Today was the last day of our two-week Fall Break. I now need a break from my Fall Break. Not that I’m ready to go back to work, though! The first day of break, Ephraim (my 2-year-old) went to time out 3 times and got spanked 2 times – all before noon. That was the first sign. What followed were two weeks of mostly indoor activities due to incessant, annoying, depression-inducing rain. Depression-inducing for me, that is. Hyperactivity-inducing for the kids. Despite my repeated attempts to do crafts, games, and activities to keep the kids busy, every day eventually led to the kids running wildly through the house, jumping on each other, and yelling at the top of their lungs, while I ran back and forth between the kitchen and whatever room they happened to be in at the moment to command them to stop whatever terror they happened to be wreaking at the moment. On top of all of this, I had car trouble both weeks, and between paying for the car and buying Madeleine a full size mattress, we overspent on our budget, leaving me virtually no money to take the kids places. On the day we went to the downtown Nashville library, I had to borrow money from Madeleine’s piggy bank to pay for parking. Sad, right? Then we went for 2 days without milk and a dwindling amount of diapers because my car wouldn’t start. By the second day Ephraim was wearing swim diapers because all of his diapers and pull-ups were gone. Between being on a Kool-aid high and being cooped up in the house, the kids were driving each other and me crazy, and I was driving them crazy. I need to thank my daughter for the days that she either played by herself or watched TV for an hour during Ephraim’s nap so I could lay down and rest! (Not that she let me do that EVERY day!)

On a positive note, Steven had a five-day weekend during the two weeks, and him being home really helped. We enjoyed a weekend at the in-laws, got to visit my grandmother, went to Disney on Ice, bought the kids’ Halloween costumes (Princess Leia and Yoda), and the kids had a couple of opportunities to play with friends via church activities, a birthday party, and a play date. Also, my Dia de los Muertos unit I’m doing with the kids (well, mostly with Madeleine) is going well. We are slowly getting all of our decorations for our altar done. (No, I am not Latina, I just want to expose my kids to other cultures and I have this weird fascination with Dia de los Muertos. I just like it so much better than Halloween!) Yes, there were some highlights to the break.