Week in the Life: Sunday

Sundays are usually appropriately named Grandma Sunday, as Mason usually gets picked up by my Mom around 11am and they do their thing till she drops him back off around 6:30/7pm. It's a sweet deal for us. Recently I have been thinking to alternate weeks so Sophia can have a chance to spend time with Grandma too. Especially since she loved it so much the week Mason was sick. However, Saturday night we got a call from Grandma. She has pink eye and a raging fever. Of course Mason was devastated and well that meant we had to deal with both kids all day. Ugh. I think we all look forward to Grandma Sundays in our way. My Mom has this attachment to Mason unlike any of her other Grandchildren. Mason's attachment to her is equally as strong. Probably because he gets her full attention ALL DAY LONG and plus she is just a cool Grandma. For Fred and I, it was freedom to go out just the two of us and see a movie but since Sophia showed up it was the easy going day of having only one child. A child who still takes naps no less. So equal disappointment all around when the day is cancelled.

Still we find things to fill it up the day.

We have family members and friends descending upon us in two days for the wedding of my dear brother-in-law and his sweetheart of a fiance. I seriously could not be more happier that she is becoming my sister-in-law. Unfortunately our house is currently a mess and we can't have that with guests. Not to mention the damn ants. Argh. I could go on and on about the damn ant problem this house has. Honestly I thought we were going to get through this summer without them invading our house, and we almost did. Now I am being psycho mom about the food on the floor or left on the countertops. Which is proving to be a full time job in and of itself with a two year old who throws her food on the floor when she's done with it.

I'm learning what else is available for breakfast when I can't eat dairy within two hours of taking my medication.

The kids pick some more yummy tomatoes from our garden.

They play. So thankful we have an open floor plan for the kids to run circles, or push each other on the bike, which they do on a daily basis.

Fred works.

I cook.

And we begin to use the Wii as a game/fitness console again and not just another device to deliver a slue of television shows and movies to our home.

This marks the end of my documentation of our week. As much as I enjoy it each year, it is a lot of work and it doesn't allow me to focus on just having fun and living life. I focus more on capturing the memories than living them.

Tonight, as a way to unwind, I was going through my archive of photos on my computer and ran across my photos from Week in the Life last year. It was done in April then and as I went through each days photos I thought to myself, Wow. How different life was then.

It really is amazing how much our lives can change in just a year. April of 2010, I had a 10 month old and a 3 year old. Now I have a 2 year old and a 4 year old. That makes such a difference in the things we are doing. It became clear to me that the kids and I were constantly out and about. Target, Wegman's, the mall, soccer class, Costco, gas station, the park. Not so much of that right now. The park is difficult to manage with both kids alone, neither one wants to be on the same playscape and the same time. I run to the store only once or twice a week now as I make a list and only go when it is full. No one is currently taking any classes. Friends moved, are taking last minute vacations, or busy with swim team, or enrolled in summer camp.

One main difference is that Fred's company was still in business last year. Right now we are technically both unemployed. Fred is busily trying to put together this bird tracking gps business, his newest venture since closing the doors on telecom. So he spends pretty darn close to all his time working.

Different situations, different dynamics. A different set of photos represented. It really blows my mind, but it also reaffirms why I do this project.

Week in the Life: Saturday

The thing about Saturdays, unless we have an event happening like our monthly hosted taco night, or hear of a local event for the kids, or family is in town, they tend to be one of the most boring days in our house. Most people look forward to the weekend when they don't have to work but in reality, for me, my days don't change because I am NEVER OFF DUTY. I work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. I never stop being Mom, so there really is no weekend in my world. Well, not until school is in session, which is in like 37 days. Yikes!

Since Saturdays tend to be a bit boring, I mean the million toys laying around the house are seriously not entertaining enough, there tends to be a lot of misbehaving, tantrums and time outs.

As a result there is a lot of Mommy needs a break.

There is also a lot of cleaning done on the weekends, as the kids tend to go totally insane every time I turn on the vacuum. Running around as if they were possessed by the noise emitting from the powerful machine and a lot of me yelling, stop! You are dragging dirt from that side of the room the one I just cleaned! So when Fred is around I am hoping to rely on him to distract them or at least move them into another area till I am done. Also with four of us in the house eating at an alarming rate, I swear these kids are constantly hungry, there are a lot of dishes to be cleaned and our dishwasher gets a workout on a daily basis.

