Week in the Life 2013 - Wednesday

Morning routine:  kids eat breakfast while I prep lunches and clean up the kitchen.  Much as I'd like to leave the kitchen spotless at night I'm usually tired and procrastinate final clean up until the next morning.

 

Sam usually gets the kids out of bed and hangs around for breakfast then heads out on the motorcycle (at least whenever the weather is nice as it has been this week) to work.

-Get the kids on the bus, then it's time to work out.  This morning Julie and I walked half a lap with Ashley, then decided to spend some time on the elliptical at the clubhouse before walking another half lap to finish up. 
I was happy to see the colors on this tree in a neighbor's yard.  The sudden drop in temperatures (from 90s and upper 80s to low 70s) this past week caused it to turn colors practically over night.  Most of the trees though will probably wait to change colors closer to Thanksgiving.

Got home and guess how I found the pup.  First time she's done that.

Showered and spent part of the morning on the computer doing a running chat with friends while checking email, etsy, etc.

 

Then Julie came back over and we worked on GS (Girl Scout) prep pretty much the rest of the day.

And look where we found Bambi again.  Silly dog.

 After dinner and homework, we finished up the day with a family walk.  We've been trying to get these in most days in preparation for the Color Run 5k we will all be doing soon.  And to try to wear the pup out so she doesn't get into trouble (we have yet to wear her out enough to prevent it entirely *sigh*)
I love love love the weather this week.

Week in the Life 2013 - Tuesday

 

Slightly better about remembering to take photos today.  Slightly.

 Stack of orders waiting for the mailman to pick up.

Spent a couple hours on the road to take Mom to the airport.  It felt like a super quick visit this time around.

 Almost home!

 Greeted by this face.  Every.  Single.  Time.  Though not usually holding this still - she can't contain her excitement every time she sees us.  Pet me.  Love me.  PET ME!

The never-ending chore - dishes.  Obviously had to rush with the photo because the pup doesn't know to keep her nose out of the dishwasher, yet.

 

The afternoon routine:  Walking home from the bus stop.

 Snack time.

 Homework

Realized I didn't take photos of them modeling the clothes I had forced them in for school photos this morning.  (Kaitlyn really wasn't in a good mood this morning and resented the fact that she had to wear a skirt on the day they did art because it's always cold in that room)

 Beautiful fall weather - the temps are suddenly down in the 70s which feels amazing.  After dinner I walked the dog while the kids went ahead on their roller skates.

Week in the Life 2103 - Monday

Every so often I check in on the different blogs I follow and the last time I did so I realized that Ali Edwards was doing her annual Week in the Life project.  I don't feel totally "prepared for it" (mostly mentally - I've done it before and I know it takes a lot to remember to take photos and document all the time) but I decided to just jump in and start it this week.  Best way to keep it realistic, probably.  Plus the last time I was working on updating my 365 I realized how few times I had pulled out the camera in the last few weeks and this will help me get back into the habit.
So here is a down and dirty overview of my Monday this week.  I didn't take the time to edit any photos (I often don't) - oh well, right?

 Monday means laundry.  Lots and lots of laundry.  I have the kids sort their clothes before leaving for school then try to stay on top of it throughout the day.

 Mom came to stay with us over the weekend (we went to a wedding - Sam was a groomsman and we needed someone to watch the kids) and Monday was her last full day here.  After we got the kids on the bus, she went back to bed and I worked on countdown blocks.  And changed a load or two of laundry.
Sam had night fire so didn't need to be in to work until afternoon.  So he took his time getting ready for the day then did some minor errands and replaced the gas cap on the Yukon.

There's the pup - she spends the day either really happy we are home and wanting to play or laying around taking a nap.  Periodically she gets tired of one spot and moves to another.

Her favorite napping spot - the fireplace.

Mom wanted to visit her favorite fabric store here so that's where we went.  LOVE all the fun colors and patterns.  Looking at all of the fun stuff had me itching to create, but I've got way too many things on my plate and unfinished projects to get to, so I restrained myself and just looked around.  We grabbed a quick lunch and did one more errand before heading home.

