A Day in the Life: Fall 2021 Edition
6:30 a.m. My alarm goes off. I get out of bed and get changed into my workout clothes. I take the first basket of laundry to the laundry room and get it started, grab a drink of water, and head out on a run. I do a short walk to warm up, then run one mile, then a short cool down walk, listening to an audiobook the whole time (the book is Dress Coded for my children’s lit book club).
7:00 a.m. I get home and make the bed while Bart gets ready to head to the gym. I hop in the shower and then get dressed and do my hair and makeup, stopping a few times to answer questions through the door from my children. When I’m ready, I decide I don’t like the shirt I’m wearing, swap it out for a different one, put in some earrings and set the Forest app on my phone so it’ll be on until the girls go to school.
7:40 a.m. I put the laundry in the dryer and a new load in the dryer and water the plants. I help Tally get dressed and the big girls all put away their breakfast dishes. Tally asks if Ani can watch the 2 minute video tour of her preschool classroom, so I pull that up on my laptop and they all watch it. Then I turn on an episode of Fancy Nancy and do everyone’s hair. I make a quick lap around the house and collect some bows that are sitting around and put them all away, then shut off the show.
8:10 a.m. The big girls go get their bikes to ride around the driveway and street before it’s time to go to school. Tally is very anxious about her “Happy Book” that she’s supposed to take to school this week (it’s an inexpensive little photo album she’s supposed to fill up with pictures) and I find an envelope of snapshots from Bart’s grandmother that she sends for everyone’s birthdays and Tally starts sorting through them to find ones of her.
8:15 a.m. Bart gets home from the gym and we sit out on the front porch while the girls ride around and then suddenly remember that none of them brushed their teeth and they all run in to take care of that before it’s time to go to school.
8:20 a.m. Bart gets the girls off to school while Tally and I come in and finish putting all her photos in her album. The Alexa alarm goes off to remind me of Tally’s Savvy Reading class and we get the laptop set up at the kitchen table, plus a bowl of cereal for her since she hasn’t eaten breakfast yet.
8:30 a.m. Tally starts her Savvy Reading class and I start my breakfast cooking and then sit down to get this post started. Once it’s up to date, I spend a few minutes planning out the rest of my day and making my to-do list.
8:45 a.m. I go into our room and find Bart folding the first load of laundry. We chat for a few minutes and then I go put in the next load of laundry and discover that the washing machine is STILL leaking (we’ve had a repair person out twice to look at it). I text him to tell him it’s still a problem and he asks some questions about it. Tally finishes up Savvy Reading.
8:55 a.m. Bart makes himself a Clean Simple Eats protein shake while I finish cooking my breakfast and then I eat while Tally does her math and handwriting books and I help as needed. Bart does the dishes and heads to his office to work.
9:30 a.m. I spend a few more minutes trying to schedule the repair man to come again and then Tally and I read some picture books together on the couch. When we’ve finished 5-6 books, she reads me one of her BOB books from the library.
10:00 a.m. I post my morning IG post and share my daily blog post to IG stories. Tally wants to do a puzzle, so I switch the laundry and put away some things that were collecting in the laundry room and then we choose a new Sandra Boynton puzzle to work on together. We set it up in the dining room and work together on it for about forty-five minutes until quiet time.
11:00 a.m. It’s quiet time and I set her up with some magazines to cut out pictures for her school Happy Book and I go into my office. I do some InstaStories about a book I’ve loved recently and then sit down to update this post. I spend the rest of the hour signing paperwork, scheduling due dates, and reviewing contracts. Tally comes in partway through so I can set her up to listen to Scribd and she spends the rest of quiet time snuggled on the couch with a blanket listening toShe-Ra and the Princesses of Power.
12:00 p.m. I get lunch ready for Tally and while she eats I switch the laundry and fold about 80% of the laundry on my bed. The alarm reminding us that it’s time for preschool goes off so Tally grabs her shoes, goes into Bart’s office to tell him goodbye, and gathers up her school supplies. We drive to preschool together and I drop her off, then come home, listening to my audiobook on the way back. When I get home, I order the Halloween Reading Calendar prints from Staples so I can pick them up later today and then film two sets of sponsored InstaStories, reply to some emails, eat some yogurt and granola for lunch, and update this post.
1:45 p.m. I put the last load of laundry in, then go up to my room to film one last set of IG Stories. Bart comes out of his office to eat lunch and we move the couch in preparation for our new (to us) piano to be delivered. It’s pretty dusty where the couch was and we sweep and mop it before I go back to working.
2:20 p.m. I have a project with Cricut coming up, so I get started on that – I’ve never used a Cricut machine before but it turns out to be super simple and ridiculously fun. Perfect audiobook listening project. The alarm reminding me of Tally’s preschool pickup goes off, so I head out to grab her and while I wait in the pickup line, I use Slidebox to delete some photos. We head home and she tells me about her day and then we work on the puzzle until it’s time to go get the girls. Everyone gets home and puts their school stuff away and gathers around the table for snack. I put away the rest of my laundry while they eat.
4:00 p.m. We’re planning to head to the library but the piano movers arrive and the girls are entranced, watching them bring it in and set it back up. I get a mini-post ready and share on IG stories, then come in to watch the finale of the piano move. Star plays an inaugural piece (Hot Cross Buns) on the piano.
4:45 p.m. We head to the library and the girls all choose a bunch of new books. Tally chooses so many easy readers (50+) that I have to rein it in and weed it down to about 15. We hop back in the car and head to Staples to pick up the Halloween Reading Calendar. Now onto Costco to pick up a salad for Bart’s dad’s birthday dinner.
6:25 p.m. We get home and I assemble the salad, Bart writes a birthday card and we wrap up a small gift. We head over to Bart’s parents house and have a family dinner, complete with cake and ice cream. Bart’s mom also has all the peaches we canned last week ready for me to take home, so we load those up, along with a bag of things Bart’s dad found in the basement from when we lived there all summer.
8:15 p.m. We get home and I put away the peaches and get in my pajamas, Bart takes out the garbage, and the girls help clean up the living room and get ready for bed. I update this post while Star does her nightly reading. I read a few chapters of The Raven Heir aloud to the girls
9:15 p.m. This has turned into a late night. Bart joins us for family scripture reading and prayers. I tuck everyone in and grab the towels from the dryer and take them into our room. I post to Instagram, and respond to some comments, wash my face and brush my teeth.
10:20 p.m. Lights out and time to go to sleep.
You can see all my previous Day in the Life posts here!
I love these posts so much! Realizing that you did a Day in the Life post today was the best little Monday morning happy surprise.
Oh, that is so nice of you!
Are your kids lucky enough to not have much homework or are you luck enough that they just do it on their own?
It’s a pretty low-homework situation and my big girls do theirs on their own.
This day sounds so wholesome and perfect especially with 4 kids. Hard to relate but I’m inspired things go so smoothly