One Day {Yesterday, as it Turns Out} in Our Life

A day, just any day, and the captured moments therein.

I use Instagram all day every day, and my phone automatically shoots the photos through thin air to our family room TV's screen-saver. I love having snippets of yesterday's special moments playing in the background of today. Looking back on photos from last Tuesday, or three weeks ago Sunday, or a warm day last May reminds me to focus on and dig my toes into the sun-warmed, perfect moments of now.

They'll be up on that screen, beautiful just on the verge of happy tears, yet already untouchable, by nightfall.

7: 15 AM The kids eat breakfast as I make my coffee, empty the dishwasher that ran overnight, pack Bean's lunch, sign papers, wipe counters, listen to their stories, answer their questions, remind them of their manners. She sling-shoots cheese as he looks on in amazement. I cluck a little, and I let it go. Al left for work an hour ago, minutes before the rest of us first yawned, rubbed our eyes and opened our curtains to faint grey morning, the sound of the garage door closing still echoing in the quiet house.



8:00 AM We're upstairs again, the kids in their rooms, me in mine. Time to get dressed and ready for the day, make the beds, listen for my phone to tell us it's bus time.



8:35 We hug and kiss Bean good-bye as she climbs on the bus bound around the corner to the school in our back yard.

9:00 AM I drop Peabody off at pre-school. Instagram eats the insanely cute photo and I sit in the parking lot for a few minutes, my eyebrows knit into a curse-word, punching buttons and muttering to no avail.



9:15 AM We've been on vacation and I let us run out of everything before we left. For the two days we've been back, I've managed to keep us alive on flour tortillas, grated cheese and a baked chicken. So we don't all get rickets or scurvy, I make an out-of-cycle trip to the grocery store to stock up, and put a hurtin' on the produce section.



Two steps from the apple bin I spy these beauties. My kids and I are looking forward to a special play date with my dear friend Lainey and her two kids the day after Thanksgiving. I'm thinking these kits would absolutely thrill all four of the kids and buy Lainey and me some precious moments of the tea-drinking, heart-sharing connection we're both craving.



10:30 AM Loaded up and ready for the trip home.



Inside my beloved 15-year-old Toyota 4-Runner, listening to gorgeous music on the local public classical radio station. You'll see as the day goes on that I am big on creating small pockets of tranquil down time here and there. My largely-introverted, beauty-and-aesthetics-fueled, needs-plenty-of-processing-time temperament absolutely requires these. They keep me sane and fully-charged.



11:15 AM Groceries unloaded and kitchen restocked, I take advantage of the Cozy Room and a few free minutes to have an early lunch of hot tea, cheese, nuts and slices of sweet Honey Crisp apples.



11:35 AM I'm back at it, running a few more errands. Gas station.



Dry cleaners.



12:00 PM And the preschool, to pick up my little man.



12:30 PM Lunch for Peabody. He's telling me that he drew Mama and Daddy at school, and had blueberry bars and carrot juice for snack. "Carrot juice?" I ask him. "It was good," he informs me. Well, okay then.



1:00 PM Peabody settles in to watch some Shaun the Sheep and I take up my post at the computer to get a few things done.



2:30 PM We head into the kitchen to take leftover baked chicken off the bones, make enchiladas for dinner and get some chicken stock simmering.



3:30 PM Mocha and Facebook to fuel up for 4 o'clock bus time and the afternoon snack, homework, dinner, bath and bed break-up-squabbles-o-rama. (Otherwise known as the part of the day in which Mamas are made or broken daily.)



4:00 PM Time to walk down to the bus stop to gather our Bean.

Me: Are you ready to go get Bean at the bus stop?
Him: Noooo! Bean is mean! I gonna hit her!
Me: Well I guess you'll have to stay home then.
Him: Noooo Mama! I needa go git her! I love her! She's my best friend!
Me: Excellent choice, sir.



4:10 PM This is always the moment I look at her face and know what kind of day she had, which then tells me what kind of afternoon we're all going to have.



5:00 PM Now that it's too chilly to go outside and play, we're having to come up with new things to do between snack and homework time and dinner. Today, Peabody thinks we should have a dance party. His sister needs a little convincing. (And it works, but I don't have any pictures of them dancing because they were moving TOO FAST.



6:00 PM "Tea" for the kids. They eat earlier than Al and I do because he gets home so late. But tonight I'm joining them because mmmmmm... Enchiladas.



6: 30 PM The kids both finish their dinners, so they get one piece of Halloween candy each, and then pay me a Twix. That's what's known as The Mama Tax. (Evil snicker.)



7:15 PM I "lie wif him" for a few moments after prayers, so he can get cozy and sleepy.



7:30 PM I tuck in my big girl, who doesn't really need me to anymore but goes along with it because she's sweet like that.



7:35 PM Al's home and ready for dinner. YAY!



8:15 PM I take a hot bath before bed most fall and winter nights. Quiet, peaceful, warm - it's perfection. Just 10 or 15 minutes all my own.



8:45 PM Hmmm... Sock bun curls at bed time. I think I'm doing this backwards?



9:00 PM Last photo of the day. I have my lovey beside me, a great book to read and a little boy who will be up and ready for action at 6 AM tomorrow. Good night!

I'm linking up my #OneDayHH post at HollywoodHousewife.com, where my friend Laura is encouraging all of us to stop, notice and capture the moments of minutiae that add up to life.

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