The beginning of new year is usually a slow time for our family (and also one of my least favorite times of the year). We have had a pretty slow start to 2021, but there have still been a few fun highlights.
The kids packed up a game to take to play while Katherine was at her gymnastics class. I'm happy that they enjoy playing together so much.
Samuel is playing basketball for the first time this season. He's been enjoying it, and it has been fun to watch him try something new.
This isn't exactly fun- but my kitchen has looked like this for a lot of the new year. Matt has been working hard on refinishing our cabinets. The mess drives me a little nutty, but I'm thankful for his hard work and the way he always prioritizes making our house look nice. He's a keeper! And I love how the cabinets are turning out!
I added Kate to our 2021 date schedule and she got the first date of the year. I took her to Cherry Berry and to do a little shopping. We had the best afternoon. Katherine has a way of making everyone feel special. She has a bright, fun personality and always enjoys spending time with people. She's a gift and I was thrilled to spoil her and spend some quality, uninterrupted time with her. She was a fan of Cherry Berry and is already planning her next trip.
Then we did a little shopping at Claire's and rode the carousel at the mall.
She named her horse and gave it a kiss when the ride was over. Three Year Olds are the best! I want to bottle her up.
We ended our date with a trip to Barnes and Noble for a new Pinkalicious book and Shimmer and Shine book.
We've tried to continue our fancy dinner nights but they've been a little sporadic. Elisabeth asked to try French food, so we tried a new recipe and had crepes for dessert.
I don't think I'd ever made crepes before, but they turned out pretty well. We'll have to try them again another time.
Katherine asks to play Sleeping Queens multiple times per day and we always do. I never want to forget how obsessed she was with this game when she was three.
She also does a dance/gymnastics show for us almost everyday too. It's another thing I always want to remember about her.
Nathan set up all his Harry Potter minifigures for display. Both the boys are in the middle of Harry Potter books right now and are loving them.
Elisabeth got to spend a special day with Sarah for her birthday. They went to lunch and painted ceramics and then had a play date. These two are the cutest little friends.
We had Makinley and Ainsley over for a play date and the girls dressed up and put on a gymnastics competition for the moms. So cute! The girls all play so well together when they get together.
These little dancers are cute friends too. Katherine gets so excited when she sees Amelia at dance each week.
Elisabeth was on a play date kick during January/Februrary and had one of her best friends from Pre-K over for the afternoon. I know Elisabeth wishes she could see Paige more often- She was spoiled getting to play with her daily last year in Pre-K. They had a fun time playing together.
They were kind enough to let Katherine join in the fun too.
We've been learning about the human body as a part of our homeschool, and the kids got to make edible spines one afternoon. They like the hands on learning activities, particularly when they involve food, ha!
They spent a weekend building a duplo store/amusement park/movie theater/fun land. They called it BFL which stands for Baugher Fun Land. It fills my heart so much whenever they all work/play together on a project. I'm always telling them that it's one of my all time favorite things to see as their mom.
Those four kids make the cold, boring month of January much more bearable.
I documented a day in our life this week. I like to look back on these and remember the way we spent our days. Our school/activity schedule is a little different this Spring. We shifted a few things around, and for now Mondays are our only day of the week with no activities (at least out of the house activities). It's a day that we stay at home, and I've been enjoying the slower pace on Mondays to catch up from the weekend.
6:00- I wake up, run on the treadmill and get ready for the day (which is pretty minimal since we weren't going anywhere). My days always go better when I'm disciplined enough to get up early and exercise. I find that I have more energy and motivation to get things done for the entire day.
Matt got me an Apple watch for Christmas and seeing the progress in my rings at 7:00am always feels good too!
The kids usually start waking up around 7:30. Katherine usually gets up a little earlier. If I'm still getting ready, I'll let her watch a show on my bed while I finish getting ready. I recently shopped at a consignment sale and bought her this little OSU dress. I bought it for next season- you know not the middle of winter, ha! But she was so excited she got dressed before she even left her room that morning.
All the kids actually woke up on their own this morning, which isn't always the case. Usually, I'll start waking them up around 7:45 if they don't get up on their own. Our days do go better on the days they wake up by themselves. From 7:30-8:30, they eat breakfast, get dressed, brush teeth, and get their morning chores done. I write down their chores on the fridge every morning. It's not pretty, but it's a good system that works for us.
Samuel eats cereal almost every morning.
Nathan asks for pancakes, so I make pancakes for the rest of the kids.
While they're getting ready, I also work on their school lists. I've found that lists work well for all of us. It gives them more control/independence over their work and eases some of my burden. Monday is a pretty heavy school day since we don't have any big, time sucking activities during the day.
I keep all their school stuff on the dining room table, but they end up doing school all over the house.
I snapped this picture to document some of the daily crazy that goes on in our house.
The kids get their chores done and everyone is ready to start school (mostly) on time for the day.
8:30- This is our target time to start school every morning. We generally hit it pretty closely. Sometimes the kids are a few minutes late. They look at their list and choose the order in which they want to do things. Nathan always starts with the hardest/longest activities first.
Samuel and Elisabeth ask to redo our school calendar sine it was a new month. They are really excited about all the holidays in February! Elisabeth asks to stay in her jammies for the day, and I let her since we weren't leaving the house.