 Where I changed the laundry.  Then decided to have Mom help me put out my Halloween decorations.  My new wreaths were still sitting on the tables in the sun room and Mom wanted to see what they looked like hanging up.  So I figured we may as well just go full out and put everything up a couple weeks early.  I always change it up a bit every year.  This time around a lot of the wooden crafty stuff didn't make it out of the box.  (though I do have big plans for a couple of new things for the front porch!)

Then I changed the laundry.  And pulling out all the decorations put me on an organizing kick, so I did a little rearranging in the storage closets and picked up some of the clutter in the house.

Oh and I FINALLY put a tablecloth on that sad little tripod table we have in the living room that holds the cable box and DVD player.  It's pitiful really that that eyesore sat there like that for almost 3 years now and I did nothing about it.  But of course as soon as we let the dog in what does she do?  Rip a giant section off the bottom of the tablecloth in about 2 seconds flat.  It's a good thing I've had it for like 17 years and am not all that attached to it.  Eeesh.

 After the kids got home and homework and a quick find-your-own dinner was done we had a little time for everyone to entertain themselves.  Kaitlyn and Grandma played a little soccer.

 And Tyler played Skylanders.  He's obsessed.

And poor Bambi was upset she didn't get to join in on the fun.  That's what happens when you're a puppy and bite a hole in the ball the day before, plus get so excited you trip Miss Kate about 5 times.  So she had to stay inside.

 Eventually all the laundry was done and folded (6 loads of clothes plus one for pool towels) and put away.  Then we loaded up in the car and headed to dance class.

 Typically I drop off Kaitlyn then get to do all the grocery shopping on my own while Ty stays home with Sam.  Because Sam was still at work, I dropped of Kaitlyn and Grandma, then Tyler helped me with the shopping.  We also tried (unsuccessfully) to find a clothing donation bin as I had pulled the 6 bags of the kids old toys and books that had been sorted out of closets weeks ago out of their hiding place in the storage closet and wanted to be rid of them.

There's my Kate finishing up the Jazz section of dance.  She has a Tap/Jazz combo class.  I usually show up in time to watch the last 10-15 minutes.
We finish up the long Monday with a fun treat on the way home (last night was chocolate pretzels) and then a super-quick bedtime routine since dance class end so late.  We also detoured to the clothing donation bin in our town on the way home - I couldn't let that little errand get the best of me ;)
Kids to bed, some TV time with Mom, end of Monday.

Ahead of the calendar

...at least for now!  Seems like I'm often behind on getting around to all the holiday crafts I want to create.  However, it's easier to make sure I fit crafting into the schedule when I have someone to craft along with me - and lucky me, I have quite a few craft buddies lately.  After my last crafting day with friends I ran across a great website for unique wreath frames and after consulting my friends, I ordered up a whole stack of them.  And today was the day we had scheduled for putting them together.  As luck would have it, the majority of my crafty friends couldn't make it at the last minute but we went ahead with our smaller crew.  It was, of course, tons of fun.

Here is one of my candy canes (I did two).  I had to go ahead and hang it outside just so I could see how it looked before packing it away for Christmas.

Then I got carried away and put out all my new wreaths haha.  Gave the house a bit of an identity crisis, didn't I?  I wonder what the neighbors think.  Had to be done though - how are we to stage photos for blogging if we don't hang the projects up?

The side window swags are new.  I started one of them at the last crafting day then finished them up on my own later.  They've been sitting in the sun room ever since just waiting for me to make sure they fit ok and take photos.  The witch wreath isn't new, but I had to put it up just to check the whole look, right? ;)

 I've decided that witch hats and boots are my "thing" when it comes to Halloween.  And I've also decided that I'm going to go a bit over the top with decorating the porch this year.  More on that later - I have a few more projects to finish first :)  I'm in quite the fall mood right now and getting a little sick of the 90 degree temps here still.  I restrained myself from making up a batch of spiced cider while we crafted, though I did put together a batch of pumpkin dip for snacking.

So there we have it - crafty decorations done and photos taken and blogged enough time ahead of the holiday itself that I can share it with all of you.  I can't wait until October hits and I can truly put out the decorations for Halloween!

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