Week in My Life 2014: Monday
Welcome to Week in My Life! Scroll on down to the bottom for today’s linky!
Mondays just never disappoint, do they? Let’s see, mine involved a yelling nun, a near fire and a screaming baby.
Fun times.
Let’s take it from the top. Disclaimer: most of these are iPhone photos today. Too much crazy, not enough time.
It was a looooong night. Gianna has a small cold and was up half the night. Which really means? I said a lot of prayers for you people. We were up and at ’em way earlier than I would’ve liked, but it was eighth grade photo day. I’m the school class gala project coordinator (because I clearly have a problem saying no) and it was my bright idea to take a photo with 48 eighth graders, with Gianna and Luke tagging along. Before we departed, Luke looks at me and says, in an exasperated tone, “Will these photos take forever?” When I replied, “Nope!”, he actually believed me.
Designing the class t-shirts was fun and I *think* the kids liked them.
Just about the moment when I thought I might lose my cool with all those teenagers, I see a nun out of the corner of my eye. Sr. Maria Fatima to the rescue! Never underestimate the power of these words, spoken from a Sister in a habit:
If you’re talking, you’re not listening.
God love her and oh how I wish I had pulled out my phone to snap that photo! We were able to get all the photos taken (h/t to my friend Stacy for doing them!) and I got Luke off to school, just a tad late. Poor Gianna had had it and she conked out in the backseat. Just enough time for me to run two critical errands (hair and makeup purchases) before looking down and seeing a text from Scott that read, “Lunch?” I couldn’t drive there fast enough.
Scott and I met at a family favorite, Moonies, for burgers, sweet potato fries and some facetime. The real kind. We do this a few times a month and it’s never planned. It’s always a random text from one of us and I absolutely love it. Plus, he always knows to get me sweet tea. That man is a keeper, y’all. May I add that he’s also worked his tail off and lost 20 pounds since this summer? Proud wife.
After lunch, we hopped in the van to get Luke from school and it was quick ride home to get the littles down for a nap.
HA. Luke went down like a champ. Gianna? Notsomuch. After four attempts I finally got her settled and sleeping. Am I still swaddling her? Yes. Should I be? Probably not. I figure that’s next week’s problems. I’m full up this week. At least she’s not in the swing anymore!
With the teeny bit of time I had left, I attempted to crank out some client work which was somewhat successful. But, come school dismissal time, I have to hang up my graphic designer hat and get geared up for “let’s all cry about homework” hat. It’s great fun. Oh, and did I mention that I was single parenting this evening? I really abhor those nights, but they don’t happen too often so I need to put my complaining in check.
I was able to keep Gianna asleep and leave the bigs at home while Clare and I ran a quick errand to the bank. My brain actually remembered the holiday tomorrow and a closed bank I could not do. We came home just in time to hear Luke watching TV and Gianna screaming. I tell ya, my timing is impeccable. We have a no screen time during the week rule, so off the TV went, back to homework for the bigs and I settled in on the couch to nurse. Pretty much my life, repeat 3,000 times.
All that went well. And by well, I mean I would rather have my toenails removed, without painkillers, one by one. The homework stations around our house need some major revamping and it is high, high, HIGH on the priority list this Christmas. We always take on a project during the break and getting those in order is the one we’re tackling. There were chores, diaper changing, science fair project idea searching, test studying and a fair amount of sibling “love” going on around these parts.
At one point, Gianna and I hid in the bathroom. A kid found us less than a minute later.
It was a this-must-go dinner tonight. The fridge had some serious leftovers. Everyone left the table happy, except maybe Will. “Are we having dessert?” he asked. “Because there’s like three boxes of Blue Bell chocolate bars in the freezer. Just putting that out there.” Thanks honey. But, no. We did our usual “best” and “worst” of the day, with Luke talking in a sweet voice to tell us Gianna’s best and worsts. It’s absolutely adorable. Oh and did I mention that I almost caught the kitchen on fire? That’s what happens when you put a tortilla on the gas burner and turn around to discipline a kid. Note to self: don’t do that again.
May I take a moment to tell you how much I love this photo, taken by Anna-Laura? It’s such a microcosm of our life. Me, changing the cloth diaper (which I love). Luke’s angel from school sharing what he did to fill up someone’s “happy bucket.” The chore chart that is completely blank and the school chore checklist that is also blank. A sweet photo of Mary and her daughter Courtney for whom we pray for often. And my sweet owl dish towels in the background. So much love and work and prayer goes on in that kitchen. It may look like a tornado, but that’s life, right?
Okay, back to the night.
