I put aside the blogging the last two days of my Week in the Life photo project (and attempt to capture some of the everyday details we often overlook, a concept I ran across on Ali Edwards’ blog) and concentrated on just living life for a couple of days. I think that’s the lesson I am constantly learning/making myself aware of – finding the balance between what I want to do, what I “should” do, and what my body, energy, motivation or emotions are telling me they want to deal with at any given time, when to push past it and when to step back. I think once the intense energy and concentration of taking a lot of photos for an entire week was past I ended up wanting a little breathing room, a day or two to put my focus on other things. So I took the time and let myself get back into a more normal mind-set and now I’m ready to put the journaling and photos together for the final two days of the project before I forget any of the smaller details.
Saturday’s Words and Photos:
“Are you taking a picture of my messy hair?” Of course I was.
I was awake at my usual time (around 6), grabbed breakfast and read for a while. Kaitlyn was up at 7:00 and said she slept great. That must have been true because she easily and eagerly got dressed, fed Gma’s dogs, did her chores (dusting the basement this week) and took Bambi outside to play all before 8:00 AM.
This is how we found the kitchen table this morning. Obviously Tyler had been wearing his cowboy hat while out with Grandpa the night before and had also picked the single tulip from the front berm (I had spotted it yesterday while taking out the garbage and do have a photo of its lonely self). We have tulips in other parts of the yard, but not on that hill and I’m not sure how it got there in the first place.
Dishes. Again. Not many, thank goodness.
Kaitlyn wasn’t the only one with motivation. I cleaned the bathroom then took a shower while Kaitlyn was doing her morning stuff.
She even practiced her piano! (something I often have to remind her about)
This photo also demonstrates the state of her room. She may have a lot of my own habits/leanings but her tolerance for “visual clutter” is all her. She also has a tendency to just drop things thinking she will take care of them later (never does) or come back to use them in a while and doesn’t put them away. Typical kid, I know.
8:00 AM woke up Tyler. I had a hard time getting him moving and had to keep nudging him, plus we had to have a talk about complaining vs having a good day. He really wasn’t on board with my plan to take him with us when I took Kaitlyn to swimming practice.
I took this photo to compare/contrast to Kaitlyn’s room. Sure, Tyler’s room was completely clean but it usually has a lot less clutter than hers and always has. The clothes that were taken off but not put in the basket, the book on the floor, the unmade bed. Tyler has taken to reading for a while after bedtime and I’m ok with that as most mornings he doesn’t seem like he needed more sleep and I don’t have to nag him to get his reading time in.
8:40 AM #carselfie Off and running on this bright #saturday morning (caption from Instagram post)
This is one of my favorite views on the drive to Heber – as you come around that final bend at the top of the hill and the valley opens up before you. Since I was on my 4th trip there this week I figured I may as well stop and get a photo this morning
#mountains
9:25 AM we dropped Kate off at swim practice then took Tyler to the park. That kid never has trouble making friends and b within about 5 seconds of our arrival he had a new buddy and they played happily the whole time we were there. I just sat there reading my book and enjoying the weather thinking “good choice mom” as my debate this morning had been whether or not to bring Ty or leave him home (to spend a couple of hours oh his tablet I’m sure)
#weekinthelife (caption from Instagram post)
10:30 AM #weekinthelife#groceryshopping
This is the face I got when I told him we would not be getting jello at the store. Forget about the fact that I had already agreed to hot dogs and marshmallows for dinner and Transformers fruit snacks (caption from Instagram)
It was after 11:00 when we picked up Kaitlyn so I had Tyler pick out something for lunch while we were at the grocery store. Lunchables with nachos for him, Lunchables with turkey sandwich for her (not one she had tried before but she compliment Tyler on his selection for her), and sushi for me (this has become my standard when I want to grab a quick lunch from the grocery store. I’ve very happy that a couple of my favorite grocery stores have a good selection made in-house). Tyler and I ate our lunch while waiting for Kaitlyn in the parking lot of the pool and Kaitlyn ate hers on the drive home. Kaitlyn was still in a good mood after having a good time at practice.
11:50 AM again taking advantage of the urge to just stop and take a photo we pulled over at the #jordanelleoverlook on the way home. I told the kids#pretendyouratourist and got this pose.#illtakeit
11:55 AM spur of the moment decision to go wander the boardwalk at #rockcliff and see how high the river is. The kids couldn’t remember being there before though I know we did some exploring just last summer.#ministaycation
We wandered around for 30-40 minutes until I started worrying about sunburn and remembered we had groceries in the car. The kids thought it was great so this day definitely goes in the #momwin category
On the way home we stopped at the Rec Center to sign the kids up for Pre-comp swim team then again at the Post Office where Kaitlyn ran inside to get the mail. She likes to get the mail while Tyler prefers to let me do it.
1:30PM The kids helped me put the groceries away then headed out to the back yard to play baseball with Bambi’s help.
The kids played outside, then on screens, then outside, and so on the rest of the afternoon and evening. At the end of the day I realized Kaitlyn was looking a little pink but it was too late at that point. Dad and I insisted she put on some aloe but though the sunburn was obvious it didn’t hurt her at all that night or the next day – got lucky with that one.
I would have to say this was the best day of the week – beautiful weather, happy kids, enough to keep us entertained but a slow enough pace to feel relaxed and easy. This may have been the day I took the largest number of photos as well – so many things to document and enjoy. I love Saturdays.
The day in numbers:
-total photos taken: 99 with my phone and 55 with the DSLR
-6782 steps taken
-53 miles driven
If you’ve missed any of my earlier Week in the Life posts feel free to check them out or follow me on Instagram as I’ve been posting photos as I go along this week.
-2016 – Monday’s Words and Photos
-2016 – Tuesday’s Words and Photos
-2016 – Wednesday’s Words and Photos
-2016 – Thursday’s Words and Photos
-2016 – Friday’s Words and Photos
-2015 – Main Post with links to Words and Photos for each day
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