Week in the Life 2018 | Sunday (Words + Photos)

And here we are - at the finish line!

It was a lot of fun to participate in Week in the Life 2018 and I am so glad I took the time to get posts up on my blog. Hopefully, this will make the album easier, but even if I don't end up putting together a physical album, I will always have these memories.

And super fun to see comments from Jennie! Thanks for putting up with these looooong posts, Jen! :)

Today was Mother's Day. This is a super big deal in Ecuador and through past experiences we have come to the conclusion that it is almost never worth it to go anywhere on this day. The few times we "break" our rule, we find ourselves in some situation that is stressful and not at all the way I'd like to spend my day.

I'm not one to make a huge deal out of these kinds of days anyways, but we definitely had to celebrate Andrés's mom, so we decided to stay home and make lunch for everyone at our house.

Finally had a day to sleep in a bit. Although Andrés ended up waking the kids up around 7:30 to make me breakfast.

The boys made me pancakes, bacon, juice, and coffee. Andrés recorded them and it was fun to see them working together to get everything just right. Nico, who has always been more interested in cooking than his brother, helped Agustín along. Agus took it in stride, even when he burned himself flipping the pancakes (they were delicious!). I loved seeing (on the video) how Nico put his fractions to use (he "hates fractions" - his words): he needed 3/4 cup milk, and got out the 1/4 cup and the 1/2 cup. Agus asked him why he was doing it that way and he proceeded to explain to him that it was the same as using the 1/4 cup three times.

Originally breakfast was going to be in bed, but how was I going to be upstairs eating with everyone else downstairs at the table? So, Nico came and got me and we had a delicious pancake breakfast together.

After breakfast I worked on rolling yarn and Agus got some homework done. Next week they start bloque exams, but they both conveniently forgot their books, so they "couldn't study".

Nico went upstairs to play with Legos. It just isn't the same anymore, however, with Agus not interested in Legos anymore and having to play by himself, so his play was a bit lackluster. I asked if he wanted me to play with him but he said no.

These kids have some seriously cool Legos. What do we do with them all? I would hate to sell them or give them away, but they take up a lot of space. I need a basement. Or a storage unit. So many toys to get rid of that I just can't bring myself to throw out or give away. I can't believe we're at that age that I have to start thinking about this. Where has the time gone!

I finally got around to taking my shower. Every weekend I say I'm going to get up earlier and get my shower taken earlier, but I never do. Today I was going to go for my walk first, before everyone came over, but it started to rain so I decided to help Andrés with lunch instead.

On the menu: roasted chicken and boiled potatoes with a peanut sauce (much like the gallinas de Pinllo everyone loves). I was in charge of the peanut sauce.

I also tried this South Beach Diet salad. Cucumbers, mint, feta (had to use ricotta, which here has the same consistency), and avocado. The mint was too strong and the ricotta too bland. Nobody liked it much, although once I took out the mint I liked it a bit better. It was definitely healthier than the rest of the meal!

Bati came and snapped this picture. So funny. Love these SnapChat filters on the kids - they always look so angelic.

Excited to see what's going on back home. It looks so nice outside - what a change from last month! Love this picture of my nieces and nephews together. Can't wait to get one (or two, or three, or...) with all of the cousins. We are so ready for our vacation!

Receiving my gifts. Agus had to give me kisses three times so that we could get this picture. Haha. Agus's gift was two large glass mixing bowls. Nice!

From Nico I got a beautiful tablecloth. Obviously Andrés bought the gifts. I don't think the boys even knew what they were giving me. So funny.

Selfie time.

Even got Agus to get a selfie with me.

Talking, catching up on family gossip.

After lunch we went upstairs to see that morning's video of the boys making me breakfast. It was long.

Meanwhile, Bati needed to go grocery shopping. He asked the boys to go but two days in a row was too much for them and they said a resounding NO! Until I reminded them about something we had talked about yesterday (not always loving what you're doing but doing it anyway if it makes someone else happy). Wow! That reminder actually worked and both boys immediately got up and got their shoes on to keep Bati company at the store.

Agus now sits in the front seat. That's a huge milestone for this generation.

At the store Bati picked up a brownie mix, which Andrés made for the cafecito. Once everyone went home we gave the boys a little more to eat and then we cleaned up, did dishes, etc. while the boys took their evening showers and got uniforms and lunches ready for tomorrow.

As I waited for Nico to get out of the shower so that we could do our nightly reading, I started on my second square for my multi-colored blanket. It's going to be a loud one!

After reading and "peluche talk" I felt bad about not having gone for my walk (it rained the whole day). Thought about getting on the treadmill but it was past 10 pm, so did some arm exercises instead. Then read until about 11:15.

And just like that, Week in the Life is over! Once again, I'm so happy I took the time to do this and hope to buy the kit that goes with it so I can also make a physical album. But I'm also excited because I got back on my blog this week and would love to keep at it. (With much shorter posts, of course!)

Hope you had a good week!