5 Good things on Good Friday

Light.  This is my favourite amount of daytime. Light mornings (5:30am) and dark by 7:30pm. Our time change is next week, so it will be light from 6:30am to 8:30pm.  I like that less.  And light at 10:30pm in the middle of summer? totally unnecessary.  But for today and tomorrow, I am glad we have the perfect amount of daylight.

Hot Cross Buns.  

I love these.  Last year I didn't feel I got enough of these.  I'm not some heathen who eats them in February or after Easter, but they are a definite Easter treat.  I plan to eat one or two a day all weekend.  

Grocery Delivery.  This is such a pandemic discovery and I still love it.  Our store does 4 hour slots for £2 and 1 hour slots for £4.  Normally I do the £2 slots but today that didn't work.  I thought about doing a collection instead (which would be free or £2) but then decided there was no 45 minute chunk of my day I wanted to spend getting groceries. And that I would rather pay £2 more to *not* drive out for my groceries.  At 7am we have groceries coming.  

School Holidays Our Easter holidays are 2 weeks long here, and I'm actually enjoying it and looking forward to next week.  Nursery is open during school holidays so I've had some time with just Isaac and the twins.  Andy is taking a week off work next week so he will be around with Isaac, and on one day Isaac is going to his childminder for a day while Andy and I have just the twins together.  Such a change from how I felt over the Christmas holidays.  

Saying Goodbye to Baby Clothes It's great being so done having babies.  I have been selling on Vinted (I made £60! I also spent way more than £60 on kids stuff, but I have made £60 back).  I have sometimes been including extra clothes when people buy from me.  I have 4 bags of baby clothes to go to the charity shop. I have a few pieces for a friend who just had a boy.  Baby clothes are so expensive when you need them and hard to get rid of once you have them.  I only wish I knew someone having their first baby soon because the stuff we are trying to get rid of now is so much nicer than the things we were donated when we had Isaac and didn't know anyone with babies.  

Bonus good thing - getting the kids clothing rotation sorted.  This week I took some time to go through the big kids clothes and make boxes for their current sizes.  Isaac has a 5-6 box which he is growing out of and a 6-7 box which he is growing into.  Lilah has a 3-4 which she is growing out of and a 4-5 which she is growing into.  This does mean 4 boxes of clothes to rotate into and out of, but it's working.  It also means I can quickly chuck clothes into boxes if we have anything donated to us.  I have unpacked all baby clothes through 12 months now (they are currently in 6-9).  More is definitely going out than coming in. Plus I have founds some cute things for Lilah in the boxes which saves us buying new clothes.  Win win win.

Thursday thoughts on time

I have been tracking my time since February and it's been an interesting exercise at this point in my life.  Here are some of my thoughts so far.

I am more aware of the free time I have.  Sure, I don't have a lot of free time.  I have four kids age 5 and under.  But I don't have *no* free time.  I have some free time.  Sometimes I use that time for hobbies and interests.  Sometimes I use that time to putter around the house.  Sometimes I write a blog or read.  I don't do a lot of this, but I definitely do some of this.

I am aware that in order to use my free time towards anything of value, I need to start planning this before the free time starts.  If babies go down for a nap and I think "what would be the best use of my time now?" I've already missed the opportunity.  For instance, if I want to exercise more, I need to decide early that when the babies go down for a nap I will do exercise.  If I wait for babies to go to sleep and then consider doing exercise I will waste too much time considering

I don't always need to use free time for things of value.  Today my time log includes 2.5 hours of "misc life putter house admin ?? Andy ??" time.  I don't really have much to show for that time, but I'm aware I had it.  I didn't have a day with no time for exercise or reading or cooking, I had a day where I chose not to do exercise or read or cook in the 2.5 hours available to me.

I am not as tired as I think.  I get on average 7.5 hours of sleep per 24 hour period.  This is fine.  Sure, I wake up once or twice or sometimes three times a night for baby stuff, but I am in bed early (usually by 8) and have been waking up between 5 and 6.  I'm not currently doing Rachel Mornings... but when my sleep average increases I'll start those again. Or maybe, someday, I'll leave the house after kid bedtime!

