Tim is constantly hounding me to take photos during the day.
“Did you take any pictures today, Kath?” He’ll say as he settles into his cozy computer chair, swiveling to glance in my direction. “You know I can’t really blog without pictures – I need some inspiration.”
“Um….” At that point my mind usually traces back through my typical day.
Empty dishwasher – check
Load dishes – check
Make breakfast for kiddos – check
Wash dishes – check
Encourage random child to help in the kitchen – check
Empty dryer, transfer load to dryer, start fresh load of laundry – check and triple check
Make sure assorted teenagers are logged on and attending their online classes – check
Print out and grade math homework – check
Encourage/nag someone to practice the piano (preferably one of the children who is actually taking lessons) – check
Tell another child to start their (fill in the blank – math, English, Spanish, French, table work, etc) – check
Answer random texts and FB messages – check
Start reading Bible, history, literature, science w/the younger kiddos – check
The rest of day fades into a hazy blur.
“No, I totally forgot to take any pictures.”
“Wait, didn’t you go for a walk, meet with friends and have a play date?”
“Yes.”
“No pictures?”
“Nope. Sorry.”
At this point I’m usually falling asleep at the table, glad that the busy, full, blessed day is ALMOST OVER. Tim sighs like the martyr he is, turns back around and comes up with some witty, clever blog (without my inspiring photos).
Today I remembered! And I’m stealing the opportunity to blog a few highlights of the day.
An impromptu tea party for David and Sarah
Rachel picked out some sparkling water drinks for the kids yesterday. David and Sarah decided that was all the excuse they needed for a tea party. They love this little set of tea cups and coasters a friend gave to us. I was editing yearbook/co-op files, and the next thing I knew they were all set up in the living room with water and pretzels (not the fanciest of tea party fare) waiting for me to come and read to them.
Nothing like some pretzels to make a monster out of a nice guy.
Would you like some tea with your pretzels, David?
Later in the day I concocted some weird smoothies. I forgot to take a picture of mine, but it was basically:
Decaf coffee and almond milk (frozen in an ice cube tray)
A tbs each of cacao nibs, almond butter, and chia seeds.
Actually surprisingly good.
Knowing the kids always clamor for tastes of my smoothie, I quickly fashioned up a fun treat for them. This one was definitely more sweet than healthy.
Just what is in that smoothie???
Vanilla Eggnog Smoothie:
A box of vanilla pudding
Coconut milk
1% milk
Eggnog syrup
Chia seeds
Ice.
Blend away. Fun – definitely different.
Rachel holds up a sample glass of our eggnog smoothie.
I almost threw in some spinach at the last minute, but I didn’t think the kids would go for a spinach/vanilla/eggnog smoothie.
Maybe next time.
Thanks for the encouragement to take pictures, Tim!
Kathy
That eggnog smoothie was soooooooooooooo good!!
What do chia seeds bring to the mix? It’s fun to say, but surely you have other reason to put them in smoothies.
Liz, I’m sorry to say, that Kathy’s so-called ‘reason’ to put chia seeds in her smoothies is a bit sinister: she’s become a chia seed pusher. “The first nickel-bag is free,” she tells her hapless friends.
There are sweatshops in the far east where Chia-Pets are forced to produce these seeds under very inhumane conditions, but does Kathy care? Nooooo. Chia Pets around the globe are giving up their lives to satisfy her dark passion for this product.
It is all true. When I’m not hounding her, I’m badgering or (in extreme cases) porcupining her about the pictures. I discovered a few years ago that our faithful readers pretty much only look at the pictures (and sometimes the captions). So a blog without pictures might as well be an excerpt from the tax laws or a detailed mineral report on land with no mineral resources.
Don’t believe her about the spinach, though. Kathy adds spinach to everything, because she buys it in 200-pound crates from Costco. She probably put spinach in when they weren’t looking.
I really want to try one of her smoothies. Oh wait. I have! The green smoothies were pretty good!