August 2015
A collection of our ordinary days, recorded every week. At the end of the year, I’ll publish them into a keepsake to treasure.
Around here, I have been:
taking an unscheduled break from my camera and the blog. Last week was so good, but intense and I guess I needed the time off to re-energize! Looking back on the photos, though, I’m so glad I participated in the project and I’m sure I’ll do it again. I love the idea of creating visual time capsules.
preparing for a busy fall schedule. I’m holding my breath and getting ready to hold on tight! Our days will be full with soccer, church commitments and a homeschool co-op, but I’m hoping organization and communication will help make the days less frantic. This week, I focused on meal planning and ordering what I need on Jet.
reading The Journey of our Love. I also finished See You Later, Gladiator as a read aloud with the kids.
loving sweet Sophia as she held her drawing behind her back and said, “Close yours eyes, mama!….Su-prise!”
working just a little on Big White Farmhouse. With school back in session, I’m still struggling to figure out how to fit everything in and BWF has unfortunately taken the back burner the past few weeks. This week, I was able to get a handful of sewing drawers up and I’m hoping to catch up with the rest of my vintage finds this weekend.
listening to the McNeely’s at His and Her Money. After a long conversation about dreams and goals for our future, Mark and I are more committed than ever to pay off our remaining student loan debt and start aggressively saving. I’ve been staying motivated by watching their YouTube videos and listening to their podcast. Their enthusiasm is contagious!
watching TJ turn into a toddler right before my eyes! His birthday is in three weeks and I just can’t believe how fast the time went. He is walking, babbling up a storm and loves his Daddy fiercely. He is such a blessing to all of us.
Back in July, I learned about a new website called Jet.com. To make things sweeter, I even won Cristina’s giveaway for a free year-long membership. I was intrigued by the idea of an alternative Amazon and couldn’t wait to try it out. I specifically was interested in their grocery section because…have you been to the store with five always hungry children?
Well, after about five orders in a one month span, I can honestly say: I LOVE JET. Linking up with Jenna to share my five reasons why I think you should try Jet too:
We Don’t Have to Leave the House
Like almost everyone, we’re on a budget here and taking all five kids to the grocery store is a major battle of wills. Despite telling them that we’re only there for the items on my list, I always have four little voices who can’t help but ask, “Do you think we can get this? Oh mama, these are my favorite! We’ve been meaning to make this for awhile, mom.” Exhausting. With Jet, I don’t have to leave my house and the groceries come to me! The kids cheer when they see a purple box on the doorstep and can’t wait to see what surprises I bought.
Ordering Online Prevents Impulse Buying
Right now, I am in full-on fall preparation mode. Our days will be packed the next few months, so I’ve been brainstorming easy dinners and ways to keep us from frantic fast food stops. Buying on Jet keeps me right on track. I jot down my meal plan, then head online. I love to look for pantry items in bulk; I actually just got a case of pinto beans because we make lots of chili around here! A good tip is to always check the price per ounce/can/pound to see whether it really is a good deal. (It’s a plus to have a general idea of what your favorite things cost at your local grocery store just to compare too.) After I go through my list, I double check before I hit Order in case something unnecessary found its way in. Jet really keeps me right on budget.
Savings, Savings, Savings
My favorite part of Jet’s system is seeing their real-time added savings. Jet takes Amazon’s prices and then saves you even more. Sometimes that is as little as 10 cents, sometimes it can almost be $10! I always take that amount into account as I’m calculating whether a product really is the best deal and from my experience so far, it has been (for a family living in northern Virginia) nine times out of ten.
When We Do Go Grocery Shopping, the Trips Are Really Fast
After purchasing all of my pantry items on Jet, grocery trips take much less time! We can buzz around the perimeter of the store and get in and out quickly. Mark sometimes picks up a few things, like milk or fresh fruit, on his way home from work too. And double bonus: when you look at our cart, we look super healthy, hah!
The Purple Boxes Make Great Ships and Forts
If you ask the kids, the best part of Jet is the big boxes! I can’t tell you the amount of hours the kids have spent making forts, ships and castles.
