Welcome Summer

First day of summer break. We have been anticipating this day for weeks....  (If I'm being honest, I think we've been ready for it ever since we got back to a regular schedule after the winter that would never end...)
As the school year wore on, mornings got harder and harder. And harder. By the time we got down to the last week, this is what our mornings looked like:
6:00am: Mommy's alarm starts being annoying
6:15ish am: Mommy reluctantly stumbles out of bed to the shower
6:35am: Eden's alarm starts. And gets snoozed
6:45am: Eden's alarm again. I shut it off and tell her she has 5 minutes (because, really, I need at least 5 more minutes to prepare for the fight)
6:55am: Mommy heads into the battlefield. What follows in the next 5-7 minutes is frightening and I'm not prepared to retell it without getting emotional. Things had the tendency to get ugly in that little loft bed. Kicking, screaming, crying, shouts of "i'm so tired", and other such nonsense. And then there was Eden's reactions..... :)
Somewhere in the midst of all of this, Jada and Kate managed to wake up in a pretty unceremonious way... a way that never seemed to cause me any angst or tears.
Somehow, every morning, we managed to get breakfast and get out of the house by 7:20 and get to school on time and we were all usually (usually...) smiling by the time we got there.

So, last night, as we prepared for bedtime, I sat the big girls on the couch with me to cover one very important rule that NEEDED to be obeyed the following morning... This was the only thing I was requiring of them for the first day of summer break (well, this and cleaning their room. whatever.)
THE RULE: I am not waking anybody up in the morning. And I don't expect anyone to wake me up, either. The end.
Of course, like everything else in this house, I get challenged.
Eden: I'm going to wake up really early!!!
Me: No, you are not. You will sleep.
Eden: I'm going to get up early and come wake you up {evil laugh}
Me: You better not!
Eden: Well, if I do wake up, can I come snuggle you as long as I'm quiet?
Me: Absolutely!

And this, my friends, is how June 5, 2014 started:
6:15am: Crying from the bathroom. An emergency wiping situation for Jada. I handled it with grace and brought her to bed with me. I WILL SLEEP.
6:24am: [11 minutes before the alarm normally went off, in case you are counting] Eden bounds into my room. Wide awake. Ready to go. TALKING.....
6:27am: Trying very hard to remain calm, I explain what time it is, how this relates to our normal schedule, and give a quick recap of the 1 rule for the day. For the most part, talking ceases. I almost fall asleep.
6:53am: My dear husband calls. When I answer, he laughs and says he was just calling to see if I was awake. He's lucky he actually had a legit reason to call. I hang up the phone and little girl chatter begins again.
7:00am: I give up.... we get out of bed.

At least the baby followed the rules.

Welcome summer.... I'm looking forward to hanging out with you.