Week in the Life 2016 - Sunday

Sundays lately have been Sabbath days - a day for sitting by the fire, crafting, kids playing and going to the North Clackamas Aquatic Park.

 Boss is officially my most snuggly kid (Sis is a close second). Boss will invade a lap even if there is no room and a person is asleep.

I caught rare moment of Samuel and Sis with arms around each other. Normally they spend their hours together annoying each other. I'm so glad I captured this moment on camera because it may never happen again.

 My kids burn at least two hours every Sunday at the Aquatic Park. Jim gifted us a 3 month pass and we love to use it. The kids currently enjoy the slides the most - although Boss is too small so he stays in the kiddie area and enjoys when I watch him. He's always so happy when the kids come back from the slides to play with him.

This giggling picture of Sis is literally how she is all the time. She's so happy. I tell Colin all the time that she literally lives in a world of unicorns and lollipops. She is untouched by the world.

 When I ask to take a picture of Boss, he covers himself in limbs.

 Sis has taken up sewing. I've recently gotten both machines serviced. Currently she is sewing on Grandma Mary's old Bernina.

 Boss is never happier than when he's in the pool.


Jude captured a picture of what I do best - order and drink coffee from Peete's. This is the best coffee shop around. The people are friendly and the coffee is absolutely amazing. I always carry a bit of guilt about paying for coffee drinks, but it's also part of my sanity for this season of life. In this picture I'm still wearing my nursery volunteer tag as I helped with the babies at church this  morning. I love doing it. It helps me get my baby fix and not beg Colin to adopt a baby girl.


Meals: Breakfast: eggs, oatmeal, doughnut at church; lunch: salad, sandwiches and veggies; dinner: salad and pasta fagioli soup.


Overheard: Jude: "Even if the boarding school had a million Millennium Falcons, I still wouldn't want to go there."

Week in the Life 2016 - Saturday

Saturday is usually church and kid play day. Today was no exception.

 You can tell that I'm fresh off a run, red faced, making Boss and Sis their quick cooking steel cut oats.

 This is Boss' face pretty much any time I stop his playing time.

 Jude and Boss play in Jude's horrifyingly messy room. Jude loves his messy room because he can see everything.

 Laundry. Always laundry. Currently the kids fold and put their own clothes away, which makes my job easier. How neatly their clothes are put away is another question...

 I picked Samuel up from the junior high space at church - I know he loves having pictures taken in front of his friends. He loves going to junior high here at church - he volunteers, he asks questions, he plays games.

 It was Samuel's night to help with the Christmas shoeboxes  (Samaritan's Purse) at church.

 Samuel also volunteers at church on Saturday nights in the grade school room. Here he is helping with prize booth night.

 It is so rainy today.

 After Mom died, I felt so incredibly unorganized, so Tami created these chore charts for my kids. They have been lifesaving. The kids get paid every two weeks for these chores.

 I love to get pictures of Sis waking up. Here she is cocooned in her blanket from naptime.

 Sis loves her tuck in and prayer time at night.

 Sis is always in charge of pouring elderberry and giving it to the kids. Elderberry gets us through the winter cold and flu season.

Meals: Breakfast: eggs, oatmeal, toast; lunch: soup, salad; dinner: sandwiches in van before church.


Observations: I'm a better person because I have kids. I'm at church more, listen to Christian music and want to be a good role model.


Overheard: Samuel: "Eli! You should get my haircut."
Eli: "No."
Samuel: "Why not?"
Eli: "Because I don't like it. No offense."


Gratitude: Thankful for a wonderful church family and energy to run over 6 miles today.


Favorite moment: Boss giving me a huge hug after bedtime.

Week in the Life 2016 - Friday

Friday was a crazy busy day. A day of cookie dough deliveries to New Seasons and family over here to celebrate Eden's belated 7th birthday.

 Colin and Samuel love checking things on the iPad. Sports, research on various things, etc.,.

 My delivery days are sporadic, they are put last on my list after domestic chores and today ended up being 4 stores in East Portland. I came home around 2ish in the afternoon.

 Syd often plays by herself at our house - I think maybe all the kids overwhelm her. Here she is playing with toys in front of her dad and the fire.

 This is the verse that's currently up on our school board. I wish I was better about making Bible first in the school day, but we usually just dive into math or language arts because I feel like we are so behind on academia and they get lots of Bible at church 2x per week.

 Joel and my dad - usually talking about weapons.

