Simply Tuesday

I have been reading a book by Emily Freeman called "Simply Tuesday".  Freeman's challenge in the book is to seek out "small-moment living in our fast-moving world".  I've appreciated the reminders to embrace what often feels very ordinary and unimportant.  A few years ago, I took photos throughout one day in an effort to document what felt "normal" during that season (that post is here).  I decided to do it again.  Following with the idea of the book, I chose Tuesday.  And as it would happen, the Tuesday I decided to take photos ended up not being as "ordinary".  But the unexpected is always a part of our days, so in a sense this was still a very normal day for us!

5:00am - alarm goes off.  Ryan and I head out to the garage to do a tabata exercise routine together (usually two mornings a week).  I wouldn't do it without him.  Ugh.  These are early mornings.

6:00am - showered, dressed, and ready to pour my coffee to sit down with my Bible.  Baked oatmeal for breakfast (with another cup of coffee, please).

7:00am - Sleepy heads come out of bed.  They have clocks in their rooms and are supposed to stay in bed until 7:00.  It usually happens!  

8:00am - Ryan has left for work, breakfast is almost done, and we are ready to finish our morning jobs.

8:45am - we begin our school days with "Circle Time: a combination of singing, looking at the calendar and talking about what's coming up in the day, practicing our memory verses, reading through a rotation of books like this one, or this one, and prayer.  The extra blankets and pillows are not normally a part of our circle time, but it was an easy "yes" to give them on this particular morning.

10:00am - snack!  Math work and piano practicing are finished, and the big kids are working independently while Bridgette and I do "Mommy and Me" time.

11:00am - revisiting some math corrections, doing a language learning lesson, and finishing up the rest of our reading and school work.

12:00pm - the animals are having a tea party while I make lunch. 

1:00pm - we've eaten lunch, cleaned up, and are headed in to the gym to meet up with another homeschooling family for P.E.!

2:00pm - "Let's go, kids!".  Time to put away the skates and scooters.

3:00pm - normally we would have been back at home, wrapping up our quiet time.  But I called early in the morning to check on an appointment with the doctor for a strange rash on Bridgette's leg that won't go away.  We were able to get a 3:00 appointment.  So we ran a couple errands and then went to the doctors' office.

4:00pm - still in the office, waiting for a prescription to be filled.

5:00pm - throwing together a quick dinner while the kids watch a show.

6:00pm - The kids and I have eaten, cleaned up (mostly!), and are ready for our evening activities.  Ryan walked in the door from work just in time to grab a couple bites of food and then take Bridgette and Rooke to Rooke's basketball practice.  Gretchen and I leave at the same time to go to her music class.  Everyone out the door!

7:00pm - half-way through music class.  Gretchen is doing great!  It's a special time she and I share each week.

8:00pm - Rooke and Bridgette have showered and are just finishing up evening devotion time when Gretchen and I arrive back home.  We join them for our catechism review and then it's off to bed!

9:00pm - kids are sleeping, toys are picked up, Ryan is reading for work, and I'm enjoying a cup of tea while catching up on some emails.

10:00pm - kitchen is clean and we are headed to bed.  

10:30pm - lights out

Good night!

Our Final Four

Our Bridgette Kara turned four last month!  For some reason, the fourth birthday is a big milestone in my mind.  And our youngest turning four was a special day celebrating our special girl.

We love our little Bridge.  She is happy, fun-loving, assertive, confident, and has always been good at holding her own as the youngest in our bunch of Paynes.  She loves books, playing with her siblings, eats pretty much anything, and is determined to have hair as long as Rapunzel!  

In preparation for her birthday, Bridgette decided that, as the birthday girl, she got to choose what everyone would wear!  

We Skyped with Grammy Deb and G-Daddy while Bridgette opened her birthday box from them - so many fun surprises . . .

. . . including a new scooter!  

I think the big kids (including Mommy!) had more fun with our gift to B.

Bridgette wanted to go swimming for her birthday!

"Chocolate cake with white icing and a blue snowflake".  Ok!

We love you, Bridgette!

Thanks to Aunt Jessica and Uncle Sean for this birthday game!  Don't worry - we have more whipped cream so YOU can play with us next time =)

Minneapolis Spring Break

Last year, about this time, we spent a long weekend in Minneapolis.  It was such a great trip, we decided to do a repeat this year.  Our days were spent doing some repeat actives, and trying out some new things as well.  When we pulled into town, the weather was beautiful, so we drove straight to Minnehaha Falls to stretch our legs and enjoy the beautiful park.      

 After the park and some dinner, we almost headed back to the hotel before noticing a couple walking down the street with an ice cream cone that looked too good to pass up.  Turns out one of the places I had already planned for us to go was just down the street!  Ice cream for everyone!

After joining in worship at Bethlehem Baptist Church on Sunday morning, we spent the rest of the afternoon at the Como Park and Zoo.  We were extremely impressed with the exhibits and grounds for a donations-only admission.  

The girls in the Sunken Gardens.

We had planned to skip the Mall of America on this trip and try out the water park, but after seeing the price of admission (good grief!!!), we opted for another trip to the middle of the mall to let everyone pick out a ride.  Bridgette was excited to ride the carousel this year, and Gretchen chose to try out her first real roller coaster.  I don't have any photos of us riding together, but she LOVED it and I love it that she loved it! =)

Minneapolis' "Sculpture Park" needs a little help.  This was the extent of the sculptures.

One morning was spent at the Institute of Art where the kids and I worked on a scavenger hunt and found artifacts from periods of history we've been learning about while Ryan read and browsed at a slower pace.

Back to Victor's 1979 Cafe for a Cuban breakfast.

We spent our last afternoon at the Science Museum.  We arrived just as the school groups were leaving from field trips and had the place seemingly to ourselves.  Rooke was old enough to try one of the experiments: observing a cheek cell sample!  I have vivid memories of doing that in the sixth grade and loved watching him try it out.  

Gretchen may be on to something . . . =)

We had a little too much fun with the giant astronaut!

It's good to get away.  We ate yummy food, did some shopping at Ikea, watched a few episodes of Little House on the Prairie, and overall enjoyed a change of scenery together.