Ordinary, good day around here.  Samuel is at school and we are both at work.

The words + photos for Monday, April 23:

4:00 am :: Jim is up with Samuel.  Both rest on the recliner as Samuel is congested and having difficulty sleeping.

5:45 am :: alarm goes off.

5:54 am :: rise and shine.  Good morning Monday.  Hello Week in the Life.

6:00 am :: select clothes for Jim (blue chi pants and plaid shirt).  Selected clothes for Samuel the night before.  Breakfast (me – bread, pate and coffee; Samuel – animal crackers and milk, will have breakfast of oatmeal and applesauce at 7:30 at school; Jim – oatmeal and tea).

6:05 am :: Jim wakes Samuel up.  Totally a sleepy head at this point.  Great stretch on the changing table during a diaper change.  Signs for itsy bitsy spider during the diaper change.

6:15 am :: Samuel and I eat breakfast while watching a bit of the news.  We don’t usually pay that much attention to the news — there is often a lot of giggles, sharing of my bread roll and singing of the itsy bitsy spider.

6:18 am :: Samuel continues to enjoy his milk and crackers while sitting on the recliner.

6:18 am :: I am in the kitchen enjoying my cup of coffee.  Hello Hawaiian Hazelnut coffee.  Oh, how I love you in the morning, afternoon and occasionally in the evening.

6:30 am :: Jim brushes Samuel’s teeth while I brush mine in the second bathroom.  He’s a pretty good sport — the only time he fights the brushing is when he’s teething.  I don’t blame him.

6:45 am :: out the door.

6:48 am :: on the road.

6:56 am :: listening to NPR.  Jim drives, I check email and Facebook updates (I am only allowing myself to be on Facebook 5 times a day because it, like Pinterest, is one of the biggest time suckers on the planet.  I mainly stalk my peeps and read updates from my favorite scrapbooking folks), and Samuel reads the Hungry Caterpillar.

6:59 am :: Samuel signs for Itsy Bitsy Spider (twice).  While I sing with hand signals, he signs “down came the rain and wash the spider out.”  He’s getting to be pretty good at it.

7:02 am :: Shoes comes off the feet.

7:13 am :: arrive at Merryhill.  Jim signs in and makes our weekly payment while Samuel immediately notices the balloons in the front office and along the hallway.  Merryhill is celebrating the Week of the Young Child and is having activities for the kids throughout the week.

7:20 am :: Samuel and Jim say their goodbyes for the day.  Pajama day at Samuel’s school (Spirit week this week) so Samuel is wearing his tuxedo pajamas.

7:21 am :: leave Merryhill for work.

7:33 am :: arrive at EHMS.  Restroom.  Say “hi” to the school secretary and make my way to my classroom.

7:45 am :: in my classroom (MK-12).  Really needs to be cleaned and organized.

8:00 am :: start of first period.  Hello Honors students.

8:45 am :: take roll while students are completing a physics lab.  Can’t wait for this 16-station lab to be over with.  I am so ready to clean it up.

9:30 am :: end of first period.  Goodbye my best class of the day.

9:40 am :: read Ali’s post on WITL.  Love her reminders and encouraging words.

9:50 am :: visit with Debbie.  Email Silhouette regarding the delivery of my Cameo.

10:05 am :: Starbucks run.  Venti nonfat mocha today — cause it’s free!

10:08 am :: text from Debbie — “Where the heck are you?  Your box is here.”

10:30 am :: return to campus.  Ecstatic over the arrival of the Cameo (so are my friends).  I can’t wait to play.

10:45 am :: chat with my soon-to-be-mama friend about documenting her baby’s first year.

11:13 am :: start of fourth period.  They are in need of some motivation, inspiration, and life stories.  I told them my life story — so that they can see that I am human — I make mistakes, I get into trouble, I come from a poor family — but I don’t let those obstacles keep me down.

12:47 pm :: lunch (roast and rice).  Honors students are all over the place working on their lab.

1:21 pm :: start of 6th period.  Assign notes on friction and gravity along with a poster on the Earth (in celebration of Earth Day).

