A super-busy, really productive Sunday

Well I'm not one to get up early. But Saturday was a beautiful day and we spent most of it at the pool, so I really needed to make Sunday count. Have I mentioned there's a lot to do before Amelia arrives?

Yeah.

So I got up early and immediately went into Amelia's room, and I started sorting clothes. You see, my sweet, sweet friend Brandi, with whom I've worked for about nine years, is expecting her third child. (All three times that she's been pregnant, I've been pregnant, too.) She has two daughters and is expecting a son, so she offered to bring me some girl clothes they don't need anymore.

When they pulled up to our house back in June to drop off "some clothes," I wasn't expecting all of this!

I needed to get them sorted and washed before Amelia arrives so I could see what we lack, so Sunday morning was devoted to those tasks. Then I decided to run to Target to pick up several things, where I promptly lay down my list on a clothes rack and had to retrace my steps to find it because it not only contained all the things I needed to buy, but also the MEASUREMENTS that I needed for some of the things I needed to buy.

Do you have any idea how much I love myself when I do things like that? SO MUCH.

At any rate, I found my list, was able to buy almost everything on it, and then I raced back home so we could all head to the roller skating rink. That was not a typo.

Do you ever do things with your kids that take you back 25 years and it seems like it was yesterday?

Walking into that roller skating rink was like that for me.

It smelled the same ... like a mixture of kid-sweat, stinky feet and cheap pizza. And look what else is EXACTLY THE SAME AS 25 YEARS AGO:

Same tan "suede" with orange wheels and an orange brake. Visceral reaction from me. I was immediately 9 again.

They even had teeny-tiny ones for Jake, who was adamant that he wanted to skate, that skating is FUN!

Grayson got right out there on the shellacked hardwoods like an old pro.

It probably helped that they were blasting some vintage MJ, Blondie, Genesis ... all the same songs from when we were the boys' ages.

Nathaniel had skated before and jumped right out there. He fell within about 10 feet, but he got right back up.

Nicholas had skated once before, too, and he didn't waste any time. He probably fell about 40 times over the course of two hours, leaving him with huge goose eggs on both elbows, but he remained enthusiastic.

After about 15 minutes, Jakey said, "I HATE DIS. DIS IS TWICKY. I'M DONE," and started unlacing his skates. He spent the remaining two hours playing games and hounding me to play more games, eat more food, drink more Dr Pepper and, in general, wearing me the heck out.

But you know what will put what previously seemed like a tedious afternoon for a 37-weeks-pregnant chick in perspective? A child who's been dropped off at a skating birthday party who takes a hard fall, passes out cold, throws up on the rink floor and has a visible compound fracture on his left arm. THAT will put it in perspective for you.

We were there for the whole thing, and as the paramedics rolled him out to the ambulance with an air cast on his broken arm and an IV drip in his good arm, I was thankful that all I had to deal with were goose eggs, whining and about 20 fewer quarters in my change purse.