beat it, embrace it, love it, or leave it

This post of pictures is from the night we carved pumpkins. 

And while Daddy was busy drilling holes in pumpkins he had the patience to also play the....

where is daddy's nose game?

We had a great weekend with family.

We went all summer without house guests and now we have three weeks of busy.  We are loving it.  But it throws everything into a bit of a spin here.

Do you know what else throws this mama off balance a tad...

Daylight savings....there is a little part of me that kinda likes the challenge it poses to us parents who think we either...

a.  might turn around a bad sleep stage with the turning of the clocks

b.  can beat this turning of the clocks---if we put our kids to bed earlier or later we can make like it never happened.

c.  forget about the time change, and don't take the time to switch every clock so when we get in our car or walk through a particular room in the house and see a clock that wasn't turned your heart pounds because you have a moment where you think you are COMPLETELY late.  

This stubborn sassy girl has been waking often...either early for the day or in the wee hours of the morning for a little attention. 

It works for us (or really daddy) to go in and lay on the floor.  Then she at least lays quiet and goes back to sleep...but if daddy were to happened to travel for work for three nights, there might be some tired going on here.

 Otherwise, the time change is sometimes a gift for me.  

As it is colder anyways outside in the evening...the darker evenings bring a calm a little earlier, bedtime isn't questioned as much, and everything seems to settle...most days.  

Waking up in the morning when it is a little brighter is a tad easier, but returning from the gym when it is still dark makes me feel soo much more powerful...I look at our street and think, look what I got done while everyone else is still sleeping.  But the November gray days still have things pretty dark in the morning.  

No matter what, the time change signals a more official end to the idea of no jackets or spring jackets...and this mama now has to adjust any departure times involving little people, so that we can find gloves, hats, zip coats, and make sure we are bundled.

And for the time being, if I make my bedtime a priority then waking at too early in the morning with this little lass, is a tad more embraced rather than grumbled at.  

Happy Monday!

Today's menu: 

We are catching up with what our family needs today.

Errands may or may not be run, blogs may or may not be written, laundry will get done.

But this mama is taking it slow and vowing to bring calm to the crabby littles that I know will appear at some point because life has been good, and busy.