Week in My Life: Day 3, Wednesday
{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.}
Today was a definite improvement over yesterday. I think.
Last night I told Scott I wasn’t setting my alarm. We cracked up at that since we have five little alarm clocks that woke us both up this morning. Such is life. Scott and I were both so wiped out yesterday that our usual “get things ready the night before” – um, didn’t. He was on point for breakfast and fixing lunches, while I got kids moving and began tackling laundry.
The beauty of having a sick kid is it causes you to slow down. That’s exactly what we did. After the bigs headed off to school, Luke and I just chilled. We both watched some TV, waited for the trash truck to arrive, played cars and – wait for it – folded more laundry. It was pretty awesome folding it in my pjs, though. Oh, you can find those Bento lunchboxes from PBKids. We’ve been on a “reduce our carbon footprint” kick and these have been keepers for the last three years.
Just before lunch, we headed to see my OB/GYN. We had a small scare yesterday, but all is well. The ultrasound showed a busy, healthy baby with a great heartbeat and growth right on target. The highlight for Luke was pushing the elevator buttons. My OB and her nurse even had a chance to meet Luke for the first time. Because he was born premature, another OB at another hospital ended up delivering him. I still can’t believe it’s taken me four years to introduce Luke to my OB. She’s a rockstar and I just love her and the entire office staff. Good thing, because I’m going to be seeing a lot of her over the next few months!
On the drive home I noticed how beautiful it was outside. On a whim, I scooped up Luke, a blanket and our lunch and we enjoyed a nice little picnic in the backyard. We haven’t done that in forever. The birds were chirping, the neighbors had their water feature turned on and I enjoyed listen to Luke chatter. It was one of those “good mom moments” we all need from time to time. I think He knew I needed it today. It was a wee bit bright when I snapped this. Sorry, Luke!
Luke headed off to bed while I folded the LAST of the eight bazillion loads of laundry. This is what happens when I miss a Monday to do it all! I must share the best invention – ever. It’s too bad the Container Store doesn’t pay me for all this PR, but I love them so much I don’t care. This shirt folder (comes in large and small for kids/adults) has completely changed how we do laundry around Team Whitaker. At the risk of sounding like an infomerical – trust me when I tell you that this thing is awesome. In less than four minutes I folded 15 of the kids’ shirts. We no longer stack them vertically, but horizontally instead. The boys can see all their shirts at a glance and no more tumbling towers of t-shirts. John Paul is known as the “t-shirt Master” and loves to be on point to fold. He’s going to be so sad I did it for him today. True story.
The rest of the afternoon was filled with a client call, client work, blogging and a caffeine-free Dr Pepper. I even cranked a little Breaking Dawn soundtrack on iTunes. Hey, don’t judge. The last movie may have stunk eggs, but the music is pretty fabulous.
Before I knew it, I was in carline, shuttling kids home for homework, chores, music practice, snacks and a little sibling *love.* It just wouldn’t be our house if someone didn’t antagonize a sibling. Welcome to life with many children. The kids put up their laundry. That’s a rule around here: I wash it and fold it, you put it up. I’m a big believer in making kids independent, thus the reason we redesigned their closets to be more functional, for us and them, and why we use chore charts that are interactive.
Then began the great kid shuffle. Sorry, no pictures of this, I was too busy driving! Will got dropped off at Extreme Math, Anna-Laura at a neighbor’s house for carpool to soccer and then I picked up a friend of John Paul’s and took them both to another soccer field. We arrived home long enough for me to get dinner going and for Luke and Clare to play a bit upstairs. As I was putting things in the oven, I checked my phone and saw I was ten minutes late to get Will.
Oops. I forgot a kid. Parenting win! And, as I was loading Luke in the carseat, I realized the last time I changed his diaper was noon. Looks like I have that “mom of the year” award, All. Wrapped. Up.
We grabbed Will and then headed back to the house to finish dinner and homework while Scott pulled in the driveway with Anna-Laura. A few minutes later, the table was set (compliments of Clare) and dinner was ready. Tonight was Upside Down Pizza. If you’re looking for the best cookbook you’ll ever own, may I recommend Easy Weeknight Favorites from Southern Living? You can get it for dirt cheap on Amazon.
Every night we rotate who’s on dinner duty for setting the table and unloading/loading the dishwasher. Clare rocked it tonight. The best was when she began taking everyone’s plates to the table and exclaimed, “Oh, I’m gonna LOVE dinner tonight.” We went around the table for our usual “best” and “worst” of the day and John Paul arrived home via a friend just as we were eating dessert. That’s not an everyday occurrence but they were left over from Scott’s birthday this weekend.
I washed dishes. Scott made lunches and kids headed to showers. It was a bit of a rocky go with Anna-Laura tonight. She wanted Scott, not me. Oh the drama of a an eight-year-old girl. My mom tells me I was a carbon copy. After some kisses, hugs and a story about Saint Benedict, everyone finally got some shuteye. Scott made it to the gym for the fourth night in a row (so proud of him!) while I finished this post and wrapped up some client work.
