365 days

A friend of mine did a digital book of 365 days of random life and I loved it. I wanted to do it myself, but January 1st had already passed. I decided it was still worth doing, so I just started on March 1st instead. The idea is to take a picture each day of what you did, what you loved, what made you laugh, cry... you get the idea. It's been really fun so far. I don't know if I'll put it into a book or just blog it here, but I know it will be fun to look back on and remember the day-to-day things we did that make up our lives. Often times I think we get caught up in the celebrations and trips and forget to make a note of the every day things that make our lives, well, our lives.

Day 1- The first sign of spring. My tulips peeking up in my back yard make me happy and let me know winter can't go on much longer. I have even been able to sit on my deck and get some genuine vitamin D when the sun is out like this.

Day 2- My Bonko girls. These are the girls I play Bonko with each month. It was my month to plan it, but since I haven't' been feeling 100%, we opted to go out to dinner instead. It was so fun to visit and laugh. The scone with honey-butter was SO good too... until later that night when it punished me severely. I just can't eat like I used to anymore. I love these girls and that we can talk, laugh and understand each other.

Day 3- Reading time. I am so proud of my boys. They are all so smart! Here is Aaron reading to Jason. He is doing such a great job and all of them love to read and do math. How did that happen? I love to snuggle with them in bed and listen to them read to me.

Day 4- Angel Erika. When I say I have "angel friends", I truly mean it. So many of my friends do SO much for me. They bring meals, movies, books, tend my kids, and just pick me up on days I need it. I've had a few friends come over and clean my house. It is entirely humiliating to let them do it, but I am so grateful. They all say I'm banned from operating my vacuum. It weighs like 20 pounds, but hey, it works good. Here is Erika vacuuming my house. I told her she earned exaltation for cleaning my toilet.

Day 5- Food Storage. As with most of you, after Christmas my storage room looks like a bomb hit it. I just kind of chucked things in there to be dealt with later. Well, it was later. We bought a few items at Costco to add to our food storage. We have worked on it off and on for years so don't think I did this all in a day. It feels good to see everything in it's place and to know that if times get tough we will at least have some kidney beans and mac 'n cheese to eat. I was pretty proud of my efforts for the day.

Day 6- Marble Works. Saturdays and Sundays are always challenging days at our house because the boys are all together and seem to FIGHT all day long. Rare moments like these when all the boys are playing together in peace are so nice. They got this Marble Works from my mom a few years ago and love it. You can build the track in multiple ways and then race the marbles down the different contraptions to the finish line. Hours of entertainment, sigh.

Day 7- 1st Coconut. So you may think it's funny, but I have never opened a real coconut in my life. I started doing this bountiful baskets thing and they give you a large variety of fruits and vegetables to try. I had this image of the coconut being a sweet and tropical fruit. I was dreaming of the amazing pina-colada green smoothie I would make for my kids in the morning. As Jas clocked it with the hammer and pried the fruit open, I was surprised at how bland it was. And hard to chew. It was like chewing on bark. Not what I expected. I still made a delicious pina-colada with almond milk, spinach, frozen banana, pineapple, shredded coconut I had on hand, and ice. Yum! I doubt I will ever buy another coconut. Sorry tropical-looking, but not so sweet fruit.