Week In The Life™ | Tuesday Photos and Words

I love this project! I really do. I especially love the community around it. As I said yesterday’s post, it’s been fun to see photos on Instagram from the other folks who are also documenting their week. To see our post from Monday go here.

As I was working with yesterday’s photos and writing this post, I realized how vulnerable it feels to share so much of our life online. My home isn’t always as tidy as I’d like it to be. I’m not as slim and trim as I’d like to be. Sometimes the lighting in the house makes my photos look too yellow. Looking at these photos opens my eyes to the things I don’t notice on a day to day basis. There is lots of imperfection going on around here.

As hard as it is, that’s the beauty of this project. Seeing the things I don’t normally see gives me a chance to make improvements. Getting in the picture with the kids, even though I don’t love the way I look, will be something I’m incredibly grateful for in years to come. This project is valuable for so many reasons.

Yesterday was a much better picture taking day for me. I was able to try getting some of the types of photos that Ali Edwards talks about when she discusses documenting the everyday. She had a wonderful post (here) with all kinds of tips and tricks to get good photos this week. I can’t say enough about how much I love her photos. I get so much inspiration from her, so it was fun to try her suggestions.

The number of photos I had yesterday was good. I had 178 dSLR photos and 85 iPhone photos. Of course it’s different every day. Some days I have more, some days I have less. That’s just how it goes. Overall, though, I’m much more pleased with yesterday’s lot.

Here’s a look at my photos and thoughts from Tuesday (written last night before bed):

When I think about today all I can think is the word “happy.” It was a crazy, busy day with lots of things going on, but my main feeling today was HAPPY.

Today was the first day of school. It all went smoothly, and that’s all I can ask for. I took the obligatory first day of school photos, but the kids do not want me to share those here. Fair enough.

Today Tim left for Australia. I’m so happy and excited for him as he starts out on this journey. Working in Australia for nine months is going to be awesome! In my mind, you can mostly only do this sort of thing when you’re young and single. I know this will be a life changing experience for him!

Getting home from the airport gave me a little time to get some chores done. My mom and dad came by for a visit and to see the kids when they get home. Also, there is always too much stuff on my kitchen table.

After school the kids came home and we all chatted about the day. We heard a lot about new teachers, new classes, more supplies that are needed, etc. This is what the hour or so after school looked like before they started homework.

More supplies warranted a trip to Target…alone. Just Target and me. I haven’t had a lot of alone time lately, so this was good for a change of pace. On the way to Target I got to listen to a podcast in the car. On the way home, I called my best friend to catch up for a bit. I so needed that. It was so good to hear her voice.

When I got home, Ross had prepared dinner, and he was just finishing up. Baked chicken with tots and fries. It was so awesome that he prepare dinner for us. It sure took a load off my shoulders.

After dinner I helped the kids get all their supplies ready for school. We put notebook paper into binders and labeled folders and notebooks. It felt good to spend time with each of them in that way.

The camp bags arrived back home late this afternoon. Lauren dug through her bag and found all the gifts she had for all of us from her trip to Montreal. She got me a Canadian oven mitt! I loved seeing how excited she was to give us all our gifts.

This is what bedtime looks like. Lots of togetherness, talking, and snuggling with pets. Bedtime is looking different for our oldest these days. She stays up later than the others and kind of just does her thing in her room. We have a mutual understanding about her “bedtime,” but generally we are going to bed before her.

During the afternoon and evening I was able to get more pictures than I did on Monday. I got some that I really love, like these of our dogs. I’m so grateful to the kids for not making a big deal about me taking so many pictures of them. They’ve been good to play along and just ignore me when I have my camera in hand. This is a bit of a new thing. In the past few months and years, they’ve groaned a lot about it and not cooperated entirely. I’m thankful for their new attitude in this area.

Overall, everyone seemed happy today. The kids were laughing and smiling. I felt very contented. I’m happy I’m capturing all this busyness as it happens. I’m happy another school year is underway. I’m happy I will be able to remember these days through this project. I am happy.