josh took the kids out to lunch and to visit his grandma this afternoon so i could get a home study done. he came home with stories of less-than-ideal behavior from the kids and a pounding headache, so i decided to take the kids back out to dinner and to the mall for some playtime while he relaxed and worked on some art projects at home. micah, rowan and i headed to the galleria, and the kids zeroed in on mcdonald's as soon as we got to the food court. i was too tired to argue, so we all got chicken nuggets and fries. blech. when we were finished (the kids only ate half of their happy meals; not something that usually makes me happy, but in this case, it did) we walked across to the indoor playplace. i sat and chatted with another mom for a while, and the kids had a good time until a little boy they were both playing with got a little rough and handsy. i don't think he had a good concept of personal space and boundaries. he really liked rowan's batman toys, and asked to play with one, but he kept sucking and chewing on it, so when i saw him drop it on the floor i snatched it up and stuffed it in my purse. when the boy came back looking for it and couldn't find it, he tried to pry the other one out of rowan's hand. shortly after that, the little boy started wailing on another boy, whose mother got a little heated over it. i decided it was time for us to head home. the kids cooperated immediately; i think they were tired. when we got home, one of my best and oldest friends, jake, was hanging out in the garage with josh. the kids were happy to see him, so i let them stay up a little bit. jake left, and i got the kids inside, pajama'd and into bed. we watched one episode of 'i love lucy' (our latest bedtime routine) then turned the lights out. they fell asleep within two or three minutes. now josh and i are going to hang out in our room and watch a movie while i fold and put away clean laundry. g'night. :-)