Those of you eagerly following this series are probably starting to think, this "week" is starting to look a lot more like "three days." And I don't blame you. I had every intention of putting Thursday's post up first thing Friday morning but after rushing off to Mass that morning we came home and spent a long time debating whether or not Eric should take the kids camping overnight. And then we spent awhile longer discussing and planning a simple bathroom project: re-caulking the bathtub and switching the sliding glass door for a curtain (a curtain is WAY easier for getting Joseph in and out). Once we'd decided to make both these thing happen I ran off to the store to get some camping supplies and a shower curtain and rod.
By the time we'd gotten everyone prepared and packed and shipped off it was late afternoon. I had completely forgotten to take any pictures all day and I'd also forgotten to send a camera along with the campers and I dove into my "simple" re-caulking project with gusto. And tiles started falling off the bathroom wall. It was just a few tiles but I knew the grout was in bad shape and I panicked. I asked Eric what to do. "Call Fran," he said. Fran is my uncle who lives in Maine and, while I'm a big fan, he's not someone I'm used to calling on the phone. I posted about my miseries on Facebook instead and started googling. Fifteen minutes later, Fran called. This is why I keep my Facebook account.
Fran talked me through the tile repair. I removed the rest of the caulk and lined up the row of tiles that had fallen down. I'd taken on this project just in time. There was mold but the wall behind wasn't completely rotted out. I sprayed down the mold with bleach and let it sit. And then Gregory, who had stayed home with me (and who was safely occupied elsewhere for all this mold and bleach stuff) refused to go to sleep. Well past my bedtime I got back to the tiles and after wiping them down and drying them I glued them back to the wall with my silicone caulk and tried to neatly do the rest of my caulking. I was too tired and in too much of a rush and still hadn't gotten the shower door down because it's too heavy to move by myself. I did a sloppy job and collapsed into bed.
Funny thing about mold---it makes me horribly, horribly sick. I know this but I thought the small amount for just a short amount of time and the use of rubber gloves and ventilation would protect me. No. I woke up Saturday morning feeling like death and spent the entire day . . . well, I'll spare you the details but it was ugly. Gregory was a champ. He just kind of hung out with some toys near me and Eric came home late morning and continued in super Dad mode the rest of the day.
This morning I woke up feeling mostly better and we had a lovely day but, of course, I was completely out of "Week in the Life" mode so I have no pictures after Thursday. But, you know, that's part of the point of this whole project. To capture what a week in my life looks like right now. And, right now, a week in my life looks a lot like four days of somewhat normal and three days of chaos. So, for your enjoyment, here are the shots from Thursday (I tried to capture a few around-the-house details that I particularly like):
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| Morning read-aloud. The grumpy three-year-old wanted to hear about the grumpy ladybug. |
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| Kids just get a lot smarter when they come to our house. |
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| Liturgy of the Hours |
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| We found this in the basement when we moved here. |
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| Finally learned how to weave palms just like my grandma. |
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| Big pile of pillows in the window seat: best toys ever. |
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| All those hours of drawing are really paying off now that Joseph is learning cursive. |
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| Beans. Grinder. |
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| Coconut milk waiting to become a smoothie. |
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| Mango-pineapple-coconut smoothie. |
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| We were completely out of anything resembling breakfast food so I made scones. With prunes. The kids were SO excited. |
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| Kitchen window. |
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| More kitchen window--Eric bought me this while on retreat at a Carthusian monastery. |
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| And the rest of the kitchen window. |
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| If you like coffee but don't know what this is, click here. You won't be sorry. |
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| Elixir of life. I add hot water and cream and it beats any Americano I've ever had anywhere. |
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| Joseph doesn't do his best art in his history notebook but I particularly liked the medieval monk copying the manuscript. |
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| Look at those curls. |
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| Oh, look. The baby climbed onto the table and found some leftover smoothie. |
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| Daddy's home! With baguettes! |