I doled out responsibilities for everyone: Will on table/kitchen duty, John Paul on shower duty, Anna-Laura on brush Luke’s teeth and put him to bed duty and Clare on go to bed duty while I nursed Gianna and put her to bed. Aaaand, one hour later, she was still fussing. I came out of the bedroom a few times to direct the cruise ship and shuffle people back to their assignments. By 8:45 I was whipped. Figures that she goes to bed just as soon as Scott walks in the door. He and Will talked Fantasy Football while I worked, washed a load of diapers and finished up the blog post. I’m pretty sure day one won’t be over until the wee hours…
Tomorrow, I put on my teacher hat and partake in a little Iron Chef. I also pledge to take out the real camera and capture life. Can’t wait to hear about your day! If you’re on the ‘gram, don’t forget to hashtag it, #weekinmylife14
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I literally sat here moaning and complaining about my day being insane and crazy with too many expectations, while your page was loading. I am a working mom of ONE three year old, and lucky enough to have an awesome hubby too….
I am officially shutting my yap, and as soon as I have finished typing this, I am downing my chocolate cookies latte and getting back to work.
Just looking at all you got done in one day makes me hang my head in shame, and you are now officially my new super hero. You are one awesome lady! And apparently an excellent juggler too 🙂 Good luck with Iron Chef today … (tomorrow for you, I am in South Africa so about 8 hours difference).
Regards, Kammi
Do no such thing! We all have our own version of busy, nobody wins that contest. Working moms have a special place in my heart. Y’all do so much!
Ha! I feel like Kammi above – I complain about being too busy to actually eat with one baby while you’re juggling all THAT! You really are one power mom – amazing!
Love your photos! So very real. I’ll have to figure out a way to jump into a few myself this week. I love your spontaneous lunches with your husband. Thank you for hosting!
I love the idea of lunch with your husband. How fun that it worked out!
So nice to have a mid-day lunch date with your husband. And I say: swaddle as long as you possible can!
You accomplish so much in one day — it was fun following along with you.
[…] I am looking forward to a great week! If you want to join in the fun, head over to Team Whitaker and link up! […]
Thanks for picking this up! I was hoping to jump in this year after years of doing it half-way. Looking forward to it!
Love reading these posts… Wish I wouldn’t written one yesterday. My day is a whirlwind too, topped off with a six-year-old running up to me – in the playroom at church (with a bunch of littles and babies crawling around) with his hand over his mouth. He proceeded to projectile vomit EVERYWHERE. Oh my… I was really needing a margarita last night but never got one! Logging off to get back to mach speed here!!!
Ah, Gianna is so cute! Also, I so wanted to get that dress for Maria but they didn’t have it in a good size for her 🙁
I hope your Tuesday is less crazy!
I got a picture of Sr. Maria Fatima getting all her ducks in a row. I will email it to you. She’s my new hero! I need her to come live with me. It was obvious all the kids liked and respected her, but they knew not to test her, too. I was in awe!
I need her to come live with me, too 😉
My husband and I do the same thing for lunch! We have a couple of favorite lunch spots and we usually decide that morning that we will meet. They are my favorite dates and sometimes we have some of our best conversations. Thanks for this link-up, I am going to try my best to post everyday. You have a beautiful family!
Thank you 🙂 Glad you’re here!
So fun to see how your day takes shape! You are amazingly productive! I love seeing how a mom of 6 would handle things 🙂 Gives me hope!
So much fun to read. It sounds more exciting and yet laid back when it’s not your own near kitchen fire, fussy baby and having to hide in the bathroom only to be found.
[…] I am looking forward to doing documenting our boring life. In the past I have attempted writing posts like this that never get published and it had been so much fun and catch a glimpse into what life was like at the time. A big thank you to Kathryn at Team Whitaker for hosting. […]
Oh, Kathryn, I just love this link up, but I CANNOT participate, I mean CANNOT!! How do you gals do it?? Everyone is sick in our house (Joey has a cold, too!) and my head is just spinning trying to keep everyone alive. Who wants to see a day in the life of snot and hacking and fevers? EW!! The computer keys are cold, ice cold. I’m not sure I even have any readers left! But, I do love catching up on everyone else’s business while I nurse Joey ;). I love your spontaneous date idea. NEED TO DO THAT SO VERY MUCH. XO Hang in there, sister! You inspire me every single day!!
Barely functioning over here, Susan. I think this is the busiest we’ve ever been during the fall season. The finish line is in sight! And I am SO sad to hear your gang is sick. Those are rough weeks on mamas. The lunch dates are pretty much the greatest things ever.
[…] over at Team Whitaker is hosting Week in My Life 2014. The point is to record a week with all the joys and bumps along […]
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[…] Week in My Life! I originally started this back in 2013. And, I’ve done it every year since (2014 and 2015), except last year. I think that’s when the crazy hopper was on full […]