Chore Day!

When I was growing up, I always hated Sundays = chore day (except with the 49ers were on TV, then I got to watch the game instead of scrub toilets). So, ever since I moved out on my own, I cherished my two short days of free-time (especially when the little ones came along). BUT, now it’s a different story.

First of all, I get the sheer pleasure of spending EVERY day with my kids (and hubby doesn’t). Secondly, I knew that getting stuff done would be hard with three shorties around the house, I just didn’t realize that it would make me grumpy when I didn’t get it all done. So, as sick as it is, I have adopted Sunday as our household chore day. Don’t get me wrong, we are not scrubbing any toilets and I’m pretty sure my kids won’t have an irrational fear of Sunday chore day like I did. Everyone has some to-do’s on our ‘fun family day’, but really they are minor compared to mommy’s (which is really okay by me!).

It seems that I really don’t mind vacuuming, mopping and laundry. Daddy gets to spend  some QT with the kids and I get to rock out with my favorite playlist (a major bonus – I don’t hear anyone crying and get out of changing diapers for at least 90 minutes).

I would like to admit that I also instituted this chore day to teach my kids responsibility and the benefits of having order around the home, but truthfully it was really just about keeping mommy sane during the week!

Lessons I learned today:

·         Maximum time allotment in the heat for my kids before melting = 30 minutes.

·         Daddy CAN multi-task (supervising clean up AND entertaining the baby all at one time!).

·         You can spend quality time together as a family and still get your chores done.

Check Please!

Eating out is one of my favorite things to do in the whole world (well, really anything regarding food ranks pretty high up there on my list!). Therefore, I was resolute when we started having kids that we would take them out early and often so they could learn restaurant etiquette.

In fact, 4 days after J was born I was out with my grandmother and mother for a ladies lunch (granted, I had been on bed rest for 3 ½ months and was going insane inside my house!). As we all know, taking a newborn out to eat, or anywhere for that matter, is pretty easy. Then those sweet little cherubs become toddlers and get an opinion (don’t they know that children should be seen and not heard?). But we hold strong, still going out – making sure they know whose boss (oh wait, I’m pretty sure that is exactly what they are thinking as they scream at the top of their lungs in the restaurant).

Today, we had two restaurant adventures. The first was out to breakfast – one of my husband’s favorite things to do on the weekends. This evening we had to get ready for vacation next week so we ventured out again for dinner (opting for a less fancy place then originally intended given the nastiness going on with J & L). Again, J & L did really well at dinner – eating pretty much everything they ordered (plus grapes and most of my salad) and didn’t cause any scenes, a surprise given their whining earlier.

I can’t believe that I haven’t perfected the dinner diaper bag packing routine after three kids (maybe it’s because I refuse to carry a diaper bag, opting for my very stylish and not-as-practical Louis Vuitton). Tonight I was proud to remember diapers for all who needed them and wipes (which I promise I will carry even after my kids are grown), but I forgot a bottle for E (knowing that she would be hungry just about dinner time). I really like being right, but not in this instance! Good thing I’m nursing still and can feed on demand, right? Well, I also forgot a nursing cape, blanket or anything that could provide shelter. So, a paper napkin had to suffice – NOT! E is getting pretty strong and fidgety and managed to shred the napkin into pieces removing any privacy I was hoping for. After it was all said and done, I’m sure glad I ordered a glass of wine with dinner!

While the eateries I frequent with my family are not my idea of fine-dining (I am very thankful for my foodie friends who allow me to join them for dinner every month to enjoy some good eats!), I do appreciate being able to order off a menu and an adult beverage when out with my family. I am also proud of J & L who, for the most part, do really well when we eat out. I’m looking forward to being able to eat my food one forkful at a time instead of shoveling the food down for fear any kid will lose it at any moment.

I really enjoy cooking and so usually only eat out on the weekends – I do not, however; enjoy when my children don’t eat what I serve (or my no-so-adventurous hubby). I also do not seem to be enjoying cooking breakfast, lunch, snack AND dinner (with about a 70% success rate of being eaten). I feel that I have lost almost all creativity in menu planning. I recently bought a couple of family cookbooks (one of the many things I like to collect) and have started browsing blogs and cooking websites to get ideas --- now it’s just a matter of executing. I have also created a list of all day-time menu possibilities so that I don’t end up feeding my kids hot dogs, cheese sticks and applesauce for every meal (divided into categories (breakfast, lunch, snack, fruit, veggie), I cross off items as I serve – it also helps me in preparing my weekly grocery list).

