a day in the life of christine

you are invited to spend a day in the life of her.

the gal who you might think has it all together.  the mama who seems to do it all. 
guess what?  she doesn't.

let's fight those lies.  this series is an effort to dispel the superwoman myth.  it is a time to be encouraged and a place to be challenged. 

i have heard from numerous readers that they too are documenting their hours and sharing a day in the life.  they want to share their struggles and triumphs.  they want to give you a true glimpse into their everyday.  it might not be glamorous, but it is real and beautiful.

  come walk a bit in the shoes of another.  

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Thank you Annalea for hosting me here. I am so inspired by your real-life, genuine style of blogging. We need more of you out there! It's exciting to be able to share on your day in the life of series... YAY! Okay, so.... hope y'all can make it to the end! I may not be all that interesting, but at least I can say without a shadow of a doubt I am real.... as in human.

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i began documenting my days just like this back in November 2010. i titled it All in a days work... and guess what? it stuck. i decided i would document an entire day of our lives every six months- for posterity's sake. it really is such a treasure to have, to look back on. and if nobody cares or comments, well then at least you have it for YOU. ;)

disclaimer: this actually isn't that typical of a day. it was busy, hubby was off from work, and you will see our night routine was shot. here goes nothing... (medals to whoever can get to the end of this post)

: RISE AND SHINE!

: i can hear my two boys yelling "mama!" from the gate at the top of our stairs. they share a room, while my daughter sleeps alone. it's new to me too as my baby just moved to big boy bed.

: through sleep-filled eyes I slowly make out the blue numbers projected on my ceiling, stumble out of bed, head for the hallway, and then into Rachel's room since they probably woke her up too.

: downstairs for COOOFFFFFEEEEE!!!

: first blip of the day happened when I quickly ran upstairs to grab 3 sets of clothes. i came back down to this (i swear he gets more mischievous each and every day):

: juice, vitamins, and yes, cold cereal with bananas

: and here we go... it never fails that she wakes up on wrong side of the bed when i do these sort of posts

: i turn on Chuggington for a distraction:

: my two favorite things in the morning, coffee and the Word (preferably together)

: check in with email/facebook

: feed the girl an entirely different breakfast

: change the pooper

: shower = a bit of serenity where my creative juices flow freely (i still shower downstairs to keep a closer ear on them)

: when i get out of the shower i see them reading nicely and building forts... this makes me happy :)

: run upstairs to get my clothes on, attempt to wake up my husband in the process... he doesn't budge. He works four 12 hour swing shifts so he rarely spends a morning with us.

: PTL for make-up! (i should smile or something.)

: back downstairs to make a CD for one of my photo clients

: let the kiddies play at the outdoor sand table

: call Kaiser, and FINALLY schedule 2 physicals and 2 well baby check ups

: go outside, finish my coffee, watch the kids play, defrost in the sun.

: the hubs is UP! and not a fan of being in pictures

: Girl Scout cookies for mid-morning snack. what? there's protein inside!

: the girl wants her nails done...

: so purdy!

: Eeek. time to fold the laundry that's been sitting there for two days

: the kiddies follow me up and play in the upstairs playroom

: done! i listen to a sermon from my ipod to pass the monotony

: set out some pizza dough to rest

: start the dishes that were beginning to pile

: tidy up the preschool room - i have parents coming to possibly enroll their child this afternoon

: layout homework packets for Tuesday's class

12:30pm: at this point i held an interview with those prospective parents whom i can't really picture here... you understand?

Nick loves his PB & Js still... morning, noon, and night i tell ya.

no really, that's all he'll eat

: lunch!

: in the lull between lunch and nap I scan some blogs by the kitchen sink

: Rachel colors beside dad who's doing homework

: Naptime! Nick goes to his bed, Rachel to her's and Evan to mine... white noise in all three. isn't it sick that we've trained our children to need noise - even in their sleep?

: review lesson plans for class Tuesday

: print and cut out materials

: Adam - more schoolwork - can you tell i hate how busy he is?

: hear pitter-patter from above, check on the girl. she isn't sleeping. i lay down with her... and fall asleep for a few minutes... (pic is courtesy of Adam)

: wakey, wakey! time to get ready/dressed for Great-grandma's 85th birthday. no one slept but Nick and he only got about 45 minutes. it's gonna be a "fun" night

: she's always there to "help" me with my makeup. OY!

: off we go

: with no fuel - (i'm so notorious for this, Adam wanted to make sure i documented it)

: fill 'er up

: back on the road (it's about an hour drive into OC)

check out that sky as we roll into Orange County

: a birthday celebration at Chili's with the whole fam

: dinner was sadly cut short due to Adam needing to find a wi-fi network by 6pm for a group class-project. I thought the whole point of going to school online was to do it on your own watch! Ugh! We race over to "UCKS." (hehe!)

: i kill some time at a nearby Target as the kids begin to writhe on the ground and foam at the mouth. no naps = all hell breaking loose- it's like clockwork at 6pm.

: annoyed, i head back to see how much more time Adam may need... he doesn't know - maybe 2 hours? sigh! i don't have this kind of patience when my kids are that out of control due to something that is completely out of their control - being tired always means being wired for my three

: i head to my parents house not too far away (15 minutes) and hang with fam while my kids get into everything!

: as the minutes pressed on i became more and more frustrated. i even vague-booked about my never ending day. ha!

: around 8pm i get the call - he's done!

: strap them back into the car, flip the DVD screen down and let them enjoy a flick. do i look pissed or what? :/ my intentions are there: i just MISS my husband!

: pick him up and drive the hour's ride

: happy to be home

: tuck the munchkins in

: Adam back to school work on the couch

: our sitter, aka: SUPER-PAPA , arrives faithfully every Monday night so that i'm able to teach preschool the next morning..

: i'm back in front of a screen uploading pics from "the day i thought would never end..."

11:20pm- as my head hits the pillow i confess of my pissy 'tude, and pray for an opportunity to shine... tomorrow.

and that's a wrap!

as you can see, i am human. of course i'm constantly tempted to portray myself and my family at our best- polished, poised, pretty and packaged up nice.... but that's just not realistic now is it? (man, if you could only see the dancing dust bunnies in the hall or my dining room floor...) what's a flashy blog gonna do but create jealously in others? i strive for authenticity in this place - the ups and downs alike, no matter what people think. my life may not be always be so picture perfect (although you can see i'm a sucker for a pretty pose), but I'm grateful to say i am perfectly progressing in His grace. and that's why i enjoy Annalea's blog so much. she gets that.

thank you again, Annalea for this opportunity.

keep calm, and document [real] life. you will never regret it.

~Christine

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 thank you so much, christine, for getting in touch about your "all in a days work" posts.  what a neat snapshot at life through the seasons and years.  thank you for sharing your very real day.  we all have 'em.  praying you find His strength to shine, girl. :)
xoxo,
annalea