Day in the Life: Summer 2014, No. 3

Morning light comes into this room-- the dining room, so the yellow walls really soak it in and give a pretty warm glow to the start of our days. Quinn loves to watch cars, buses, garbage trucks, etc. go by as he sits in his thrift store high chair every morning.

As our summer went along,  the older two kids took to sleeping in a bit--- around 7:45-8:00am, so Quinn was usually the lone kiddo keeping me company after Joe left for work. Now that school is back in session, Noah gets woken at 7:00am, so he's the first one in the dining room, and Quinn wakes around 7:15 and joins him. Lucy is still sleeping in most mornings. And hey, there I am, keepin' it real with a post-shower, flushed, no-makeup face, waiting for my curly hair to air-dry. Cute.

On this day back in July, I had time before the kids were all up to go get some miscellaneous toy tubs from our stash in the basement and reintroduce them into the daily rotation. The kids get to dive into these almost-forgotten toys, play with them all morning, and then when it's time to clean up, I fill the tubs with the old toys they'd had for a few months, and leave the "new" ones out for them for the next several weeks. We've only really been rotating toys since moving to this house and I LOVE IT. The kids do, too. Not only do we minimize constant toy clutter, but the kids fall in love all over again, every time new-old toys get re-revealed.

Smoothies for breakfast. The sherbet is to sweeten it.... The kids just aren't ready for hardcore fruit/milk/ice only. Sorrynotsorry. Yum.

Quinn is obsessed with smoothies. I love that they are not as spill-y as regular liquids.

Lucy opts for her usual: a huge cup of skim milk. Every day. This girl loves her milk. I think she still had her smoothie.... but milk first.

Then playtime. Oh, those toy buckets. SO AWESOME.

Meanwhile,outside our front door, there continues to be some major things happening as the city prepares to replace our water main. Today, it is parts stored right in front of our house. SO COOL.

And then happy mail to Lucy. (Thanks Amanda!)

Then some happy mail from us to that little 6-year old with cancer who was getting cards from all over the country back in July. Why not? I hoped it would set a tiny example of service for Noah. Never mind he got really sheepish and reluctant when I proposed the idea, as the kids and I walked to our very-near Target to pick out cards. My hope is that even if the initial feelings aren't warm about these kinds of things, the ultimate residual feelings about it all will be positive and Noah will become more acclimated to the idea of serving others... Even strangers.

Hey, lookie at me! I even made zucchini bread this day! New toy tubs, a walk to Target, AND baking? I was more on FIRE than I probably felt that day! Hindsight is so rich. Why does it take looking back to appreciate so many things? Good thing I take so many photos.... I get even more hindsight reflection than most!

(Noah's red leaf, found on our walk. The abnormally cool summers must really be messing with the poor trees cycles!)

As the afternoon wore on, I hosted a photographer friend for a quick shootout/hangout. Her gorgeous little man turned one year old, and I offered her the use of my backdrops and setups to capture a cake smash for him. Poor guy wasn't too into the idea, but she got some cute shots anyway! And at one point I stepped in with my own camera to see if he would do better with her near him instead of behind the camera. But yeah, nope.

After she and her baby headed home, Quinn showed unusual interest in my setup. And I, never one to pass up the opportunity, yanked over a small chair and that fedora I've been DYING to photograph him in, and crossed my fingers his curiosity would last long enough to get some photos. Never mind the blue hat didn't match his brown shirt... Or that none of this was planned. Carpe diem. Especially when  a kid who usually runs away decides he wants to sit still like that baby did. And wear that hat like the baby (kind of) did. Oh how rivalry/envy works in our favor with kids sometimes.... Haha!

And my stinker gave me more than a few photos!

(His dino in hand. Hat not matching. I don't even care. Look at my baby boy!)

First shot of Quinn: 5:24pm. Last shot: 5:26pm. And then he was off. See, you gotta work fast with little ones. And I pride myself on being fast and effective when I photograph little kids. Make a note, if you are looking for a session. Two minutes might not sound like much, but look at all that eye contact! And a smile or two! I WIN! Call me! (Heh. I can solicit on my own blog, right?!)

Somehow Lucy got ahold of the dino...... Probably by force. Tears were probably shed by Quinn. They're.......... not the best of friends. *sigh*

But Lucy sure is cute. Easy to forgive. And Quinn still seems to like her, even when she hollers at him, takes toys from him, pushes him. Oh girl. Someone tell me this is just a phase? That she's not a psychopath-in-training?

Oh yeah. Noah's feet were cold. And he is currently scared of going upstairs by himself. Ever. Even just to fetch a pair of socks. So here are dad's socks, from the clean laundry basket nearby. Nice.

(Scroll too fast and it looks like Lucy's top half and Noah's bottom half are weirdly meant to go together. Ha. Oops. Go do it. Scroll back to see. You know you wanna.)

WAY nice. This kid means business.

Hey! Evening approached and we welcomed a visitor--- Uncle Steve, my brother. He came to town from CoMo to hang with us since his wife was out of town on a school trip that week. And Legos were brought out (also from the basement stash). And everyone waxed creative and happy with varying levels of Lego-play.

 Finally, bedtime, and some Lulu shenanigans- that girl loves a good dress-up....

And that was another day in our life, back in that week in July when I undertook this project, but then never finished editing and blogging the durned things. Though I did manage Day One and Day Two. And this ends Day Three. And that is all I have to say tonight. BLOG DONE. 

Except--- Hey! I didn't blog last week. LAME. So I will repent by posting a second blog this week--- Thursday night, I have a craft tutorial post to share! A TUTORIAL!!!!! It's been.... like.... YEARS, I think, since I've done that! I've shared finished crafts here and there.... but not with step by step process photos. But I have them for this post coming up. It's..... a miracle. 

The end. It's past my bedtime. 

Love you, loyal readers. Don't know why you stick with me, flaky as I have become... but I'm grateful for you. 

'Night!