Making My Home a Haven: A Day in My Life
Since the house was fairly clean (well, it would depend upon your definition of "fairly clean"!) and there wasn't any big homemaking project I needed to tackle, I decided instead to write down in detail what our day looked like yesterday for the Making Your Home a Haven challenge. I was hoping to keep track of an entire week, like Monica, but I'm doing well to have remembered to write down one whole day right now...
5:00 am: Wake up, wake Kaitlynn, nurse, Bible reading, prayer, journal
5:45 am: Take vitamins, make tea, start laundry, make Jesse's lunch, strip the sheets off our bed, change into exercise clothes, put Kaitlynn back to bed
6:15 am: Spend time with Jesse, check email, moderate blog comments*
6:30-7:45 am: Blogging*
7:45 am: Morning run
8:00-9:15 am: Blogging*
9:15 am: Girls up, breakfast (Cheerios, bananas), Bible Time, character story, discussion on diligence, memory verse of the week, introduce song for the week
9:45 am: Clean up kitchen while girls finish breakfast
10:00 am: Girls bathed and dressed, shower while girls play in my room
10:45 am: Kaitlynn is acting tired so I put her down for her morning nap, Kathrynne builds with Legos, I do a quick computer check: moderate comments and fix a calculation mistake in MSM blog post*
11:00 am: Finish cleaning kitchen
11:15 am: Straighten house, empty trashes, fix my hair and put on make-up (finally!)
11:50 am: Re-pack diaper bag (I try to always keep the diaper bag stocked and ready to go and had washed it over the weekend.)
12:00 pm: Pick up and straighten our room, fold laundry, Kathrynne works on cleaning spots/spills in the carpet in her room, unpack and look through deliveries from the UPS
12:50 pm: Make smoothies and quesadillas for lunch
1:00 pm: Lunch and school (Alpha-Phonics, read two books on diligence, discussion of the letter "A")
1:45 pm: Kathrynne works on tracing sheets while I clean the kitchen, quick phone call to Jesse, call my Mom, Kaitlynn plays on the floor
2:15 pm: Write cards with Kathrynne to my younger sister for her birthday, exterminator come over to spray (again!) for ants
2:30 pm: Nurse Kaitlynn, check email, moderate blog comments*
2:45 pm: Girls ready to go, walk to the library
4:00 pm: Visit with neighbors, put away our stack of library books, put Kaitlynn to bed, get Kathrynne a snack and some books for quiet time
4:30 pm: Get a bowl of ice cream and a glass of water, put my feet up, and do some blogging and emailing (it's a tough life, isn't it?!)
7:00 pm: Yard work and time with Jesse, set table and get dinner ready
7:30 pm: Dinner (beef hot dogs, corn on the cob, and pasta salad--leftovers from last night!) and Family worship time
9:30 pm: Clean up the kitchen and straighten the house, nurse Kaitlynn and put her to bed, write a few emails to friends and schedule blog posts for the morning* while Jesse and Kathrynne watch on old movie together, turn computer off for the night and go join Jesse and Kathrynne.
And there you have a somewhat-typical day in our household.
*Note: I should mention that Mondays are normally my heaviest business/blogging work days since I'm usually home all day Monday and I take most of Friday and Saturday and all day Sunday off from blogging/business work. I usually only do business work/blogging on Mondays in the mornings before the girls are up and in the afternoons during quiet time, however, because Kaitlynn had been sick on Saturday and I didn't really even get on the computer, I was playing catchup so I added in some extra time slots!
I'm working towards only checking email twice per day and blogging in batches once or twice per day, but I'm still working on disciplining myself to do that! I have a tendency to check email, Bloglines, comment moderation, etc. more often than I should and it hampers my efficiency. That's an area I struggle with and am still searching for a solution to. I think the solution is just learning more self-discipline!
