Up all night

Once a week I work a late night shift at the jail...either 4pm to midnight or midnight to 8 am. Tonight I happen to be on the midnight to 8 am shift (I have to go straight to work at 8 am when I finish) and needed something to keep me awake so I thought I would start this blog.

While I don't mind working the extra hours the shifts are a bit painful when they fall in the middle of the night. If I have to work the midnight shift I at least get to go pick my girls up after work, have dinner with them, put them to bed and then go back to work. I much prefer this to the 4pm shift where I miss everything.

By 3am I have read every piece of news on the internet, window shopped through every online store and read gossip about celebrities I have never heard of...Taylor Swift???? I am intimately familar with all things on sale at Pottery Barn Kids --I have spent a lot of time trying to figure out how they can end up with so many extra pillow cases? I have placed more things in an online cart then most people place in a grocery cart in their lifetime only to keep looking for a better deal!

By 5am I struggle to keep my eyes open and wonder how in the world I will make it through 4:30 pm. I hope upon hope that when I pick up my kids I have enough energy to play and don't lose my patience when they fight over every crayon, coloring book and baby doll.

My hope is to update this when I work if for no other reason than to keep myself awake. I also want to be able to keep track of all the wonderfully funny things my children say and do....

Riley is 5, red-headed and smart as a whip. She is sincere in her wonders, sweet with her words and kind beyond belief. She will however, shoot you the dirtiest look you have ever seen, fight to the death over a crayon and tell on her sister at every turn.

Bella is 3, tiny and side splittingly funny. She makes faces that cause you to laugh out loud, gives hugs that calm the world and laughs straight from the belly. She will tackle any kid of any size and we are sure at some point in her life she will be brought home by a police officer for a grafitti offense.

Each and every day is a lesson learned---often the hard way! I wake up to two wonderful little faces long before the sun comes up and I am positive at night I can actually hear my house sigh in relief when they have gone down for the night. The nights I spend at the Dallas County jail can sometimes be calmer than the nights I spend at home.

So here goes....we will see if I can keep this up and post about the antics of my crazy children!