A Day in the Life 2020

Are y'all ready for one of my favorite (and longest) posts of the year?!? Well, ready or not, it's time for my annual A Day in the Life post!

Here are posts from years past: 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019. 

Now, one thing to keep in mind is that this A Day in the Life post represents life as it is right now. It would look really different had I written this post back in January or February! However, this post is a snapshot of life from Thursday, April 30th. With that in mind, let's get started!

My alarm goes off every day at 6:10am. Now that I don't have to get everyone up and out the door by 7:30am, I have the luxury of pressing snooze sometimes. I exercised that right on this day :-).

I decided it would be a slow start morning and didn't actually get up until just before 7:00am. I guess distance learning isn't all bad, haha.

Chris was already up and working when I rolled out of bed. 

The kids slept in until 7:15am, then had some down time before we started our day. Brecklyn and Brooke had a little screentime,

while Brianna just laid around and did a little reading.

Brenson was also a little slow going this morning, and spent some time snuggled in his blanket in the chair.

Finally, at 7:50am, I decided we needed to get our day going and called everyone into the kitchen to get breakfast. Chris helps with breakfast almost every single morning, and I'm so grateful for that. And yes, spoiled, too :-).

After breakfast, it was time for everyone to get ready for the day. This includes getting dressed, brushing their teeth, picking up their rooms, and making their beds. 

Brecklyn making her bed.

Brooke taking her dirty clothes to the hamper.

I had this massive pile of laundry staring me in the face. At least it's clean, right? Good morning!

At around 8:30am, everyone was about finished getting ready for the day, so we started on a few chores.

Bren taking care of the trash for me.

Brianna helping me make my bed.

Some of the kids move a little faster than others in the morning. Brooke is my slow to wake girl, so she takes longer getting ready. 

Brooke brushing her teeth.

I make my bed nearly every day. I love the way it looks when it's made, but I also need it made to use it to fold laundry.

All the kids are great to help with chores, especially the laundry. I don't know how I'd keep up with it without their help!

While the little girls helped me fold laundry, the big kids loaded the dishwasher and got the kitchen cleaned up from breakfast. 

Chores could go on all day, so I usually tell the kids we'll work on them for so many minutes or until a certain time. This also helps them stay motivated to work hard if they know there is a end time to the work. At 9:00am, we stopped doing chores and started on school. 

Brecklyn and Brooke worked on scripture writing (coloring),

Brianna did work on the computer for school, 

and Brenson tackled his scripture writing. 

While they were all working, I finished cleaning the kitchen and was available for questions and help.

The girls don't work on one thing for too long, so Brooke moved on to crafting about the time I finished the kitchen. 

Brecklyn wasn't in the mood for crafting, so she played a math matching game instead. 

Brenson worked on his to-do list for school (on the computer),

and then Brooke changed activities again and played with tangrams. 

Brecklyn has always been my child who wants to work right beside me. Now that Daddy is working from home, she has to go visit him every hour or so. I didn't know where she had gone, then I thought, "She's probably with Daddy." Yep!

While the children continued to work, I dedicated some more time to the laundry.

At 10:00am (yes, just one hour later, haha), I called everyone into the living room to read aloud. We are currently reading Little House in the Big Woods.

I read for about 30 minutes, then Brianna and Brenson went out for their daily run. They are working so hard to log miles for running club because they both want that 100 mile medal this year!

While they were out running, I put dinner in the slow cooker (white chicken chili), and the little girls had some free play time. 

The Bigs were still running at 11:00am, so I called Brooke to me to do some reading. We have a whole series of books where they read a sentence, then I read a sentence, and they just love them! Their reading is really taking off. 

After Brooke and I finished, it was Brecklyn's turn to read!

The Bigs finished running about the same time Brecklyn and I finished her book. They ran close to 6000 steps each (almost 3 miles).

The little girls had more free play time (they love LEGO),

while the Bigs cooled down from running, and Daddy picked up lunch from the school. We don't get school lunch every day, but it has been SO nice that the school is distributing food to families during this distance learning time! We really appreciate the convenience and cost savings, for sure!

I don't get (or want!) school lunch, so I had a pretty common lunch for me of veggies and a boiled egg. 

The kids don't mind eating school food, though, and we eat outside almost every. This saves me a lot of kitchen clean-up, and they enjoy eating on our patio.

Lunch lasted from about 12:00pm to 12:30pm, then the kids had some play time on our playset. 

Before long, they had moved on from the playset to riding their bikes

and scooters!

I cleaned up lunch while the kids played outside, then I tucked Brooke and Brecklyn in for a nap around 1:15pm. They often take a nap on Thursdays because we are out late on Wednesdays. Right now, we are having Wednesday bible study at home via the internet, but we are still in the habit of them taking a nap on Thursdays. 

During naptime for the twins, the Bigs and I did some school work in the beautiful weather on the patio. This work is not for their classes at school, but some supplemental things I'm having them do for fun. Except I'm not sure they think it's all that fun, haha!

We finished our analogy work and online bible class at around 2:15pm. The big kids were ready for some free time!

Bri chose some computer time,

while Bren played on the Wii.

I enjoyed the quiet time, did some bible reading, and paid some bills. Once the twins got up from their nap (around 3:30pm), they needed lots of snuggles. I'm not complaining a bit!

The living room had been left a mess from the morning, so we spent some time tidying up after snuggles.

At 4:00pm, the little girls went to play outside again. Brianna practiced her piano, 

and Bren practiced his guitar. 

Once instrument practice was complete, it was free time for all! The kids basically played outside, then came in to watch a bit of TV, then went back out again over and over. 

Chris wrapped up working for the day at around 4:30pm, then mowed our yard. 

Bren is the only kid that stayed outside the whole time . . . he did a lot of bike riding and monitoring what Daddy was doing :-). 

I spent this time enjoying the bits of quiet and working on a puzzle I have going on the dining room table. At around 5:30pm, I started prepping dinner. We sat down to eat outside at 6:00pm. The white chicken chili was delicious!

After eating and visiting for a bit, I cleaned up the kitchen from dinner while the big kids picked up toys outside and Daddy gave the little girls a bath. It was about 7:00pm at this point. 

Then, the big kids took showers while I finished folding and putting away all the laundry. 

During this time, Daddy read books with the twins to help them wind down for bed. 

Brecklyn

Brooke

It was pushing 8:30pm by the time all the things were cleaned and tidied, all the children bathed, and all the books read. That means bedtime for the kiddos!

After the kids went to bed, I took a shower, relaxed a bit, and worked on the puzzle I had been trying to finish. Chris and I finished it together just before 11:00pm, then called it a night!

It's amazing to me how some days feel short and long all at once. I cherish this time we have all at home together right now, and I hope I can always appreciate our days for what they are in this moment.