Week in the Life | Wednesday

Wednesday was not a day I was scheduled to work and it was also an early release day, so I didn't have much planned. The end of the school year is so busy for the kids, and I finished up my spring semester last Friday. We were all looking forward to a day of relaxing, watching (or, as it turned out, listening) to the Mariners, and hanging out as a family. 

A few thoughts about today: 

• My DSLR is working again and the more I work on this project, the happier I am when I pull out my "big camera" vs. my cell phone. Don't get me wrong, cell phone photos are fine, but there really isn't a comparison when I take shots with my DSLR. 
• I need to get into more photos! I am terrible at this and my goal for Friday is to be in at least five photos. We'll see how that goes. 
• I'm not sure how many photos I'm going to have at the end of this project, but I'm aiming for 15-20 "good" photos per day. Wednesday and Thursday I won't hit that number, but I'll be close. Hopefully Friday, Saturday, and Sunday I can be more intentional with my photo taking. 

I woke up to Bailey taking up half the bed, per usual. She is a mama's girl and loves to cuddle with me in the morning before I go wake the kids up for school. 

Out the door around 7:40am to get the kids to school by 7:55am. The boys sometimes take cereal or a bagel for breakfast and usually finish eating it in the car. It makes for a messy car (see the fruit loops on the floor of my van?!), but they like having something to munch on while we drive and listen to music. 

Home from school and both boys plunked themselves in front of the television for some Xbox time. They played Minecraft and Sims and only argued a couple of times. It was a blissful hour and gave me time to work on a few projects of my own. 

A little drumming before chores. Lilly, who was asleep on the couch at the time, was not happy that Jack pulled out his drumsticks and started playing. She quickly fled to the laundry room, looking annoyed.
 

Evan has been pretty good about doing his chores after school with minimal complaints. He unloads the dishwasher, takes care of the litter box, and takes out the garbage for me. 

Jack helped his brother out by taking a bag of trash out to the garbage. Wearing one sock?! I'm sure there was a good reason for him to be missing a sock but I have no idea what that reason is. Goofy kid. 

Both Evan and Jack love the books they picked out at the book fair and have spent a good deal of time reading over the past few days. This is how I found Evan after he finished his chores... on my bed, under the covers and reading. Love him. 

Out the door to do some long overdue grocery shopping. We listened to the radio on our drive to Publix and one of the new 21 Pilots songs played. Both boys belted out the lyrics and I couldn't help but sing along, too. Their love of music is something I cherish. 

Half way through our Publix trip. Gatorade, carrots, cat food, gold fish, garlic, crackers, apples, potatoes, and Capri Suns. 

Only three more days to go! I can't wait to start putting the project together next week.

Week in the Life | Monday

I'm breaking back into the blogging world by sharing a few photos from today:  Day One of Ali Edwards' Week in the Life project. Oh yes, I am totally tackling this project this year. I've been "this close" to completing this project in the past but have never finished it. I've taken all the photos or done the journaling (or both!) but haven't completed the album. This year I'm hoping to keep the project up for the full week and finish my album next week.

A few observations from Day One: 

• My DSLR was having some issues this morning and I almost let that discourage me from continuing the project. Unfortunately my photos today didn't turn out quite like I had hoped, but I still got a few good shots. 
• I love black + white pictures, especially portraits. They are classic and timeless and allow the subject to shine. Plus, they hide messy car seats and bad lighting. Win-win. 
•  I need to do a better job of taken photos in the morning, before school. Jack was crabby this morning and Evan and I aren't naturally morning people so I (often) forget to pick up the camera. 
• Teaching in a window-less classroom isn't ideal. The photo of Jack sitting on a desk is lightened, I upped the contrast, then added a filter before running a B+W action. That is a lost of post processing for one camera photo! 
• I forgot to get photos of the kids at the book fair and doing homework. I'm choosing not to stress about it; there is always tomorrow. 

A before school selfie. After a good breakfast and finally getting out the door, we had a nice drive to school.

I didn't tell Jack that I was teaching his class today and he was super excited when he found out. 

I had two teachers tell me funny stories about Jack today. 

First, his math teacher told me that she made an announcement in her class last week about missing an upcoming math class. Jack then said to her "please let the sub be Mrs. Taylor". She didn't get to pick the sub and I was already booked in another classroom so she had to break the bad news to him and he was so sad! I love that he wants me to teach him. 

Then, one of the second grade teachers told me that she made a comment to another student about having a good day and offered a hug. Jack, who was standing behind her, piped up and said "I've had a great day, too!". The teacher asked Jack if he would also like a hug and he said "yes!" and gave her a big hug. He is such a sweet little guy. 

Pizza + salad for lunch, courtesy of PCCA. Yay for a yummy free lunch. 

A little reading on our way home from school. We stopped at the book fair after school and the kids each picked out two books. The spring book fair had an awesome selection for older kids and Evan didn't have any problems finding something. Jack was much more difficult. He wanted bookmarks/erasers/Lego sets and not books. Sigh. He is a great reader but all the "shiny stuff" grabbed his attention. After some back and forth he finally settled for two chapter books, which he has already started.

Pretty Mother's Day flowers from my mom. I posted a photo of them on Instagram yesterday but I wanted to include them in this album as well. I love fresh flowers and this arrangement is especially beautiful. 

Mirror selfie. I was wearing a shirt with tiny horizontal stripes that went a little crazy in the photo. I'll choose a less busy shirt for my next selfie. 

Kitty stretches in the afternoon sun. Lilly found herself locked on the patio for a bit this afternoon and was not a happy cat. She likes to go in and out to the patio but does not like being locked on the patio. Panic sets in and she meows like crazy. She was not amused when Jack accidentally locked her out there for 10 minutes this afternoon. 

A little rest before we head to the pool. Jack was super sleepy today, which probably contributed to his crabbiness this morning. 

Pool necessities: good book + ice water + sunscreen + chapstick + cooling cream + cute pineapple pouch to carry it all + beach towel. I have a "pool bag" that is always packed and ready to go. We go to the pool a lot and having the essentials hanging on a hook by the door cuts down on the amount of time we spend running around looking for stuff. 

Pool time. Evan always brings his football, and Jack brings his goggles and sometimes his rings (if he remembers). 

It was not especially warm out today (for us Floridians) and Jack only lasted about 40 minutes in the pool before requesting a towel, teeth chattering. I wrapped him up and we watched Evan play for another few minutes. 


The boys started working on a Lego set Evan received for his birthday while we waited for the pizza to arrive. Evan's favorite character from the new Star Wars movie is Kylo Ren and I was thrilled to find the Kylo Ren Lego set a few months ago. 

 Winding down before bed. Lilly has claimed the leather chair as her own and Jack wanted some cuddles before heading to his room for the night.

 Before bed reading. Evan gets a little extra time in the evenings to read before I turn out the lights. He looks so sleepy here! He didn't last very long after this photo was taken.

I always have this sense of relief when I've reached the end of the day and I remembered to pick up my camera throughout the day. I have a loose plan for tomorrow as our schedule is a little different, plus Evan is having a play date after school. Hopefully it works out and my big camera decides to cooperate. I did some Googling this evening and I think I fixed the problem. It was user error, of course! 


I was featured on the Studio Calico blog as the Member Spotlight last month. If you want to take a look at the blog post you can click here. Thanks for stopping by!