Our family works on a schedule, and right now Andy and I set the tone.  Because we go to bed early the kids also go to bed early.  Today Isaac and Lilah were asleep by 6:15.  Babies were asleep by 6:45.  Sure, everyone will be up at 6am, but when kids are tired we go to sleep.  We always eat dinner at 5:30.  If we get invited somewhere in the evening we don't go.  For us, this pattern is working for now.  In the future, we will have more spontaneity again.

My time feels so different on days when there is actually no down time, like when I am watching the twins and the three year old.  I don't know how moms do twins and small children without childcare.  I am not suited for it.  I adore all my kids, but I adore them more when I have some down time in a day. 

A smart phone can suck 15 minutes of my time as often as I let it.  It's very easy to create a "when/then" pairing with a smart phone.  "When the babies feed, then I scroll" is a hard habit to break.  Remembering that I have to write "play with phone" on my time log helps me do less of it, but this is definitely something to keep an eye on.

Really, the time log reinforces that I have enough time for almost anything I want to do, but I don't have time for everything I want to do.  So I need to keep thinking of what I really want with my time and focusing on that.  Sometimes, it is a day of puttering around the house.  Sometimes it's more. 

How I use our time is an indication of what I value. Time tracking helps me realign if I'm starting to drift away from my values.

Have you ever done time tracking?  Far more information, and far better written info, can be found at LauraVanderkam.com

Adventurous seasons of life - Spring is here

I have decided it is soon the season of adventure.

This weekend we took the twins and the big kids on their first CAR then PRAM outing.  

We went to a National Trust site. The sun came out.  The kids ran around. We found some easter themed activities.  It was a good adventure.

I managed to feed two babies while out and about.  At one point I had Audrey laying on my jacket post feed, and Nora feeding.  Audrey needed a burp.  Nora baby needed a feed.  Andy had taken the bigger kids somewhere else.

At just the right time a former colleague of mine walked up towards us and said hi! So I said "hi, can you please pick up that baby and hold her for a few minutes?" which she of course did.  My plan B was to just ask anyone to hold the baby.  There was a family with two older kids which I probably would have asked next.

I figure people will either hold the baby or say no.  Twins, as far as I can tell, is actually impossible alone.  

While acknowledging twins are impossible, I can also acknowledge we are entering a summer of adventure.  Twins are not moving yet.  They sleep on the go. They can't walk and their opinions are "Tired, Hungry, Bored, Poopy, Overstimulated".  Nothing else. So this summer we need to get out for local adventures.  Next summer we will be on nap schedule again, and we will be splitting our day into morning and afternoon again.  Right now, we are not! 

Sure, we are tired.  Twins are waking a bit more at night.  It's not adventure weather.  This is not inspiring:

If I want for the right season, the one where we had enough sleep, the one where we are all healthy, the one where the house is clean and the fridge is stocked, the weather is nice and it's not going to rain... we will never have adventure.

Daria is about to travel internationally with two small children.  Amazing.  I have no desire to travel international right now, but I am inspired by the effort and mentality.  

In this spring season I'm excited for gardens, easter egg hunts, and castles.  That's the adventure for the season we are in.  There will be other adventures another day.  

What's on your spring adventure list?

Wednesday thoughts, some photos, and brownies.

I am currently writing this at 8:05pm.  Yes, PM! I have stayed awake longer than the babies, who have been asleep for 45 minutes now.  In that time I completed my time log, quickly tidied downstairs, and made these Zucchini Brownies

The recipe says to cool completely on a wire rack but I want to eat them right now.  I think brownies are best slightly warm but not super hot.  I am having crazy insane chocolate and cake cravings still, so I'm hoping giving in with some brownie will help. 

So far this week I have been doing two things in one day and that is too many things.  But they are good things! On Tuesday I went out to brunch and then went for a walk with a friend and with the babies.  Today I went for a walk with a different friend and the babies and then met another friend for lunch.  However I am really craving some down time at home, which I should get tomorrow.  Things are starting to feel fast.

