Let me tell you about my day. It started at 6am, as they all do, with Lex at my bedside. We had a nice morning, read the paper, did the crossword, and then I went to a double-header cardio class at the gym while Alan took the kids to touch-a-truck, a popular event that seems to be springing up everywhere. We got home around the same time and over lunch the kids asked if they could go back to touch-a-truck in the afternoon. We debated, but Alan said they were behaving super well and didn’t get to see everything, so we had a short rest after lunch and headed back to touch-a-truck. This time I got to go too! :)

Eve, pulling the air horn on a huge tow truck.

Silly Eve in a Jeep

That sweet girl just does not belong in an open-top Jeep with a skull for a gear shift and a tricked out horn. I told her she looks like a puppy with her tongue hanging out!

Once she found the bounce house it was all over. She jumped until she nearly passed out from exhaustion and heat, it was a hot day! (The pictures are all of Eve because I followed her around while Alan followed Lex.)

When we got home the kids agreed to help me make applesauce. We still have (had!) a half bushel of apples from when we went apple picking. Lex was actually really helpful with the process! Not only can he turn the handle on the apple peeler/corer, but this year he can do the whole thing. Put the apples on, turn it, take them off, reload. The whole thing! It was great. For awhile he even set it up for Eve and let her do the handle turning. He used such a sweet voice with her and taught her how to use it. Truly helpful!

Lex and Eve, peeling apples.

At this point I went a little apple crazy. I was hoping the applesauce would use up the rest of the apples, but I filled the biggest pot I have and it still only used about half the apples. I really wanted that bushel off my (very limited!) counter space, so I made eight jars of applesauce, plus apple bread, apple spice cake, apple pancakes (for dinner) and some sourdough bread because we were out of sandwich bread. Whew! And we still have over a dozen apples left! I’m going to keep those for eating. Amazingly everything went very well. Dinner was on the table at the usual time, everyone was thrilled to have apple pancakes and fresh applesauce for dinner, bath and bed went smoothly, and I made it through the kitchen cleanup before it got too late!

When the kids got done helping in the kitchen they decided to have some computer time with Alan. I love my little family of computer geeks.

I like bundt cakes. I don't get to use this pan very often.

Yum!

While I was cleaning though, and finally breathing again, I started thinking about how goofy I am. I spent 2 hours in the gym this morning, busting my butt, and then spent the evening in the kitchen making delicious baked goods. I like to say “they’re for the kids” but really we all know who will be eating them. I certainly won’t let the kids eat an entire cake! It’s like my inner Jillian Michaels and my inner Martha Stewart are duking it out, in my neutral body. Some days it leaves me paralyzed and other days I accomplish a lot, though not always towards the same goal!

Overall we had an awesome day. Everyone was happy, no fighting, no crabbiness, fairly productive… pretty great. I credit it to a few things:

• Alan took the kids to touch-a-truck this morning, giving me time to exercise. Everyone came home happy.
• The kids were super sweet and well behaved. All day. They helped each other and took care of each other and listened to us. I couldn’t ask for better behavior!
• Computer time. I definitely got through the final kitchen craziness smoothly because they plopped down in front of the computer to play Starfall. Lex reads the stories to Eve, stopping frequently and asking her to read a few words. She does and he heaps on the praise. They are so sweet!

Here’s to a sunny Sunday as well!