memory keeping for a day...

 i read this the other day and i love a quote from it....

mothers 

are 

the 

memory keepers.  

so true.  well at least in this family. i suppose there are some dad's out there who keep the memories.  less typical though, right?  i am the memory keeper in our family.  i love to take pictures, love family history, keep journals - personal and for each of my kids, blog...

i have been wanting to document a whole day for quite some time.  i want to do it every so often and see how our days change over time.  i picked a day that was pretty uneventful but kind of shows our typical day.

so here is our day:

get up when julian crawls into our bed - usually around 7:00

(this is the hardest part of the day for me.  i am NOT a morning person at all.  usually andy is home and has already started coffee, but on this particular day andy is already gone for the day...no coffee.)

7-7:45 

make breakfast while the kids get dressed.  

make lunch for e while the kid's eat breakfast.  

get dressed while the kid's dawdle and finish up breakfast.

we all brush our teeth, wash our faces and scurry to find shoes.  

into the car

8:05 drop off ella, kiss goodbye, hope she can get into class without having a hard time separating, and she does on this particular day.  YES!!

8:15 finally home and i can start making some coffee.  notice no pictures from the first hour of scurrying. 

 julian wanders over to the table and finishes off ella's leftover breakfast.

 choco time (ovaltine) for julian and some coffee for me.

 time to start in on this mess.  why can't i just do dishes the night before?  that's okay, i have a little kick start and i'm on a roll.

 meanwhile julian practices some letters then wanders off to play and makes a few messes right behind me where i just cleaned...and i continue to clean.  

 12:15 lunch time - panini sandwiches...lots of pickles for julian.

 after lunch i hear some music and find this little...seriously

 how cute are you julian?

 1:40 leave to pick up ella

forget my camera at home...ugh

 stop at the library for some books and one movie each.  ironically i happened to pick up the memory keeper's daughter for us big people...yikes, tears...it did make me want to use a film camera again...black and white.

 then off to the pet store to get our new friend.

 4:00 get home and unload the car.  

4:30 andy feels like some chicken posole so i start dinner a little early (not typical...at all)

 meanwhile andy is in the garage giving last hugs to his roadster before it goes off to japan.

 but he is not too heartbroken because his mind is on his next project.

 time for a little bike ride and wagon ride for me.  ella likes julian's helmet better than hers because it doesn't squish the back of her head....hmmm.

( i know you don't care but i'm documenting something that is so typical of miss ella, she is easily irritated by the way things fit)

 we have to stop at the orange ball tree (they are really called calamansi).  the kid's love these. they are sour like a lemon.

 julian struggles to pull me...

 so i finally get up and walk.  i love this great big tree and it's roots.

 back home the kid's always want to help daddy.

 i go in to finish up dinner while they play a little baseball.

5:30 chicken posole kind of turns into chicken tortilla soup.

after dinner ella works on a little homework while julian takes a shower (the kid's prefer showers now to baths...i don't mind, it is way quicker...soap up and shampoo, rinse).

ella's turn for a shower.  jammies.  usually we either read books or they get to watch a movie.  this usually depends on time and how much energy i have left.  on this particular night they watched a movie - rainbow fish.

7:50 brush teeth, go potty, and into bed for the kids.  

we pray, kiss goodnight, tuck them in and walk peacefully out...

ha, not really. 

 lately it seems like it has been so hard.  

"one more kiss", "one more hug",  "you hugged ella longer",  " i have to tell you something",  "julian is making noises and keeps waking me up",  "i need to blow my nose",  "i need medicine because my nose is running",  "mom, i have an important question...ummm...i forgot...",  "oh, wait, i remembered...ummm...what are we doing tomorrow?"

i can go on...seriously.  i'm starting to wonder if we need to separate them back into their own rooms.  

8:30 it was quiet.

time for my shower.  

andy and i hang out on the couch and actually have an uninterrupted conversation.  aww, that's nice!

10:30 i start in on a little something i have been working on, while andy starts to nod off.

i edit some pictures then

1:15 i force myself to go to bed or else i will regret it the next day.

yup, i still regret it the next day.

so that's our semi-typical day. 

 usually i don't clean all day but the house really needed it.