With 2020 being such a CRAZY year I ended up never doing a day in the life post! In the past I’ve typically done a day in our life blog post during the month of March so I made sure to squeeze this one in before the month ended 🙂
It ended up not being a typical day in our lives but, hey, not everyday is a normal day, right? In fact probably most aren’t normal!
I start my day at 6:00 am. I set my alarm 10 min earlier than I need to get up so I’m able to hit snooze once 😉 Big snooze girl right here!
I am very structured and hardcore with my routine. I am that mom that makes sure I’m up plenty before the kids so I can get ready for the day. I’ve learned if I don’t do it before they get up then it’ll probably never happen!
I wash my face and then do my skincare routine and my basic makeup (you can see my favorite items here!)
The big kids are all up around the time when I’m getting ready and they have their own set morning routines. Kye wakes up at 6 am regardless of any alarm. He reads and does some Bible study time and then gets dressed and ready (washing his face and putting on deodorant as well as brushing teeth and fixing hair).
Britt’s alarm goes off at 6:20 and she reads through some morning Bible verses and then gets dressed and usually comes into my bathroom around 6:35.
Tess’s alarm wakes her at 6:30 and she gets dressed and comes down. All three big kids unload the dishwasher and fill up their water cups for the day.
Britt is usually the first person I see every day! She comes in to say good morning, often complain about one of her siblings, and to have me help fix her hair. She has to sit on the tub for me to fix her hair bc she’s SO TALL!
Zach’s alarm goes off at 6:40 and he makes the kids breakfast. Their daily breakfast is part of a banana, a prune, and their vitamins. This year school is offering free breakfast so they can also get additional breakfast items once they get to school.
I head out to the kitchen at 6:50. I used to pack their lunch for school but eventually transitioned to letting them buy school lunch (and this year it’s free!)
The kids enjoy my notes that I used to put into their lunches. Which, duh, means the WORLD to me so I started sending them to school with a snack and include a note for them each day 🙂
Once I’m done with their notes I head back to the bathroom to finish getting ready. I usually have time to get dressed and finish my eye makeup before leaving to take Kye to school.
Kye and the girls have the SAME start time for school every morning but their schools are in totally different directions. Zach and I divide and conquer drop offs in the mornings. Depending on where he’s working and what time he needs to be there I take whoever is the less convenient one for him to take 🙂
I prefer to take Kye when I can because I get so much less TIME with Kye. He stays after school so often and that means he is frequently walking in the door at dinnertime! I enjoy having the morning talks with him while I can 🙂
Tess is the slowest eater and also often struggles to remember to put away the silverware, which is her portion of the dishwasher. She’s just def not a morning person and takes awhile to get rolling in the mornings 😉
I wake Spear up and change him out of his nighttime diaper and into his clothes for the day whenever it’s time for me to leave to take the kids. When I take Kye I leave at 7:05, when I take the girls I leave at 7:20.
Sometimes Spear is awake in his bed at 6:50 and sometimes he’s still dead asleep and I have to wake him at 7:20.
Kye and I developed a system at drop off where we squeeze each other’s hands instead of kissing goodbye. We know it means “I love you” We use this too when in group settings where he might be embarrassed or uncomfortable to be affectionate with me.
I was never the kid to be embarrassed about showing affection with my parents, but I also “get it” and NEVER want to force anything or embarrass him so I let him lead. Sometimes he will still give me a hug or kiss and sometimes he opts to press thumbs together or do the hand squeeze! Whatever he’s feeling in the moment I just soak it up 🙂
On mornings that I take Kye we ALWAYS just talk the whole way and then say a prayer together (on this day we talked about Dave Ramsey and budgeting). He really opens up in the car and at bedtime so I take advantage of those moments when I have them!
On the mornings I take the girls they always want to listen to jams (right now the favs are “Lucky” by Britney Spears for Britt and “Always” by Blink 182 for Tess as well as “Olaf Song” from Frozen 2 for Spear) and then we go over their daily affirmations together and say a prayer. After dropping them off Spear and I will often fill up with gas and run any grocery errands we may need to do, typically Sam’s or Publix and sometimes Target!
On mornings I take Kye Spear and I always just come back to the house. Since I have to leave earlier to take Kye I usually am not able to be FULLY ready by the time I walk out the door and typically wait to fix my hair until we get back from dropping him off.
Spear usually has oatmeal as his additional breakfast item and then on mornings that he has school while I make his lunch to take to school with them and then I let him watch 15 min or so of Stinky and Dirty or If You Give a Mouse a Cookie while I finish up getting ready!
Spear’s school starts at 9 so we leave the house around 8:45. I am very intentional in the car in the mornings for drop offs. I fill two water bottles each morning and my goal is to chug them both prior to getting home from all the school drop offs! I’m terrible about remembering to drink water throughout the day and getting over with right away helps make sure I drink enough.
On the mornings that Spear has school I typically spend his school time working on the blog and/or Instagram stuff! In the video of this post I talk about that in more detail 🙂
I pick up Spear at 12:45 and when we get home he goes potty and we read a book before nap time. I enjoy the snuggles and it’s a good chance for me to get a little quality time just us!
During nap time I eat my lunch (I discuss this in the video as well) and have my afternoon coffee and then go outside to read and relax for about 20 min. I prefer to scarf down a fast lunch in order to have a little sunshine and reading time! We have a privacy fence and a nice perk is it means I can wear an itty bitty bikini and not have to worry about anyone seeing me ha!
