A Day in the Life

Jack has been in school for a month now. It's taken a little bit of adjustment from each of us in the family, but we have adapted a new routine and it's working pretty well. Day-in-the-life posts are my favorite to read and something I have always wish I would have taken the time to do more often! It was just a regular Monday and the idea popped in my head this morning and so I just went with it. Here's our day!

Derek gets up at 6:45 and my alarm goes off at 7:10. Derek gives us all goodbye kisses and takes off around 7:15.  Today I was dragging and didn't get up until around 7:20. Most of the time, the kids are already awake, but sometimes I'll have to go in and wake Jackson up. Jack lays out his school clothes the night before, so getting ready is super quick!

Breakfast this morning: homemade cinnamon oatmeal with raisins

We head for school at 7:55ish and it's a literal 2-3 minute drive. During this time, the kids will practice their Bible verse of the week and we'll pray. Jack prayed today. The car prayer requests were 1) me: baby continues to grow and deliver safely, 2) Belle: puppies and her Minnie and 3) Jack: for his lunch to be yummy. :) 

I came home and showered and then Belle and I headed out for a playdate! Belle loved playing with her friend, Savannah, and I enjoyed visiting with her Mama. 

Belle requested the same lunch that I had sent with Jackson to school, so I obliged! They both had some apple with peanut butter, a cheese stick, carrots, and a few crackers. 

After lunch is naptime! Belle will only fall asleep if I lay with her and rub her tummy (otherwise, she'll just never settle down). So this is our naptime sound track, I'll lay with her and I often take a short nap, too! 

Today, I spent the afternoon catching up on an episode of Big Brother, catching up on some blogs, and on facebook. My days are generally not so lazy, but as I approach 39 weeks of pregnancy tomorrow, I have granted myself permission to be super lazy these days. Plus, we have a picnic for dinner tonight and so I didn't have any dinner prep to do. We pick Jackson up from school at 3:15 and we'll listen to the VBS CD on the way.

After school, Jackson undresses immediately. Wearing a shirt inside the house rarely happens. Then the kids will do 15 minutes of quiet reading time. This is something that was implemented after school started and it's the perfect activity to help Jackson unwind and decompress from school. Plus, reading is super important. After the timer beeped, we read a few chapters from a book we're reading together. 

Then, we made Rice Krispie treats. Yum! We've gotten to the point where the only thing I really do is to get ingredients ready and then pour it into the pan when it's all done! 

The kids play pretty well in the afternoon together. There wasn't ANY fighting today! These are fun little pegs that I checked out from our local resource center. I love picking out new toys for them to play with every couple of weeks. Today I spent this time trying to declutter the kitchen and dining room. I have a goal to have my sink emptied and clean at some point of every day. Today, I succeeded! (again, it helps that I didn't have dinner to prepare!)

 It's a big deal when Daddy comes home, which is often between 5:20-5:45. 

Derek is great about taking the time to play with the kiddos after work.  Today, he was working on his push-ups for an upcoming army PT test. For whatever reason, the kids LOVE to join in.

Normally, we'd be working to get dinner finished up and trying to set the table when Derek comes home, but tonight was a special picnic at school. I threw together a pretty basic picnic type meal. I made deli sandwiches for Derek and me and pulled some homemade uncrustables out of the freezer for the kiddos. We had some chips, oranges, cheese sticks, and raisins-- and the school provided ice cream!

 We left the picnic early so we could make it to Jackson's soccer practice. Derek came home to help my dad on our bathroom remodel and I went to the soccer fields with Jackson. 

My sister-in-law saw us drive into the park and she brought the kiddos over to say hi! I enlisted Eli to help keep my lap warm-- I was chilly! :)

Jackson finishes up soccer right around bedtime, so our bedtime routine isn't as thorough on Monday nights. The kids do pick up, put their shoes and laundry away, and brush their teeth. And of course we have to make the Xs on the chart! 

We try to have our kids in bed as close to 8:00 as possible, but especially on Monday's it's more often 8:15 or later. We did take extra time to read a special book before bed because it's about not being scared about getting shots, which Jackson has to do tomorrow. We'll see if it helps! There is always time for bedtime hugs and kisses (in the right order!) and Jackson will fall asleep almost as soon as his head hits the pillow. Belle wiggles, talks, and plays until around 9:00 or so. 

Derek and Dad worked until after 8:30 finishing up the tile in our master bathroom. I'm such a lucky gal! 

Despite having a fairly lazy day and taking a short nap with Belle this afternoon, it's 10:30 and I'm already pretty sleepy, so I'll head to bed soon!

I know our routine is about to become upside down, inside out, and backwards... but this is what's working for us right now! I'm super glad we have several weeks of school routine under our belts before baby girl comes. It's been good for all of us! And since this kind of schedule is working for us-- we'll try to get back to normal as soon as possible! I can't wait to share about our Bible devotion book we've been using (we LOVE it!) and our chore chart system that is working LIKE A CHARM. If you blog about A Day in the Life-- let me know! Those are my favorite posts to read!