Just An Ordinary Day...

When I woke up this morning, my first thought was “Oh, what a good night’s sleep!” With illness consuming our lives for the past solid week, this was the first night in far too long that we all slept straight through the night. And it felt so good! By this time, Seth had been long gone, but I do have groggy memories of cuddling with him before he left for school. He must have come home between early morning prayer meeting at 5 am, and when he leaves for school at 6:45 am.
I had a few minutes to myself to lie in bed and pray before I could hear Eden’s fussing. She and I cuddled in the living room, her with a board book and me with my Bible. Soon, Maddie emerged, with a bit of a sour disposition. I got the girls some cereal and juice and seated them for breakfast. Maddie was still being contrary and did not want food, just juice. The juice was put back in the refrigerator until she could speak without whining. Within about 10 minutes, she was sitting down with her cereal, and the grumpiness was gone. Eden had already been eating for a few minutes by the time Maddie was ready to dig in, and Maddie chided Eden for starting without praying first. I thought that was kind of funny!

In their room playing after breakfast:

Brush teeth, dress the girls, do their hair. That was enough activity to warrant a juice break, and coffee break for mommy!

The girls sat down for Madison’s breathing daily breathing treatment. When Eden went to the kitchen, retrieved a wash clothe and carefully put it over her feet, I took the hint and got her some socks!

Then coloring for a while. I absolutely love these “Color Wonder” markers from Crayola… the fun of markers without the fear of a mess.

It was 10am by now and Eden was ready for a nap. She is transitioning between two naps to one nap so she does not always take a morning nap. But today, she went right down, giving me a chance to jump on the elliptical machine for some much needed exercise. I had taken all last week off… I know they say to keep exercising when you’re sick but I just could NOT do it! And then a shower. I am still not brave enough to take a shower and leave both the girls out and about the house, so I like to do this while Eden naps, or if she does not nap, I bring her in the shower with me. Maddie picked out a movie to watch, Audrey Hepburn’s Sabrina, and kept coloring.

After my shower, I got out an inexpensive pre-school book I recently found for Maddie to work through. The first page was focused on following simple directions and coloring certain pictures red. Maddie does know most of the colors, but she was just not in a very studious mood. Her coloring ended up being random scribbles so we put the workbook away. Maybe I’ll try again in a few months. She is BARELY 3 years old, so no worries. She can recognize all the letters and knows most of their sounds. However, coloring within the lines is not a skill she possesses yet. During this time, she made her usual request for hot chocolate… you give a girl hot chocolate ONE TIME while her sister naps and from then on, she thinks Eden’s nap equals hot chocolate time!

At about 12:30 each day, Seth comes home for lunch. It’s always a moment full of excitement as the girls run to the back door as soon as they hear him! Madison has a long standing tradition of getting Daddy’s Bible for him, and Eden is happy to take whatever else he’s holding… lately, his gloves.

Welcoming / attacking Daddy:

After a quick lunch, we took a trip to Barns and Nobles because I have realized that Maddie has out grown all of our books. They are all board books and too baby-ish for her. We purchased one beautiful book about Thanksgiving, but mostly got ideas of what books to look for on eBay. The idea of buying several new books makes a big CHA-CHING sound in my head! If anyone is wondering what to get Maddie for Christmas: BOOKS!

It’s such a sunny nice day, although a bit cold when the cold picks up. We bundled up and went for a short walk. Maddie is a speed demon on her tricycle! Eden is still not feeling 100% but I do think she enjoyed riding in the stroller and getting some fresh air and sun on her skin. I was amused as we took our walk over Seth’s eagerness to teach Maddie “right” and “left”… there seems to be certain areas that are important to him for our kids to know. And directions are one of them!

With Eden acting ready for another nap, we came home and tucked her in. I read our new book to Maddie, who was extremely interested in it! YEAH! I’m always so disappointed if I pick something out thinking that she will love it and it turns out not to be the case! But every picture evoked questions for her and every answer I gave seemed to lead to another question. It was so fun, and I think by Thanksgiving, she (hopefully) will know that it is not just about pie (however important pie is!!).

Seth then left to assist an elderly man in our church. He likes to take Maddie with him to do this because the gentleman enjoys her company and Maddie always feels honored to go off with just Daddy. So with Eden sleeping, and Maddie whisked away with Daddy, I had some free time to enjoy. I opened the refrigerator and cupboard in search of something tempting but could not stand the thought of another fun sized candy bar or wheat cracker. Must do more grocery shopping this week!

With Seth and Maddie home about dinner time, Maddie absolutely needed a nap. She doesn't take a nap every day anymore but coming off this bad flu, she was very tired. So Seth and I ate dinner while they finished their naps, then they ate when they woke up. Kitchen clean up, with the girls helping empty the dish washer, then bath time. A quiet evening home relaxing, then off to make more ZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzz's. On most Tuesday evenings, my mom comes over to eat dinner with us and babysit they girls for a while so that Seth and I can have a little date. But we've been sick and my mom is still settling into her new apartment, so we postponed. Today was a very very mellow day... probably not as typical as it should be to be considered "ordinary", but low key enough for me to record a normal day in our life at this stage. Maybe some day years from day, we will read this and cherish every detail. Or maybe it'll be just as boring then as it was to read today! ;)

My pastor said something in a sermon recently about building a life is like building a house: one brick at a time. One small choice followed by another followed by another. A few big decisions thrown in along the way, but it’s mostly small things which make up our lives. I suppose I could say that the big choices for us, have already been made as far as we can see right now. The “framework” and “foundation” is already in place. We are Christians and will try to live accordingly. We want our lives to count for the cause of Christ. That automatically means some things are paramount in our daily lives, and some things can not be a part of it. We will live off one income so that I can be home with them. We will do whatever and go wherever the Lord leads. These are the easy choices… these big elements, decided not day to day but established years ago, are the framework, and the Lord and His Word are the foundation. The “bricks”… the daily grind, are the small elements that in reality add up to be what our children will remember. These bricks will enhance the framework, or distract from it. I believe I could I even say that these bricks will validate the foundation and framework.

Recording today’s events and each small choice made, I can see where I have neglected to think through some choices, particularly in the morning hours that the girls and I spend alone at home. Too much time spent chatting via email or FaceBook… although only a moment here and there throughout the day, it adds up to a giant waste of time. Maddie’s daily movie habit. Giving instructions to the girls more than one time without following through with discipline if they do not obey right away. Not planning ahead better with grocery shopping so that I don't have to ask Seth to run out for one ingredient for dinner. Overall, I think our days are great. Some days are much busier and chaotic than today, of course. The morning hours that the girls and I spend at home do not always go so smoothly. The great night’s sleep we enjoyed last night probably contributed the most to how pleasant our morning was today… that and I did not attempt to cram ALL cleaning and housework in one morning.

Our life is a happy life.

"Just an ordinary day" was a theme prompted by A thousand words... and then some.