Pass the milk please

A morning person I am not. And I'm trying my darndest to convince the kids that early mornings are of the devil and they should stay in bed a little longer. So far, Reese is the only one who pays attention. In fact, she is snoozing peacefully as I type this.

Tate is the earliest riser of the group. Not good...since he is the one that drains most of my energy throughout the day. I recently hung a navy blue sheet to cover his window to trick him into sleeping longer. He normally opens his door when he gets up and comes to drag me out of bed, but lately he has been staying in bed calling out for...Daddy.

So I sneak in there and snuggle with him which works for a little bit...usually just enough to let me get my bearings before we begin the day. Sometimes if the girls are awake first, I will let him go downstairs with them while I stay in his bed for a bit.

This morning he woke up, I went and snuggled, then heard Drue get up. When she didn't find me downstairs she came to Tate's room. He immediately hopped up and she took his spot by me. Off he went downstairs. Alone.

So of course, I couldn't go back to sleep. I had to keep my ears open for the flap of the dog door signaling he was in the backyard or the clank of the dogs' water dish meaning I had to drag the mop out.

All I could hear, however, was the familiar crinkle of the Ritz cracker bag. Bless his heart, he got his own little breakfast. After quite a few crinkles, I decided he'd probably had enough crackers and was a wee thirsty. So I drug myself out of his bed, and walked bleary eyed downstairs.

There was my little self sufficient man, sitting in the leather recliner with not the bag of Ritz crackers...but the bag of double stuffed O-R-E-O-S!