A Day in the Life

It's the final week of Heart of the Matter's Not Back to School Blog Hop. This week's topic is A Day in the Life.

 We are taking a break from school this week because it's our church's VBS week so I won't be taking any pictures for this post. And I didn't take any pictures of our daily routine last week because that would have required some foresight, something I do not have much of these days.

We don't follow a schedule so much as a routine around here. Basically we do what we need to do throughout the day and drop everything whenever Bean lays down for a nap so that we can do the things that are hard to get done with a toddler in the house. So this is a general outline but the times can vary greatly:

5:00- Bean wakes up. I grab her out of her crib and bring her to my bed to nurse and hopefully sleep for another hour or two.

6:00- Buzz and Boo wake up. They are to play quietly and not wake up anyone else. Usually they read or listen to an audio book while coloring. I only get up at this time if Bean wakes me up because apparently one year olds can't be left to fend for themselves in the morning the way a 5 and 7 year old can :) Ruben also wakes up around this time to get ready for work.

7:00- Ruben leaves for work. Buzz and Boo are allowed to wake me up. They must be dressed before I serve them breakfast so usually they change out of their pj's as soon as they wake up. I dress, get Bean changed and dressed and head to the kitchen.

Buzz and Boo are both so starving at this point that they are probably going to die if I don't feed them within 3 minutes of my entering the kitchen. It's almost always frozen waffles with Nutella smeared on them. Not exactly gourmet, but well received none the less. I eat a quick bowl of cereal and feed Bean.

7:30- Morning chore time. Buzz unloads the dishwasher every morning and Boo helps start a load of laundry and does general straightening up plus any other chores that I've put on their chore chart for that particular morning.

8:00- I spend some quality time with Bean or at least I try to, she's usually more interested in following the big kids around the house that hanging out with Mom. Whenever Bean gets tired of me I spend time with Buzz and/or Bean

9:00- The big kids get themselves a snack and settle on the couch to watch something on Netflix, usually an episode of The Backyardigans. Until Bean was born the kids never watched TV, but I discovered that it's the best way to keep them quiet while I'm nursing Bean before a nap so I caved.

9:30- The show ends and Bean's asleep so we head to the school table and start plugging away. We always starts with Bible and Language Arts and then Buzz and Boo take turns working with me and working independently.

11:00- Bean wakes up. I make lunch for the kids and they eat while I read a chapter or two (or three or four...) of our current read-aloud.

11:30- Quiet time. Buzz and Boo head to their rooms for 1 hour of any quiet activity of their choosing. Buzz usually listens to an audio book while drawing or playing Legos. Boo usually reads. I eat lunch during this time and get things done around the house while Bean plays or "helps" me.

12:30- Quiet time is over. Buzz and Boo can choose to either play on the computer or watch a show on Netflix.

1:00- Afternoon snack. I spend the rest of the hour playing with the kids.

2:00- Afternoon chores. Buzz and Boo straighten up bedrooms and playroom. They also fold and put away their laundry if it's their laundry day.

Once afternoon chores are done everyone has free time.

4:30- I start making dinner. If Ruben isn't away for work he gets home around 4:45.

5:00- Dinner

5:30- Family time. If Ruben is home this usually involves wrestling of some kind or we go for a family walk. If not, I read aloud or we play a game.

6:30- Start getting ready for bedtime. Showers, jammies, teeth brushed, story, Bible.

7:00- Bedtime for the kids (They wake up at 6 no matter what time they go to bed, so an early bedtime is important)

11:00- Bedtime for me, Ruben usually stays up a bit later.

Obviously this would be a day when we don't go anywhere. In reality we go to the library at least once a week, plus grocery shopping and miscellaneous errands, not to mention soccer and dance. Also, this schedule only applies Monday-Thursday because we have co-op all morning on Fridays plus a 40 minute drive each day. So basically every day is different but if there ever were a "normal" day around here, this is what it would probably look like :)