Lessons I learned today:

·       Buying lunch for the guys who delivered J’s new bedroom furniture to take his old stuff to the curb was worth the $$!

·       Everyone in the city decides to go to the mall on hot days.

·       A few stares from fellow restaurant-goers is made better by a yummy meal and a glass of wine.

Party Animals

It seems like summer always brings out the party animals in us. We stay up later, tend to keep the kids up later, go out on week nights and find lots of excuses to party.

Just this week (since Monday), we’ve had three dinner parties (two of them legit birthday parties). Also this week I’ve been working on getting ready for our family vacation, planning a trip to sunny California later this year and a 40^th birthday bash we’re hosting for our Texas friends next month.  

I love party planning (many of my friends say I should go into the event planning business but the hours stink!). I have instituted many tricks over the years and have learned that there are a few keys to success for every party:

·         I either hire a caterer or plan a menu that can be made ahead of time. When I can’t do either I choose something that can cook while my guests arrive (tonight, for instance, we did chicken on the bone cooked on the grill (no flipping required –set it and forget it), a simple side, a quick salad and a great loaf of multi-grain bread).

·         For larger parties I have two ‘recently-graduated-from-college’ girls that I hire to help. I ask them to come early (I found that I was always rushing to get myself ready because I was finishing up all the last-minute food/ drink items). They stay until the meal is over so they can clean the dishes and help with the bulk of the clean-up (usually about 3-4 hours).

·         For kid parties I always have a craft for the little ones --- for J & L’s 1^st birthday parties, I bought white iced cupcakes at a local bakery along with lots of goodies to decorate them with.

I used to kill myself making lots of appetizers before the party started and then have to be up late cleaning all of the dishes (giving credit where credit is due, hubby is a huge help at clean up time). I decided that having that kind of parties really wasn’t much fun at all!

Lessons I learned today:              

·        Buying a luggage carrier for your car roof is harder than it would seem.

·        Running an errand with all of the kids can turn into a fun trip when there are lots of construction crews working.

·      Three parties in one week makes for one tired momma!

It Takes a Village

Today I had really no plan for keeping my kids entertained except a babysitter this afternoon for a couple of hours so I could get my haircut (don’t judge – it was really overdue, AND  hubby happened to be at the baseball game instead of work today).

This morning was a rough one (combine no morning outing, no planned activity and a late night to bed). I’ll be honest, there were a few moments before lunch that I thought about either asking for my job back or checking into the loony bin. After an unsuccessful (and not-at-all creative) lunch, I put all of them down for an early nap (secretly hoping that they would all sleep for 3 hours!) ---- no such luck (at least with the oldest gremlin).

We are so lucky to live in a very close knit community with a LOT of kids. Yesterday around 3:30, two grade-schoolers from our ‘hood’ knocked on the door to see if J and L could play (this was a first for us!). Then today, a sister of one of the girls came to play (J & L know these girls from the gym and took a quick liking them), and stayed to help entertain my children for THREE hours (baseball, dress up, hide-and-seek and books).  I was really impressed by everyone’s ability to get along (a 12 year old, a 4 year old and a 2 year old) --- it really was one for the picture books…

I also feel that I need a village to help keep me sane. Whether it’s a lunch date with an old co-worker, a housekeeper to help scrub the toilets every other week or some quality time with my hubby every once-in-awhile – I think it’s incredibly important to make sure to put momma on the priority list every now and again (you know what they say, if momma ain’t happy…..).

Lessons I learned today:

·         It takes a LOT of help to keep me from going crazy!

·         I LOVE my neighborhood (and I think I want to adopt a 6th grader to help raise my children)

·         My mother was right, there really is no such thing as a free lunch. No planned activities may SEEM like the easy way out but you will pay.

Protocol

We were invited to our good friend’s house for dinner tonight. We had a lovely time visiting and watching the kids play together. Isn’t it amazing how much of a mess 5 little kids can make in less than 2 hours?

