Here's Hoping

Tyler is away at Young Men's camp. He left yesterday evening, and will be gone until tomorrow evening. I always have mixed feelings about this time of year. We have been married for 7 years, and I believe he has gone to young men's camp at least 5 out of those 7 years. When I have a baby at home, I find it stressful. I know that I do the majority of the work as far as the baby is concerned (I'm kind of a control freak that way), but I enjoy at least having my husband's supportive company to help me cope. When my kids aren't babies, then I don't stress as much. It actually is a fun time for us to fill our days with exciting things to help the time pass faster. We do zoo trips and visit grandma; watch movies, eat out, etc. One year, I cleaned our entire house top to bottom and did a full de-junk while he was gone. It was pretty great. I don't really feel up to much cleaning this time, and I have to schedule my crammed-in fun activities for my kids around napping schedules, so it's proving to be a bit tough. The countdown is definitely on to a nap-free life. Yesterday evening was fine, and the night went very well. The night-time is the hardest because I feel the most alone. I actually kept my kids up a little later last night so I wouldn't be alone for so long. Plus, I'm always paranoid that my kids will wake in the night and I won't be able to deal. (ie. I'll be dealing with a baby, when another one calls for me). I remember one year, when Max was just a few months old, there was a terrible thunderstorm at night that scared Lucy and made the power go out, so I had to feed a baby in the middle of the night by the light of a coleman lantern. I felt like I was camping too! There was another year that the kids and I had a dance party in my bedroom every night before bed. We turned on awesome tunes and turned it up loud, and everyone had the chance to show off their best moves. Max's little 15-month old dance moves were pretty awesome.
So the plan for this time? Well, I still want to fill up my time so we're not staring at the clock, whilst still sticking to a schedule so we can have peaceful nights. We're going to do some back-to-school shopping for Lucy this afternoon and get a new Walter Wick I Spy book, which my kids totally love. Shopping with 3 kids at the mall is not something that I totally love, but we'll give it a whirl. Then it's back home in time for naps. We'll pick up some dinner in-town this evening and go to the park for a bit (I think) and maybe stop by Blockbuster for a girlie movie for me (it helps me pass the evenings alone and it's the only opportunity I get to watch those types of movies without my husband sitting there mocking them the entire time. THEY ARE SUPPOSED TO BE CHEEZY! He just doesn't get it). Tomorrow I'm not really sure, but we'll find something to do. And here's hoping all my big plans go off without a hitch.