A Day in the Life- Our 9 to 5.

We have a pretty basic routine around here. Things can get mundane at times, but, this is life.
Today, I kept my camera close and took pictures of our day.
I know I have said it a million times before, but these are the kinds of images that I love seeing and capturing, because this is real life. No poses, or Photoshop edits here!
The pics I'm in, are from a timer on the camera.

Our morning starts anywhere from 7am to 7:45am, depending on how long Selah sleeps in the morning. Matt leaves for work around that time, and Selah usually wakes up when he leaves.
This is what I see first when I wake up...a picture of an orphan I pray for in Nigeria. Her name is Dashuma. I hope one day, I can meet her.

 Like I said above, Selah is the first one up. She asks for breakfast, I take her in the kitchen, make it, then go back to my bed for a few minutes of quiet time to myself before the older girls wake up around 8.

 Next one asking for breakfast is Audie. Sometimes she makes breakfast herself, sometimes not.

 After breakfast the girls get dressed while I hop in the shower. I usually find Corinne reading on the couch when I get out, and we start school  by 8:30 or 9:00 am. Tuesdays and Thursdays, the girls have Live Lessons over the computer, starting at 9 am, so those days require a tad of an earlier start than the others. 

Selah asks to do school too. This morning I gave her a piece of paper to color on. She ended up ripping it up and those ripped up pieces of paper ended up on the floor. Nothing new here.

So I can spend a little more time with Audie, uninterrupted, I write out Corinne's lesson plans a little more strategic to what works for us. Her lessons are listed on her task list on the computer, but it helps (both of us) to have a visual list that she can cross things off of.

 Audie has been in a trend of doing her school work on the top step of the stairs going to the basement.
Why not?

On any given day, there can be a number of shoes on the floor. Today, there were 4 pairs on the kitchen floor. Nothing new here, either.

 When school is done, the pick- up process starts. The shoes, the pieces of paper Selah tossed on the floor, the sippy cups....
I load the dishwasher from the breakfast and/or lunch dishes, sweep the kitchen floor...

 Selah helps

Daily, the girls play pretty well together. They play Barbie's or Playmobil, or Polly Pocket dolls.

Rounding up everyone for lunch, I called for Selah and I couldn't find her. She had taken herself to the bathroom.
Which requires taking off all of your clothes?

 I love that she finds herself independent to take herself to the bathroom...however, I need to know when she is going. Twice, there has been copious amounts of toilet paper in the pot....she clearly needs assistance in the area of wiping her bum.

This is a typical Audie set-up... Almost daily, she plays "office"- pulling together keyboards and toy-computers, and phones. She sits at the "desk", and "answers the phone", "prints out receipts", and "takes notes."

Twice or more, Selah will be a crank pot and throw a fit.

While Selah naps, the girls watch TV or a movie. I use this time for my time. I need it. I quilt, sew, prepare things for dinner that night, or things relaxing. This hour of the day can be priceless.

In the last hour or two before Matt gets home, we play outside, play Barbies, sit on the porch, or read books. This can be the longest hour of the day...:) But it is a great sound when we hear the garage door start to open, and Matt's car pull in.

I prepare dinner, and one or both of the girls set the table.

We sit down to eat- and that's our 9 to 5 :)

This and That

Not much going on around here in these parts. Summer really has flown by- but it has only been the last week that we haven't had much to do. The girls and I haven't done a lot of activities away from the house as Selah has a mind of her own these days, and it's easier to keep her at home until she realizes who's boss. (That is me... in case you were wondering. *wink*)

Corinne reads. A lot. I am proud of that. She's really into the Little House on the Prairie book series.

 She asked if she could take Selah outside one afternoon while I was folding some laundry. When I went to check on them, my heart melted and had to take a picture. 

Audie learned how to ride her bike without training wheels a couple weeks ago. 

Some friends of ours just had a baby! They named her Harper Grace. Corinne was pretty happy that "they named her after her middle name". I always forget how little babies are when they are newborns. Harper was just over 6 pounds...way small! We enjoyed the visit.