 Samuel and Uncle Joel - of course Samuel says, "Mom! Really??" He doesn't love my massive photo documenting this week.

Our family gathered around for dinner together. I see a lot of mess. I also see a very happy Jude. These days as I stress about our messy house, I have to remember that the kids are happy and maybe that's all that matters in this season of life.

 I lined the boys up against the hallway and had them pose for a picture. They are such goofballs.

 Jude and Boss are thick as thieves - best friends.

 Having a preteen (Samuel) in the house means he likes to annoy me and he also consumes massive amounts of calories. Both are happening in this picture.

 When I ask Boss to do something responsible, he usually hides in some manner.

 Sis and her cousins - it's some of the most quality girl time she has. Period.

Leftovers. I always send Joel and my dad home with leftovers these days. Mom always used to cook for my dad, so I assume that homemade food is a blessing.


Meals: 2 eggs, peanut butter toast, decaf coffee
Lunch: New Seasons turkey cranberry sandwich
Dinner: Slow cooker pasta fagioli soup, bread/butter, pumpkin cupcakes and pumpkin ice cream.


Overheard: In Peete's Coffee people were talking about "slave state" votes. I'm tired of politics already. Wasn't slavery abolished a long time ago?


Boss: "I got to watch Ghostbusters and listen to a butt song in Eugene!"
Me: "What happens in Eugene, stays in Eugene."


Gratitude: Thankful for a husband that provides a household and food for our company.


Favorite moment: Samuel and Joel playing their usual game of baseball and Xbox.

Week in the Life 2016 - Thursday

Thursday was super chill. Colin worked and kids were gone (boys in Eugene and Sis at her cousins still). I always feel like there are 10,000 things I could be doing while my family is gone, but this time I just ended up working mostly on this Week in the Life project, to stay caught up. Normally I would probably start on my Christmas sewing wth a stretch of time to myself.

Today I knew I was meeting Sarah for Bikram yoga, so I had to get at least 64 ounces of water in me. 

I spent time at Peete's coffee doing photo editing and uploading blog posts for this project. I grabbed a turkey cranberry sandwich from New Seasons and had a decaf almond milk latte from Peete's. I try not to splurge on coffee out too much, but this day was about not stressing about normal stuff.

My shoes before I run - I actually managed a sub-9 minute run today (4 miles). That's a record for me. I think it was the mixture of hydration, carbs and rest that helped.

Post run I sit and chill on the couch and check out email and Instagram.

I talk to a friend on the phone for an HOUR. I don't really talk on the phone much at all (I love texting), but it was refreshing to work through some things with her.

These mint chocolate chip RX bars are like crack - I like to justify that they are high protein, but they are high sugar too, so I really shouldn't eat them.

Dishes. Always dishes. So many fewer dishes, though, when the family isn't around. I don't have to constantly keep the dishwasher open like I do when kids are home.

George. He is old as dirt - almost 13. Like my dad would say, he's "farting dust". The kids love him - he's still spry when it comes to fetching the ball, but the majority of the time he sleeps. He's been such a good and gentle dog for this family.

Groceries. I made a 8 p.m. run to Trader Joe's and Winco to get supplies to make pasta fagioli soup in the crockpot for the family gathering at our house Friday night. Being out by myself on 82nd at night probably isn't the safest thing ever, but I managed to escape with my life. I also noted that I spent a lot of money and probably overestimated how much food to prepare. I am always scared there won't be enough to feed the crowd, and then I always end up having leftovers.

Today I eat breakfast and peruse Facebook. Massive mistake. Facebook is littered with hateful responses to the President Elect, Donald Trump.

Every other Thursday, I got to the bank and get cash for our envelope system. We've been doing this system and it seems to work fairly well. Well, Colin is really good about it, anyway. Kids get chore money on these Thursdays as well.

Ahh - Bikram yoga. A friend got me hooked on it and I roped Sarah into coming as well. It feels so good to disconnect from society and dump loads of toxins. This particular evening, a very obviously anorexic girl complained of being cold in the studio. It's 105 degrees in there.

I've learned that you wear Birks to yoga class. I'm just trying to blend into the hippie crowd.

Observations: Sub 9 minute run today - so hard!
Overheard: Me: "That's so romantic. Sharing tobacco with your partner." (as we watch our latest favorite show "The Killing").
Gratitude: Thankful for time alone with Colin. Thankful for happy kids.
Favorite moment: Peaceful time in Peete's accomplishing blog and photo editing.