A brief moment of peace

*WHEW* It's Friday night, and I have all the chidren tucked in for the night. As far as I know (until I look at my calendar), I have no where to go tomorrow, no pressing plans, no last minute errands that need doing. This is a quiet peaceful time for me, to reflect on my day, to think through things I have seen or said, or things done and left undone. For a moment, a quiet brief flash, I can feel peace. It's like the tensions and so much more just drain from my body and all is "OK".

This morning started early, as all Friday mornings do these days. We prod the older children out of bed and through their routines. We get outfits ready before the little ones wake up, and once the big kids are ready they work together on packing lunches for us all. Some mornings, like today, I haven't yet printed out my pages to go with the lesson I am teaching, so the computer and printer are slaving away, too. My MH comes, and helps get the little ones ready to go, finding shoes and brushing hair (She's GREAT!). She teaches the nursery and preschool class, too.

By 9:45 I am at the Co Op, unlocking, unloading, setting up, and keeping students from disrupting the offices next door. We have 2 55 minute classes, with Lunch, and Craft/Activity afterwards, fieldtrips and parties. I have been told by one of this trimester's students "This is the BEST school EVER!!". *swoon* I love knowing that this Co Op is a success in the eyes of the students. By 1 we are cleaning up the building and locking up soon after.

Some days, we go to the park after. Others we go run errands. It doesn't matter what we do, or even if we go straight home, a siesta is usually in order afterwards. Today I had an extra kiddo with me, and she got to explore my house and yard and play with my 2 year old. She doesn't have play dates often, so there was a lot of fun. :) No siestas, though.

The time to prep dinner arrived in a blink, and I had a plan already. I seasoned and watered the meat, then filled in the pan with diced potatoes. That baked for an hour, and then I pulled the potatoes to flip and finish cooking the roast. Miss 6 insisted on Cranbery Sauce with dinner, and that went really good cold on the cooked meat. All of that and some peas and I called it a meal. :) Hmmm... I wonder if there's any left...

A good friend dropped in before work, and we had fun talking and catching up on things. Time was running out to fulfill a promise to miss 10, so Friend, Miss 10, Mr 3 and I loaded up into the van and made it to Barnes & Nobles before they closed. I found one of the 2 items I was looking for, ordered the other and then got lost in the education workbooks. Oh Wow! I had forgotten that they carry school books. I now have books for Miss 6 and Mr 3 to work in. =)

We got back in time for my friend to change and dash off to work. I love it when she visits, she lives too far away. Bedtime clean ups and routines, bedtime drinks and favorite blankets, these are all absolutely needed to keep the natives happy, not to mention it helps keep them in bed! Some nights, it takes 10 minutes, other nights, it takes 2 hours and 3 repititions of the full routine. On really bad nights, it involves bandages and wound care, but I try to get that done during the day.

Ahhh.... See? There it is again. That peaceful lift of burdens from my shoulders. I won't realize they are even there, until this quiet peaceful moment happens again tomorrow night. ♡♥♡