As we were getting ready to leave, I asked my children to help clean up. Graciously, our hosts insisted that we should not worry about it (which is exactly what I do when we have visitors). Trying to be good guests and help teach our kids how to ‘do unto others’ we asked them to each clean up 3 toys. This got me to thinking about what other lessons I try to teach my kids at home that we seem to ‘forget’ when out:

·       Meals out are not nearly as healthy, nor do we push them as hard to finish their food before getting dessert (in fact, sometimes they get dessert without eating their dinner just to keep them quite!).

·       We talk a lot about sharing in our house but when we are in someone else’s house and the child who lives there wants a particular toy that my kids are using, I ask them to give it back.

·       We limit the amount of time watching television when at home, but when we are on vacation or on an extended stay at someone else’s house, we encourage them to ‘go downstairs and watch tv’ just to keep them quiet and ‘well-behaved’.

I’m pretty sure that just because I’ve had this revelation, I’m not going to start changing the way I do things when we’re out (although, I have been known to put a misbehaving kid in a running car for a few minutes as a ‘time-out’ while out to eat). I’m just hoping that this inconsistency in child-rearing will not be the thing that keeps my kids from getting into the best schools so they can get the best jobs and then take care of their mom in her old age (in like 4 years from now).

Lessons I learned today:

·       I’m never going to get everything on my to-do list done, I might as well stop freaking out about it.

·       Kids still want their friends to come over and play even though when everyone has gone, they get left doing all the clean-up.

·       I’m proud of my kids, no matter how many toys they pick up.

Mommy's Little Helpers

When I am at home with my kids, I try really hard to have them contribute to the household. I feel very strongly that children can learn to pick up after themselves and help out around the house - and still have fun being kids (maybe the Montessori education in me coming out). I have a rule in our house that all toys must be put away before bedtime, those that aren’t become mommy’s toys (we do a pretty good job of putting things away during the day but there are always a few stray things hanging out before bed). No, I have never followed through on this rule, even when the opportunity presented itself! Just recently I made up a new Sunday chore for both J & L – every Sunday evening after their baths, they need to dump the laundry baskets from their rooms into the laundry room. This week we also taught J to put his dishes in the dishwasher instead of just the sink. While these are not hugely significant contributions to the daily maintenance of the home for a family of 5, I figure every little bit counts (and we’ll keep building).

Before I was even off the payroll at my previous employer, I put my sister on contract to help me out each week. Truth be told, I was really nervous about being with three kids under 4 - ALL day, EVERY day. I also didn’t see how I would be able to do some things with all three --- like take a sick kid to the doctor, shop for emergency sundries or get the necessary mani/pedi! Today was the first day since I’ve been at home full-time that I needed to enlist her help (EC had her 4 month check-up today – besides the 4 shots, she checked out A-OK).

Here’s the part that I didn’t anticipate about getting help --- I kinda felt like I was playing hookie! Those of you who know me will understand that this doesn’t necessarily make me feel warm and fuzzy inside (I was a total nerd in school and attended pretty much every class). To help ease my guilt, I took the kids to the pool late this afternoon (and bought them chocolate ice cream). Unfortunately, lots of other things were on the docket for today and this evening so I’m feeling a bit like I did when I worked outside the home – STRESSED OUT!

There is one other little helper that helps me get through the particularly rough days. You guessed it – my good friend Wine.

(My assistant gave me a gift on my last day of work ---- I had never seen this before and can’t bring myself to drink it because I think it’s too clever (don’t worry, I’ve found plenty of other bottles worthy of uncorking!))

Lessons I learned today:

·         As much as I would love to have a green-thumb, it sadly is a nice shade of brown (which JP thinks is my favorite color because pretty much everything in our house is either beige or brown).

·         Retail therapy does not have the same powers when you’re skipping out on your kids.

·         Being a SAHM is hard work, I’ll take all the help I can get.

Back to the Days of Pooh

…the last line in probably my favorite song by Kenny Loggins, ‘Return to Pooh Corner’.  Little did I realize that it would be my theme song for today (unfortunately).

I will spare you the details, but let’s just say that I had my fair share of wiping rear ends today (and other body parts --- don’t ask!). Fortunately, my husband was home this morning for the worst one (the one that ended up North of the ‘Mason-Dixon’) so he was 1) able to enjoy the joys of clean-up and 2) realized that I’m not paid nearly enough for my new ‘job’.

