Back to work

Well, by all accounts the first week or so back to work has gone pretty smoothly. Most of the time my To Do list is a mile long and I just wonder how we'll get everything done everyday. Our mornings start early...5 a.m. for me, 5:45 for Hannah and 6:00 for Andy and Abigail and by the end of the day it is hard to get everything done around the house. But, it's worth waking up early. Traffic is much, much lighter for me and I now leave work at 4pm, so supper is ready by the time Andy and the girls get home. And, as long as everyone is fed, clothed and happy, I guess the To Do list isn't that critical after all.
Yesterday was my first day working from home and I was very productive. Our scholars are turning in their book stipend reports so I had plenty of data entry to keep me busy. Abby and I spent time on Tuesday night printing out coloring pages from pbskids.org so that she would have something to keep her occupied while I worked. We had pages from several different shows, like Clifford, Arthur and Sesame Street. She also spent lots of time carrying her building blocks to the living room and back again. No, I don't know why she did this. For awhile she "read books" aloud to herself, too. Listening to her pretend to read is really funny, every page consists of the words "Pastor Sandi so happy to me." So, an entire book is just repetition of that same phrase over and over, with emphasis on different words each time. The reason she says that is because our minister, Pastor Sandi, often sends postcards to the kids in Sunday School. The most recent one Abigail received talked about how Pastor Sandi had been so happy to see Abby sing with the kids in church the week before. I'm sure Pastor Sandi had no idea the impact that postcard would have!
Anyhow, I was able to get plenty done at home and wrapped up work by 4pm as usual. While in the office I'm still pretty busy catching up on things that I would have done in March and April if I hadn't been on maternity leave. It should be a really pleasant summer though because I have planned several days off so that I will only be working 4 day weeks for awhile, plus a day working at home on Wednesday.
Other news...Andy is almost finished building the new dog kennel, it's been in the works for awhile and he is relieved to be making steady progress. The beagles, Jake and Barney, moved into their new home last night. The garden is growing, but still awfully wet. I'm hoping we get some warmer temperatures soon, it just doesn't seem like late May when the highs are still in the 60s. Better weather is forecasted for our camping trip this weekend and everyone is really excited about that, I'll try to get some pictures to post.
Oh, and Hannah is growing like a weed! She is cooing and gurgling in response to us a lot, almost like she's attempting a conversation. It is really cute! She also responds to Abby's voice and that just thrills the big sister, of course. Now it's time for me to start thinking about a three month picture...add it to the To Do list!