OMG it's THURSDAY?!

Good morning internet!  And seriously, where did the week go?

Yesterday was mentally exhausting.  Between work, and housework, and helping Jasmine with schoolwork I felt like my brain was on all day.  Which was probably why despite going to bed utterly exhausted at midnight I didn't fall asleep until 1 AM.  Which between that, the 4 AM potty break for the girls, and the 5 AM feeding of the Caleb, would explain why I'm very tired this morning.

On a positive note, I did take dinner over to the mommy from church.  Her little one is just a month younger than Caleb (apparently she snuck under the radar and didn't get any meals delivered immediately after birth, but her hubby is out of the country right now so this worked out just as well) - but she looks so little compared to him.  She's roughly 10 pounds and he's closer to 15, LOL.  People who see him keep thinking his 6 months old instead of 3 - so why can't I quit worrying about his gain?  She's thinking of offering up her home for a regular mommy group/devotional/play date - so maybe I will get a chance to connect with some other moms!  Yay!  Silly me for debating whether or not to volunteer a meal because I didn't know her...

So it's Thursday...which means it's grocery shopping day, AGAIN.  I feel like I buy so much food each week, yet by Thursday my shelves are looking depressingly bare.  It doesn't bode well for the teenage years.  Let's see, by the time Caleb is 13 I will also have a 15, 16, and nearly 18 year-old in the house!  Gulp!

For those of you that don't know, I don't take all 4 kids shopping with me.  I wait until George gets home from work so I can leave some of them with him.  I was taking just Jasmine (well, and since Caleb's been born him too obviously) but lately that caused some sibling rivalry.  So now we rotate - Caleb is still going every time, and then one other of the older kids.  Today it is Shane's turn, and the boy is ridiculously excited about it.  He woke up this morning asking if he got to "go-go."

Which leaves me feeling torn.  Between you, me, and the computer screen I'm sure you can understand that of the 4 only Jasmine is actually in anyway helpful, so taking Athena and especially Shane is just more work for me - and I don't exactly look forward to it.  But they get so excited to go!

I'm not sure what I'll do when Caleb gets old enough to be left at home.  Do I make the rotation 4 weeks long (easier on me)?  Do I double them up girls one week, boys the next or 1 girl 1 boy each week (less waiting for them since they go every other week)?  Which I suppose brings me to the question, how much one-on-one time do children really need with their parents?  I see moms online feeling horribly guilty even having a second one (or waiting to conceive a second one until the older child is in school) because they feel bad that it isn't fair that #2 never has any alone time with mom.  But then there are families like the Duggars who have so many kids that I imagine actual one-on-one time is pretty scarce.  It warrants some thought.

Well my protein-fortified oatmeal is getting cold, Caleb is stirring, and I still have over 3000 words on WoW Arena and accessing jail records to get completed, so I suppose I should get off the internet and into Word.  Hope that you all have a great day!