I can't believe that July is half over. Part of me is ready for school to start up again...you know me- I like routine. And our summer has been anything but routine. I have enjoyed also the laid back days though, too. We didn't get our summer vacation in, and I dont know if we will. We have drug our feet in making a decision on where and when to go, and almost now it is too late to make plane ticket purchases. We still may do something in the fall, or Matt and I take a trip without the girls.

::Selah::

::Audie::

At Breakfast

Audie left a note in our fruit bowl....

"Something tasty to eat"

And Selah eating her breakfast bowl of cereal

And her beloved "boose box". (Juice box)

Lately

We have finished school for the year, and summer has begun. I have to say, it feels pretty good to not have a "schedule". Days have been lazy, and it has been great.We have been playing outside a lot, and talking about a summer vacation. I love summertime!

Our fam and some friends went out for dinner on my birthday. It was a great evening. Here's Matt and I that night outside of the restaurant.

A mommy robin built a nest in the wreath on our porch. At first I wasn't thrilled about it...but actually it has been kind of fun watching the little birds grow. The first two birds actually hatched on my birthday! Here they are just a couple of days old...

 and now the 4 of them barely fit in the nest! I'm sure they will be flying away soon.

Corinne is a kid with a personality. Organization is one of them. The other day she put together a "to-do" list and hung it on her wall. Super cute.

The girls play with Playmobil toys almost daily. Audie has found it a convenient excuse to not pick it up because "we are going to play with it later today". Sometimes that works, sometimes it doesnt. :)
I had Playmobil toys growing up. I loved them. They are so cute, and the toys have great detail. Though the sets are a wee bit pricey, they are great!

Corinne is really good about practicing her piano songs. I usually don't even have to tell her to do it. She has done great with piano! I hope it is something she will want to stick with.

Last week a pretty nasty storm rolled in. The hail left us with needing a new roof, new guttering, and a new window that broke out. Leaves blew like crazy...after the storm there were leaves plastered to the fronts and sides of all the houses on our block (and neighborhood). It did have it's beauty...

Selah has kept us on our toes...she is fully in her two-year old stage. Throwing fits, hitting her sisters, and giving her angry eyebrow scowl is much of what she does these days. And as a result, time out and swats are her gift in return. A disobedient child definitely humbles you and your need for wisdom in child rearing! Still, Selah is sweet and loving and so much fun.
Story: When the girls take baths, we squirt the soap from the bottle into their hands. It always forms some type of shape, and the girls like to see what the squirt turned out like and name the shape. For instance, a moon, or the letter "C", etc. The other night, Matt squirted some soap into Selah's hand and she asked, "What is it?" Matt told her it looked like Goofy (you know, from Mickey Mouse?) and Selah said, "Gorsh!" in the best impression of Goofy she could do. It was great. I love my kids.

Back Again

I think we're back now...
I hope life will slow down a bit now.
The last 5.. count 'em FIVE Saturday's have been filled with company, birthdays, or other activities! I'm ready for a normal, nothing-to-do Saturday!

Corinne's Birthday was last Saturday. I took her out last Friday night to do her six year old pictures. But it was windy and cold! We only got about 15 shots in before we threw in the towel to try for another day. Here is one of those to tide you over.

After dinner out on Corinne's birthday, we came back to the house for cupcakes and to open presents.

 I think she had a good birthday. :) She is, however, looking forward to birthday number 8...for "when she can sit in the front seat and paint her own nails."

This summer was a bust for my vegetable and herb garden. The lack of rain was no good.! One plant though , flourished and bloomed! This is called a Passion Flower...The tag said it was named by Spanish missionaries after the crucifixion of Christ. And, even cooler-- it produces little tiny edible fruits! The vine is probably about 8 feet high--all growth from just this summer. I hope it continues to do well in the years to come!

Real Life

The activities that took place this evening.

 Selah loves to look out the front door.

When I opened the door this afternoon to let in some fresh air, she squealed with delight and crawled as fast as she could to go look out.