Our Typical Saturday, Moment by Moment

There’s one question I receive in my inbox on a daily basis:
How do you do it all? You make it look so easy.

Honestly, I cringe a bit every time I open one of these emails.
And I even feel a little guilty.
Oh gosh, I hope that’s not the image I’m portraying–I think to myself.
Because it certainly isn’t the truth. And I’m hear to share my truth.
Sure, I like to focus on the positive, on the beautiful moments of life.
But I also believe in acknowledging the realities.
Because ultimately, the often difficult and heartbreaking truths of life are what make those other moments that much more beautiful, so much more worthy of appreciation.

So let me state once and for all, my reality:
I DON’T do it all. Not even close.
In fact, I’m often a bit of a basket case–frantic about all that still needs to get done.

My days are always full, yes.
But I have the same number of hours in a day as anyone else…
and sadly, I have no super powers.
So this means that if I spend the day at the farm with the kids, followed by cookie baking with Wes, followed by an evening of work at Barnes & Noble…well, it means that I sure as hec didn’t cook dinner that night, or shower, or get a single load of laundry done, or pick up groceries, or exercise, or…the list goes on, literally. Because I have an actual, physical list that I keep on my phone with things that never get done–choices that must be made about how to best spend my time, decisions about where my energy and efforts matter the most.

I used to try to do it all.
I still do to an extent.
But I’ve also learned that building a lego castle for spiderman is so much more important than having clean laundry–really, I believe this. So I’ve become better about how I spend my time–cut myself some slack about the areas I fall short (because there are a lot of them), and work on giving myself due credit for focusing my efforts on the areas that matter.

But I do do a lot (yes, I said do do).
And I never sit down.
In the event that I am sitting, you can be sure my hands are busy doing something “productive”. Mostly because I have this inability to sit still. And also because I have two children with the same inability. It’s another one of those things I’m working on.
Sitting.
Still.
Not doing.
Just being.

Our week days are jam packed.
Full of errands, and obligations,
and emails, and writing, and meetings,
and Church, and service,
and diapers, and cheese sandwiches,
and play dates, and park time,
and farm trips, and picnics,
and backyard slip and slides,
and library visits, and…
(I have grand plans of putting together a post of our typical week day very soon.)

Then the weekend comes and I take a long, deep breath.
Because I have my other half. My rock. My best friend…
To spend the whole day with us.

I see Saturdays as a day to catch up–to prepare for the upcoming week.
Ben see’s Saturdays as a day to relax and have fun.
And so long as we both compromise and respect the others “vision” for the day,
it usually makes for the perfect Saturday.
We have fun while also checking things off of our “to-do” list.

Today’s post is a glimpse at a typical Saturday for us.

Wesley is always the first to wake up in our house (usually around 6:00).  With much convincing and bargaining, we can usually get him to stay in bed with us for another 15 minutes before Sawyer wakes up. As soon as the monitor reveals Sawyers morning grunts, Wesley jumps up and squeals, time to get Sawyer Mommy Daddy. Then he runs ahead of us to be the first to greet his smiling brother in his crib.

Then he climbs in and they wrestle for a good 10 minutes. Sadly, I don’t have those kids who wake up groggy in the morning and cuddle on the couch and watch cartoons for an hour. Nope, they wake up ready to go. Talking and shouting and squealing at volumes much too loud for 6 in the morning.

I pull out a bin of toys so the boys can play while I freshen up and Ben gets started on breakfast. Breakfast is Ben’s specialty. He can make a pancake like its nobody’s business.

Me. In pajamas. With the world’s most grubby, kid goober filled mirror–proving there just isn’t enough time to get to it all.  And I’m breaking my own house rule of no shoes on the carpet. Ooops.

There’s never time to shower on Saturday mornings (I usually wait until the kids have gone to bed). So I swear by this dry shampoo. S.W.E.A.R. by it guys.

Next, its breakfast time courtesy of Ben.
Wesley eats pancakes in the shape of Mickey Mouse.
Sawyer has mashed up something or other.
And Ben and I have a green smoothie.

Before it gets too hot, we usually take a walk or bike ride to the local park.
Wesley get’s a kick out of being pulled behind Ben’s bike while I trail behind with Sawyer in the stroller. This is a favorite Saturday ritual of ours.

Video taken with the LG Optimus G Pro phone using Dual Recording. Edited using the Video Wiz feature.

This dual recording feature is soooo fun to use when recording your kids. And also a little bit humiliating in this case…where I watch the video back and realize that I am “that” mom who repeatedly asks Sawyer to say “momma” and makes Wesley tell me he loves me for the camera–sheesh.

We get home from our walk just in time to put Sawyer down for his one and only nap of the day. While he sleeps, we do our best to keep Wesley busy outside since he always manages to wake Sawyer up when he plays inside.  This Saturday’s shenanigans involved bowling in his underwear, like a boss.

Sawyer’s nap time is usually our “to-do” list time: cleaning up the garage and backyard, washing the cars, tackling some laundry, emptying the dishwasher, hanging stuff on our still pretty bare walls.

Laundry and switching out our bedding.

Before Sawyer wakes up, we can usually squeeze in some lunch.
Recipe for these simple flatbread, kale and hummus salads here.

Every weekend, Ben and I try to find some opportunity to have alone time with each of the boys.  Time they get to spend with one of us. On this Saturday Ben took Wesley to Chuck E Cheese.

While the boys were at Chuck E Cheese I drug Sawyer to the Antique Mart with me. This is my getaway place of inspiration.  I’m good at “just being” while I’m here, not thinking about my list, not stressing–so I try to make a visit whenever I get a chance. And Sawyer is still little enough to not put up much protest.

While apart, I texted Ben a little “love” token letting him know I missed him:

Photo taken using the LG Optimus G Pro phone with 13MP camera. Doodled using the Quickmemo feature.

When the boys get back from Chuck E Cheese, Wesley is excited to show me all the video they took of their adventure.

After our mini-dates we decided to take an afternoon visit to the small lake in our town.

By this point, it’s about 5:30 and because Wesley no longer naps and Sawyer has already given up his afternoon nap, both boys go to bed pretty early–hallelujah.  So we head home, make them a quick dinner and get them down to bed by 6:30. Thank goodness, because by this point we’re exhausted.

Photo taken using the LG Optimus G Pro. Doodle done using the Quickmemo feature.

Capturing these moments (these fleeting Saturdays) in pictures means the world to me.  My way of making sure these memories last forever. My way of taking a snapshot of our adventures and sharing these moments with those that matter most.  Many of the photos and video and fun doodles in this post were taken using the LG Optimus G Pro smartphone.

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