We ventured to the library today to see a magician perform (a first for my kids). It was very fun to see J watch in wonder as the magic was performed. The real magic, however; happened when the bunny got in on the action – deciding to relieve himself in the middle of the act (before he was revealed to the crowd causing quite a stir among the children). At least the dove didn’t feel a need to join our ‘pooh party’ today (even though E & L both decided it was a good idea to go #2 at the library!).

Today is my dad’s birthday (Happy Birthday Dad!!) so we joined them for dinner (a delicious meal – maybe more delicious because I didn’t cook?).  Even though my dad and baby brother (yes, he is a baby at 17 years old), were pooped from a long weekend of baseball up North, it is always fun to see my kids interact with their grandparents, aunt & uncle. And, of course, all three of my kids needed to go #2 while we were there --- causing some contagious laughter from the peanut gallery (i.e. those that hadn’t been wiping rear ends all day!).

While I had intended to write about my very well-planned Monday filled with everything about Magic (inspired  by our scheduled trip to the library to see the magician) – including 2 books about magic (that I just happened to have on hand (I LOVE children’s books)) and a craft involving decorating our very own magic wands, I felt compelled to write about my ‘crappy day’. I mean, how could I resist; my day ended EXACTLY as it had begun.

Hoping that everyone has gotten it out of their systems and tomorrow’s activities will be much more ‘fresh’ (while I was tempted to take pictures of today’s activities I’m sure you  appreciate my restraint).

Lessons I learned today:

·         Bringing donuts to the gym helps 2 year olds acclimate to day care (I am so not above bribes!).

·         A Pekingese and Shih tzu mix is affectionately called a Pika-shit. (I received a phone call last night asking if I wanted to adopt one (Not kidding. Maybe I should have guessed what my day would have been like today?).

·         Some days give new meaning to the term ‘having a shitty day’.

Quiet Time

One of my favorite things when I was younger was to listen to someone read to me. I remember in elementary school we would have story time right after lunch when our teacher would read to us (my all-time favorite was the Secret Garden). I also remember sitting and reading by myself – an activity that was captured by the camera and has ended up a family favorite.

As I reflected on week #1 at home with all three kids, I realized that I had not ‘scheduled’ any quiet time in our days (well, besides nap time) – and I’m not counting sitting in front of the tv as quiet time (even though everyone is pretty quiet). So, today I introduced this foreign concept to my kids and asked them to pick out two books to sit and read (they were particularly interested in doing what I said since they had just knocked over a lamp and gotten a stern warning and a time-out). I was surprised that L was better at quiet time than J–he wanted to discuss his book, sing while he read and chat about other events from the day. It took a couple of reminders but eventually everyone got the hang of it (for at least 5 minutes!).

For this week, I’m going to make it a point to schedule quite time into our days – whether it’s them guiding their own activities or me reading to them – I figure it will be a good exercise in self-control. I might even bust out my old copy of the Secret Garden and see if they like the story as much as I do. One of my old co-workers talked about a friend of their's who would have their child sit in a particular area (maybe a blanket on the floor) for a certain period of time - maybe I'll give this a try too.

For a long time I have required quiet time at the end of my day. It’s usually spent reading a book (right now I’m reading Emily Griffin) for a few minutes before bed.  As a part of our new quiet time routine, I am going to try and add some time for mommy in the morning as well (considering how much I cherish my sleep I’ll be interested to see how this experiment works!).

Lessons I learned today:

·         If I’m going to keep Sunday as grocery day I’d better go looking my best (it seems that everyone else has decided that Sunday is the best day to buy groceries too!).

·         Sometimes putting the fear of a visit from a police officer helps keep kids in-line.

·         Everyone, old and young, needs some quiet time in their day.

Time flies!

It seems like time is speeding up – I suppose they (whoever they are) are right about things going faster as you age.  I can’t believe that I’ve known my husband for twelve years now (I remember the details of the day we met like it was just last weekend), and it feels like yesterday that my oldest was born (almost 4 years ago). Today E is four months old. It’s hard to believe that one year ago I was newly pregnant with her and wondering what life would be like with three kids under 4. Now I know! 

(Happy four month birthday!)

I am trying to be more present in my life (a lesson from Oprah), and remember the details of everyday moments since they seem to pass by so quickly. I used to be better at taking pictures to help document moments I wanted to remember and am trying to get back in to it. Here are some pictures that help me remember my kids' favorite things to do....

