31Things | Day Ten: Evening

To me, the evening starts when Chris gets home from work between 5:15 and 5:30pm. By this time, we are usually winding down for the day; Hannah has finished her homework and piano practice and is playing MineCraft on the laptop; William is playing a Zelda game on the Wii or leaning on the arm of the recliner, watching his sister; and I am scrapbooking in the study.

Around 6pm we are ready to sit down to dinner. Always as a family - it's important to Chris and me that our kids grow up with that family meal experience.

"How was your day?"
"It was there."
"Please sit with your bottom on the chair."
"Two hands on your milk cup, please."
"Did you have to remember my vitamin?"
"Applesauce, please!"
Some of the things frequently heard around our dinner table.

Both kids help to get dinner on the table: William turns on the light in the dining room, and Hannah receives the plates of food through the pass-through and sets them on the table.

Everyone has "their" seat at our table: I sit by the kitchen, with Hannah on my left; Chris sits across from me, with William on his right.

Of course Wednesdays are on a completely different schedule, between Hannah's dance class and William's baseball practice. Dance night is pizza night (with Chick-fil-A for me since I've gotten completely burned out on pizza every week) so after picking up Hannah we hit the drive-thru at Chick-fil-A and then the pizza place (we rotate weekly between Buck's and Domino's). Hannah and I eat in the living room; it's the only night we eat in front of the TV. Sometimes she picks a movie but most of the time it's recorded episodes of either Mythbusters or Wipeout. Shortly after 7, Chris and William join us for their dinner and a show.

Tonight I felt like going out, so 6pm finds us on the road to BJ's. The kids and I order our usuals: a turkey club sandwich for me, macaroni and cheese for them. Tonight Chris orders the Cajun pasta.

While indulging in dessert (mmm... love the beignet), we realize that the Baylor game against UL-Monroe is on ESPN. Better yet, it's only the first quarter, so even after we drop Hannah off for her campout/sleepover there is still be plenty of game left to watch. So happy that football season is here again! (Normally after dinner the kids have some playtime before baths or showers and bed.)

At 8:30 (his normal bedtime) William is looking tired, and is happy to go to bed. He has always been so agreeable about going to bed. Even after he transitioned out of the crib, we never had an issue with him getting up repeatedly. Falling out of bed, yes. Escaping, no. I love tucking him in at night. I love that he has to give Mommy kisses but then immediately wipes them off himself. lol

Hannah's gone to her best friend's house for the night so the house is unusually quiet. But normally I would tuck her in too. I have to arrange her sheets and tuck her in; she wants Daddy to bring her a cold bottle of water to keep by her bed. I get the first hugs and kisses and then it's Chris' turn... and he usually says or does something ridiculous that makes her shout Daddy!!!! and giggle.

At 9:30 tonight Chris surprises me by going to bed. Very early for him; he's usually good to stay up past midnight on the weekend. I do hope he's just tired after a long week, and not getting sick.



The clock in my study.

At 11pm the game is over (we won - woohoo!) and I'm back in the study to get on the computer. This is where I tend to get in trouble. Usually I spend some time scrapbooking after dinner (if I'm not in rehearsal, that is) and then after the kids go to bed, Chris and I watch some TV. After the 10 o'clock news is typically when I get on the computer again, and for the most part I usually only intend to polish and post a blog entry, check in on Facebook, and maybe see if there has been any new activity on the message boards in my online classes. But inevitably I get sucked into one project or another, and before I know it, it's way past the time I should have gone to bed. And by that, I mean 2am... 3am... 4am... several times this past summer, it was 5am...

You might say I'm a night owl. Evening is just the beginning of my day.

What time do you go to bed? Are you a morning person or a night owl?