5:00 am: Wake up, wake Kaitlynn, nurse, Bible reading, prayer, journal
5:45 am: Take vitamins, make tea, start laundry, make Jesse's lunch, strip the sheets off our bed, change into exercise clothes, put Kaitlynn back to bed
6:15 am: Spend time with Jesse, check email, moderate blog comments*
6:30-7:45 am: Blogging*
7:45 am: Morning run
8:00-9:15 am: Blogging*
9:15 am: Girls up, breakfast (Cheerios, bananas), Bible Time, character story, discussion on diligence, memory verse of the week, introduce song for the week
9:45 am: Clean up kitchen while girls finish breakfast
10:00 am: Girls bathed and dressed, shower while girls play in my room
10:45 am: Kaitlynn is acting tired so I put her down for her morning nap, Kathrynne builds with Legos, I do a quick computer check: moderate comments and fix a calculation mistake in MSM blog post*
11:00 am: Finish cleaning kitchen
11:15 am: Straighten house, empty trashes, fix my hair and put on make-up (finally!)
11:50 am: Re-pack diaper bag (I try to always keep the diaper bag stocked and ready to go and had washed it over the weekend.)
12:00 pm: Pick up and straighten our room, fold laundry, Kathrynne works on cleaning spots/spills in the carpet in her room, unpack and look through deliveries from the UPS
12:50 pm: Make smoothies and quesadillas for lunch
1:00 pm: Lunch and school (Alpha-Phonics, read two books on diligence, discussion of the letter "A")
1:45 pm: Kathrynne works on tracing sheets while I clean the kitchen, quick phone call to Jesse, call my Mom, Kaitlynn plays on the floor
2:15 pm: Write cards with Kathrynne to my younger sister for her birthday, exterminator come over to spray (again!) for ants
2:30 pm: Nurse Kaitlynn, check email, moderate blog comments*
2:45 pm: Girls ready to go, walk to the library
4:00 pm: Visit with neighbors, put away our stack of library books, put Kaitlynn to bed, get Kathrynne a snack and some books for quiet time
4:30 pm: Get a bowl of ice cream and a glass of water, put my feet up, and do some blogging and emailing (it's a tough life, isn't it?!)
7:00 pm: Yard work and time with Jesse, set table and get dinner ready
7:30 pm: Dinner (beef hot dogs, corn on the cob, and pasta salad--leftovers from last night!) and Family worship time
9:30 pm: Clean up the kitchen and straighten the house, nurse Kaitlynn and put her to bed, write a few emails to friends and schedule blog posts for the morning* while Jesse and Kathrynne watch on old movie together, turn computer off for the night and go join Jesse and Kathrynne.
And there you have a somewhat-typical day in our household.
*Note: I should mention that Mondays are normally my heaviest business/blogging work days since I'm usually home all day Monday and I take most of Friday and Saturday and all day Sunday off from blogging/business work. I usually only do business work/blogging on Mondays in the mornings before the girls are up and in the afternoons during quiet time, however, because Kaitlynn had been sick on Saturday and I didn't really even get on the computer, I was playing catchup so I added in some extra time slots!
I'm working towards only checking email twice per day and blogging in batches once or twice per day, but I'm still working on disciplining myself to do that! I have a tendency to check email, Bloglines, comment moderation, etc. more often than I should and it hampers my efficiency. That's an area I struggle with and am still searching for a solution to. I think the solution is just learning more self-discipline!
Labels: Making Your Home a Haven
posted by Crystal Paine at 4:30 PM
14 Comments:
Hello.
I read your MSM blog and decided to check this blog out today. It wasn't an accident! I have a 19 month old and was hoping you could elaborate on your 9:15 schedule entry. How do you decide on the subject of your activities? What are you doing right now for Bible time, character story, memory verse and song? My daughter still naps twice a day, but I feel that a lot of our daytime is played away, or worse..video-watched away!
Please help me teach my daughter...I appreciate your wisdom.
Great question! I'm hoping to start sharing on a weekly basis what we're doing for our "school" here. Hopefully I'll be able to post on this tomorrow. Thanks for asking.
Thanks for giving us a little peek into your life. I can't tell you how much this helps me and my family.
You have more self discipline than most, and I'm tired just reading that post. lol Do be careful that you don't over do things. Be kind to your body.:)
Hi,
I so enjoyed reading about a typical day. It is just so interesting and such a helpful tool to see how other women schedule or lay out their days' plans.
Thanks!
Trixie
Hi Crystal! I really enjoyed reading about your day!
