Ah, yes. It’s that time again! Remember A Week in the Life from last year? I also tried it back in 2010.
For those of you who weren’t around back then, here’s the deal: A Week in the Life is an idea started by Ali Edwards, and involves photographing everything your family does for an entire week. Her ability to capture the most ordinary, normal, everyday kind of stuff, and making it beautiful, inspired me to give it a try.
Yes, it’s a ton of work, and I’m kinda sick of my camera by the end of the week, and kinda think I’ll never do it again. But then we get out the photo books a year later, and I can’t believe how much life has changed. It’s such an awesome way to document exactly where we are so that years from now, we’ll be able to remember it so much better.
The girls change.
My photography changes.
How we live a normal day changes.
It’s just interesting to me. So we’ll do it again! I was going to start yesterday, but halfway through the day on Sunday, I realized I’d taken so many pictures that day already, I’d call it the first day of Week in the Life.
I’ll be sharing my photos with you this week, not because I think everyone needs to see every single awesome detail of my life, but because I would love to pass on that same awareness I’ve gained from others – all of life can be beautiful, and every moment is awesome, and some day I will look back on this all with a full, full heart, and I will be so blessed.
So here’s a look at Day 2:
I try to start my mornings earlier than the girls, but when Ben leaves earlier than normal for work, I tend to fall back asleep, and am woken up to Kaylia’s “whistling” – she can’t really whistle, but she thinks she can, so she lets out this cheerful, birdlike sound, over and over again, until we all crowd into bed with her, and start the day with some snuggles.
Possibly my favorite time of the day!
After everybody got up, I started exercising. I like it best when I get it done before the girls are around, but it is fun when Kaylia comes to join me…
Then we started on breakfast – the usual green smoothie for me…
…and eggs and toasted pancakes from our stash in the freezer.
The girls played for awhile, since we only doing a little bit of school this week – easing ourselves in, so that Anika can do some math and grammar, while still having the slow mornings she loves.
Anika begged me to take this picture while they were playing, “So everyone will know we really love each other, even though we fight sometimes!”
I emptied the dishwasher…
…and then it was time to get Anika going on her school work. She needs to learn a lot about writing this year, and so she is starting her very own blog! She loves the idea, and so do I, because she will learn so much without ever even realizing it!:)
I read Kaylia a story – “Lady and the Tramp” is her absolute favorite right now.
After Anika was done her work, we ate lunch – leftovers!
After lunch, we made paperdolls. This is Anika’s latest passion. She’s been reading The Silver Chair, from the Chronicles of Narnia, and every day, she asks me to make her a few paperdolls. She, in turn, makes Kaylia a set of paperdolls. 
My major goal for the day was to tackle this nasty habit:
I keep piling junk on the stair wall. This has got to stop! For now, it’s looking much better!
We had “rest time” (which means I need a nap and a break, so the girls play in their rooms.) Then I got up, and baked some cookies.
The girls worked on their paperdolls some more…
…and then we headed outside. They had a snack while I did some weeding. We were waiting for my mom to come pick them up – they stayed at my parents’ place for the night, which was extremely exciting, and it was hard to wait until she came at 5:00!
After they left, Ben got home from work, and we headed off to a fundraising banquet for Red Rock Bible Camp. 
Honestly, I did not want to go. I had a headache, and a loud room full of people sounded extremely unappealing. But once we got there, we met so many fantastic camp people I haven’t seen in a long, long time, and it was such an amazing evening of reconnecting with lots of old friends. The food was great, the camp video brought a massive lump to my throat, and the worship time was awesome. I came home happy and satisfied.
And then we went to bed. I’m hoping my sweet girlies had a good night, too!
Anything lovely, ordinary, and enjoyable about your week so far?
Ordinary Days 