Challenge Wednesday #7

#7?  Where's #6, you ask?  Well, over at Control the Chaos, of course.  I wrote a post over at Tracey's bloggie home last week, but didn't have good enough internet to link back to it on the actual day.  So please, take a sec and read about my adventures making my own, homemade cleaning solutions.  And now, for this week's challenge....here's Tracey!

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Last week Jen challenged me to "take photos of your daily life.  Lets say 1-2 a day?  And then share them next week.  See, I am a big believer in living in the moment.  Why?  Because we are creating such precious memories for our children when we do that.  And preserving those memories?  Priceless."

I was up for the challenge.  You see, I always want to capture my days with my precious family, to have a tangible reminder of these days that slip away just before we get a good grip.  Because I know in my head that my memories will fade, even as I promise myself they won't.  But then I wake up and have a to-do list that stretches from here to Africa and three kids needing my attention and food to cook and a house to clean and work and and and…the memories fade and there's nothing to bring them back.

But last week?  Last week was different.  I don't have a fancy camera, and I'm not a good photographer.  But I've got my trusty iPhone (thank you, Steve Jobs, RIP), so I have no excuse.  

The difference is that last week I actually used the camera that is always with me everywhere I go.

And here is what I saw:

While Cooking:

While Playing:

the Little's first fat lip

While Running:

While Geocaching:

While Hanging Out with the Fam:

at the neighborhood farm

Here's what I learned this week:  I LOVE MY LIFE!  Ok, I already knew that.  But I had so much fun documenting my week, my day to day activities, that I think this might be the start of a new trend.  Thank you once again, Jenny, for challenging me to see my life and family as the special and precious things that they are.

And now, Jen, here is your challenge for next week:  keep your daily life as chaos free as possible.  Create a daily to-do list of 3-5 items in order to accomplish a week's worth of tasks.  The list can include small items like make bed or large items like grocery shopping.  The point is to have a clear cut idea of what you want to accomplish and make a straightforward plan to get there.  Next week I will simultaneously complete a challenge from Jen, so what do you have in store for me?

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Wow, love the photos Tracey. Poor little!! I hope her lip is all healed up.  And I do have to say I am a bit jealous of your home outside of town.  Running past those animals and the fall colors would have been awesome.  Didn't see many of those sights where I was living in the Netherlands.  {wink}

Oh, this challenge from Tracey?  Perfect.  I have so many things I want to get done over the next few weeks, this will help me stay on task and focused on what is important.  

Alright...so a challenge for Miss Tracey.  This is getting tough!  I think I am going to dig into my archives of 31 days to being a better mama.  Even though Tracey is one of the best mama's I know {I may have referred to her as my mommy guru at one point}, we can always use reminders of the important parts of being a mama.  So, before next Wednesday, I challenge you to make your kiddos favorite treats.  And report back...did they like 'em?  Ha.  I am sure they will.  Maybe you can even share a recipe?!  I love recipes.