Week In My Life: Day 1, Monday
{Once a year, I take time to document my life for a week. I was inspired by the ever-gracious Melissa from Adventuroo. The idea is brilliant, really. I so rarely document the nitty gritty of life and while there’s no way I can do this every month, I can swing it once a year. I hope you enjoy the snapshot as much as I enjoy documenting the good, the bad and everything in between. Read here for day one, two, three, four, five, six and seven.}
Man, what a day.
We woke up early (5:30 in the am) and got moving. A shower, five kids and a husband out the door later and we were all on our way to Houston. It ended up being a six-hour drive, roundtrip, and I was very grateful that Scott was able to join us at the last minute. I definitely could’ve done it solo, but having him along sure made for a fun day.
There’s a super long back story here, but no need to bother y’all with it. Let’s just say the orthopedic surgeon we have assigned to us in Austin is not one we love. And, that’s kindof a requirement for me. If I’m going to trust my kid with you, I really need to either, a) love your bedside manner or b) trust your medical knowledge and your ability to listen to my concerns. I don’t require both, but it’s definitely a bonus.
Our trip to H-town was to investigate a new ortho. He was, um, okay. I’m still not certain it was worth the three-hour drive just for him, but I did take away some valuable pieces of information. Namely, that I need to call and get a new ortho in Austin. Time to pull out the big girl underwear and be an advocate for Luke. Please pray for me because I expect that exchange to be a bit of a dicey one. Sometimes breaking up with a specialist is like a bad middle school breakup. Too much drama. The nurse did crack me up when we got settled in the room. She said, “When I called your name and saw all those kids stand up, I thought they were all yours!” My reply? “They are.” The look on her face was classic.
At any rate, our drive over was hilarious. The kids played some Car Bingo and our quote of the week so far? “Come on, somebody blow a tire!” John Paul was desperate to check off “flat tire” on his bingo sheet. I still feel sorry for the guy on the side of 290 who must’ve noticed the van full of cheering kids pass him by. I promise, sir, it was all in good fun.
After the specialist visit, we stopped by to see a great friend from college. She and I were former next door neighbors in Amarillo and even called one another roommates one summer at A&M. Our husbands were yell leaders together. So, there’s some fun history there. Life’s never too short to hug somebody’s neck. Secily, so great to see you.
After some laughs and hugs, we headed north to see this.
To some, it may look like a beautiful building in the middle of a cow pasture. To us? It was a reminder of this day. Over two years ago, three sweet Nashville Dominican Sisters drove to Austin and we pow-wowed about this very school. Scott was on point for development efforts and I brainstormed with them about the school’s brand identity. Nothing is sweeter than pulling into the parking lot and seeing a Dominican Sister – named Sr. Anna Laura, no less – come running toward your van and begin hugging your kids.
It’s not everyday you get to see some of your graphic design work hung on a wall. Today was especially sweet to see the school’s shield, in the flesh!
I wish this post allowed me to gush for hours about the many details in the school. To walk inside was such an honor. The attention to detail, the touches of Catholicism everywhere, the simple, yet contemporary design – it was all just so awesome. We even got a chance to spend a few quiet moments in the chapel. Sr. John Paul, Sr. Anna Laura and Sr. Mary Albert, you are such gifts to our family. Thank you for taking such a precious hour out of your day to show us all those beautiful details. If you live in north Houston, your kids need to be attending this high school. I’m not even kidding.
May I introduce Anna-Laura, Sr. Anna-Laura, John Paul and Sr. John Paul? I’ll let you figure out who’s named after who.
After a lovely, lovely hour with the Sisters, we were starving. I think it was around 2pm when we finally landed at Chick-Fil-A for lunch. We were hoping for something a little more Houston-ish, but since we were practically crawling our way to the cashier stand, it sufficed.
With lunch behind us, we began the three-hour drive home with what the kids have deemed one of the best parts of the trip.
Buc-ee’s.
Oh, I’m sorry? You’ve never seen one? Y’all, this is like the mother of all convenience stores. As the kids said, “It’s an experience.” We got everyone all Iceed up, walked around in awe and wonder and used the bathroom. Twice. Yes, the bathrooms have been voted America’s best. True story. Just before we checked out, a nice man and his wife engaged in a little small talk with me and the kids. Then, he finally noticed I had kids, shook his head and said, “Dang, that’s a lot of kids.” To add a little more fire to the pile, I patted my stomach and said, “Oh, we’re expecting another!” At that point, I think he ran to the front as fast as possible.
We skated into Austin around 6pm and immediately begin “the routine.” The bigs headed upstairs for showers, Scott began making dinner and I worked on laundry. Figures that we were out of detergent. I whipped up a batch (bonus of making your own) and I finally got smart. For over a year I’ve been hand grating the soap. Lawd. What was I thinking? Enter: the food processor. In five minutes, I had six weeks worth of detergent made, in the container and cleaned up.
