The Week in the Life

Serious joy.  Like fireworks exploding happy joy.

I captured 7 days worth of our life - some behind the lens, some written.  The images are all sorted, categorized and ready to go...the words are in my handwritten notes and on Facebook.

The last few days have been intense -- working on a dozen projects for the fall training season for Relay For Life due in the next two weeks, planning a ministry fair for our parish, two Finian Road shoots in beautiful summer weather + finishing up editing last month's shoots, having awesome family time (at the Rainiers for fireworks night, with Kevin + Heidi, and with the Rosses), and celebrating John Paul's baptism yesterday and hosting a brunch afterwards.

At times, I wish we could duplicate ourselves so we wouldn't ever have to miss anything.  But that would be an incredible amount of laundry and I'm not willing to make that commitment.  :)

I'm so glad to have a week frozen in time right now...so when things calm a bit, I can pull together the scrapbook of our week for A Week in the Life.  I love looking back on blog posts from Thomas's early days, and having a book in hand with those days for John Paul would be so much fun a year from now...five years...ten years.  

Today was quiet.  I worked every moment that the boys slept, and have been checking stuff off the to-do list like mad.  I am so blessed that both boys are incredible nappers, and love to sleep. As long as we stick to our bed/naptime routines, it doesn't matter when the naps happen...because they go down like clockwork.

When Thomas was up, we played soccer in the yard, hosed lots of things down, and had some downtime together.  Monday mornings are usually 'recovery mornings' from the weekend: cleaning the kitchen, a few loads of laundry, getting the boys back on a nap schedule, and finding order again.  I used to dread Mondays, and now they're one of my favorite days.  Funny how things change over time.

Tonight, I had a stash of pecans that I wanted to use up...so we had pecan-crusted mahi mahi and carrot rice (with pecans instead of peanuts).  Both were new recipes, and were incredibly delish. 


Looking forward to a week of early mornings to continue finishing up projects...so I'm heading to bed now.  Sweet dreams!

Week in the Life: Tuesday

And today...the first photo of me for the Week in the Life project!

Today's images are downloaded, sorted and renamed.  Today was a frustrating day (gotta keep it real, now!)...from a two hour oil change (with a scheduled appointment, no less, and a service associate who is clearly single without kids), getting rained on with both boys while on a walk to keep Wee Ski 1.0 from terrorizing the dealership, John Paul's teething, and finding a mountain of to-dos that seem to multiply like wet gremlins. 

I found myself prioritizing and re-prioritizing today.

There were definitely highlights -- Thomas still being a joy after two hours at the dealership, Thomas's pure joy at a hot dog + coke + smoothie after Costco, playing outside when we got home, and finding his way to my office after his bedtime for 'just one more sip of water'. 

A few moments from today:

Before walking out for the mail.  John Paul was not happy to be done with lunch.


Thomas's very meticulous way of closing the mailbox.  And he ALWAYS lifts the flag, mail inside or not.


Our beautiful "wild grasses".  :)  It's all in an effort to keep a sustainable yard.  Of course.


Turkey cheddar burgers with tasty delicious homemade garlic buns.  Guess whose burger this was?  A hint? It's a very small bite taken out.


Don't fool yourself -- this sweet handholding led to pinches from 1.0 to 2.0.  He may be out of the running for Big Brother of the Week.

Week in the Life: Monday

I've been looking forward to this year's Week in the Life ever since John Paul was born. Looking back to when Thomas was wee, it's making me realize just how quickly time passes. I adore having Thomas's first month book to look through, especially with all of the details -- most of which I've now forgotten.  I would love to have a book of our ordinary life right now, with Thomas as the Little and John Paul as the Wee. 

:: MY PROCESS ::
To help this project succeed, I decided to follow Ali's advice and shoot/journal this week, and start scrapping next week. If I tried to do it all in this week, the chances of finishing the book (well) would be slim since it's a crazy busy week.

In addition, I printed out the PDFs to jot down journaling throughout the day.  I also picked up the 12x12 layered set to scrap these up next week. 

Every night, I'm downloading my cards and sorting the images.  Picking out the ones I love, copying them into a new folder and renaming them w/the time the image was taken (just to make it easy later).  Each morning, I'll pull a few of my favorites from the day and blog them, but save the majority for the upcoming weeks when I scrap them.   I love realizing little things right now:

• I need to shoot myself more.
• Thomas is mimicking everything that Jonathan does.  Everything.  Some of my most heartwarming images are of Thomas doing his 'best Jonathan' -- reading the mail next to him at the kitchen counter after dinner, reading books on the sofa before bedtime, and reading a golfing magazine while using the bathroom.  
• Having my camera out has helped capture little things as they happen throughout the day.
• I love our family's relationship with meals...and can't wait to document what we're preparing and eating right now.   I think I'll add in some recipes and images as well, since our tastes change over time.

These were my favorites from Monday.

Early morning when Thomas realized that baby John Paul was home from Florida and awake.  JP2 is happy about the hug so far.


But not so much anymore.  :)


Thomas was so proud of helping me with the plants outside this morning, until I realized he had helped one of the entire dill plants right out of the pot and into the house.  We replanted and watered together.


Can't wait for the rest of the week!