Day in the Life: January 18, 2022

I got out of the habit of my quarterly DiTL posts last year, but I want to get back into it this year! So I picked this past Tuesday, January 18, to document.

          ***************Tuesday, January 18, 2022***************

Brent is 41 1/2

Allena is 41

Trent is 12 1/2

Drew is newly 9

Paige is newly 5

The day I teach Body Pump, I sleep poorly the night before, so I look at the clock 75 times before I get up at 4:55 AM. I get ready to teach and head out the door at 5:10 AM to get to the studio!

Ready to go!

I got new tennis shoes in December and couldn't find them!

I had an epiphany Monday night and found them - in the office, of course! Ha!

5:15 AM - Arrive at the studio! 

I set-up equipment for all the participants and go over some of the choreography while I want on everyone to arrive.

5:30 AM - It's go time!

6:30 AM - Class is over, and I head home. I didn't take a pic with my class because they are always in a hurry to get home and start the day. We started having a jazzercise class at 6:30 which I love because then I can just leave and not have to lock everything up!

6:40 AM - I'm home and start making breakfasts, putting lunches in lunch boxes, all the morning things. I'm listening to Educated for our work book club.

6:50 AM - I wake the girls up.

I cracked up to see Paige with the bottom of Sackie over her head!

Slow to get started this morning. {grin}

7:00 AM - I give Trent his 10 minute warning. I'm basically his snooze button. Ha! 

We had Drew's class guinea pig over the weekend, 

so I get Mr. Tiger's stuff together.

We ran out of hay so I gave him a lot of fruit {not great}.

7:10 AM - Trent is up! He is real fast to get ready because he wants as much time in bed as possible.

He promised a friend he would wear his wearable blanket to school today!

He is his father's son and hates posing for blog pics, so I had to sneak them!

7:30 AM - We leave! It takes 10 minutes to get to school and get the kids dropped off. I'm home by 8:00 and have just enough time to make coffee before calls begin.

8:05 AM - And the calls start!

I didn't go to Starbucks today so had to pose with just my regular mug.

My father-in-law came by mid-morning to bring us leftovers and cranberry tea, so I had to get a snack.

More computer work...all day...every day...

Today's afternoon background noise brought to you by...

my 3rd or 4th rewatch of Grimm!

2:30 PM - Make a smoothie for lunch, keep working...

3:10 PM - Time to leave and get the kiddos! It takes me about 10 minutes to get to the kids' school, and I'm usually back home about 4:00, but there have been a lot of absences, so it was a little quicker today.

3:50 PM - We're home!

Trent is trying to hide - you can see his hand by Drew's head ha

3:55 PM - Drew hurt her finger in PE so we iced it and she got some cranberry tea too.

These 2 have been on a wrestling kick lately.

4:10 PM - Paige helps me make cornbread to go along with the soup Brent's dad brought over. She LOVES to help bake.

Had to sneak a picture to prove Brent was here!

4:30 PM - Time for Paigey to get ready for gymnastics!

Posing with her cute fashion sense and braid

4:45 PM - Take Paige to gymnastics - she is loving it

5:30 PM - Gymnastics is over! Head home to do all the nighttime things.

This was DELICIOUS.

6:30 PM - Divide and conquer the girls! Brent reads to Paige, and I read to Drew.

How cute are they together?

Starting Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince!!!!!!!

Me and my girls

My guys...watching sports probably {grin}

Sidenote: On a recent Blog Friend Book Club zoom, we were talking about teen/pre-teen boys and how they like to stay in their rooms all the time. That made me feel better because sometimes I worry about HOW MUCH TIME Trent spends in his room!

7:30 PM - Time to put Paige to bed! We snuggle and then I sit in her room until she falls asleep. [I laughed looking back at her 4 year write-up...where I said I was going to work on NOT being in her room while she falls asleep. A year later, we're still in the same boat.]

8:00 PM - Time for me to read! I finish the latest Nora Roberts book, it was okay.

8:30 PM - Time to start the next one!

9:00 PM - I shower, it's been a long day! Read some more, hang out with Brent, play on my phone...

10:50 PM - I have been up for a LONG time, it is time for bed!

Now here's hoping I don't forget to do this for another year, so...until next time!

Currently: Winter Grays

Current Book

Book 3!

Current Song

Like all of America, lots of Encanto music in our house these days!

Current TV Show

I am actually watching some shows right now!

Just started season 2 of Cheer

And really excited to watch The Gilded Age!

Current Podcast/Audiobook

Just started this yesterday!

I am really loving listening to memoirs!

