A day in the life

We were overdue for a day in the life post.  So fun looking back on previous posts and thinking about my days in different seasons of parenting. Here's one from 2011 and here's one from 2012.

Here goes... a day in the life 20-15.

My day started bright and early! 5:00 - up to meet my friend Colleen for a morning run.  I always thought she was so crazy going running so early and in such cold weather.  But I gave it a try and now I'm hooked.  Love starting my day this way!

6:15 am - run and shower done.  Time for coffee + Bible before the kids are up!

7:00 - Girls are up and eating breakfast.  Charlie was up about 15 mins later.

Daddy had to shovel some snow... at least the kids were entertained!

7:45 - Goodbye to Justin and Claire!  He took Claire to school on his way to work. 

8:45 - We stopped over at a friend's house for a little while.  Charlie loves their dog!

10:00 - Dropping Emma and her buddy Leo off at school!

11:00 - Charlie took an usually early nap today.  I put him down and began tackling all that is involved in The Running of the Household... paying bills, scheduling appointments, filling out preschool registration for next year... all while drinking another cup of coffee.  Because caffeine.  

                    

12:00- I ate a quick lunch and read a few pages of my book.  

    

1:00 - Prepping food for dinner!  A few minutes later, Charlie was up from his nap and Emma was home from school!

                        

 

2:00 - Rocking the carpool.  Today was my turn to pick up!

3:00 - It was warm enough to play outside today, so the girls couldn't get out there fast enough!

Charlie banged on the window and watched longingly.

4:00 - Mommy gave in to Charlie's grunts and pleas and we headed out to join the fun!

5:00 - Dinner time!  Tonight we had Paprika Chicken, roasted potatoes, and kale and spinach salad.

6:00 - Bathtime and bed shortly after for this kiddo!

7:00 - Reading with the girls... bedtime was soon after.

After the kids were in bed and the kitchen was cleaned up, Justin and I collapsed on the couch after a long day.  

Our life is busy and full and sometimes feels monotonous, but there are so many precious moments packed into these sacred hours.  Thankful for each one.

Note to my Future Self

Dear Self,

When you are old and your children are all grown, please please pleeeease don't forget what it's like to be in the middle of a crowded grocery store check out line with a tantruming toddler.  Whatever you do, do NOT give dirty looks to the mother or pass one bit of judgement on her. And seriously.. don't lecture her or her children for crying out loud!  Do not demand that her two year old look at you while you explain to said two year old that 'you need to use your words to make it in this world, kid.'  Remember the days when YOU were that mother... hands full, exhausted, trying to make it through the morning.  Instead of spreading judgement, disgust, or annoyance, spread love.  Pat that mama on the back and remind her that we've all been there.  Give her a smile. Tell her she's a good mama and she's doing a good job.  Pay for her groceries.  Walk with her to her car and help her unload.  Do something to ease her stress just a little bit.  Your reaction to her situation will either make or break her day.  

Sincerely,

Your old self, who is in the throes of toddlers and tantrums and grocery store nightmares

One of those Days...

My sweet two-year-old has turned into quite the little pistol lately.  She's so spunky and has so much personality and can be oh-so-fun.  But she can also be oh-so-naughty!  Last week I had 'one of those days' with her...

Our friends invited us to swim in their neighborhood pool.  It was the first swim of the summer and the girls were super excited.  I got them in their swimsuits and we headed towards the pool.  As soon as Emma saw the pool, she took off.  No floaty on yet.  No restrain.  Just ran full speed towards the pool and JUMPED in!  Well, Emma doesn't know how to swim so I had to jump in after her and rescue her.  We had a long discussion about never going in the pool without a floaty on after that... goodness, the girl almost gave me a heart attack!

After I recovered from that, we ended up having a fun couple hours of swimming.  When we were done, we went to our friends' house to change back into our clothes before heading home.  As soon as I started taking Emma's swimsuit off, chunks of nasty poop started falling out everywhere.  I realized she had pooped in her swimsuit and she was covered.  It was DISGUSTING.  I had to throw her in my friend's tub and clean up... yuck!

Once we were finally heading home, I decided to make a stop at McDonalds for a treat.  I remembered that their blueberry pomegranate smoothies were just $1 each that day and since I rarely treat them to things like that, I decided to do something special.  I went through the drive thru and got three smoothies.  Claire was thrilled with the treat, recognizing how rare and special it was.  After giving Claire hers, I handed Emma her smoothie.  She instantly CHUCKED it across the van.  Her FULL, PURPLE smoothie was now covering my van.  EMMMMMAA!!!!

Needless to say, by the time Justin got home I was DONE!  And Emma was in bed by about 6:15 that night.  It was one of those days!

Blogger Fail

I've been a terrible blogger lately! We've been super duper busy - between Justin and I, either one or both of us was gone every weekend for five weekends in a row... insane, right?  We traveled to Illinois, Florida, and I traveled to Arizona during that time.  We put a contract on a house.  We are deep into our weekly Perspectives course and homework.  (Yes, homework.  I haven't had that for 9 years.  I don't miss college.  But the readings are amazing.)  We lead a weekly small group.  I started packing (again).  We've been selling & getting rid of stuff like crazy (how is it possible to accumulate so.much.stuff??).  I joined a group of women embarking on our own 7 experience. So yeah, it's been busy.

Hopefully things will settle down soon and I'll have more time to blog!  Oh and P.S. Spring is here!  We've also been enjoying the warmer temps, sunny days, and blooming flowers!

A day in the Life

I was recently looking back on my blog and came across this post.  I decided it would be fun to do it again, a year later.

So, here ya go... a day in the life!

Mama, Daddy, & Claire were all awake and getting started on the day..

First step is coffee!

Claire said bye to Daddy.

And Mama did too!

Emma had gotten up and the girls had eaten their breakfast.

I was listening to worship music while cleaning up the kitchen (leftover dishes from last night's dinner. oops!)

Emma decided to feed Sadie.

Mama was getting ready.

I found the girls looking at some pictures of Emma they found in their room.

We were at a friend's house for playgroup... a few minutes late on this one!

Mamas hanging out and kiddos playing.

Still at playgroup...

Lots more kiddos & mamas here now!

Claire and Lilly were busy dressing up.

Back home and time for lunch.

Mac & cheese and oranges.

Yummo.

Emma was having a tantrum...

so that meant it was naptime!

My no-more-naps girl doing her 'rest time' in the playroom.

Mama having an afternoon cup of coffee and doing a little reading.

Rest time was over by now.

Claire and I were working on our Countdown until Nana & Papa get Here Chain! Yay.. 10 days!!

Someone woke up!

It was a beautiful 74 degree day so we walked to our neighborhood park.

Playtime!

The witching hour begins!  And Daddy had a work dinner tonight so Mama was on her own.

Finishing up dinner..

Claire was having her typical late-afternoon-exhausted-because-she-refuses-to-nap breakdown.

Bathtime

Reading books in Emma's bed

Silly girls ready for bed.  Goodnight!!

So there you have it!  A fairly typical day in the life.  It certainly isn't all rainbows and butterflies everyday... but I've been asking God to continue to give me perspective on each day and remember that though the days can seem oh-so-long, the years are short.