I spend the rest of nap time working on the blog and always try to make sure I’m done working by the time the girls get off the bus. The girls get off the bus about 15 minutes before Kye does but most days Kye stays after school for a club or archery or some other after school meeting of some sort. Zach typically picks him up on his way home from work!
On this day Spear was doing his swim lesson refresher. We do a couple weeks of refresher survival swim lessons to help make sure he’s good to go before swim season starts!
I load Spear up in the car before the girls get off the bus and head straight to the lessons. It’s just a 10 min lesson and Spear does GREAT with it! He loves the water and Britt and Tess enjoy cheering him on! On this particular day he wore his clothes in the pool to make sure he can float if he were to fall in fully clothed.
We got home and the girls had time to get a quick snack before Zach ran by the house to scoop them up and take them to gymnastics. He dropped them at gymnastics and picked up Kye to come back to the house before church! Wednesdays are our CRAZY day!
Spear tends to struggle with obedience, hello three years old, and timeout tends to work pretty well for him depending on what he’s struggling with. It also helps me to keep eyes on him and get dinner cooked 😉
Kye got to work on his chores and I started not feeling well. The allergies are SO BAD this year and it just hit me with a major headache (it ended up pouring rain that night and I’ve learned the pressure often causes me to get a painful headache). I was hurting too bad to be very productive so I had some chill time on the couch with the boys.
Typically on Wednesdays I heat up leftovers for dinner as we’re always in a mad dash for Wednesday night bible class at church. The girls literally walk in the door at 6:00 from gymnastics and we have to leave at 6:30 to make it to church in time!
I heated up leftover taco salad for dinner and some green beans. The kids eat on divided plates and always give the kids some fruit and typically some yogurt too!
Even if it’s rushed, I love our evening meals as a family. It’s loud and crazy and it’s what I always dreamed of having!
My headache just wouldn’t quit and I felt really awful so I just couldn’t handle going to church. I opted to soak in the bathtub while Zach took the kids to church. I NEVER take baths but when I’m not feeling well it’s so comforting and it helped a lot.
I soaked and then took my shower for the night (I’m a night shower kinda girl).
Zach and the kids got home and we give Spear his eczema medicine at night before bed. This time of year is THE worst for him with his allergies and eczema flair ups are much more likely.
We typically eat dinner and then Spear and Tess bathe together, Kye showers upstairs, and Britt showers in our shower (often Tess will shower with her too). After baths Spear reads a story and goes to bed and then often the older kids will play a game with Zach and I before bed too.
On Wednesdays we get home from church very late (especially now that our new congregation is 25-30 min away) so it’s straight to bed and skipping baths kinda situation!
Spear wears a diaper to sleep at nap time and bedtime still as he’s not able to stay dry and clean yet and also tends to poop while sleeping.
Normal bedtimes for our kids are around 7 for Spear, 7:30 for Tess, 7:45-8:00 for Britt and 8:00-8:30 for Kye.
I always, always sing each of my kids a song before bedtime! Spear has also gotten Zach wrapped into a bedtime routine too of telling him a football story 😉 And of course the tuck in routine for Spear always ends in a stern reminder to STAY IN THE BED!
Bedtime routine is very, very important to me. Of all the things I do and the ways, I show up for my kids I want them to always remember the bedtime tuck-in routine the most. It’s the one-on-one time with each of them at the end of the day that is just my favorite time! It’s a time to share their hearts and get snuggles and sing their songs to them. I. Love. It.
I don’t care how late or how awful I may feel, I very, VERY rarely skip tucking the kids in!
I put them in bed in reverse birth order starting with Spear and then Tess, Britt and finally Kye. The big kids all pick out their own clothes for the next day and brush their teeth while I’m tucking in the others.
Their bedtimes include reading time too. Each big kid is allowed to read for a bit before falling asleep. I love encouraging my kids to be readers and a great way to do that is to allow them to read at night. It’s so engrained in them that Kye literally HAS to read to be able to fall asleep now (which is funny because Zach is the same way). Kye also wakes up in the morning and reads too!
Usually after the kids are in bed I finish up some work stuff, work out, spend time with Zach, or go to bed depending on how late it is. On this night I was still not feeling well so I just snuggled up with Zach on the couch. There is nothing more comforting than laying with him! I love moments like these when we cuddle and laugh and talk together. Those friendship kinda moments are my favorites!
I also like to try to read a bit before bed every night and always ice my bad foot while I read in the bed. After my foot surgery I tend to get foot pain, especially when working out or wearing less than ideal shoes so icing it at night helps with the swelling and inflammation.
My goal is to always get a minimum of 7 hours of sleep so I always work backward and know that whatever time I have to get up I then need to be in the bed 7 ½ – 8 hours prior to get a full nights sleep. I’m def a high sleep needs kinda person and have to make it a priority!
You can see more of the behind-the-scenes from our day in the video in this post. It may not have been the most typical day but I love having these days to look back on throughout the years! If you wanna come see our day to day lives be sure to be following along with us on Instagram!
Past Day in the Life Posts:
Day in the Life 2019 (ironically I had a bad headache this day too…I swear it’s ALLERGIES!)
My work has been featured on Love What Matters, Today Parenting and Babywise.Life. I'm also honored to be a member of the Babywise Friendly Blog Network.
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