(E's birthday - 4 short months ago - J & L love their baby sister)

(L loves to play dress-up and help mommy clean)

(J loves baseball - it's pretty much all he plays and watches on TV)

I also try really hard to take notes in the kids’ baby books that I think are important to remember, or those that we will laugh about for years to come (like the time we drove by my work and J and I had the following conversation: Me – "There is mommy’s work. Why do I work?" J – "To make money." Me – "Why do we need money?" J – "To buy shoes." - at least he has is priorities straight!).

Tonight we had dinner with some good friends who used to live across the street from us. We hadn’t gotten together in over a year but we managed to pick up right where we left off.  I was reminded about all of the other special friendships and relationships I am lucky to have that have withstood the time and distance.

Lessons I’ve learned today:

·         Measure your luggage rack before going to buy a cargo carrier box or at least make sure you have the tool to adjust it (guess what phone call is going to be on Monday’s to-do list!).

·         My kids notice when I’m paying attention to them (and when I’m not).

·         Time flies when you’re having fun, best to pay attention or you’ll miss the good stuff.

Living the 'sweet' life

I often feel that I’m an overly strict mother, so today I made a point of making fun for my kids. I let them watch more tv then I would normally allow, we had lemonade to drink for lunch (gasp!) and a cookie for afternoon snack. I also gave more warnings than usual before sending to timeout and picked up toys during naptime instead of insisting they do it before going to bed.

Interestingly, I didn’t find that my kids were much happier today than when Nazi-mom is in charge. I have long prescribed to the fact that kids crave structure & discipline. I suppose that this unplanned experiment proves my hypothesis. While it was easier for me to say yes to the ‘treats’, I paid for it later with cranky kids and lots of tantrums this afternoon.

Regardless, I stuck with my plan and tried not to become too cranky or quick to punish. Daddy coming home a bit early helped – especially since he took them downstairs to roughhouse – giving me a few minutes of peace and quiet with the baby (I actually had a chance to knit a bit --- a new endeavor that I’m sure you’ll hear more about).  We rounded out our ‘sweet’ day with dinner out and a treat at a local sweet shop. Surprisingly, everyone went down without much argument – maybe they understood that they were lucky today and knew not to push their luck?

 (at Schneider’s Sweet Shop in Bellvue, KY).

Lessons I learned today:

·         Giving kids everything they want does not make them more well-behaved or happier than when they live by grown-up rules.

·         Whoever coined the phrase ‘TGIF’ knew what they were talking about.

·         Single parents deserve a LOT of credit!

Keeping Our Cool

The hardest part of this summer for me has been trying to figure out what I can do with all three kids. With the super-crazy heat we have been experiencing, it is hard to do anything outside.

Today started out pretty rocky and I made the executive decision to take a morning field trip to the park. We made it a bit later than I would have liked given the crazy heat and humidity we’ve had all week, but I was committed. Sounds like a bad joke but you know it’s hot when your son says several times  “mommy I’m so hot, I’m sweating soooo much” (yes, he was blessed with the same uber-productive sweat glands as his mommy and daddy).  Needless to say, our park outing did not last very long.

The coolest kid in the whole park today had to be E. After our first summer outing to the pool over Memorial Day weekend I knew I had to find something to help keep her cool or we would be stuck inside all summer. After some online research, I decided on this fan which has been a god-send for her (and her mommy) on many occasions. I actually bought two of them to help create a cross breeze (and to have one to share with everyone else in the family).

 (the best product to keep baby cool this summer (works well on the golf course too!) - http://www.onestepahead.com/catalog/product.jsp?productId=536753).

I have to say that I didn’t keep my cool all day today --- despite ‘borrowing’ a fan from E and Frosty’s from Wendy’s (I’m sure it had nothing to do with my late wine night last night).  Today’s lessons include:

·         Going to Wendy’s for lunch was just as much fun for my kids as eating sandwiches cut into fun shapes with cookie cutters.

·         2 ½ hour naps rock… now I just have to figure out how to make it a daily occurrence.

A Whine Party

Inspired by my bestie in Texas… today is being brought to you by the letter ‘W’.

Not only is it Wednesday, but it also happens to be wash day (for the bed linens at least --I have been mistaken for a structured, type-A woman and old habits are hard to break). This particular Wednesday happened to also be filled with lots of whining and, as luck would have it, a previously scheduled dinner for mommy (which happens to include wine!).

