All In A Day

***Hello and welcome to my blog!  Kelly is hosting a Typical Day In Your Life blog hop this week, and I remembered writing this last month.  Please don't judge me, okay...but have fun! ha ha  :) ***

And a HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my 9-year-old Jonah Gabriel today, the one who entered our lives amid the infamous Nor'Easter of 2001!!  March 5th will forever be one of my favorite days, so my day will also include lots of fun birthday things,  like making smiley face lollipops for school and special dinners!! 

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I thought it might be fun to capture the many moments of a typical day on film, mostly for future reference, as I'm all too aware of how easily those memories come and go with time.  Monday used to be Big Clean day, but I've been tweaking my schedule (yes, I clean on a schedule, and I think it's the only way to go!) recently.  Or rather, getting back to even wanting to have a schedule.  Ahem.  Ok, so what did we do?

I'm up early, crazy early. (4:30ish)  I like to be alone to think, pray, read, plan (and now I've got my big project I'm working on!).  When this time is removed by small humans, that is not a good way to start my day.  Happily, yesterday was good.

Then there's the usual morning routine, getting lunches finished, breakfast started (I like real breakfasts), shooing naughty cats off the table, and getting boys up and at 'em.  That's sometimes easier said than done; yesterday was one of those times.

25 minutes and three tantrums later, all from the same child, the first 2 were out the door and off to school.  I love that Caleb and I get to linger.  I'm not so much loving the frigid rude awakening as I bundle up Isabelle Katie and myself to walk Caleb up to the corner for the bus, only to return 4 minutes later and de-bundle.  Isabelle used to sleep until 7:30 so sometimes I walked C really quickly up and would be back before she even awoke.  Anyhoo.

My arctic rush outside yesterday morning literally sucked the air.from.my.lungs.  SO COLD!  Isabelle is in the jogger with the shield, complaining away.  I'm thinking, Get over it, babe, 'cause we're going for a long walk in this beast today- snow on the road or not! (And yes, we did that!  Way to go, me!)

Color time.  And playing with my new camera.

Giggles.

 Laundry. Lots of laundry.

Most mornings we go to play groups, Bible studies, errands or grocery shopping, but not today.

Playtime in the snow.  Isabelle Kate was chirping to the birdies, sprinkling snow "seed" on the driveway for them.  Very cute!  Phone rings- run inside and it's a friend from Grace Group.  I chat away while watching Isabelle from the window.  She still looks so cute out there!

Isabelle inside.  Two attempts at playing with beans in a pan.  This was always Caleb's favorite activity.  Isabelle thinks it's fun, but she makes a huge mess.  Not so much fun for me. 

Doesn't that grin just scream "Let's see how quickly I can get all these beans off the pan???"

 

Stared down the pile of flannel for the boys' PJs.  Nope, that wasn't going anywhere yesterday.

Lunch.  More laundry.  Vacuuming before Calliou at noon.  Since Isabelle hasn't been napping every day lately, I was wondering if I'd need to contend with a tired, non-sleeping toddler on my hands in the afternoon.  Thank you Jesus, she was asleep fast, after singing, reading "Clissorf"- Clifford- and snuggling, which then gave me time for other equally important things, like watching my friend's copy of Twilight for the...third time- thank you SARAH!! 

Oh Edward, how you've captivated my feeble little human heart.  Just in case you're wondering, no I'm not serious.  At all.  It's just a movie, folks!  :)  It was productive- I was folding the mountains of clothes AND doing the occasional lunge or karate kick!  See that?  No time wasted!

Boys home. Tantrum boy still not so much fun to be around.  Hot cocoa and snacks in the making.  Twilight soundtrack semi-blaring in the background from my playlist (on the photo blog)- for a pianist, it's really quite motivating and inspirational to me.  Trying to wake up darling girly girl...still.  Not many skirmishes between the testosterone crew, which was a pleasant surprise.  Homework patrol.  Tantrum boy...better...a little.  Carrying armfuls of folded clothes upstairs (and squeezing those glutes at the same time!) Start dinner.  Bill home- yay!!!!!  Help Ethan figure something out on the piano.  Finish up a thank-you basket for the hostess/friend who prepared an entire 3-course delightful meal for all the ladies in Grace Group.  Paint pretties on Isa's fingernails (she calls them handnails- ha!)  Quick game of chase thorugh The Loop.  Dinner on the table- meatloaf, baked sweet potato rounds, steamed baby spinach, milk and wheat rolls.  Yum.  I was so hungry and had a hard time refraining from nibbling while I waited for my own feast at 7:30, which, BTW, seems like forever when you're used to 5:30!  So worth it, though!  It was wonderful to catch up with these special women and hear all that God has been doing in their lives- we've been on Christmas break and won't reconvene for another 2 weeks. Missed Bill, since I was out all evening, and he was in bed by the time I returned at 11pm- too late for me on a school night!  Yawn.

So, that was my day!  I know I missed a few things, but I think I've remembered the important parts. Whew, now I'm tired all over again!  :)

On Sunday, Jonah had a recital and did a wonderful job playing...and waiting.  Many of  the adults who played chose really, really, really long songs, which just made all the children wait and wait.  I'm all for the arts, but c'mon people- just because you can play a 15 minute concerto doesn't mean that you should be playing it at a recital!  I'm just saying...

Way to go, Jonah!

He is actually going to be taking a break from lessons because of his recent behavior- I'll save that for another day.  Sigh.