Here are the babies, chilling at the coffee shop:

I was very excited on Tuesday because my podcast selection was super on point.  I have enjoyed all these episodes.  

I wish I spent more time taking notes on episodes.  Even Cal Newports episode on taking notes.  

It's become obvious why the Brits invented Pathetic Fallacy because it has been grey and drizzly since November here (slight overstatement) and everyone is in a grey and drizzly mood.  HOWEVER we did get 5 minutes of sun on Monday and I managed to get the littlest 3 to the park

I am SOO ready for spring.  I need sun!  Also, the time change in the UK hasn't happened yet so I am living with a bit of dread as I am very anti-time changes.  I think we should stay on summer time year round.  I think people should get up earlier when the sun is up earlier.  In fact, I think that hours should change length in winter and summer such that dark is 12 hours and light is 12 hours and we just divide each into 12.  I know there are huge downsides to this plan, but it seems more seasonally appropriate right?  So what that a summer hour is 100 minutes and a winter hour is 40 minutes? We can deal with that right?

Enough ranting from me - let's go check on those brownies.

Do you prefer brownies or cookies? Do you dread or love time changes? Does anyone love time changes? Why do we still have them??

Weekend Update with RachelinWales

It's been a weekend!

Highlights:

Lilah and I took a bus! We walked/rode to our local library (15 minute walk) then took the bus home after.  We arrived at the bus 20 minutes early (or 10 minutes late, depending on how you quantify arrival times for an every 30 minute bus) so bought a chelsea bun from the bakery and ate it on a bench.  It was very wholesome.

The bus driver gave Lilah a ticket.  He didn't even charge us for the ride because apparently a three year old taking a dolly on the bus for her first bus ride is too cute to charge.  It was all so wholesome.

On Saturday we went out for a long adventure to visit friends who live an hour away.  It was our longest trip out with babies and they did great and enjoyed their big adventure.  The kids enjoyed as well, we went and saw a very angry goose

Also, Lilah and Isaac saw a squished Frog and were fascinated. Lilah said it wasn't a real frog, which I thought was an interesting way of understanding a squished frog.  It was a former frog. Not a Real frog.

Today (Sunday) the kids made robot costumes, which is also ridiculously wholesome:

Besides lots of kid stuff, Andy and I each got an adventure morning.  Andy had Saturday from 8-10am for a bike ride, and I had Sunday from 8:30-10am for my own adventure.  I did Couch to 5K week 3 and then added a bit more jogging just for fun.  

It's hard to be both aware that we are in the super adorable wholesome stage right now AND that things will get both easier and harder.  

When I think of days like today, I think of this quote from Ann Patchett's Tom Lake:

There is no explaining this simple truth about life: you will forget much of it. The painful things you were certain you’d never be able to let go? Now you’re not entirely sure when they happened, while the thrilling parts, the heart-stopping joys, splintered and scattered and became something else. Memories are then replaced by different joys and larger sorrows, and unbelievably, those things get knocked aside as well, until one morning you’re picking cherries with your three grown daughters and your husband goes by on the Gator and you are positive that this is all you’ve ever wanted in the world.

Did you have a good weekend?  Did you do anything wholesome?

A Morning in the Life

Engie commented on my recent Routines post that she's interested in the logistics of big families and how things get done.  I know I posted a rather dire "night in the life" post when the babies were 6 weeks old, but I thought perhaps I would do a "Morning in the life" post today since it's 12:10 and I have up to 20 minutes before the babies wake up!

5:40 Hear five year old in bathroom, sneak out of bedroom and sit on stairs waiting for him to finish

5:45 Five year old gives me a hug in between doing his morning business and washing his hands.  Parenting is lovely.  Check that 3 and 5 year old are back in bed ok

5:50 come downstairs and do my time log, my daily plan/to-dos, my line a day journal, and some blogging.  Watch babies through monitor. Enjoy quiet time.

6:30 kids are up and building a new home playing with brio. Tell them to come downstairs to avoid waking the babies. Put croissants in the oven because we are having fancy breakfast (croissants, yogurt, fruit, eggs)

6:45 babies awake - feed babies.