I have the same struggle with checking my Bloglines and e-mail more often than I should each day.
How do you get up at 5? I know how it feels to have that time to get up and get going before things are full-swing for the day.
Thanks for taking the time to write down your day!
I was interested in your school resources as well and will look forward to reading your thoughts on that.
TheHomespunHeart: Thanks for your inspiration for this post.
How do I get up at 5 am? Well, for one, Kaitlynn is sleeping through the night, which is a huge help in allowing me to be able to get up early. I also try to go to bed early--which is another huge help. Most nights, I'm in bed by 10 at the latest. And then, I usually just have to *do it* knowing that I will be thankful later that I pulled myself out of bed! :)
I'm most productive in the mornings, so going to bed shortly after the girls do and then getting up early is a huge help to me.
I should also be quick to say that I don't get up at 5 am every single morning. I always sleep in on Sundays and normally sleep in on Saturdays. I also usually sleep in at least 1-2 other days if I've been up at night or had things come up which haven't allowed me to go to bed as early as I should or if I'm just plain tired. I try to listen to the needs of my body and get an hour or two of extra sleep if I'm feeling weary. If I'm not well-rested the majority of the time, I soon turn into a stressed-out, frazzled mom and wife who is far from a blessing to her family!
I sympathize with the ants problem -- unfortunately both for you and for me. Sigh. I see you are using an exterminator, although I know you usually try to be pretty environmentally friendly and safe around your girls. That's the same struggle I'm having with the ants situation: any insights?
(One thing I have tried -- from a tip in Parenting magazine, I think -- is sprinkling baking soda around cracks around windows and doors. I think it's reduced the number, but not solved the problem.)
We have had ants in the past, too...now gone because of a wonderful product named "Terro." The ants are drawn to the bait and then return to feed it to the queen. The entire process takes about a day, but your ants will be gone for good. Available at Home Depot or Hy-Vee.
Question: Why do you wake the youngest one up? I'm just curious as I have always been told 'never to wake a sleeping baby'. Perhaps there is a benefit I am not aware of? Would love to know - maybe there is something I should be doing with my own little ones!
Thanks!
-Grace
Great question, Grace. I've tried a variety of things with Kaitlynn, but I've found that she's happiest in the morning if I wake her around 5-6 and nurse her, spend a little time with her, and then put her back down until 9 am or so. If I let her sleep, she'll usually sleep until 8-8:30 am and then be fussier in the morning and less apt to take a good morning nap, which then messes up the afternoon nap, which then messes up the evening, and so on and so forth.
Don't ask me why, but it works, so I go with it! :)
So far, Terro hasn't worked for our ants. In fact, *nothing* has worked for them. We've tried different kinds of bait, different kinds of ant killer, and have had the exterminator come out no less than *ten times*--to no avail (gratefully we're on a year-plan deal so we don't pay any extra for it!).
They aren't terrible, because doing what we've done has kept them from getting out of hand, but it's certainly not keeping them entirely away and we have to be aggressive about it or otherwise it starts to get really bad.
Any and all suggestions are welcome if you've dealt with something similar!
Crystal~~ I have a question about your morning run. How long have you been running? How far do you run? Opps, that's two questions. ;0)
I am intersted, because I want to take up jogging but I just cannot get motivated, any help or advice you can give will be greatly appreciated. :0)
Just in case helpful, yet more ant info. :) Gotta love the ants...perfect for your study of diligence. Ha.
The Terro we used was liquid in a plastic "sleeve" type container. It was not the spray type. In addition, I would put it near the ants (ours seem to come in "around" our outlets)and pour a slight bit into a puddle on the countertop...leading "into" the plastic sleeve. This is the technique that finally helped us win the war :), and the one we use each spring to end the invasion. By the way, this technique also resulted in a personal case of the "heebie-jeebies" for me...where I had once seen a little parade of ants, the "puddle of Terro" drew HUNDREDS for several hours. This spectacle entertained my kids most of one afternoon. Fortunately, by evening we noted the ants were nearly gone, wiped up the Terro with a paper towel, washed the area, and have seen NO ANTS ever since. I am not a woman thrilled at the sight of an army of bugs! Yuck!
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