I've been wanting to do a day in the life post with our new school routine groove. We've gotten into a good routine this Fall. The days are flying by way too fast!
5:45am- I get up and try to get all my stuff ready for the day. I've been hit or miss with running/exercising, but I've been trying to do better and manage to get in a two mile run this morning before getting ready for the day.
7:15- I try to be mostly ready for the day by about 7:15 or 7:30 (before the kids are really up and needing me).
I've been trying to be really intentional about being all in with the kids in the mornings and having a good attitude. I pray for patience every morning and take deep breaths when the constant "Mommy, I need you's" start. I remind myself that I set the tone for how our mornings go, and if I have a good attitude, my kids will too. I try to be ready when they get up to give them and our morning routine my full attention. I've realized that when I have my own to do list of things I want to do in the mornings, then I get irritated when I get interrupted. Our mornings still end up being pretty chaotic, but for the most part they go somewhat smoothly.
7:30- I hear this little angel talking in her bed and get her up and change her diaper. I love her bed head and pacifier look in the mornings.
Every night before I go to bed, I write down the kids' morning chores. They know that they have to be dressed (with shoes on), breakfast eaten, teeth brushed, and chores finished before they can have morning screen time. This system has been working great for us this school year.
Samuel is usually my early riser. He gets started on his chores right away.
Meanwhile, I pack lunches, make breakfast, sign homework folders and make sure the kids have everything they need for school.
We keep breakfast pretty simple. I try to make a double batch of pancakes at some point during the week, and the kids eat those for leftovers. Sometimes they eat eggs. Samuel has been on a yogurt and granola kick. And occasionally they'll have cereal or granola bars or toast. I usually just let them choose (within reason) what they want to eat for breakfast and happily help them (reminding myself to be all in with them) with whatever they need for breakfast.
8:00- Things are in full swing. Everyone is awake and working on their morning routines. I try and squeeze in breakfast for me, but usually I'm eating as I get things done. Along with breakfast and packing lunches/backpacks, I always need to dress Kate and fix the girls' hair. Most mornings we also work on spelling words or other school things.
8:40- This is the time I always aim for to start loading up in the van to head to school. It's backwards day at school today for Red Ribbon Week.
8:55- The three big kids are off at school. Katherine and I have a little time to kill before her gymnastics class, so we come back home and I finish cleaning up the kitchen from the morning mess. I try to have it cleaned up before we leave for school, but there are a lot of times that it doesn't happen.
9:15- Katherine and I load up and drive to her gymnastics class. She LOVES gymnastics and asks to go every single day. It's her favorite weekly activity. Earlier this year when she was struggling to leave me and go to her class I questioned why I was paying money for an activity for a two year old, but now I'm so glad I signed her up. She has so much fun every week.
10:15- After her class we run to the library to pick up a few books for the kids, and I have a Walmart grocery order ready for pick up too.
11:15- We're back home. I unload the groceries and make Katherine's lunch. While she eats, I work on laundry and other general tidying.
12:00- She's finished with lunch, so I play with her for a few minutes in her room and read her some books before nap time.
12:30- I put Katherine down for a nap, move laundry over, and make myself lunch.
1:00- I get busy with my chores for the day. My usual chores on Mondays are cleaning the bathrooms (Nathan helps some with that chore on Monday mornings) and it's also laundry day. I quickly clean my bathroom and finish up what Nathan doesn't clean in the other bathrooms and then get busy folding laundry. I usually only do laundry once a week, so there are a lot of clothes to fold!
2:40- I wake up Katherine from her nap and we go pick up Elisabeth from school
3:00- We're home and the girls play while I finish up folding laundry and putting it all away. I also get Elisabeth ready for dance.
3:55- We pick up the boys from school and drive to Elisabeth's dance class.
4:30- Elisabeth's dance starts. Today is actually her Fall parent performance day, and she is SO excited to dance for us (and get cookies afterward). Matt joins us for her performance. It's SUPER cute, and my natural born performer/attention seeker does awesome.
5:30- We head home from dance, and I make dinner
6:00- Dinner time! Tonight we have barbecue chicken sliders, fries, and apples
6:30- The kids ask to play outside after dinner. It's a little chilly and we're short on time, so they just ride bikes in our driveway and sidewalk instead of going to the pond or playground like we usually do on free evenings.
7:00- We come inside for haircuts (for the boys) showers and baths.
7:30- The big kids get screen time while I put Katherine to bed. I brush her teeth and read a couple of books before I put her in her crib.
8:00- The rest of us head upstairs for bed. Our bedtime routine includes brushing teeth, reading a chapter of our read aloud (currently we're reading Prince Caspian), practicing AWANA verses and reading our family devotional. It usually takes about 30 minutes before everyone is in bed.
