Since Sunday I’ve been taking photos of our ordinary life to capture a typical week in our current life.

I did this @aliedwards week in the life project back in 2012, when I had a 3 year old and a 7 year old. I did it again in 2014 with a 5 and 9 year old and now I have a 12 and 16 year old and we are all at home doing school and work from here.

Ordinary life is anything but ordinary. And these tiny, irrelevant seeming moments of life are ephemeral and they are made of gold.

I know that when my kids are off living their own lives, I will miss these moments the most. The seemingly inconsequential experience of my teenager eating cereal as he surfs on his phone. Or my younger one watching movies. I will miss the sounds they make as they work. The laughter when they are chatting with their friends. I will even miss the mess in their rooms.

Because our everyday ordinary life is filled with their life and their souls. It’s us in this moment of time that will never be here again. We get to be right here right now only this one time.

And through this magical project I get to capture a tiny sliver of that and keep it with me forever.

How is that not the best deal ever?

Yes to capturing our everyday, yes to telling our stories.

#yearofyes #karenikayearofyes #weekinthelife

Here’s the incredibly thoughtful present my lovely husband got me for mother’s day. (He got me some fun scrapbooking stuff too!)

This is an exact replica of my climbing shoes that I wear each time we go climbing. And now I have a little keychain where I can carry them around with me.

How sweet is that?

Today was a tough day at work as expected, so I took a lot of downtime and went climbing with my husband. When I was up on the wall I forgot all about work. And everything else.

And now I sit here and write up my week in the life noted and feel okay. So we will call this a win.

Yes to stepping away when needed. Yes to being present and doing things that help you be present.

#yearofyes #karenikayearofyes

For mother’s day, big boy wrote me this wonderful, touching and thoughtful letter.

And the best part? The code he wrote to compile the letter is shaped like a heart.

I know today can be a tough day for many people for a wide range of reasons. I also know it can come with a lot of expectations.

Years and years ago I used to get all excited about New Year’s Eve plans and my expectations would be set so high that we would end up having a spectacular fight every time.

After several years of repeating this, one year I got really sick and we ended up in bed playing video games all night. It was the best new year’s eve and it taught me a great lesson around having no expectations and just being grateful to be here now.

So that’s how I feel today. I am grateful for my sons who are kind and thoughtful and give hugs freely. I am grateful for my husband who is generous and loving and also had a deeply thoughtful gift, too.

I am grateful for my nephews who are one of a kind just like my sister who is the best mom. For my friends who sent me kind, loving notes today to celebrate.

And I am so grateful for my amazing mom who made all this magical family possible. Who still teaches me new things daily, who loves me unconditionally and who brightens all my days.

I am using this as an opportunity to take a moment to be grateful because I know that all of this is rare and not guaranteed. I don’t want to take any of it for granted for a moment.

Yes to taking a moment today for deep gratitude.

#yearofyes #karenikayearofyes