A Day In The Life....

The most common question people ask me these days is "what does life look like with three kids?" So, here is a post on a day in the life of us! I documented a 24+ hour period of a day where we have NO plans. It is rare that we have nothing that we HAVE to do, no where that we HAVE to be. This summer there is no bible study, no life group, no soccer, no school, etc. It's fun to just...be. So here's what we do around the house when we have no agenda, no errands, and no schedule to adhere to.

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

7 pm

Blane took a long nap this day, so he will stay up later in the evening. Scott's upstairs getting Gavin tucked in, and I'm cleaning up the kitchen from dinner, so Blane is working on tracing letters of the alphabet. This is one of his favorite things to do!

After tracing letters, we worked on making shapes out of rubber bands on his geo board.
Ashley was taking a small snooze on the floor : )
Scott, Blane, Ashley, and I gathered around the tv to view the American idol results. I folded a pile of laundry.
Blane serenades us with his musical talent : )

After sending Blane and Ashley off to bed around 8:30, I set the timer on the coffee maker for 5:50 am, and Scott and I stayed up to talk, watch a little more tv, put away folded clothes, finish cleaning up the kitchen, etc. We finally got in bed around 10:30 to read.
Thursday, May 26, 2011

12:30 am Thursday

-Up to feed Ashley. She's such a great baby - I feed her within 15 or 20 minutes and she's right back asleep! Normally I feed her at 11 pm and again around 4 am, but this ONE night was the exception, she only got up once!

5:45 am

-I get out of bed and start my quiet time while my yummy coffee is brewing!

6:15 am

-Oh man! Since Ashley only ate once during the night, she's already up and hungry! So I feed that sweet little girl...

6:30 am

-She has a major blowout all over the boppy, the couch, and of course her clothes!

6:45 am

-Start a load of laundry :) I went ahead and did my "swish and swipe" (see Sink Reflections book for this handy dandy cleaning task!) in the 1/2 bath while I was in there.

Then I get back in my quiet time spot hoping to do a little more praying/reading before anyone else stirs. This sweet smily face had a couple minutes of quiet time with me!
6:55 am

-Blane's up and I notice he is wet. So I add his pj's to the laundry and run up to grab his sheets to add too. While he's changing into dry clothes, he helps me keep Ashley happy by replacing her paci
Then we decide that Ashley needs some tummy time, and what better time to experiment with measurements?!
7:00 am

-Today is Gavin's second birthday! We have a tradition in our family of eating Mommy's Morning Muffins for special occasion breakfasts, so I get to work making them!
7:15 am

-I let the dogs outside, get dressed, make the bed....(all in record time!)
7:20 am

-Ashley is back sound asleep, and I finish up Gavin's special breakfast of homemade muffins and scrambled eggs
7:50 am

-Gavin wakes up! Uh-oh, I notice that he too has a wet bed : ( This boy is loving his newfound art of diaper removal! So, I clean him up, get him some dry clothes, throw his bed linens into the laundry, and finish preparing b-day breakfast

8:20 am

-We all gather around the table to celebrate the birthday boy! We light his "2" candle and sing happy birthday.
During breakfast we usually do several things: Talk through a catechism book, learn sight words, memorize our weekly scripture, and/or read a book.
Sight words!
They think sight words are super fun because we make sentences (sometimes silly ones!) out of each word
After breakfast we clean up! I always elicit the boy's help and they are usually happy to oblige, especially if it involves fun equipment!
After clean up we sit on the couch together and read several books. This morning we are reading three new library books. By the way, we LOVE the library! We go once a week for storytime - the boys think storytime is OK, but they mostly enjoy bringing home new books. I recently discovered that the library has a multitude of books with audio cd's inside. We check out lots of these so that Blane can listen to stories during rest time!

After reading I check my to-do list for the day
The boys decide they want to trace letters, so they work on that while I start some household work. This morning it's cleaning the microwave and the utility. Blane is working on the letter "L" for lamb. When I referred to Jesus as the Lamb of God it sparked some deep theological discussion - it's fun to see the little wheels turning in their heads! We listened to some music while drawing - on the playlist these days is Seeds Family Worship, the BEST!!! If you don't have this on your ipod, you must purchase it! It is totally worth it! I'll admit that even I listen to this while I'm alone!