7:00 come downstairs and eat croissant and coffee.  Leave babies playing upstairs because the non-rolling and non-moving phase is great

7:15 get babies dressed

7:30 get kids dressed

7:45 Start Laundry

7:50 get myself dressed in running clothes

8:00 Walk Isaac to school.  Run home to change into waterproof jacket as it's started to rain

8:50 finish run. Dry off, drink water, eat a handful of nuts

9:00 Start 20 minute core workout video. Do 15 minutes before.... 

9:20 Babies awake.  Andy watches them while I take a quick shower

9:45 Feed babies

10:00 watch babies while eating breakfast of leftover macaroni and cheese, then crackers and hummus.

10:50 put babies to sleep

11:00 Put laundry outside, make homemade hummus, make courgette fritters, chop veg for dinner. Eat a slice of cake and a decaf coffee

11:45 Finish thank you cards for midwives and drop off at neighbours house to take to the hospital.

11:50 clean up cooking mess. Start dishwasher.

12:00 start blog post

12:10 Answer call from Nursery saying Lilah has a low grade fever and seems sad.  Ask grandma to pick her up.

12:15 Call friend to cancel lunch plans

12:20 Babies are awake

12:30 Feed babies

12:50 Lilah is home, read her stories and settle her in bed

1:00 Stress eat a cupcake that is probably too old but it's been in the fridge so that's fine right?

1:05 keep writing blog post

1:25 Finish blog post.

Dinner prep, meals, the value of time and the value of food.

I started a line a day journal in 2021 (actually my first post was December 31st 2020, because I am sometimes a rebel).  It's interesting for noticing trends.  For instance - it appears that I don't like March 13th.  in 2021 I complained about Lilah's bad sleep (it was terrible!!) and then 2022 Lilah didn't have a second nap for the first time and in 2023 I wasn't sure about work and in 2024... well it was fine.  It was cold, it was rainy, I spent basically all day making dinner and watching two babies and doing 2 loads of laundry.

I'm still keeping my time log but sometimes I feel I am writing "baby, feed baby, laundry, tidy, dinner prep, sleep" on repeat.  I know I should probably aspire to more than tidying and dinner prep... but here we are.  

What I realised about dinner prep is that I value cooking and eating good food.  I haven't been cooking recently because we have been in twin survival mode.  At the same time, I haven't been feeling great about what we do eat.  On Tuesday I made a try of fish fingers, fishcakes, broccoli and carrot then stuck it in the oven and served it with steamed rice.  We've had this a lot recently, mostly without the broccoli and carrots.  That type of food is fine and serves a need, but I am tired of eating it.  I want food made from real food.  Not machine food.

It takes time to make real food. I'm not cooking fancy, but vegetables take time to prepare.  Yesterday I made burrito bowls for dinner (because kids hate eating anything mixed together, so this was an assemble at the table dinner).  Over the course of the day I made pinto beans, roast sweet potato, quinoa, corn, cheese, avocado.

Chopping sweet potatoes took 15 minutes.  Chopping veg for slow cooker pinto beans took another 15 minutes.  Making Quinoa was super easy but I still had to look up a recipe and measure the quinoa and water.  Grating cheese takes time. Chopping avocado takes a minute. Defrosting corn and putting it in a bowl was another minute.  Setting the table, putting out enough serving spoons, making sure the kids have water cups.  Nothing takes no time at all... and then I have to set the table too.  I probably spent upwards of 1 hour on food prep throughout the day.  Split across 4 naps.  

The dinner was good, although I ate it cold because the babies woke up for their dinner at exactly dinner time.

[6:18am Interlude - I can hear my kiddos coughing in bed upstairs.  How come little kids don't realise they will cough way less if the just BLOW THEIR NOSES!]

I do love the philosophy of "don't spend all day cooking and meal prepping and tidying" but I am also aware that our recent meals have not been in accordance with my values. I value good home made food for me and my family.  Unfortunately food/cooking time comes from other time... and I don't have a lot of leisure time.  So if I'm going to value nutritious home-made food, I'm going to value it enough to use my valuable time cooking it.