From now until September 1, if you use my referral code, you can try Jet.com and receive $15 off your first order of $50 or more. I also get $15 in credit‚ so it’s a win–win for both of us! My code is 37C7BFB. Let me know what you think!
Total photos taken today: 66
I want to remember… a beautiful, full day. Wrapping up school for the week. Catching up on chores. Exercising with the kids. Visiting with my mom and my sister. Going out to dinner with my sister, just the two of us! Relaxing at the end of the day with Mark and a movie. Today was a good day.
Total photos taken today: 73
I want to remember… cloudy, dreary days that make it hard to get going in the morning. We all started slow today. I want to remember… our little game we played for history. It was called Tiger Hunt and it was based on ancient India’s practice of kings hunting tigers for fun (which also led into a good discussion about killing animals for nourishment vs. entertainment). One child was the “king” and wore a crown, while another was the tiger. The king counted to ten and then tried to chase and tag the tiger before he jumped into base. It was a big hit and even I got in on the fun! I want to remember… the importance of showing real photos of our home, in all its imperfection. Someday the kids will look back and remember our makeshift “gate” to deter TJ from slamming toys on the television. They’ll see their favorite games and guys “put away” (ie. crammed) into the playroom shelves. I’m sure I’ll remember how no matter how hard I try, there are always dishes in the sink. It’s not magazine-worthy, but it’s ours and it’s good.
My Week in the Life so far:
Introduction | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday
Total photos taken today: 92
I want to remember... how much the kids love it when I throw their sheets “overboard” from the second story. They try to catch them, but end up all tangled up underneath. Thank goodness for their laughter and happy squeals or I’d be a little worried!
I want to remember… how every time we wash the boys’ sheets, they choose which bunk they want to move to. This time around, M is moving down to the bottom and the other two boys are back on top. I’m sure it won’t always be this way, but musical bunkbeds is working for us right now.
I want to remember… poor J’s legs after exploring in the woods with his friends during our playdate on Monday. He is all eaten up and says, “Oh mama, they are SO itchy!” I had to cut off the Band-Aids at six.
I want to remember… how much time I spend in the laundry room. While I’m so grateful to have a room at all, I’m feeling the need to make the space work better for us. My brain was buzzing today as I worked.
I want to remember… that we’re on day three of solid Playdough playing. All four of the kids have taken a turn at the table, adding in their “guys” and pretending all sorts of adventures. I think I have swept the floor at least ten times today, but worth it.
I want to remember… big squeezes around the neck from my best girl.
I want to remember… following Mark’s flight as he flew home from California. He’s been on a business trip since Monday and we’ve all missed him so much. It’s been almost ten years of marriage and I still get butterflies anticipating his return. M made welcome home notes for the garage door.
I want to remember… the soothing sound of an evening rain storm. Thankful that we’re tucked safely in our home.
My Week in the Life so far: Introduction | Monday | Tuesday
Day Two. Total photos taken today: 96
I want to remember… heading straight to the coffee pot after a difficult night with TJ. After chugging down a cup, I felt ready to take on the day. M and I made breakfast for the crew; I was in charge of the bacon, biscuits and fruit and he made the scrambled eggs.
I want to remember… our current routine of easy-going mornings. We meet for breakfast and then go our separate ways throughout the house for an hour. During this time, there is Lego building, reading and lots of imaginary play. The house is calm and I’m able to enjoy my second cup of coffee, check in on Big White Farmhouse and get prepared for the school day.
I want to remember… how much TJ loves the window and hiding behind the dining room curtains. If we can’t find him, he’s typically sitting there happily, waiting for someone to find him.
I want to remember… Sophie’s gentle reminders to spend a little one-on-one time together. With school back in our days, I’m not as readily available to play with her, but we’re figuring a way to fit it in. Today she pulled out Jenga and said, “You help me make this, Mamma, so we can play?”