We usually hear a lot of, Mommy can you play that pillow game with me? Daddy can we do legos? Mom! Mom! Followed by a cup from the play kitchen being shoved in my face for me to drink. It's like the second we turn our backs to do anything for ourselves a switch goes off in the kids brains that makes them instantly feel bored.

On days that it isn't blazing hot, which was not this week, the kids ride their bikes in the cul-de-sac or we take them for ice cream and play time. If I wasn't on nasty medication we would most likely be at the pool on most Saturdays too. But since I really should stay out of the sun, and it's been blistering out anyway, we do things inside. Like legos, tea parties, and finding old toys the kids got for Christmas a few years ago and replacing the batteries for a some car smash up.

My favorite part was not captured on film, but on video. Sophie and I were having a spot of tea. She was filling our cups when all of a sudden she must have thought, this is crazy. I could skip a few steps in the middle and just pour the dang tea straight down her throat. And so she did. Me laughing as best I could with a singing pink teapot being forced into my mouth.

Every once in awhile I try to get a nice family photo of all of us. I thought today would be perfect. While sitting out on the stoop, we got the chance to meet our new neighbor. A nice English bloke with the loveliest of accents whose wife is due with their first child in October. A girl, as he just arrived home with the pink paint for the nursery. And...he is going to be a stay at home Dad. Score. I like them already.

After our chat, the kids were ready to go inside so you could guess how that photo session went.

But the evening finally arrived and with it some nice relaxation. Evenings are one of my favorite times of day. After we put the kids to bed, there is this stillness and quiet that fills the atmosphere. I feel almost human, almost like fun self again. Almost.

This evening, Fred and I enjoyed some most delicious popcorn. I mean the real popcorn, not that crap that comes in those microwaveable bags. The stuff where you pour oil and kernels into a machine and watch the magic happen. Where you melt real butter on the stove and can layer it over the popcorn however you want. Mmmm.

We lounged on the couched with our big bowl of buttery, yummy popcorn and watched The Social Network. It reminded me that we need to make a conscious effort to go out on dates a lot more often. Just us.

Week in the Life: Friday

Fridays are usually the day that Pop-Pop comes over and gets to spend time with the kids. It usually ends up with Mason playing swords with Pop-Pop and Sophie getting Pop-Pop to read a few books to her. Or we watch a movie. Tangled is one of Pop-Pops favorites. However, this week Pop-Pop is in Florida with some friends at a softball tournament. He used to umpire softball and actually only a few years ago used to run the tournaments until his stroke. I know he misses it terribly, I relate it to my eye sight going bad and being told I will never take pictures again. So I am glad he is there, spending time enjoying something he loves, it will be good for him. The kids were a bit disappointed, but it was made up with a play date to the pool. I took every precaution, lathering up on sunscreen, wearing my sun hat and a cover up. It was a lot of fun, until some kid threw up in the pool and they had to close. See kids, this is why we don't drink the pool water.

The evening was split up with the boys heading off to the car show at Chik-Fil-A, it was requested that the girls not come this time, so the girls ate some take out and watched Tinkerbell till the boys got home. At which point we were enthusiastically told about the Transformers Camaro that was there and oh my gosh Mom, it was so cool!

And here are a few more moments from our Friday. Simple, sweet, hot, but fun.

Have a great weekend!

Week in the Life: Thursday

Today there was a lot of watching t.v. Team UmiZoomi, Bubble Guppies, Phineas and Ferb. This is only way I can achieve anything, such as washing dishes in the morning or throwing in a load of laundry.

Assessing the contents of our fridge.

Taking a shower. As usual, being interrupted by two crazy kids.

The state of affairs when you have kids. They take over everything.

Planing a play date over lunch.

Making banana bread. Couldn't have done without my two helpers.

Sophie goes down for a nap.

Freeze tag.

Tomato from our garden. It was very yummy.

Kobe's for dinner. He was so brave during the big fire. I was so proud of him.

Her new favorite shoes.