MORNING:
5:30 am: Kate wakes very groggily and wills herself out of bed. (This is a discipline; I do not jump out of bed singing.)
5:45-6:15 am: Kate workout
6:25-7:00 am: Kate reads/listens to Bible Recap and drinks coffee in the quiet of the house; Nate reads the paper/a book. (Sometimes little people come out of their rooms and depending on Kate's mood, they are allowed to lay on the couch or are sent back to their rooms until the OK to Wake Clock turns green.)
7:00 am: Kids' clock turns green and the day begins!
7:00-8:00 am: Breakfast, morning devotional (this is veryyyyyy flexible. Sometimes we read a Bible story from one of the kids' Bibles, sometimes we practice our Scripture memory. Sometimes it lasts 5 minutes, sometimes 30 seconds.) Nate also goes for a run in the morning and showers and gets ready for work. Kate puts lunches into school bags (I do not make lunch in the morning; I make it the night before) and fills water bottles. Makes her morning smoothie, plays with kids, everyone's teeth and hair brushed, etc.
8:15 am: John Robert and Nate off to school drop off and the girls play with me and get to watch a morning show while I get dressed and ready for the day or get some work done
9:00 am: Some mornings the girls have school and some mornings they are home with me. If they are at school, I work on NTK for the entire time they are gone. If home, by 9:45 we are usually out the door to run an errand or go for a walk or if it's gross we take full advantage of a pajama day. The girls are in a sweet spot where they play really well together and it's been so nice for me. I can often clean something or get some work done while they play.
12:00 pm: Lunch
AFTERNOON:
1:00-2:30 pm: Girls' nap/quiet time (Both girls still nap. Scout doesn't nap if John Robert is home but if he's at school she happily lays down to sleep. We actually probably need to drop it because it makes her going to bed at night 100x harder but I mean let's be real I don't want to let that hour in the afternoon all to myself go 😬). While they nap I either work, prep food, or clean something.
3:00 pm: We leave to go get John Robert
4:00-ish pm: Home with John Robert and we usually play outside, go to a park, go for a walk, etc.
**BATH TIME NOTE: you might notice there isn't a set bath time on here. All three of my kids LOVE the bath and take one almost daily and at the most random times. We treat baths as an activity and it rarely happens before bed. John Robert loves a morning bath 😂and the girls often take one mid-morning or before we go get him from school. Baths are the PERFECT way to to kill time and I often sit in the hallway and read my kindle. The kids usually ask for a popsicle in the bath and I almost always say yes. I have a blog post dedicated to the popsicles we make at home/store bought yogurt style tubes.
EVENING:
5:00-5:30 pm: Kids gets to watch a show. This is wonderful! I get to cook/reheat dinner in peace while I listen to music and maybe drink a glass of wine (BLISS!!!). If dinner is prepped or super easy I sit and read or scroll on my phone.
5:45 pm: Suppertime
6:00 pm: Suppertime over (yep…it's so short. sadly short. this is something we are working on with the kids, trying to teach them to stay at the table and be patient. I am toying with moving the family devotional to dinner to make it last longer and maybe just say a short prayer at the table or do scripture memory in the morning)
6:00-7:00pm: Playtime! Maybe a walk if it's nice. Lots of time in the living room playing the floor is lava or tag. As the weather gets better this time moves outdoors until the mosquitos drive us back indoors. (*If I am super tired I might shower while Nate plays with the kids so that I can be ready for bed fairly soon after them)
6:45 pm: Pick up the house/brush teeth
7:00 pm: BEDTIME!
*Bedtime is definitely not perfect. One of us puts Millie to bed with a book and a song. She goes down fast and is still in a crib. The other two get a story and a prayer and then come out of their room approx. 5 times. Sometimes they sneak into our bed and fall asleep. I know we could discipline them but to be honest, this season feels so short. There's something we love about going to get into bed and finding two sleeping kiddos in there.
7:30-8:30 pm: Kate and Nate hangout. Sometimes together, sometimes separately near each other. Like we might watch a show one night and then the next night both read. Nate loves to read and has helped me become a reader. I also oftentimes shower and do a whole excessive night time routine (lotion, face mask, etc) and it's so nice. Other nights I go to bed soon after the kids and Nate gets to enjoy a quiet house and watch shows that Kate deems too scary 🤣
9:00 pm: Kate is usually in bed reading a fiction book on her kindle. My phone is away charging in the other room by 9 if not earlier. Nate often stays up till 10 reading or watching something then comes to bed.
AND THERE YOU HAVE IT! OUR DAYS IN A NUTSHELL. We tend to scrap a ton of this schedule on the weekends for the sake of a change of pace. The biggest change we have made in this season: waiting till 5 pm to allow the kids to watch a show. I have really enjoyed this half hour to cook in peace.
