Snapshot

Us

Steve (30)
Jamie (29)
Gracie (6)
Charlie (3)
Juliette (12 mos)


Eating (Breakfast)

Corn or Rice Chex
Honey Nut Cheerios
Oatmeal
Toast
Banana-berry smoothies


Eating (Dinner)

"Crockos" (Crock pot burritos)
Lasagna
Pasta

...and lots more veggies now that I'm on an eat-more-veggies kick. Trying to have two veggie sides at meals now. Ugh. I don't love veggies. :)

and when we eat out...
Papa John's pineapple pizza


Eating (Dessert)

Ghiradelli brownies
Too much Halloween candy :/


Music

Taylor Swift
James Taylor
Stolen Dance - Milky Chance (Charlie's fav)

Watching (TV on TV/Hulu/Netflix)

Kiddos
Sesame Street
Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood

Jamie + Steve
Harry Potter (slowly working through all the movies)
Portlandia, season 4 (Netflix)


Bedtime

Kids
7:00/7:30ish

Jamie + Steve
10:30 or 11:00


Waketime

Kids
Awake around 6:30, allowed to get up at 7:00a :)

Steve
Varies between 6a and 8a depending on work schedule & level of exhaustiong

Jamie
6:40a -- I never thought I would willingly get up before 7am, but now I wake up early to read scriptures or Conference talks before the kids' day begins. It is a very sweet, slow, peaceful way to wake up, and it gets my wheels turning. I also check email and get dressed before they're up, and that is just a game changer as far as efficiency goes. :)


Reading

Jamie
The Shivering Sands - Victoria Holt (3rd or 4th time)
The 4-Hour Work Week - Tim Ferris
Happier at Home - Gretchen Rubin
If I Have to Tell You One More Time... - Amy McReady (2nd time)

Steve
Collected works of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle


Outside Our Window

Bright orange leaves and the white-fingered branches of lots of already-bare trees, blue sky, sunshine, 58 degrees.


Habits-in-Learning

Eating more vegetables
Making lunches the day before (wonderful)
Keeping up with my Mind Organization for Moms routine (love)
Budgeting with YNAB (also looooove)


Pass Times

Juliette
Putting smaller things in larger containers (crayons in their case, magnets in kitchen drawers, etc.)
Crawling around with animal magnets clenched in her teeth
Climbing the stairs (when we leave the baby gate open)
Looking at books
Exploring the house

Charlie
Building with LEGOs and DUPLOs
Playing pretend with cars/trucks/stuffed animals
Drawing smiley faces with highlighter
Preschool twice a week
Playing with floss containers pilfered from the master bathroom
Riding his scooter

Gracie
Drawing pictures
Singing/making up songs
First grade!
Writing and illustrating books (many about Hello Kitty)
Learning needlepoint
Bike/scooter riding

Steve
xBox (lately, Lego Marvel Superheroes)
Running (he did a Tough Mudder on 10/25!)
Listening to EMRAP podcasts
Reading
Organizing residents & going to interview dinners for new applicants to his program

Jamie
Reading
Obsessively de-cluttering, streamlining, and organizing the house/finances
Learning Circle
Planning a capsule wardrobe
Slowly styling our bedroom
Coloring with the kiddos

Together (all of us)
Read stories
Have dance parties in the car/kitchen
Movie night on Fridays
Talk about Juliette
Laundry folding parties


Best Parts of the Day

Reading in bed (we all like this--the kids take books to bed for nap)
Making things
Holding hands
Coloring
Baby (& big kid!) snuggles
"Mommy Time"
Gracie's 2-minute post-school hug on the couch
Cuddling up to watch a movie
Kids' quiet time, when I can be a blur of uninterrupted productivity (or sometimes just sit and watch TV on my iPad)
Happy kids playing & imagining together
Successful trips to the "fighting step" or (even better) hearing them work things out on their own
Dancing
Belly laughs
Scriptures over breakfast
Everyone watching/cheering as Juliette climbs the stairs with us at bedtime
Waking up early to have my alone time
Hearing Gracie & Charlie chatting across the hallway after bedtime