It's time for another "day in the life" post. These are my favorite kinds of blog posts because it highlights our day to day moments that mostly feel mundane. But over time these little moments add up to the memories of my motherhood and their childhood. All the wiping of booties, counters, and dishes can be monotonous and sometimes exhausting, but those are the things that matter when I think back on the memories of our days. So, recording a mediocre "day in the life" every couple of months is like taking a snapshot in a time that goes by all too quickly.
Our days lately have been slow. In the winter we spend a lot of time at home, which feels right for us. Since getting back from Florida I have started a new routine for myself. I actually get up before the kids now. I feel like someone out there should be proud of me :) I've been getting up at 5:30 to exercise. I spend about half an hour doing that and another half an hour showering and getting ready. The first day I started this, Michael asked me if I "felt like a real adult?" And I really do. So for now, I will continue this routine until it becomes a habit.
Then I make the kids their breakfast. Today it was cinnamon french toast, hardboiled eggs, and bananas. Yum!
Coffee for me to kickstart the day!
And then the first of the kiddos makes their way down the stairs. Everyone gets up when their bodies tell them to get up, which I don't take for granted. Choosing to homeschool means no rush out the door in the morning, no abrupt wake up calls, no harsh words as we try to go our separate ways. We all get to ease into the day in a *mostly* peaceful way. Trust me, I've heard it before- someday will they need to be up at a certain time for a job or obligation? Probably. But right now, their growing little bodies are not hindered by a rushed schedule. So, there's my argument for ya ;) Besides, everyone is usually up by 7:00/7:30 anyway.
Eventually they all make it down to breakfast, buddies and books in tow.
Then it's time for everyone to get dressed, brush teeth, get hair done, and make beds. Ewan is currently obsessed with Spiderman, so he will be wearing his Spiderman costume every day for the foreseeable future (it's just not worth the fight).
And I plug in my audiobook and get to work on my morning maintenance- clean the kitchen up from breakfast, start the daily load of laundry, make my own bed, and generally pick up (somehow there is already a mess somewhere). I wouldn't get in half as much reading if it wasn't for audiobooks and endless chores.
Speaking of laundry, have I showed you my new laundry room yet? It's only taken something like 9 months to complete the project, but it's just about done! New floors, new paint, new doors, new cabinets, and a new counter! Michael has done most of it with help from his dad. I just love it! I'll include the "before" picture so you get an idea of just how ugly it was :)
After I get settled and the kids have played a little bit, we start "couch time". This is where we all snuggle up and dive into our book basket. This is the biggest chunk of our education on home days. We cover ALL the subjects during this time. Our current basket is:
Bible- Bible Story Read Aloud and Our Daily Bread
History- Story of the World
Literature- Aesop's Fables and The American Girl series (Kaya)
Science- various books about the night sky
Poetry- various poems about the night sky
Art- A Child's Introduction to Art
Couch time lasts anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour. Then we break for snack and Isla continues with table time. Snack today is seaweed and Lara bars :)
Then it's "table time" where we do some math work, reading practice, and whatever unit study we are working on. Right now we are studying the night sky, so the kids watched a video on how to replicate The Starry Night by Vincent Van Gogh.
And lest ye be fooled, our school days are not all smooth sailing. I often have to deal with a conniving toddler and an energetic 4 year old. This sometimes means wiping tears and mediating fights while Isla counts money or recites poetry. It all works out eventually and we finish our table time.
Ewan always participates in couch time and likes to do a little bit of table time too. Today we worked on letters and sounds. As long as he can touch it, move his body, or play a game he loves it!
We ended our school time with a new game. The kids LOVE playing games!
If we have something going on like co-op or zoo class, it takes place in the morning and we skip our couch/table time. I love the flexibilty of our days because it means our education is our own. A morning at the children's museum or a visit to the library is just as much of an education as these home days that look a little more like public education. Our learning is forever happening and these focused times are not our only chances to be educated.
While I made lunch, Isla worked on her violin homework and Spiderman helped :)
Simple lunch today- peanut butter and homemade jam sandwiches, popcorn chips, cheese and sausage, and fruit!
After the kid's lunch, I put Eleanor down for a nap before eating my own lunch. Since coming home from Florida I have been making a salad at least every other day that I had at the Columbia restaurant. It's soooo good and I have made the perfect copycat recipe. A little iced coffee on the side.
This is the start of everybody's "quiet time". I put that in quotes because it's mostly me begging everyone to be quiet for an hour and a half while Eleanor naps. Isla usually goes off to her room and listens to her audiobooks (currently that's Paddington and Peter Pan). But usually Ewan follows me around. Here he is, asking me for a snack. Yes, a snack. We just finished lunch. The requests are endless and he is relentless.
My quiet time consists of chores, reading, resting, or prepping for whatever I need to (dinner prep, school prep, etc.). I switched the laundry to the dryer before a little reading of my own.
And just for fun, I had a sinus headache... again. I'm still dealing with awful sinus pain at least once a week. So much for that surgery I had.
The big kids usually play and sometimes "rest" while Eleanor is sleeping. After an hour or two, she wakes up and we all play together in the afternoon.
Of course, after badgering me half the afternoon, they finally get their afternoon snack- berry smoothies and granola!
I try to do some chores in the afternoon before Michael gets off work. I enlist the kids when they're willing. They will leave my house someday, knowing how to do their own laundry and unload the dishwasher, mark my words :)
Michael gets off work (aka comes upstairs) between 3:00-4:00. Until then, the kids play or work on their own little projects. When it's not in the negative temperatures I make the kids go outside.
Then it's time for dinner prep. When Michael gets off work, he sometimes has chores to do, but he always goofs around with the kids. They love when he's done working for the day. Today, Isla helped me get going on the beans and meatballs.
In the winter, dinner is between 4:30-5:00. We always make an effort to eat dinner together, as a family. We light our candle, say our thanks, and share our highs and lows. I once read a study that claimed "children that eat dinner with their family every night, don't do drugs", you know, or something like that :) But semi-joking aside, I do see the importance in family dinner and we try our best to uphold this.
After dinner each kid has a job. One person vacuums and the other wipes the table before switching jobs the next night. Eleanor just terrorizes them in the process.
Isla and Michael worked some more on her violin practice.
On bath nights (like tonight) the kids get to watch something short afterwards while they get their hair brushed and nails cut. And I close down the kitchen for the night after dishes and clean up.
Around 6:00 we all head upstairs to get ready for bed- jammies on and teeth brushed (Isla doesn't always brush her brother's teeth. I have no idea what's happening here.) Then we all snuggle up in Isla's room to read our family devotion, say our prayers, and kiss goodnight.
I'll spare you the details, but bedtime with Ewan right now is very difficult. It takes a realllllly long time. So by the time we finish with THAT, I'm pooped. I finish getting ready for the next day, which means feeding my sourdough starter, packing lunches or bags if needed for the next day, and finishing up any cleaning or planning. Then it's bathtime (and more reading) for me before bed. And since I'm getting up at 5:30 nowadays, bedtime comes pretty early for me.
And that's a whole day with us. It's simple and probably boring to most, but I believe these are the happiest days of my life.
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