Surviving Fridays

     Fridays are just really busy.  Do you have one day out of the week that is "just REALLY busy"?  In my life, friday is our enrichment group day; H.Y.P.E..  We do no formal schooling on this day, thus we only school a four day school week. I co-founded and run HYPE with my friend Tammy. Currently my home stores all the supplies for our 100 member group here on the Olympic Peninsula.
      Besides enrichment, we also go to the pool on friday afternoons.  My Brownies (my bonus kids who are my only children with brown hair.  There is no "your kids/my kids", they are all ours but since these 3 are in and our of our home we needed to come up with a name),... anyway, they need to be dropped off and  picked up from 2 different public schools as well.  Its a busy day.
     Fridays actually start on Thursday:

• get class supply list from all teachers
• pack each teachers supply bag
• grab all clean up supplies
• pack above totes in car
• pack swim gear and shower gear for 10 children
• pack in van (behind the HYPE stuff though)
• pack lunches for 7 kids and one adult (don't put in van until morning because some stuff might be refrigerated items)
•  pack snacks for 10 starving children who will have been swimming for several hours, put in food bag by front door
• put all school back packs and HYPE back packs and bag full of toys for little boys who get done swimming early all in the van.
• Have kids set out the outfits they intend on wearing the next day.  This is more for the girls than the boys.  The girls can take FOR-EVVVVV-ER some days.

     That concludes Thursday packing.  It's like a 2 hour event.  Next semester will be easier because we will have a supply closet at the building we are using.  For now though, we are getting'er done!

     Come friday morning, I get up at 6:45 and get dressed.  I then get up the 10 children and they get dresses, do their rooms and before breakfast chores (feed chickens/dog/start laundry/make bf).  We Eat (usually over night crockpot oatmeal or pre made muffins and fruit) do a speedy version of after breakfast chores.  Load little people into van and big people do a very quick once over on the house.  We are out in the Van and on our way by 7:40-45.

     Yes.  You read that correctly.  It only takes me 40 minutes to get all 11 of us out of the house; providing we do all the things on Thursday night.

     We then drive 20 minutes into town to drop one Brownie off at one school, then 2 more Brownies off at another school.  Then there is a 90 min wait until I can go open the building we used for HYPE.  Last week I went to Tammys house and she gave me tea.  Lavender tea makes everything better =)  I think I should do this every Friday Tammy =)

     At 9:30 we open the HYPE building and go about unloading half the van, opening up and dropping supplies off in each room, and lamenting over everything that was forgotten at home (it happens) lol.  Classes start at 10.

     From 10 until about 12:30 I am in a constant state of whirlwind.  Being a director of this program and in our 1st year as a full fledged enrichment group, there are hick ups that happen and nothing is ever perfectly smooth.  All the moms in our program are fantastic and they make this program WORK!!!!  I am honored to be apart of it and so glad to be able to handle the "stuff that comes up" so that each class can continue on.  I also teach three classes myself and am very thankful to my oldest daughter, F15g, who often covers for me in Art Class so that I can run around like a chicken with her head cut off doing other things.  Next semester will be different =)

     By 12:30 I am usually wolfing down food, thanking H13g for picking up the little boys for me from their classes and trying to get in some "mom" conversation.  This happens all too quickly!  Around 1, clean up begins.  So many pitch in and it makes clean up pretty smooth.  We are normally done by 1:30 and heading to the pool.  And Sherry.... well bless Sherry because she is heading to the coffee shop (The black bird Cafe, where, by the way, you can buy F15's crocheted items at), to get some kind of coffee happiness for me and some other moms.  Bless you Sherry!!!!

     We make it to the pool by 1:45.  My van has seen better days.  Like Wednesday.  Thats a pretty good day for "Hot Mama 10" (yes that is what we call the Van).  We fall out of the van with pool baskets and snacks and the water bottle basket providing we didn't leave it at home like last week thus causing 10 children to be VERY thirsty and wanting my water bottle that I grabbed with my own two hands because I do not like to be thirsty.  And Yes I am the mom that will make them all go use the water faucet.  Except the youngest ones.  I will share with them because if I don't I need to go lift them up to the water faucet and I can't have a big kid do it because they are all still in the water.

     We check in, the grab their gear, I try and make the sitting area not look like a thrift store threw up on it and then I sit.  I sit with my mom friends and drink coffee and pretend like its not 4,000 degrees in the pool area and that its not as loud as a football game at the "Clink".  We Moms then sigh, and sit and talk and pass out food as exhausted children come crawling out of the pool.

     My Brownies get out of school and take the bus to the pool.  Usually they also get some swim time in.  Swimming ends and we are leaving the pool between 4 and 5 depending on if my oldest Brownie, Jo12b, gets to swim because he get there just before 4 and most of the kids are pretty trashed by then.

     We get home, usually 5:30ish and have to unload and put away alllllll the HYPE stuff, allllllll the wet pool stuff, alllllll the back packs, allllllll the food bags and alllll the toys.  Packing is way nices looking than unpacking.  We have a system and it works but the site of all that stuff being shoved back into my house makes me want to find a dark closet and hid in it!  We get it all done though anf crash by 6.

     Oh wait.  These people are hungry again.  I have to feed people.  My day is not done.  Its usually something easy; popcorn dinner, bean and cheesers, muffins, pizza bread. Something I can do in 20 min or less.  I usually let them do dinner and a short movie like AFV or Man Vs Wild or something.  Anything that will be done no later than 7-7:30 so they can all go to bed (they can read until 8 and then lights out).  After dinner chores get done, thus the house is tidy and, by 7:30, its usually quiet.

     My husband and I eat something easy to conjure up and I melt into the couch.  I am pretty sure more lavender tea is needed =)

     OH Fridays!  Busy, wonderful,  exhausting Fridays.  You are a lot of work and I pretty much need all weekend to recover from you.  But I like you.  My kids LOVE you.  I shall keep you.