Here, Clare is asking me, “Mom for my birthday {it’s in June} can I have THESE cupcakes? Six of them, please.” I’m on it, pretty girl. Olga, did you hear that?
Day three, in the books!
Tomorrow, Scott and I enjoy a DATE, hear a little music and I enjoy a little girlfriend time. The party continues over on Instagram!
I am loving this glimpse into your life. So I am gathering that things don’t slow down when the kids get older. . . But, on the bright side, I have the Flip Fold for laundry and it is AMAZING! I love to use it for packing!
Oh my goodness, I hope you’re planning Clare’s birthday already! My son’s is in three weeks and I’m starting to get nervous as he continues to add to the wish list for what the party will include. Love the daily posting!
Tee hee I love it when kids say stuff like that about their birthdays so far ahead. So sweet! Those Bento lunchboxes look great. Enjoy your girlfriend time today – and your date with your gym-fit man! Lucinda
I have really enjoyed this series! I guess it satisfies the inner nosy girl in me!
I love Diet Dr. Pepper but alas, since I am pregnant, I have stopped drinking it. I broke down last week and bought a two liter of regular caffeine free Dr. Pepper. Not quite the same but it satisfied my DDP cravings!
Beth, they make a caffeine free Diet Dr Pepper! http://www.drpepper.com/products/#caffeinefreedietdrpepper I hope your grocery carries it – maybe it will satisfy the craving from time to time.
You keep blowing me away! I think I have to have a nap now! Love those folding thingees… I’ll have to look for those for my daughter-in-law (7 kids)!
So glad your OB visit was good!!!!
God bless!
V
What a full day! I love your chore charts and your kitchen. 🙂
Kathryn, I’m curious…are you going to do 7 Quick Takes Friday AND a WIML post? I don’t think I can do both, but I can’t decide which not to do tomorrow. Maybe I’ll do a very brief 7QT.
I just found your blog via another catholic blog, and love it! You’re such an inspiration :). I just had our fourth baby and am feeling the crunch but you lift me up!! Love your sense of humor too!
Welcome to the blog, Michelle. My kids think I have zero sense of humor – good to know someone thinks I’m funny!
1. Okay, you sold me on the laundry folding thing-a-ma-jig. The only constant in my days so far this week has been laundry.
2. I totally agree — the Breaking Dawn soundtrack is pretty great but the movie was awful.
Oh the laundry… We do a total of about 8 loads per week, so I can imagine you do more than that. I don’t have one of those folding contraptions, but we also put everything away like you do. Seriously one of the best decisions I have made for organizing!
Glad to hear you (and baby) are well, sounds like Luke is on the mend, and you are in store for a date today. Enjoy!
I’m curious about your kid shuffle… how do you arrange carpooling to various kid sporting and other extra-curricular events?
Nicole, that’s probably a future HDYDI post! I’ll add it to my queue for November. Stay tuned!
Love it! I only have two kids, and it already seems like a tricky balance.
And you can count on my staying tuned 🙂
Wow you are organized. I need some of that organization mojo. Also, I didn’t know they made Caffeine-free Dr. Pepper?!
I have two young ones and fantasize about the day when they can go shower or load the dishwasher themselves after dinner (or both!).
I love the idea of the Bento box, but do you end up hand washing them every night? Or do you put in the DW and do a run each night? (That might sound like a stupid question since you are generating the same number of dishes in a day that I generate in three days, but bear with me, I’m an amatuer!)
Thank you again for a fun read!
Karen, it’s taken us a while to get to the independent shower/dishwasher stage. It is awesome!
I rinse out the Bento boxes with water when they get home from school every afternoon, M-Th. If they’re really dirty, I might throw a little soap in there. I run them through the dishwasher on Fridays, let them air dry and then store until Monday. Hope that helps!
Yes! That is my philosophy too “committed but lazy” so it has to be manageable (this coming someone who uses cloth diapers!) Thanks for the tip!
Lunchbox Question – do the compartments keep the food from leaking into other compartments? or do these really work best with very solid foods (if that makes sense?!?) Thanks!
Cristina, the boxes do a pretty good job of keeping like things from leaking. I try to put the juicy fruits in the closet compartment, like pineapples. But, it’s not sealed shut, so you may have some leakage. We’ve found that putting the crunchy items in the far right or the compartment just below the closed one works best.
Can I just tell you how much I adore the picture of you washing dishes while your daughter asks about the cupcakes? That’s the essence of this week– getting pictures of everyday moments like that!
Also, we use the EasyLunchboxes and put them into Lands’ End lunch boxes since those are one of the few they fit in. Those bento-style boxes make lunch packing SOOOO much easier!
[…] 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.} […]
[…] 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.} […]
[…] 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.} […]