellie will go first, and then Jakob. I put her baby bath in the big tub, and then reuse the water for Jakob, provided she doesn't poop. We try to save water where we can. Then, the three of us will probably snuggle on the couch and watch a Disney movie. Jake will go to bed.
I'll unload and reload the dishwasher, shine my sink. Ellie will usually keep me company in the kitchen while I'm working. Then I check the lights are out, the door is locked, set out the clothes I want to wear for tomorrow, check my calendar, and go to sleep!
Busy, but time enough to spend with my kiddos, and paced so that every day I go to bed feeling accomplished and ready for tomorrow.