So, today I think I’ll try to do what this whole thing was designed to be in the first place, a glimpse into our days, a snapshot of a typical, average, nothing special but oh-so-beautiful time in our ever-changing lives. Here goes…
6am – I actually got out of bed before the little boys woke
me up, y’all! This is huge! I showered and made breakfast by myself before they
came down. This involves so much prep the night before, because my brain truly
does not function for about an hour after I first get up, regardless of
caffeine. I have to lay out clothes, ingredients for breakfast, etc.. Success.
7am – We are all eating breakfast, everyone dressed to shoes
except my daughter. I tried a new breakfast cookie recipe this morning. My
oldest son has been grumbling about breakfast foods lately, almost never eating
what I fix and resorting to cereal without milk. Hello? He needs protein. Enter
peanut butter, honey, oatmeal breakfast cookies. They were good but not great.
He ate one. I also tried to make hot chocolate with a new all-natural mix I
bought, because it is so ridiculously cold here for south Texas. Nobody but me
liked the new mix. Even when I add extra sugar. Sigh. Partial success/partial
failure.
8am – Mass. We try to make it to daily Mass once a week,
because one of our homeschool groups meets right after this Mass. (yes, we are
blessed to have more than one homeschool group) I am pleased we were on time, and
we managed to all remain in the pew the entire Mass. Although, I was doubtful
for a while when the four-year-old got the wiggles. Success.
9am – Our homeschool group had a celebration for St. Martin de Tours. About once a month, some of the moms lead a craft/activity session
for a saint. I didn’t know much about St. Martin, but the children made
lanterns out of parchment paper rolled up, decorated with cut-out tissue paper
shapes. Since my children are craft-deprived, they were thrilled. Even my
oldest son, who tends to be really shy at these gatherings since he hasn’t
quite clicked with any of the boys there, enjoyed the project (and the hot
cocoa). Success.
12pm – We actually decided to do our Morning Basket before
lunch even though it was late in the day. I can honestly say this is the first
week that we have done our memory work every single day, and it paid off, y’all!
Usually, I spend two weeks on one “week” of material to ensure they retain at
least some of it, but this week, they mastered most of it. So, we get to move
on next Monday! Success.
2pm – After a later lunch and getting the toddler down for
his nap, we went back to the school room. Since it’s Friday, we really didn’t
have that much to finish up on their new weekly checklists. We corrected some
math pages, did some spelling dictation, worked together on a few other things,
and I read the story of Macbeth from Nesbit’s book for our history studies. At
first, they expressed amazement and dismay that I would read them such a
terrible story, but then, inspired by Deconstructing Penguins, I pressed them
to explain why the story was even written. An inspiring conversation ensued about
Macbeth’s greed for power and unfortunate reliance on witchcraft. My degree is
in English, so this just made my heart soar! Success.
3pm – I had previously planned and explained to the children
that after naptime, we needed to go to the library and stop for a few groceries.
When the time finally came, my daughter dropped her head and declared she felt
too tired and blah to go. My four-year-old declared he wanted to go to sleep, and
my nine-year-old flat out wanted to stay home. Being a wiser mommy than I used
to be and not looking forward to going out in the unusually cold weather, I
declared we were staying home, although I was dismayed to cancel my plan.
Partial failure/partial success.
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| My Miami friends have assured me it is beautiful there! |
5pm – After folding some laundry with me while watching
Pioneer Woman again, my daughter decided she wanted to make dinner. The plan
was potato soup, so I peeled and diced the potatoes and let her do the rest.
That gave me a delightful 30 minutes to answer some email and mostly finish up
my blog post from yesterday. Plus, the soup was super yummy! Success.
7pm – When it was chore time, the children ended up playing
more than cleaning, to the point that there was some running around the kitchen
and up the stairs where the toddler tried to follow and fell (just on the first
step, thanks to his Guardian Angel). So, after a few verbal warnings, I got a
little drill sergeant on them when they didn’t settle down and issued some significant
consequences for tomorrow. I think it sometimes makes me more sad than it makes
them when I take away privileges, though. Everyone finished chores without further
incident and all three boys fell asleep as soon as their heads hit the pillows.
Partial success/partial failure.
10pm – Here I sit, writing blog posts, cruising Facebook,
catching up on my TV crime dramas for the week (How to Get Away with Murder, Bones, and Castle) as I unwind from a full but wonderful week. I had an
earlier snack of chips and guacamole, enjoying these fabulous single serving
cups of guacamole I discovered at Costco. They are going to turn out to be
dangerous! And, I might have made 5 fresh chocolate chip cookies with some
dough I had in the fridge. I ate three, so I probably will have to eat the
other two in order for the children not to discover them and fight over them
tomorrow! Junk food overload. Partial success/partial failure.
And this.
This is my first week of blogging, where I totally understand
why bloggers almost always post the good stuff. It’s the first time that I have
had to examine my days and what I should share. Historically, my posts are not
a scrapbook or chronicle of any sort. Noticing the successes, what’s working, the
things that touched my heart, the fun moments, and the gifts I found in each
day meant that I had to be more aware of these things. And I finally get it. The
complaint that bloggers only post the positive and hide the negative is
constant, but the reality is that writing a blog helps you see the positive and
allow it to overshadow the negative. Kind of like childbirth, maybe?
What successes did
you have today?
Read more Week in My Life posts at Team Whitaker here.
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