We ate dinner, brushed teeth, said prayers and kissed five little people goodnight. We call our prayers the Big 3 (Hail Mary, Guardian Angel and Our Father). That comes from referring to the Big 3 A&M yells. Color us maroon and call us Aggies. Books are usually part of the routine, but after our long day, they’ll have to wait until tomorrow. Scott headed to the gym, while I blogged and then we enjoyed a little calendar check on the couch. We try to check in at the beginning of the week and go over who has to be where. Mostly so we don’t leave someone at HEB. Because that would be embarrassing.
That, is your day one. I know, I’m tired, too.
Feel free to follow along over on my Instagram feed.
Tomorrow, I head to the specialist, plan a surprise and welcome you to our after school crazy. Giddyup.
CALL ME! We must talk. I think I may have found the man for the job today. Why deal with ortho when there’s a good (really good!) work around? And I need the skinny on the soap.
Dear Kathryn,
I’ve enjoyed discovering your gift of writing on and off for a few months now, thanks to links from our mutual friend, Lauren. Over time I realized that we share several mutual friends as well as experiences …from our faith to our alma mater to having a preemie to our opinion on Christmas letters, just to name a few. This evening I went to Pinterest to search for some new ideas to celebrate JPII’s feast day and I was pleasantly surprised to come upon a photo of Fr. Dean –which was linked to Team Whitaker. At that point, I looked around the blog a bit and stumbled on the post about you being old friends with Sister Anna Laura! And now tonight’s post arrives and I read you were at our school today and are the mastermind behind the beloved Frassati shield! This is too much!!! 🙂 While your blog is wonderful, after all these discoveries, I *really* want to meet you in person! If only I had known just a few hours earlier that you would be at Frassati today, I would have invited your family over for lunch. (Even though we love CFA, I promise my cooking would have been better –or at least better for you, and FREE!) 😉 Please let me know if you are ever this way again and would like to meet. Or maybe we’ll see your family in Aggieland one weekend since that’s where most of our mutual friends live. –In the meantime, you and your baby will be in my prayers.
This is crazy!! I just talked to Lauren tonight. I love it when small worlds collide.
Dear Kathryn,
I have been reading your blog for about a year now and on this last post noticed you mentioned the Nashville Dominicans again. Thought I would let you know that my sister is a Nashville Dominican. her name is Sr. Joseph Marie. she is the bursar at the motherhouse so I doubt you have ever met her. I am with you when you say there is something special about those Nashville Dominicans. When the family has visiting days I just love to walk around the building (except the cloistered areas) and the grounds – there is such a peace. My two oldest grandchildren go to St. Henry school where the sisters teach. I am so happy for your new baby news.
God bless you and your family. If you are ever in Nashville (I live in Columbia about 40 miles south of Nashville) I would love to meet you at the motherhouse and introduce you to my sister.
I really enjoy reading your blog and your witness to the faith.
What a fun and busy day you guys had! Can’t wait to read how today goes!
Busy kick-off to the week, but I am sure that’s how it always goes for a family on the go. Good luck on your search for a good ortho. I was so very fortunate to have our pediatrician have one that she recommended, who was deemed fantastic by my and my husband’s standards. I am sure you will find one. From reading your blog for quite a while now, it seems you have a gift for surrounding yourself with wonderful people.
You were like, 10 minutes from my house. If we hadn’t been at our homeschool co-op yesterday, we could have met y’all for lunch. 🙂
And…Frassati is amazing. I’ve heard nothing but good things since it opened. We likely couldn’t ever afford it but God can do anything so…maybe our kids can go there in a few more years.
Just wanted to say that I love you today! Keep up the great blogging.
Jamie
Love you, cousin. You have no idea how much I needed to hear that.
[…] as much as I enjoy documenting the good, the bad and everything in between. Read here for day one, two, three, four, five, six and […]
[…] as much as I enjoy documenting the good, the bad and everything in between. Read here for day one, two, three, four, five, six and […]
[…] as much as I enjoy documenting the good, the bad and everything in between. Read here for day one, two, three, four, five, six and […]
[…] as much as I enjoy documenting the good, the bad and everything in between. Read here for day one, two, three, four, five, six and […]
[…] {Once a year, I take time to document my life for a week. I was inspired by the ever-gracious Melissa from Adventuroo. The idea is brilliant, really. I so rarely document the nitty gritty of life and while there’s no way I can do this every month, I can swing it once a year. I hope you enjoy the snapshot as much as I enjoy documenting the good, the bad and everything in between. Read here for day one, two, three, four, five, six and seven.} […]
[…] {Once a year, I take time to document my life for a week. I was inspired by the ever-gracious Melissa from Adventuroo. The idea is brilliant, really. I so rarely document the nitty gritty of life and while there’s no way I can do this every month, I can swing it once a year. I hope you enjoy the snapshot as much as I enjoy documenting the good, the bad and everything in between. Read here for day one, two, three, four, five, six and seven.} […]
[…] y’all remember my “week in my life” series I’ve done the last couple of years? It looks like Melissa may not be doing it […]
[…] do I even start? You can scan a few of my posts from 2013 and 2012. I chuckle, because the best laid plans for the week always end up getting changed. Life […]