Creative Friday

Jill remembered to do a self-portrait at the beginning of the day. All I can say is, I'm glad we did it early, because it could only get worse over the course of the day, and I'm horrified enough as it is. I'm seriously wondering when I started to look this old. I've never had a problem with my age, but that may be starting to change...

I was telling Jill that for the next two months, the 12th falls on a Friday, and that it might be a challenge to come up with photos that are different enough. She said, "well, the treats and the lunch change...," which is true, but m&ms are a common sight at Creative Friday.

Eva had an exceptional Friday preschool day, which was nice, but it also involved 20 minutes of whining as I brushed her hair and got her shoes on. Getting her ready has the unfortunate effect of making me hot, sweaty, and exasperated.

Also, she has taken to dressing herself lately. I am thrilled with her newfound independence, and so I am loathe to do anything to thwart it -- still, I feel compelled to tell people that she dressed herself...

After I took her to school, we had lunch: barbecue beef sandwiches and roasted red pepper/cheese dip. No, I don't regularly eat lunches like this. I try to make more of an effort on Friday, and these were Thursday's leftovers.

I love love love these tiny bell peppers from Costco. I made the dip so I would have an excuse to dip the peppers in something. Jill doesn't seem to care for them, nor does anyone in my family, but I adore them. Carrots aren't bad, either.

It's funny, but with no kids around, it was so quiet I almost couldn't get used to it! I've had all the kids home for seven months, and I'm much more accustomed to the steady noise they create.

I'm sad that this picture of Jill's colorful good mail labels didn't turn out. It was such a pleasing stack.

I love this picture Jill took of the thank you notes I was working on. She has the best angles!

Max came home from school at 2:30 and joined us at the table to do his homework. Looking at this sheet, it's hard to remember that I used to be really good at math! Now, I don't remember how to do any of this algebra.

Jack was mercifully calm and only required a minimum of trips out back to run around and bark at the birds.

Jill wore her new darling necklace. I love it.

She brought me this cute bookmark -- a picture of me, Kristi, and Jill from last year's Women's Conference, and one of my very favorite quotes. Something I want to remember, to make sure that I don't belittle someone else's ambitions. I want to be the kind of person that rejoices in others' successes.

Jill didn't have to leave early, so it felt like we got a good chunk of time in, and I finished a stack of thank you notes. I don't know why I never do stuff like that on any other day, but it's how I roll, and makes Creative Friday indispensable!