I applied my makeup while the boys finished drawing....
Then we played outside in the backyard for a bit. I vacuumed and did a "swish and sweep" of the master bath.
10 am

- Ashley wakes up and I feed her while the boys are still out back. This morning, the boys are "gardening" and getting along great, yea! Thankful for the alone cuddle time with my girl.

10:20am

-We head out to the front yard to play while we wait for Gavin's BFF, Cade and his mommy to arrive for a playdate. The boys ride their scooters while I clean out and vacuum my car.

The boys playing with their buddy Cade. Today I am having to convince Gavin that it is most appropriate to keep our pants and diaper on. boys.
11:20 am

-We head to Chick filet as a surprise lunch for Gavin's birthday!
The three boys at lunch : )
After lunch we head over to my friends house to return some cd's she let us borrow.

1:00pm

-Back at home, I feed Ashley and talk to the boys about what a fun day we are having and what we might do after naptime. Then they head up to the gameroom to play while I finish up with Ashley and grab clean laundry. I make their beds with freshly washed sheets

1:40 pm,

- I tuck the boys in for a cozy nap. Then I cuddle with Ashley for a bit

2:00 pm

-Ashley is ready for another nap so I tuck her into her pack n play.

2:15 pm

-We recently decided to have family portraits made, so I need to get to work picking out what we will be wearing. I choose 5 different sets of outfit clusters for the family, take pictures of each set, and email them to the photographer. We text back and forth about what will be the best choice.

2:45 pm

-I do a quick blog update for Gavin's second birthday!

**if I'm lucky enough to have all three kids sleeping at once, I utilize this time for more quiet time, or cleaning, or preparing to move to Houston, or laundry, or, or, or...... : )

3:00 pm

-Blane is done with "rest time" so we go outside together then get the mail. He asks to work on his letters again, so I help him with some new ones.

3:50 pm

-Gavin is awake from his nap, and both of the boys sit at the table for an afternoon snack. While we have snack we listen to a book on tape, our new favorite thing!
4:20 pm

-Ashley is up from her nap, I feed her and then the four of us head outside. We play, ride scooters, and draw with chalk while we wait for Daddy to get home
5:00pm

-Daddy is home early and the five of us do some yard work outside



5:30 pm

-Gavin, Ashley, and I head inside to start dinner. Ashley takes a cat nap in her bouncy seat while Gavin and I do some cooking together!

5:50 pm

-Scott and Blane head inside and B&G watch an episode of Sid the Science Kid while I finish up dinner

6:15 pm

-We eat our family dinner. Tonight we talk through three questions in our catechism book. The word Catechism sounds big and scary, but this book is simple and fun. We love this little book!

-Everyone is exhausted from the heat, so we clean up, and pick up, then head upstairs for baths. We soak the boys in some bubbles and read a couple of good books, sing together, and pray

7:20 pm

-Boys asleep in bed! It's rare that Blane goes to bed quite this early, but when he doesn't nap and we get good outdoor activity in, it's possible!

7:30 pm

-I feed little girl, and then Ashley gets in her bed

Scott and I have an in-home date night!!! (This is rare, but since Blane didn't nap this day, everyone is asleep early!)

10:30 pm

-I set the coffee maker and Scott and I head to bed. i read for a bit, anticipating that Ashley will wake up again to eat, but I fall asleep by 11

Friday, May 27, 2011

12:30 am Friday

-Ashley wakes up hungry. Wow she went a long time without eating! After feeding her I head to the kitchen for some water and notice a horrendous smell. I flip on the light and notice dog throw up all over the family room carpet, and diarrhea all over the entry way of the house. SICK. So Scott and I clean up the mess, spot shot, and mop.

1:00 am

-We are finally back in bed

3:30 am

-Ashley wakes up to eat again, goes right back to sleep. Best baby : )

5:45 am

-My alarm goes off and I head into the family room for quiet time

6:30 am

-I hear Gavin talking about his diaper in the monitor so I head up to make sure he's ok. Sure enough, he has taken off his diaper and wet the bed. Start laundry. Hit the ground running this Friday morning : )

It's all a day in the life : ) Amongst the chaos, discipline, sleep depravity, etc., there is such sweet joy that overflows! Life is certainly full and fun!