A day in the life: Monday

A bit ago I saw a number of blogs hosting "A day in the life" with pictures and details of a real, down-to-earth day in their home. I'm no photographer *snort* but I guess there was something that really appealed to me about the whole thing just the same. So here's my Day in the Life. Raw, unedited (I mean, other than some cropping and red-eye removal), make-up-less reality.

I was greeted almost first thing with Jackson's wet sheets. He had leaked through last night.




Breakfast for the kids at around 8:30am, after getting everyone ready for the day and starting laundry.




I cleaned up from breakfast.




Then I had a few moments of quiet/reflection/Bible meditation, along with a chance to make my list for the day.




I got Jackson busy with trains and Aubrey with him (or so I thought) and then started Gabriel and Bronwyn on their table work.




I aim to drink 4 of these 34oz water bottles a day, plus whatever I drink at meals. I always drink at least 3, often 3-1/2, and occasionally I actually reach my goal.




Gabriel and Bronwyn were busy with their math/handwriting work and I had a minute to notice that Aubrey was upstairs banging on Gabriel drumset. I brought her back downstairs, only to realize the problem wasn't that the gate hadn't been put up but that she's learned how to use her shoulders to push it aside.




This is one determined girl, let me tell you.




After repeating the above scene 3 times, I brought her down and stuck her in Jackson's booster with a crayon. She pretended to draw, her favorite pasttime, for almost 15 minutes




I did this many times throughout the day (I lose count after a while). I think this picture was taken just before I began our Read Aloud time. (We finished chapter 2 of Five Little Peppers today.)




I got the kids ready to play outside and then I hung some things on the line.




I got to see and hear this.




Bronwyn and Jackson driving their trucks in the yard.




We ate lunch around noon. Rice cakes with peanut butter, mozzarella cheese, and cortland apples.




Daniel stopped and checked some work I had done for him in the morning. Then he was off again for the rest of the afternoon and through the evening (Monday is one of his long days).




Between lunch and naps, I chipped away at the weekend laundry.




After 3 kids were all sleeping and Gabriel was playing nicely (probably around 1:30pm), I started tackling the bushel of apples Laura's (the girl who's living with us) mom brought this weekend when she came to visit. I'm so excited to have these. I peeled and sliced enough apples for 4 freezer bags (each bag has enough apples for an apple pie or an apple crisp) and then an additional 20 cups or so to make a sizeable pot of applesauce today. I still have at least half the bushel left to take care of.




Around 3pm Liana walked Merrick down for some playtime. She read a book to Bronwyn before the kids headed outdoors to play more and we (Laura, Liana, and I) visited a bit.




At 4pm Liana and Merrick left, I put a PBS video on the history of trains from the library on for the kids, and I got back to work. Emptied the dishwasher.




Then I folded the 2 loads of laundry that were finished.




I totally accidentally deleted my Before picture. You might think I'm lying, but I was actually really excited about showing the progress in the kids' room! Oh well. All you get to see is after I re-made Jackson's bed, tided the other beds, picked up what-felt-like 100 miscellaneous clothing and paper items, and dusted.




When I got downstairs from working on the kids' room, this is what I found Aubrey doing. She figured out how to get past the child-latches on the cupboards. What a girl.




I vacuumed, partly because the house needed it and mostly because it would be a chore I could get done while entertaining Aubrey simultaneously (she loves playing "chase" with the vacuum cleaner).




After dinner with the kids and Laura of grilled cheese sandwiches (the kids), leftover chicken pot pie (Laura & I) applesauce, and baby carrots (sorry, I forgot to take pictures), I cleaned up.




I had to take a picture of this because every 10-15 minutes all evening long, I saw this little face and heard a cute two-year-old voice asking, "Help, Mama, help me with Buzz's wing?"




At 6:30pm I brought the kids upstairs and helped them get ready for bed, which took almost 20 minutes (I've yet to figure out how to make these simple processes take less time!).




We came downstairs and read several books together. Then it was up to bed for 3 of them, where I read a couple Bible stories, we prayed together, and I turned out the lights. I returned downstairs to nurse Aubrey and get her down for the night, along with uploading all these photos. I just laid her in her crib. So now I'm going to do some exercise with a Weight Watchers' workout DVD my in-laws gave me for my birthday before I spend some time with a book to unwind for the night.


This seems like a whole lot of pictures and yet it still only manages to catch glimpses of our day. Looking over them all, I realize how rich with love and privileges I am.