A Week in the Life: Terça-Feira (Tuesday)

6:40 a.m. - I get up before everyone else this morning so I can have my Quiet Time. I try to do this 5 days a week... some weeks, I do better than others! Currently, I'm working through the Beth Moore study "Esther: It's Tough Being a Woman." It has been an absolutely amazing study, especially in this season of my life.

7:15 a.m. - Alex, Stephen, and Rusty get up. I take a shower.

7:30 a.m. - Rusty leaves for a "Head of Household" meeting at the café just down the street from our house. Basically, these are team meetings without the moms and kids. I feed the kids and help Alex get dressed and ready for school.

8:05 a.m. - Ana's daughter, Sophia, knocks on our door. Ana will take Alex to school today since Rusty is at the meeting. I say goodbye to Alex. Then I get Stephen dressed, tidy up the house a bit, and spend some time on the computer.

9:00 a.m. - Ana comes back, and I leave for class.

9:30 a.m. - Another Portuguese class begins. We chat for awhile, some in English, some in Portuguese, and correct our homework. Today, we also spend some time reading aloud and translating a Geronimo Stilton book.

Estamos a aprender Português (We are learning Portuguese.)

11:30 a.m. - Class is over. I stay at the school after class and work on some of my homework.

12:00 p.m. - I leave to catch my bus. He is running late today, so I wait for almost 15 minutes. Some days, it feels like I spend half my time waiting on some form of public transportation.

12:20 p.m. - I arrive at the mall, find a place to sit down, and do some more homework.

12:50 p.m. - I start walking to Alex's school.

1:00 p.m. - I arrive at Alex's school. His teacher has a few things she needs to talk to me about. We leave a bit later than usual. I wonder if I should hurry or just expect the bus to be late again. I decide not to take any chances, and we hurry.

1:14 p.m. - I'm glad we hurried, because the bus is on time today! We hop on and head for home.

1:30 p.m. - We arrive home. Rusty leaves for his afternoon class downtown. His class starts at 2:30, but it takes him almost an hour to get there on the bus and metro. I eat lunch and Alex watches an episode of "Scooby-Doo."

2:00 p.m. - I decide to make Alex take a nap since tonight we will be out late at the team meeting. I make him go potty and lay down on my bed (since Stephen is already asleep in their room). He is not very happy with me. He whines so much that he wakes up Stephen. Grrrr! I go in to try to help Stephen go back to sleep.

2:20 p.m. - I hear the door to my room open, and Alex comes out to tell me he wet the bed. Little stinker peed all over my bed (on purpose) because he was mad about having to take a nap! I am pretty upset. Alex gets a spanking and some dry underwear. Then I strip the bedspread from my bed and throw it in the wash. I make him lay back down. There is no hope of getting Stephen to go back to sleep, but I tell Alex he has to lay there until it's time to go.

2:45 p.m. - I try to do a little work on the computer, but it's hopeless with a needy baby trying to climb in my lap. I gather the ingredients for Spanish rice, which I was asked to bring for dinner tonight. I pack everything in my backpack diaper bag. I wash the dishes and fold some laundry.

4:00 p.m. - Alex never did go to sleep, so I tell him he can get up now and get ready to go.

4:20 p.m. - We leave the house for our team meeting, which will be out at the Bible Institute, where the Meyers and Jordan live. Tuesday nights are team nights. One week, we have an all-team meeting followed by dinner together out at the Bible Institute. The next week, we have an all-team dinner, fellowship, and praise and prayer time at our house.

4:30 p.m. - We get on the bus. After about 15 minutes, I realize we are on the wrong bus. This bus will not take us all the way out to the Bible Institute. It has circled around and is now heading back the way we came. We get off and walk across the street to wait for another bus.

4:50 p.m. - We get on another bus. This one doesn't have a number, but it says it is going to "Tojal," which is where the Bible Institute is. We get on. After awhile, I realize that I don't know where we are. This bus is taking a completely different route than I am used to. I wonder what I should do. I decide to stay on and hope that it will eventually take me to Tojal. Eventually, it does, but it drops us off in the center of town, not near the Bible Institute. I have to walk across town, lugging my backpack and both the kids.

5:30 p.m. - What should have been a 20 minute trip has taken the better part of an hour. I arrive at the Bible Institute tired and extremely frustrated.

5:45 p.m. - Rusty arrives at the Bible Institute.

6:00 p.m. - Team meeting begins. Tonight, we are talking about decision-making... trying to hammer out a process.

Danny's visual aid (our decision-making grid)

Listening attentively

Note-Taker Katie, Baby-Holder Jordan

The kiddos enjoy playing together during the meetings.

Sleeping is allowed when you're a baby!

7:30 p.m. - I step out of the meeting to start my rice so it will be ready for dinner in half an hour.

8:00 p.m. - Dinner-time! Katie made enchiladas (yum!), and we have rice, beans, chips, salsa, and guacamole to go with them. Everyone eats their fill. Dessert is Pioneer Woman's chocolate Texas sheet cake, made by Teague.

Homemade enchiladas -- even the tortillas were made from scratch!

9:00 p.m. - We leave to catch our bus back home.

9:30 p.m. - We arrive home. It is late, so we  put the kids to bed without baths.

10:00 p.m. - I still have homework to do since I didn't get it finished this afternoon. I hang my bedspread out to dry and start another load of laundry (never-ending chore, I'm telling you!).

11:30 p.m. - To bed!