I want to remember… that my daily T25 workout is a family affair. M hasn’t missed a single workout and I love that we are finding a new way to bond with exercise. Sophie watches the videos and pops in here and there too. At the end, we do our secret handshake and make protein shakes.
I want to remember… picnic lunches in the tray while watching Lego Movie, one of their favorites. Hearing Sophie bashfully sing “Everything is Awesome” is one of my favorites.
My Week in the Life so far:
Day One. Total photos taken today: exactly 100 (!!)
I want to remember…how the present Mark and I got to save for J’s birthday was discovered and he couldn’t wait to give it a try. They played happily for almost an hour, growing and cutting hair. I love how J calls Playdough his “clay”.
I want to remember… that Playdough is messy. So messy.
I want to remember… how much the kids are enjoying school. We are slowly finding a groove and a routine is forming. I definitely was unprepared for the little two’s desire to participate, but what a blessing. I love seeing their four faces around the table, hard at work.
I want to remember… the rules that were told to me when I asked the boys how we act on a playdate: “No fighting. No gettin’ angry. Be respectful. Take care of our brothers…and our Sophie!”
I want to remember… how hilarious Sophia can be. Everyday, she says something that just cracks me up. Today, I overheard her tell TJ, “You gotta kiddin’ me, dude!” Later on, I could hear her giggling as she would peek out at me in the kitchen. When I asked her what she was doing, she ran to the other side of the room, yelling, “I a neen-ja!”
I want to remember… starting a new read-aloud and listening to the boys belly laugh around me. They had me read a particularly funny part over and over.
For as long as I can remember, I’ve been a storyteller.
When I was a child, I would write long-winded stories in colorful spiral notebooks. As a teenager, I traded in fiction for scrapbooking and told the stories of my adventures with a combination of photos and cardstock. Now as a busy mother, I’ve left the paper products behind for an even easier method: journaling our beautiful everyday here on this blog.
This week, I will be participating in Ali Edward’s project, Week in the Life. I hope this will be a time capsule of sorts of our time right now in late summer 2015. My goal is to remember us at the beginning of our school year, with one foot still in summer’s goodness and the other preparing for all that autumn has to come. This project will be a more intense version of my weekly “Around Here” posts, but the general feeling is the same: capturing our everyday in photographs and telling the stories behind it.
I will be attempting to post each day’s photos and stories on the following day. So Monday’s photos will go up on Tuesday, Tuesday’s on Wednesday, etc. Most people who do this project take their photographs and create a physical album, but I am content to simply add it into the Blurb book I’m making with all of my weekly posts.
A few notes about my goals/hopes for this week:
- I want to try to attempt a self-portrait each day. This may not always be my face (feet or hands count too!), but I’d like to rise above the critical thoughts of myself and include what I look like at 30-years-old, even if that includes no makeup and a top knot.
- I’d like a photo of everyone all together. I’d love one of all seven of us, but even all the kids together would be great.
- I want to find detail shots of rooms/areas of our home that I normally don’t photograph. I also hope to challenge myself with zooming out and showing more of an entire room, messes included.
- I’d like to photograph what each of us is “into” these days: favorite shirts, toys, books, movies, etc.
- I want to take shots of some of our meals, especially the ones that feel like summer.
- I may document the super play-by-play of our day once, but I haven’t decided when.
Here we go!
A collection of our ordinary days, recorded every week. At the end of the year, I’ll publish them into a keepsake to treasure.
Around here, I have been:
starting our first week of school! We eased in with only a few subjects each day, but I was so proud of the kids’ enthusiasm and best effort. It was nice to get back into a routine again and the days have just flown by. We celebrated a successful week with milkshakes (which I sadly didn’t have…stupid Whole30).
having significantly less screen time, which surprisingly feels great. Less Facebook, less Instagram, less Internet rabbit holes. When I do go online, I try to go in for a purpose and then get out. No mindless scrolling and refreshing pages. I do feel like I’m “missing out” a little, but on the other hand, I’m feeling a lot of peace with being in the here and now.