Current Drink

Nothing outside the ordinary...

coffee or chai to start the day...then H2O!

Current Food

My in-laws have been blessing us with a lot of leftovers this month.

I just had a bowl of beef stew we got earlier this week.

It was DELICIOUS.

Current Shame-Inducing Pleasure

Do you know what it's like having hundreds of boxes of these cookies in your house?

Current Outfit

Always cold in our house plus just had my tennis lesson.

And I LOVE this hoodie so much.

Current Celebrity Crush

This is on my movie list with Allison.

I've always loved Sandra Bullock, 

and this also has Channing Tatum, Brad Pitt, and Daniel Radcliffe!

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS! Talk about lots of crushes!

Current Mood

Grumpy - I am beyond over winter.

Bring on sunshine and warm weather!

Current Anticipation

Date night tonight!

Current Movie

This will be next for Allison and me.

Plus I STILL need to take the girls to see Sing 2.

Current Picture

Teaching this week, love my regulars!

Nine is Divine

Drew turned 9 on January 2, and she had her well-check on Jan 5. The bottom like when talking about Drew is our girl is small but mighty!

Stats:

Height: 4' 1.5" {12%}

Weight: 49.6 pounds {6%}

BMI: 14.23 {11%}

Clothes size: 6/S

Shoe size: 1.5 or 2

Teeth lost: 0

Our big 9 year old!

Drew continues to amaze me with how big of a heart she has. She is so kind, so generous, such a peacemaker, just so genuinely good-hearted. She is a great middle child because of her gentle personality. She is still very snuggly which I love most of the time!

She is kicking school's BUTT. She loves school, is SO happy to go every day, and she is doing fantastic. Montessori schools don't give grades, but they do periodic testing to see how the kids are trending against the standards laid out by the state. She has nailed those every time. This year she will have her first round of standardized testing {the STAAR test}, and based on her testing, she should knock it out of the park.

She has a great group of friends. Zara and Alice are her closest friends - they are in Brownies together and can't get enough of each other. We usually go to the park by our school every Friday, and she and Zara have had some sleepovers. She's even stayed at Zara's house which is HUGE because she has always been scared to stay anywhere else.

This year she has tried volleyball, took piano lessons {we are continuing at home as her teacher's work schedule increased and she couldn't keep teaching lessons}, and just recently got back into horseback riding {technically not in her 9th year ha}. She isn't very competitive but loves playing games.

Drew loves animals and babies! She wants a pet so badly, I hope we can make that happen...eventually. She loves when we get to take care of her class guinea pig. She is always asking to help with our neighbor's 20 month old son, and when she's gotten to, she's been a huge help!

I'm still struggling to adjust to Drew's sense of style. In my head, she should still love pink and sparkles and dresses, but alas, black, navy, olive green, no patterns {except maybe stripes}. She wears leggings or jeans and tennis shoes every day. I love that she's confident in her style, but I miss her colorful outfits!

She is very artistic. She loves to draw {and is really good!}, paint, write stories, anything creative. I could totally see her doing something in this field one day. She's getting more and more into reading and enjoys graphic novels and comics a lot. She loves the Raina Telgemeier books {Guts, Smile, Drama} and especially Baby Blues comics. We are still working out way through Harry Potter, we read books 1-5 in the last year, and we are reading Baby Sitters Club too.

One story I want to remember - we were listening to the Encanto soundtrack and during Surface Pressure she said 'I'm so glad they made the girl have big muscles. Usually they give boys the big muscles, and I like that it's a girl.' That's right, my girl, you can have big muscles and be strong!

Drew is definitely our neatest child - she keeps her room clean and organized and will help Paige clean her room when I ask. She is such a great helper - sometimes I take advantage of her gentle personality because she is so helpful!

We have started giving Drew a little bit of independence and have left her home with Trent a few times for maybe an hour or so, and she's done great.

She continues to be a great eater. She tried being a vegetarian for a few months in the spring - it was hard for me making sure she had enough to eat, but she stuck with it for a while! She is a good eater of fruits and vegetables - she's not super adventurous and doesn't like spicy food but has a good natural palate, love it!

Drew loves having her hair super long and wants to keep growing it. We almost cut bangs, but she chickened out at the last minute. She still 'worries' her hair - I wish we could break that habit but I'm not sure how to!

Drew is also extremely silly. We get onto her sometimes when she gets a little out of control, ha. But it's also fun to see her true personality shine through!

We love this girl SO MUCH. This past year she has continued to bloom and shine and is just one of the best people - not just children - I know.