Once again L did not really appreciate mommy wanting to get fit and threw a major tantrum at the gym. This caused lots of attention paid to L (which, I’m pretty sure she was looking for all along) and many stares to her mommy (which I was not in favor of – especially since it was a crazy hot day and I was blessed with extra-productive sweat glands). Happy to say that she finally got over herself and decided to join the other kids in playland (not exactly sure what my reputation is around town, but at least I’ll be able to throw-down with anyone who wants to talk smack about my parenting skills).

No special crafts today and I really didn’t get to cross anything off my to-do list. I did manage to not beat my children (did I mention that they were all very short on sleep and suspect that L is on her way to another ear infection) and was sure to tell them each I loved them at naptime (which was a questionable emotion at that particular time). I’m just happy to have gotten through this day without any serious damage to my kids’ childhood memories or my ego.

While at dinner tonight with my friends, I was reminded of several lessons that I should remember on days like today:

·         I really am SO lucky to be able to stay at home with my children (lots of giggles, hugs and kisses today)

·         Wine is a medicinal treatment for SAHMs

·         Sleep is underrated!

That said, sweet dreams!

A

An impromptu ‘Theme’ Party!

I’m guessing theme days will be few and far between but I will take what I can get (even if they aren't planned).

I fell into our ‘theme’ today by accident. For breakfast we had Bananas and mini Bagels. Then on a whim I decided to see what the library had going on today – we had 15 minutes to get out the door to make it to Toddler Time, where the kids heard a couple of Books about the jungle and they got to decorate a Bird.  So, we explored the letter B today.

My step-mom gave me a set of alphabet cookie cutters for a wedding shower (eight years ago and I finally know what to do with them!), so I decided to make PB&J and cut them into the letter B! To make it even more fun, I let the kids eat at their ‘reading table’ in the family room as a kind of picnic.

(Our letter 'B' sandwiches and a Box of raisins --- no B connection with the chips)

During nap time I took advantage of the quiet (even though the baby didn’t nap with J & L today), and cut out big letter B’s for the kids to decorate as an afternoon activity (we put everything that starts with a ‘b’ on our big letter ‘B’). Then we went outside and played with all of our 'B' toys --- bikes, balls, bug nets, bubbles. While J already knew the letter 'B', he made sure to point out all that he saw while reading our bedtime story tonight!

(Our letter 'B's' decorated with balls, blue boxes, blue, brown & black; J is also showing you the monkey that he was given at the library today).

While I’m not feeling overly proud of my organizational skills or house management accomplishments, I am feeling much better about my abilities as a SAHM today.

Here are some of the lessons I learned on day #2:

·         Libraries have changed a lot since the last time I went to one (which, I’m embarrassed to admit, was decades ago).

·         You can rock an infant, cut out letter B’s and watch the Bachelorette (which fits into our theme for the day!) all at the same time!!

·         ‘Perfection’ doesn’t mean anything to a 2-year-old and an almost 4-year-old. Sometimes ‘okay’ is just enough.

Let's get this party started!

Day one of 'stay-at-home mom-hood' was pretty respectable. No major melt-downs, only 2 time-outs per kid and minimal whining!

Not surprisingly, I am not going to win any mother-of-the-year awards after this first day. Old habits are hard to break and Monday's have been my 'get organized for the week day' for a long time. As a result, there was a little more babysitting by the TV than I would like and our activity for today (coloring/ writing well overdue thank you notes) was uninspired, to say the least. I’m also not proud of the not-so-nutritious lunch I served (that only one kid ate) – I vow to do better tomorrow (sitter at naptime = grocery run). I think the only remotely impressive thing I did today was to make some mini omelets (in muffin tins) for quick breakfasts and I managed to get the beds made (impressive to me at least).

The lessons I learned today:
• Change grocery day to Sundays
• Prepare an activity on Sunday nights for the kids to do on Monday mornings while I get ‘organized’ for my week
• Having your 2 year old sit in a chair at the front of gym class and watch me work out (because she won’t stay up in the daycare room with her brother and sister) will make her a stronger person

There really weren’t any photo-worthy moments from today, unless you count me being covered in baby puke. I’m hoping that tomorrow will give us something worthy of sharing with you all.

Until then…

A