reading Better Than Before.
completing one and a half weeks of T25 and I love it! Mark had to stop due to a nagging prior injury (and after going to the doctor has been told he has a bone spur in his foot and may need surgery!), but M has been by my side every single workout. The workouts are hard, but not impossible and I feel great at the end. Can’t wait to see how my body changes after 14 weeks.
cheering on TJ as he took his first steps! Bittersweet.
eating platters of grilled chicken or ham, cheese and fresh tomatoes from my garden. SO good.
practicing using the self-timer on my camera in preparation for next week’s Week in the Life project. I’d like to get more pictures of myself in the flow of our days, but this should be interesting: the kids are like weird moths to a flame when they know the camera is on.
receiving new product for Big White Farmhouse. It was a fun week to check the mail; we have new plush animals, wooden rattles and even more fall season surprises to come!
getting a head start on Sophie’s fall wardrobe with an order from ThredUp. I found her two pairs of pants, two dresses and even a Christmas dress! I only had a few minutes to peek for me, but I know I’ll be back to work on my fall wardrobe as well.
crying as D said, “Mamma, you know what I love about you? You are beautiful, you smell good and you have a great smile.” I’ve been a bit too critical of myself lately and his honest words just about broke me in two (in the very best way, of course). These kids don’t care about the extra 15 pounds I carry or the very limited wardrobe I currently wear. They just love me for me. Out of the mouths of babes…how incredibly humbling.
It turns out that reading to the kids has been an easy habit to adopt. Remembering to take photos of the books we’ve read…well, that’s another story! Here are a handful of our favorites from the last two weeks.
Choose Your Own Adventure: Your Very Own Robot The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig Oh, Were They Ever Happy! **links are affiliate – thank you so much for supporting the Big White Farmhouse!**
finding love notes from Mark in my planner the kids’ excitement for school new products for Big White Farmhouse TJ’s adoration for his Daddy temporary relief as hot coffee soothes my sore throat “The secret of happiness is to live moment by moment and to thank God for all that He, in His goodness, sends to us day after day” -Saint Gianna Molla the smell of freshly bathed babies brand new school supplies, just waiting to be used waking to a little (okay, teeny) chill in the air before it gets hot for the day “Just one more story, Mama!” exercising first thing in the morning with M memory filled hand-me-down clothes passed from brother to brother fresh fruit salad: nature’s dessert the pride in the kids’ faces as they wear their new backpacks around the house reading a few pages before bed a trunk full of boxes to donate burgers on the grill, even if I can only eat them on lettuce less mindless social media scrolling big imaginations and cardboard box forts contentment in where I am, right here and now
Today is our first day of school!
Last year, I went with a boxed curriculum, but ended up tweaking it to fit our needs. For this year, I pieced together a curriculum and I’m really excited about my choices. Buying curriculum is a tricky thing, at least for me. There are so many wonderful books and for as many people who love a product, there are just as many who hate it. My method is to research as much as I can, then trust my gut and make a decision based on that particular child. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.
Here are our choices and goals for this year:
3rd Grade
My third grader is a strong reader and average mathematician. This year, we are focusing on improving his spelling skills, writing more clearly and sharpening those math facts.
1st Grade
We believe my first grader may have symptoms for dyslexia, but it’s not going to hold him back! His learning has been slower and more deliberate and I am so thankful for the opportunity to homeschool him. This year, we are focusing on reading fluently and helping him find his confidence in learning.
Pre-Kindergarten
I am dedicating Tuesday and Thursday afternoons as special time for the little kids. While I generally would keep things really light and easy at this age, these two are just dying to be like the big boys, which makes things tricky. This year, we are going to focus on our letters, numbers and lots of read-alouds.
All Together
This year, we’re going to do a few subjects together as a family. It helps lessen my work load a bit and I like that we can adapt the work to each person’s level and pace.
Linking up with Micaela – be sure to check out the link-up if you need homeschool inspiration!
Some links are affiliate – thank you for supporting the Big White Farmhouse!