8:30- Matt heads downstairs, and I check on all the kids and set out their school clothes for the next morning. Usually Elisabeth is exhausted and falls asleep right away. Samuel likes to listen to audio books until around 9:00 and Nathan likes to read in bed too. By the time I get downstairs after telling all the kids good night, Matt is already asleep due to the fact that he had to go into work at 4:00 that morning (yup, you read that right. Ugh, we're both ready for this current project to be over and back to a more normal work schedule). Normally, I would quickly finish up a few things around the house and then we'd watch a show together before falling asleep, but since he's already asleep, I take a little more time finishing chores around the house before heading to bed. I read a little and fall asleep to a show about 10:00.
Our days right now can be long and exhausting but they're full of so, so much good too. I know I'm going to miss these sweet, ordinary days.
For Fall Break this year, we actually put on the brakes. We stayed home and rested and played. Last year for Fall Break, we went to Branson with friends. The year before we had a three week old (not much breaking or resting), and the previous year we went to Disney World. This year it felt a little weird to not have big, busy plans, and I was a little worried the kids would be bummed, but it turned out to be perfect. I think the kids enjoyed a relaxed schedule, getting to play with friends, and getting to be lazy and carefree at home. The weather was gorgeous the entire break too which made everything more fun.
I asked each of the big kids to tell me one friend they'd like to have a play date with over the break. Elisabeth said she wanted to play with Ainsley and Makinley, so we had their family over for dinner on Tuesday night to kick off Fall Break. The kids played and played and the adults got to visit. The girls all doted on Katherine, so she had an awesome night, ha!
I also asked the kids for some ideas of fun things they wanted to do over the break. Elisabeth said she wanted to bake some treats, and Nathan thought making an apple pie would be fun, so that's what we did. We had to run to Braums for vanilla ice cream with our pie, and Katherine is serious about her ice cream. She wouldn't let go of the bag. It was hilarious.
The weather was so nice that the kids ate lunch outside on Wednesday.
Then while Katherine napped, we baked.
They were all so proud to peel the apples by themselves.
It turned out to be delicious. I enjoy baking, but pies are not at all my specialty. I'm glad Nathan forced me out of my comfort zone to try something new. I think we have some more pie baking days in our future. Samuel even asked if he could have apple pie instead of birthday cake for his next birthday.
They couldn't wait to dig into the pie.
While the pie cooled, some neighborhood friends came over to play. They are moving soon, so we wanted to squeeze in one more play date. Thankfully, the kids will still get to see them at school, but we'll miss having them as neighbors.
Thursday morning Elisabeth was invited to a birthday party for a friend from school. I took her and Addisyn to the party while the other kids played at Addisyn and Kamryn's house for the morning.
Thursday afternoon, we snuggled up together and watched the Wizard of Oz. We recently finished reading the book as our family read aloud, and the kids were excited to watch the movie- though they all agreed the book was better. Isn't it always?!?
We spent so much time outside playing. It was wonderful. Nathan asks to ride his bike almost any free moment we have, so the kids rode bikes a lot during Fall Break.
Friday morning we met up with the Millers at the park to play for a couple of hours. Great weather and great friends made for a fun morning.
Friday afternoon I dropped off the boys' at Caleb and Asher's house. When I asked them about a friend they wanted to have a play date with, Caleb and Asher were their answers and since they're brothers it worked out perfectly! They had a fun afternoon full of Legos and Ninjago. Their mom sent me this picture of Samuel. He was having fun for sure.
We had a pretty low key morning on Saturday. Matt had to work in the morning, so the kids and I just hung out and played. Elisabeth asked me to curl her hair, and I couldn't tell her no. Usually when she requests a hair style, she just wants to leave it long or wants it in a ponytail, so I soaked up some girly fun with her.
Saturday afternoon we drove to OKC to meet our new niece/cousin. We're thrilled to have a new family member and the kids fought over holding her. No one wanted to let her go. I didn't want to share either :).
Nathan was precious. He was so gentle with her and his eyes just radiated love and protection for his new cousin.
Katherine couldn't keep her hands off Baby Abigail, and she kept demanding it was her turn to hold her. I'm hoping they'll be great friends as they grow up.
We left the hospital and headed to a fun new park in OKC so the kids could get their wiggles out before the drive home. It was a great afternoon and meeting Abigail was everyone's Fall Break highlight.
Sunday was a pretty normal day for us- church, lunch, nap/quiet time, KJAM and family game night. It was Elisabeth's turn to choose our game for the night and Matt put a bug in her ear that she should choose Mario Party instead of a board game, so that's what we did to end a great Fall Break. It was refreshing to have a few days of sleeping in, lazy/relaxed mornings and plenty of time for play and fun. Hanging out with these four kids is the best gig around.
