The Gabrielsen Seven: Paul's first week as a journalist

Alice flipping through the Book of Mormon after her bath.

Pretty dang cute.

Alice reading Tag books.

On Monday, I was sick most of the day after a bad night. It was Paul's last day off, so he took care of the girls and hung out with me. We had no internet or phone most of the day. We had FHE on reverence, then went on a family walk around the complex. We found this cool area of trees that you can walk in and have a hide-out! I cut Paul's hair that night.

Tuesday was Paul's first day of school. It was actually just orientation, but it lasted from 9-4, so it seemed like his first day of school. He was SO excited, with his backpack all packed and everything! He took Grace to school on the shuttle, then continued on the shuttle into campus. Alice and I went to my doctor's appointment.

In the afternoon, Grace and I did a craft, and Grace read the Lizzy McGuire book she got from the school library. I made good Filipino food (pancit), which even the girls liked! Then we went to the grocery store and the new dollar store. Alice was really bad. Paul spent the whole evening on homework, but he's really excited about his program. I'm so glad he loves it! We prayed for Dad after his heart "episode" that day.

On Wednesday, I took Grace to school on the bus, but the bus was late, so we were late too. Alice was good all morning. We let her sleep in when it's feasible, and it's totally worth it. She just grabbed a stack of Tag books and entertained herself for an hour.

Here's the owl craft Grace and I made the day before, as well as an owl decoration from the dollar store.

Paul started his internship at the newspaper office that afternoon. They immediately gave him a desk and assigned him a story. He called people for interviews, and wrote most of the article that afternoon. It's about a tennis court. Alice and I got Grace from school, then Alice and I napped while Grace entertained herself. We had no internet or phone that afternoon. Grace and Alice played for a while at our Chilean neighbors' while I made dinner.

On Thursday, Paul walked us to the bus stop, then walked off into the dense fog to class. Grace cracked jokes with her friend Sophia the whole way to school, and Alice was good all morning while I made potato salad and did dishes. We had Grace's friend Catalina (our Chilean neighbor) over for a play date that afternoon. They had a great time. Paul got home around 3, and we had a nail clipping/painting party with the girls. Then we went to a potluck at Paul's program director's house. The girls and I all dressed in pink hooded sweatshirts. The party was pretty late for a school night, so we ate and visited a little, avoided all the alcohol around, and left somewhat early, but the girls still got to bed late and were tired the next morning.

On Friday, Grace slept in a little, and Alice slept in a lot. Paul has no school or internship on Fridays, so he spent all day at home doing homework. He has A LOT of writing to do, and every assignment comes with lots of research to do first. Alice was good reading books and playing with shapes, so I started on the Flake Family yearbook, and made delicious toffee. Grace had a play date at Catalina's house that afternoon, and I had a nice talk with her mom when I went to pick Grace up. We had pizza for dinner while watching the beginning of the BYU/Hawaii game, then we went to Alice's friend's b-day party with a bunch of our friends from the ward. The girls got to bed late again, and Paul and I watched the end of the game.

On Saturday, Paul and the girls slept in until 8:45, but I couldn't sleep past 6:45. Maddening. Paul went to the farmers market in the morning to get some interviews about organic food. Paul did homework all afternoon, then he took the girls to a neighbor's birthday party while I went to the relief society broadcast/dinner.