2:50 pm :: end of the school day.  Several students stop by for make-up work.

3:15 pm :: share photos of Samuel with Joanne on my iPhone.

4:00 pm :: leave our campus for Merryhill.

4:10 pm :: spot Samuel (from outside the fence) hanging out in his favorite corner.  He loves to be in the shade surrounded by ride-on toys.  This boy loves cars, bikes, trikes — essentially anything with wheels.

4:13 pm :: he loves to ride this thing.  As of last week, he was able to push himself backwards in it.

4:15 pm :: reminder that Tuesday is Western Day.

4:16 pm :: leave Merryhill campus.  Jim buckles Samuel in while Samuel plays with his balloon.

4:40 pm :: each time we visit the grocery story, Jim always takes Samuel to visit the balloons.

5:00 pm :: home from grocery shopping.  I make rice and wash the green beans while Jim put away the groceries.  Samuel runs around the house like a wild child.

5:05 pm :: Jim steps out to lock the car and Samuel freaks out.  I open the front door and he stands there, happy to see his daddy.

5:25 pm :: a quiet moment in our house.  Samuel is reading while Jim and I work on preparing dinner.  I rearranged his room a couple of weeks ago to give him a reading corner.  He loves having the board books within reach and enjoys “reading” books in his rocking chair.

5:45 pm :: he likes to drag his blankets throughout the house, find a restful spot and rest upon his blanket.  Sometimes, he will rest in the middle of the kitchen!

6:10 pm :: dinner (green beans, tofu and ground beef with rice — one of our favorites around here).  That face is a “mmmmm” good food face.  Ha!

6:30 pm :: I am out in the back yard picking oranges that have fallen today while Samuel explores. Love that he occasionally comes by and hugs my leg.

6:50 pm :: he and I go on a little adventure in the neighborhood.  We found this horse on a stick in the garage this afternoon and he enjoyed marching around with it.

7:08 pm :: back in the house to get ready for bed.

7:18 pm :: he signs for milk and walks over to the fridge to wait for it.

7:25 pm :: talk with my mom briefly.  Read Jamberry and The Napping House while he drinks his bottle.  We are down to just one bottle a day (and he’s only 14.5 months).

7:45 pm :: Jim takes over.  Lots of giggles and launching of a foam rocket before bedtime.

7:46 pm :: laundry.  Pick up around the house.

7:55 pm :: diaper change.  Pajamas on.  Brush teeth.  And bedtime stories with daddy.

8:15 pm :: Samuel asleep on Jim.

8:20 pm :: Watch Celebrity Apprentice while sweeping, vacuuming and mopping.

8:50 pm :: shower.  More laundry.

9:20 pm :: snack for me (mango and a piece of crumb cake).

9:35 pm :: Upload photos.  Fold laundry.  Watch Celebrity Apprentice.

10:00 pm :: Going through the day’s photos.  315 uploaded.  Down to 192 after first run-through.

10:50 pm :: email from Barnes and Noble in Stockton.  I won their teacher appreciation gift package.  Yay!

11:00 pm :: Listen to the news.  Exporting photos to post online.

11:43 pm :: Jim reminds me that it is close to midnight.

12:20 am :: still writing blog post.

Thoughts for the rest of the week  –

1. I am using a combination of Ali’s Daily Sheets and Evernote (an iPhone app) to record notes for the day.  I will probably not post the details of my day for the rest of the week — takes too much time.
2. I am incorporating a combination of photos from my DSLR and iPhone. So excited about learning how to take self-portraits with my iPhone.  Will definitely cut down on the number of photos for the rest of the week.  I don’t have time to go through 300+ photos each day.
3. I am reminding myself to find my own rhythm and not stress out if I miss a photo op. Sometimes, it isn’t possible to take a photo with a wiggly 14-month old in your arms.
4. Things I want to make sure I document:

• Samuel’s spirit wear for the week
• Self portraits (with and without the little man)
• Routines: morning, afternoon and evening
• The state/condition of our home
• What’s blooming in the back yard