A day in the life

I have been hesitant to post this "day in the life" piece simply because I do not want to make any other mothers feel they are not doing enough....or show that *I* may not  be doing enough! I decided to go ahead and send it "out there" to the world in an effort to show how our lives flow while homeschooling 5 children and trying to keep everyone alive in the process. This is a "typical" day in our lives. Every day is not like this however. We are just like every other family out there. Some days go smoothly and some days are a struggle. It is what it is. I hope you find these notes on how our day progresses to be helpful.

The breakdown: 7th grader, 4th grader, 1st grader, 1st grader, kindergarten, and 3 yr old. Oh, and a husband who works nights.

Ready?

Let's go!

6:30am
  The children and I wake up. The kids brush their teeth and get dressed while their father dishes up the breakfast I made the night before.  After they eat it is time for the rabbit to be fed and then the children are free to go play. Meanwhile I am still in bed checking out what has happened on the internet since the night before.

7:00
  Hubby comes down and joins me in the master bedroom. We spend 30min together talking about how his night went and any plans I have for the day. This is the only alone time we have during the day.

7:30
  Hubby goes to sleep for the day and I head upstairs for my breakfast. I have my breakfasts made up in bulk and stored in the freezer. I make a quick protein shake while my spinach, egg, and feta quesadilla heats up.

7:45
  Time for my first workout of the day. I complete 35 minutes on my stationary bike completing a hills and valley routine. The children are still playing quietly together. This early in the morning they still like each other.

8:20
  I am done with the bike and start my morning chores. This is when I clean up the breakfast mess in the kitchen, dining room, and living room. I also take this time to pull a meal from the freezer and get it started in the crock pot.

8:45
 I pull out all of the books needed for the day and call all of the children to the table.

8:50
  Our oldest 4 children (12, 9, 6, and 6) begin working on their math work for the day. Meanwhile our 5 yr old works his way though his kindergarten workbooks and our 3 yr old works on her coloring and playing with the math manipulative blocks.

 9:05
   The twins (6 yrs) finish up their math and move on to their handwriting practice. Sara (9yrs) also finishes up her math and moves on to her spelling, grammar, and punctuation.

9:10
  The twins move on to their phonics warm-up. I have found that having them do a quick phonics warm-up before starting their reading helps their letter recognition greatly.

9:20
  Sara (9) finishes her spelling and starts her morning break. The twins progress to their reading work.

9:40
   The 5 youngest children (9, 6, 6, 5, 3) sit down to watch the Leapfrog Talking Words video. Why do musical frogs make everything so much easier to learn?

9:45
  I move on to helping our oldest daughter (12) finish her math lesson. Why do percentage symbols and decimals make everyone crazy?

10:00
  Our oldest moves on to her spelling, grammar, and punctuation work.

10:10
  Snack for our youngest two children (5 and 3). The Leapfrog Talking Words movie has finished so all 5 of the younger children head outside for "recess".

10:20
 Our oldest has finished her spelling, grammar, and punctuation work. I spend a few minutes going over her remaining assignments for the day focusing on the work she needs to complete on her own. She then heads to the playroom for her "teenage" time alone with just the tv.   At this point I head to the kids bathroom to pick up the dirty laundry and clean the dried toothpaste off of the sink from the morning brushing frenzy.

10:25
  Time for my 30min morning workout with Faithful Workouts. The church ladies really kick my butt when it comes to squats and weights. Do I know how to have a good time or what?

10:55
  I am all finished with my workout and it is time to make a snack for our twins.

11:00
  The twins start their science and history work.

11:10
   Our oldest two (12 and 9) join in for their half of history as well.  Our youngest (3) comes to the table as well to color another picture.

11:30
  Sara (9) starts her eye exercises, Hailey (12) starts her reading work. The twins and our son take a break while I straighten the kitchen, dinging room, and living room again.

11:35
   Sara (9) is off on her break and we all begin our lunch routine. My lunch again comes from the prepared meals I put in the freezer over the weekend. The children make their own lunches consisting of sandwiches or leftovers.

12:30
  Sara (9) starts her science lessons. I read the material to her while she works on drawing a picture concerning the material covered. I have found that when dealing with dyslexia, eye muscle weakness, and ADHD it is best if she keeps her hands busy while listening to her material.

12:45
   Sara starts her reading work. We use a dyslexic curriculum for her and it has been a Godsend. The work is difficult for her but she is progressing through the material on a steady basis.

1:00
   Sara is done for the day and I am off to start the laundry from the kids bathroom hamper. After getting that started I clean up the mess in the kitchen from lunch and load the dishwasher.

1:05
  Our oldest daughter starts her science. She had 2 experiments to complete today which is always fun for everyone in the house. Of course this is also when my husband wakes up to ask for a sandwich and a glass of milk. I quickly take him his sandwich before getting back to the science experiments.

1:30
  The youngest 5 are all headed back outside to play in "chalk city". I love having a large paved area in our fenced in back yard. The children are able to ride their bikes and set up chalk villages all day long.

1:45
  Our oldest is finished with her science and headed off for some alone time in her room. I forgot how much "alone time" a pre-teen needs. She is very thankful to have her own room in this new house.

2:00
  I get a few minutes to spend some time working on my blog.

2:25
  I head off to check the laundry and  watch the oldest 4 girls put on a doll fashion show with the outfits they made all on their own.

2:30
 Off to the grocery store to get the essentials for our field trip tomorrow.

4:00
Back from the grocery store and mom gets a snack and some time to watch the news. Meanwhile our oldest finishes her writing assignment and 2/3rds of her reading assignment.

4:30
Time to make lunches for our field trip the next day. We will be heading to a living history village! We go with simple bagged lunches of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, pretzels, oranges, and juice pouches.

5:00
I make rice to go with our crock pot dinner, pack husband's lunch and dinner for work, and then wake hubby up. We all sit down to eat dinner while hubby has his breakfast. This is usually a short affair as the kids never like what I have made for dinner and I am usually so hungry I eat like it is going out of style.

5:15
 The twins (6) and Meg (3) get their dunking in the bathtub. With 8 people and 1 hot water heater we have to spread our showers out throughout the day and double up when possible.

5:30
  I am off on my 40min hike through the local state forest. I love having this time alone to just think and decompress from my day. Meanwhile hubby is headed to his shower before work.

6:15
 I am finished with my hike and and headed for a shower and then a rest before it is time to get the rest of the children clean and ready for bed.

6:30
 It is time for Brent's bath. After finishing up with his bath I make breakfast for in the morning, clean up the kitchen again, and give twins their anti-seizure medicine. Hubby grabs his lunch box, kisses everyone goodbye and heads to work for the night.

7:00
Bedtime for the 4 youngest. This is my downtime to do whatever I want. I am a wild woman and head to the master bedroom to lay down and read a book. Meanwhile the older two girls are required to have quiet time in their room until their brother is asleep. Once he is asleep they are welcome to watch some tv until their bedtime. They are expected to turn the tv off on their own and begin their bedtime routine at 9pm.

9pm
 Older two girls take turns in the shower and then bed time. After her shower our oldest (12) finally finishes her reading for the day. I guess better late than never.

9:30pm
  I am exhausted headed to bed!

So there you go, a day in our lives. We completed all of our school work, the house is reasonably clean, meals for tomorrow finished and everyone is clean and in beds. Now to do it again tomorrow.....oh wait tomorrow is a field trip! Definitely the best part of homeschooling! Our lives may seem chaotic and slightly insane but I would not trade this time for all the money in the world. We are truly blessed each and every day to have this time together.