Katherine's favorite game is Sleeping Queens. We play it multiple times a day, so of course we play a round or two this morning.
10:00- Samuel is enrolled in a Gifted and Talented Epic Live class on Mondays. It's a Storybook Math class and he's really enjoying it. He's such a shy kid, that I get tickled at how much he participates in his class. He was even telling math jokes to everyone. I'm so glad he likes it! He was a little hesitant about doing it- he's usually not a fan of zoom meetings.
While he's at his class, Elisabeth and Nathan keep working on their school.
I don't know why Nathan likes to work on the stairs.
After Samuel's meeting, he is back at it crossing things off his list.
Elisabeth wrote about her favorite food in her journal. Her handwriting is improving everyday!
11:30- Nathan and Elisabeth are finished with their schoolwork for the day. I fix lunch for everyone, and then Nathan and Elisabeth use their screen time for the day while Samuel finishes up school.
1:00- After I eat, I get busy on my lists for the day. Mondays are my laundry and bathrooms day. I've been changing out laundry all day and after lunch I clean my bathroom. Nathan cleaned the other two as his chore for the day.
At 1:00 Nathan also has his Gifted and Talented Epic Live Class. Samuel and Nathan both have the same teacher who is also the same teacher Nathan had last semester for his Shark Tank class. This semester he's taking a debate class and loving it. Katherine loves it too, ha!
The Gifted and Talented classes have been an unexpected surprise for us this year. Matt and I had been very unimpressed with BA's GT program. It felt like an afterthought in the district, but these classes have been wonderful for the boys and they're getting so much more enrichment than they had been. (They didn't even have a GT program for second graders at our old school).
While Nathan has his class and Samuel is still finishing school, the girls and I play Pretty Pretty Princess. When Elisabeth was three she always wanted me to play school with her. She has always been into the relational play, but Katherine always asks me to play games with her. It's funny how kids can be so different.
1:45- While Nathan finished his class, the other kids and I bake a tie dye cake. I asked Elisabeth to pick out a new dessert to bake, and she picked this one. As the kids are getting older, I'm finding I have more time for cooking again, so I've been trying to be more intentional with trying new things.
It looked so pretty when we poured it in the pan.
2:30- I put Katherine down for a nap, and the kids and I do some "fun" learning. That's what they call our group/topical units. Right now, we're working our way through the different systems of the human body. This week we're learning about the digestive system. Each week we've been watching a Magic School Bus episode, reading a book or two, doing a few worksheets and ending the week with a fun, hands on activity.
After the show is over, the boys work on their digestive system worksheets.
3:30- While Katherine finishes her nap, the big kids help with laundry. I wash and dry all their clothes on Monday morning, and then in the afternoon we have a sorting party all together, and then they take their basket of clothes to their room to fold and put away. We've been doing this for a couple of months now, and it's been a huge success! They've had total control over picking out their clothes each day since COVID hit last year, so I don't even care how it gets put away. I've removed myself from all their dresser drawers/closets/clothing choices (except for church days), and I'm not sad about it!
4:15- The laundry is finished, Katherine is awake, and I send the kids outside because it's sunny and not too cold which is a rare occurrence these days. They ask me to jump with them on the trampoline, so I go out with them for a few minutes too.
They teach Katherine how to play "What Time Is It, Mr. Wolf" and it's her new favorite game! They continue playing outside while I go inside to start dinner prep.
5:00- The kids come inside- Elisabeth listens to her audio book in her room, Katherine plays by herself, and Samuel reads a few pages of Harry Potter. He recently started the first book, and he's loving it! He's adorable. He told me one morning that he didn't want to go to sleep the night before because he wanted to keep reading, and he told me he likes it more than the Land of Stories, which has been his all time favorite book series forever.
We're having tacos for dinner. They're one of Nathan's favorite meals, and he always makes them for us when they're on the menu.
5:30- Daddy's home and dinner is served. We have the tie dye cake for dessert. It turned out great! Elisabeth was especially proud of it.
6:00- The kids all scatter. Samuel uses his screen time for the day, Elisabeth plays on her gymnastics bar and listens to her book, and Nathan reads downstairs/plays with Katherine. Matt cleans up the dishes, and I pick up a few things around the house/finish laundry.
6:30- Elisabeth asks to play Skipbo. None of the other kids want to play, so it's just the three of us. Samuel reads and Nathan and Katherine chase each other around the house while we play.
7:30- We head upstairs to get ready for bed. Everyone brushes their teeth and puts jammies on (if they haven't already). I read a chapter of our read aloud. Currently, we're reading Wishbreakers.
Then Matt leads our family devotional.
8:00- We tell the kids goodnight. They're allowed to play in their rooms until 8:30 and then they have to be in bed. The boys stay up and read. Nathan said he stayed up until 10:00 reading 😮. We might have to change those bedtime rules in the future.
8:15- Matt has brought Katherine down and read to her/tucked her in, but she always asks me to check on her and read her another book. Those fourth kids have all the power 😉. She also always asks me to come and read my book in her room and lay with her for a few minutes too. I read my Bible reading in her room and then tell her goodnight.
8:45- I've finished straightening up and getting ready for bed, and I call it a night. Matt and I watch TV in bed until we fall asleep- which is usually around 10:00 (a little earlier for him).
I know I'm going to miss these days! They are long and busy and ordinary, but so very special!
