A week in the life of us

The spring semester started a few weeks ago, and the new and improved Mitschke clan is adjusting to the craziness that comes with living on a farm, working full time, community, and avoiding traditional day care.  I thought it might be interesting to share what a typical week is like for us nowadays.

Sunday--We go to the 10 am service at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Oak Cliff, which we absolutely love.  We've been going this church for about a year now, and really feel like we've found a church community that matches our values and ideas about life in general.  We had a really neat child dedication service for Kai here in November, which was similar to a traditional Christening in other churches.  Here is a picture of all of us after the dedication at church:

After church we drive to Arlington to pick up Christina, who has basically become part of our family now.  I've talked a lot about Christina in previous blog entries.  She's now in her second semester at UTA and is living in the dorm, making lots of friends and studying very hard!  Sometimes we all go out to lunch together, then head back to our house on Sunday afternoons.  Sunday evenings are dedicated to studying with Christina--Aaron helps with her Math and Nursing homework, and I'm the tutor for Political Science and English.

Monday:  On Mondays Kai stays at home with Christina, while Aaron and I carpool to work.  Christina is really great with him, and he absolutely adores her.  Monday afternoons I drive back home from work (45 min. commute), pick up Kai and Christina, and bring them both back to Arlington because Christina has a class on Monday evenings.  Kai and I pick up Aaron and head back home.  The car definitely gets a workout on Mondays!

Here is Christina studying at our kitchen table looking very smart with her glasses on:

Tuesday:  Tuesday is Kai's day with Papa and Gran-Ree, my dad and step mother, who live in Granbury, about an hour from the farm.  He's the first grandchild, so he is absolutely spoiled rotten, of course.  Aaron usually meets them in Fort Worth to drop off Kai in the morning, and then I drive to Granbury after work to pick him up.  It's a long drive (about 2 hours total) and makes for a pretty late evening, but it's fun to visit and eat dinner together, so it's worth it.

Here is a picture of Kai with Lucy, Dad and Ann-Marie's adorable chocolate lab, on a recent Tuesday:

Wednesday and Thursday:  Wednesdays and Thursdays are VERY long days for everyone in the family.  Aaron takes Kai to Dallas with him both days, and they have to be in Dallas by 7 am.  While Aaron is working with his students at the community health clinic in the mornings, Kai stays with Caroline (Christina's mom).  Then, in the afternoons, Kai, Caroline, Aaron, and the nursing students all do community health outreach with refugees in Dallas and Garland until 7 pm or so.  I work in my office at school both days (working toward tenure!).  I also teach on Wednesday nights from 6-9 pm and on Thursday nights I have choir practice at church from 7-8:30.

Here is a picture of Caroline and Kai:

And here is a picture of Kai "working" with refugees doing outreach:

Fridays we usually stay home and regroup, clean the house, and do laundry.  Did I mention we live on a farm?!!! Every day we feed and water the animals, let them out in the morning and put them up in their pens at night, collect the eggs from the chickens, and chase the goats out of the yard.  Well, we don't chase the goats everyday, but they do keep life interesting.

All in all, we lead a very busy, full, and happy life as a family of three!