A monthly project featuring ten photos throughout the day that show a peek into our extraordinarily ordinary life.
Note: Today I took a more detailed look at our day and took way more than 10 pictures! I ended up narrowing it down to 15. A fun way to change things up.
A Day in the Life – Monday, May 14, 2018
5:10am – I’m wide awake, so I get up for some quiet time before everyone else wakes up. Coffee, a quick IG scroll and then I start working on my to-do list for the day. I e-mail back and forth with Mark – he sends me a new joke every morning and it’s the best. Today’s: “Did you hear about the semi-colon that broke the law? He was given two consecutive sentences.” Har har har.
5:40am – I sneak in a few pages of reading while it’s still silent. Current book is The Art Detective.
5:50am – TJ is awake and sits with me to cuddle. I try to press on with a few more pages, but M is up a few minutes later and I know reading time is done for now.
6:10am – Mondays are my “catch up on everything I neglected all weekend” days. I start a load of laundry and “fluff” the laundry left in the dryer from Saturday. J wakes up around 6:15 and D and P follow soon after. I get dough for a loaf of honey wheat bread going in the bread machine.
6:30am – I run back to put in my contacts and make my bed, but decide to just wash everything so I strip the bed instead.
6:45am – S, my best sleeper, is awake. The two big boys start breakfast – today they’re making everyone french toast with strawberries.
7:00am – I switch laundry and start a new load, then have my breakfast. Lately I’ve been obsessed with oatmeal with brown sugar, frozen Maine blueberries and a handful of walnuts – it tastes like a blueberry muffin! Delicious.
7:30am – The kids clean the kitchen while I get the baby changed for the day. At 7:35, I find ants in the downstairs bathroom, so it sets me on a “sweep and clean EVERYTHING” spree.
7:50am – My hip/groin muscle is bothering me today so I google “hip strength exercises,” do a few types of lunges and plan to complete a better stretch later in the day. For now, icing and Motrin will have to do.
8:10am – I put the bread dough in a pan to rise. The baby asks for “pop pop” and since that’s his favorite food right now, I agree and make a batch of popcorn…even though it’s 8:00 in the morning.
8:30am – I take laundry out to fold, start another load and have the kids strip their beds so I can do their sheets too. When I come out of the laundry room, I find S and TJ playing “fishing” with a Swiffer and a broom. They tell me they caught a salmon and a baby shark.
8:45am – I do my daily check on the baby birds and make a mental note to ask my dad to borrow his powerwasher. The pollen on the front porch is out of control!
8:50am – I head up to the school room to get ready for our day. The baby is already losing it so I put him in the Ergo and he’s sound asleep in five minutes. I call the kids up at 9:00 and our school day begins.
10:10am – We take a quick break so I can switch laundry and put the bread in the oven. When I return, the boys are wrestling – like always.
10:25am – Back to work. We read about George Washington in history, then math for all and reading for J and S. After some tears and “Mama, it’s just SO hard”, I’m online looking for something to help. I suspect we have another one with dyslexia and while that hurts my heart, I’m thankful I have a bit of experience under my belt.
11:30am – Lunch time! We all have various things with the fresh bread: I have chicken salad, D makes a grilled cheese and the others eat it with strawberry jam.
12:00pm – Quiet hour. I break my rule of “no chores” and fold laundry and make my bed instead. At 12:45, I get an email about M’s standardized test results. We nervously log in and…he did great! A relief for both of us.
1:00pm – I agree to an hour of screentime. The isn’t typical on weekdays, but I’m loosening up with summer on the horizon and they’re taking full advantage of it, hah. Some play on the XBox and others watch TV. I take a look at my to-do list (I’m working on a prototype to make into a notepad for myself) and decide to tackle the new religious book. I search my stacks and choose Mornings with Saint Therese. I also start packaging up the baby shower gift and send an email to my cousin.
1:50pm – Mark calls on his way home. We chat a few minutes.
2:15pm – Screens are off and everyone is upstairs to help make beds and tidy their rooms. I find a disaster in the little boys’ room – clothes everywhere! This is what happens when they aren’t supervised during school.
2:25pm – Mark is home! We all have a snack of salt and pepper pistachios and more popcorn.
3:00pm – I retreat to my room to ice my leg and eat chocolate. I post my daily school photo on Instagram and scroll a little. I love seeing all of the Mother’s Day pictures.
3:30pm – The sun finally comes out, so we all play outside for half an hour. The kids ride bikes and play baseball while I push the baby in the stroller. It is hot and sticky, so we go back inside before everyone gets sweaty. Note to self: this summer, head outside right after breakfast so you don’t melt.
4:00pm – I start on dinner. Tonight we’re having roasted chicken thighs and a bunch of sides leftover from Mother’s Day lunch yesterday. While the chicken is in the oven, I hop in the shower. After, I find three little monkeys making “a nest” with my bed pillows. I take a video for today’s “one second a day”. Fun fact: I haven’t missed a single day since we moved here last summer!
5:00pm – Dinner’s ready!
5:30pm – While the kids clean up the kitchen, I put the little boys in the bathtub and check out the new curriculum guides that arrived in the mail. By 5:45, a huge thunderstorm comes out of nowhere. We have a few minor tree branches fall.
6:30pm – The storm has died down, so Mark and the boys decide at the last minute to still head out for Trail Life. I put on a movie for the littles and sit down to start writing this post. 20 minutes later, I get a text from Mark saying that the road to town is blocked with fallen trees and they have to turn around.
7:10pm – They arrive home safely, but the boys are bummed. I suggest a bowl of ice cream – it’s not the same as seeing friends, but it’s yummy!
7:30pm – The kids head upstairs to play quietly and read for an hour. The little ones get a story and are tucked in. I nurse the baby to sleep and then crash into bed. I finish this post, read until my eyelids get heavy and I’m sure I’ll be sound asleep by 9:30 or 10:00. It was a good, long, productive day.
Ashley, I almost never take the time to comment, but I wanted to thank you for keeping up this blog where you share a bit about your daily life. This is why I started reading blogs years ago – to get a glimpse into the life of someone with similar values and lifestyle to mine, that I might step into my own day inspired in some way. I feel refreshed and encouraged after reading this, and now I'm off – and I think I'll bake some bread today!
Oh Melanie, your comment means so much to me – truly!! Wishing you a wonderfully ordinary day…with freshly baked bread, it's bound to be great! xo
This was so fun to get a glimpse into someone else’s daily life! And I love your list of options for yourself to help you refresh during quiet time
It's really helping me stick to my bigger goals! Otherwise I tend to wander around aimlessly, haha!
Hi! Just wanted to pop in and say thank you for the beautiful post card! I put it in my little boy's nursery as decoration! 🙂
I'm so happy to hear that! They really are frame-worthy, aren't they? The artist is so talented.
I love so much this little peek into your life. I laughed out loud about the boys wrestling when you came back from switching the laundry. I remember that bit about homeschool life. (#boymomlife!)
I also love how your entire day is inundated with laundry. That is so real life. All day, err day!!! Wash, fold, put away, repeat.
I, too, am getting more relaxed about our "no screens during the week" rule as we approach summer. (And as Wyatt has been sick) It's more like, "Let's just survive the day!" around here. 😉
I finally picked up a book this week after weeks of no reading. I got Brain on Fire when I saw it at the store and remembered you had read it! I am loving it (cannot put it down!) so far and can't wait to discuss it with you!
Oh laundry…I'm not sure what I'll do with all of the free time gained when the kids leave home someday, haha!
Can't wait to hear what you think about Brain on Fire!
Loved the pictures and the post 🙂 also, those baby birds are very cute