A Day In the Life

Good morning! Remember how I used to share these “Day in the Life” posts on a pretty regular basis? You all seemed to enjoy a peek behind the scenes, so I figured it was time for another update. Today’s post is a look at one recent Friday! I wouldn’t say that we have any “routine” or typical days, but this is a pretty good snapshot…

5:00 a.m. Rise and Shine! My alarm goes off and I’m the only one in our bed because Keith was out of town the night before. I’m not going to the gym, so I take a quick shower and get myself dressed (including my 3-minute make-up routine) before heading downstairs.

5:20 a.m. I beeline it to the coffee pot and make Coffee #1 for the morning while eating an apple at the sink. I like to get some work done before the kids wake up, so I settle in at my desk and get busy responding to emails, scheduling shares for the day’s post on Pinterest and Facebook, and taking care of other random items.

6:30 a.m. The older boys are up! They grab their iPads and have a seat in living room to play Minecraft while I unload the dishwasher and make myself something to eat.

6:40 a.m. Spence is up now too, so he joins me in the kitchen while I eat my breakfast. I grab a Skinny Banana Fudge Muffin from the freezer and pop it in the microwave for a few seconds,

and I blend a Peanut Butter & Banana Smoothie to have along with it.

Spence quickly runs off to play with his brothers, so I feed the dog and make the boys their breakfast while I eat my own meal standing up.

6:50 a.m. I feed the boys! Gibbs and Casey want cereal, so they have bowls of Honey Nut Cheerios, plus some fruit on the side. Casey picked out this fruit bowl at Costco earlier in the week, and they are quickly devouring it.

Spence wants pancakes, so I pull a few out of the freezer and heat them in the microwave for him. Peach applesauce and milk on the side!

7:15 a.m. Everyone is done with breakfast, so they head back into the living room to build some train tracks for Spencer and watch part of the movie, The Cat in the Hat.

Meanwhile, I clean up the breakfast dishes and make Gibbs’s lunch for school. I also pack backpacks and toss a snack into Casey’s preschool bag. Since we’re going to be out of the house for most of the morning, I bring along Spencer’s water, as well as his favorite Peanut Butter Sandwich Crackers and the rest of his fruit pouch from breakfast.

I also pack a snack for myself, which includes popcorn and these Blue Diamond Honey Roasted Almonds. My friends at Blue Diamond keep me very well stocked with their goodies, so almonds (and almond milk) are definitely a staple in our kitchen!

7:30 a.m. Time for Coffee #2! Right now I’m loving this flavor. I grab my mug and take it into the living room where I get all 3 boys dressed for the day. I also start a load of laundry now that the basket is full.

7:45 a.m. It’s time to get ready for school, so I nag the boys (many, many times) to brush their teeth, get their shoes on, and grab their bags. I get Spence set and in the car so that we can pull out of the driveway by about 8:00 a.m.! It’s a beautiful sunny morning so I snap a picture before I leave our driveway.

We drop Gibbs off at Kindergarten, but then we have some time to kill before Casey’s preschool starts at 9:00 in Orange.

As a special Friday morning treat, I let the boys have some donuts when Spence requests them! Nice that Spencer has his hand in his pants while I’m trying to take the picture!?

9:00 a.m. We get Casey settled at school and then head out on a walk with my friends Mollie and Amanda (plus Amanda’s younger son, Leo)! We have so much fun chatting and the time flies by…best way to get some exercise!

10:15 a.m. I’m home again for about 90 minutes before I have to head back to Orange to pick up Casey at noon. Spencer wants to play with his cars and watch Thomas the Tank Engine, so I get him set with his toys,

while I quickly check email, throw the laundry in the dryer, and take some photos near the window where Spencer is sitting. Normally I wait until the weekend to make my recipes for the blog so that Keith is around to help with the boys. This day is different because I know that Keith is leaving on another business trip on Saturday, which means that the boys will require my full attention all weekend. I had prepared this Light and Creamy Greek Pasta Salad the night before, so it didn’t take too long to set up the shot (cell phone photos are NO good!).

11:00 a.m. I’m done with the photos and Spence is done with his cars! He heads over to Gibbs’s Lego table while I clean up the dishes in the kitchen. Smart boy knows that this is pretty much off-limits when Gibbs is around, so he takes full advantage!

I also manage to fold and put away the laundry and change a diaper before it’s time for us to leave to get Casey. On my way out the door I grab a handful of grapes. I’m not starving since I was snacking on the pasta salad while I took the photos, but I also know that it will be awhile before I get lunch!

11:30 a.m. We leave to get Casey, and Molly comes along for the ride!

We have to stop and wait for some roadwork, which makes us a few minutes late to the school…but it gives me a chance to take a picture of Spence dancing and singing along to one of his favorite songs in the backseat! Hah hah!

12:40 p.m. We’re finally back home! After sitting in the car and a morning in the classroom, the boys are ready to be outside. I head into the house to make lunch while they play, and then we all eat together on the picnic table in the backyard. Peanut butter sandwiches for everyone — the easiest meatless lunch for a Friday during Lent!

1:30 p.m. After some food and fresh air, the boys are ready for quiet time inside. They each go to their bedrooms, but nobody actually naps today. While they are upstairs resting, I hustle to get some work done. Today that includes a little bit of time on the computer, as well as photographing another recipe that I had prepped the night before.

2:30 p.m. The boys come back downstairs, so I feed them some raisins for snack while I clean up the dishes from my photo shoot.

3:00 p.m. It’s time to get Gibbs! Spencer’s exhausted (no nap!), and he doesn’t want to get back in the car, so he pitches a fit. This is typical and seems to happen at least once each day. I just ignore it and after a few minutes he stops the screaming.

We always have to wait in the pick-up line at Gibbs’s school for at least 20-30 minutes, so the younger boys like to listen to books on CD in the car. This afternoon they request The Caboose Who Got Loose, so I pop it in to play while we sit and wait. Spence follows along with the book and I try to tune out the sound while I scroll through Instagram and Facebook on my phone!

3:40 p.m. We’re back home again, but Spence fell asleep about 30 seconds before we pulled into the driveway. I leave him napping in the car while I get the older two settled in the house. Casey has a nose bleed (not unusual), and Gibbs wants to work on an activity book that he got at school. I hold Kleenex on Casey’s nose until the bleeding stops, while helping Gibbs with his book.

4:00 p.m. Spencer’s awake, so I bring him back in the house and put on another episode of Thomas (which he requested while still half-asleep). Gibbs sits on the couch with Spencer while Casey heads outside to play in the yard. I take the opportunity to sit down at the computer and upload some photos and respond to emails. I also get dinner organized, unpack the boys’ school bags, and clean up the house.

5:30 p.m. Keith is home (a VERY early evening for him), so he takes the boys outside to run around for a few minutes while I get dinner on the table.

5:45 p.m. Dinner time! We have the Greek Pasta Salad that I photographed earlier in the day, along with a Green Bean Salad that I had prepped in advance and some easy-peasy fish! I was working with my friends from Gorton’s on some recipes, so a Friday Lent dinner seemed like the perfect time to try some of their new selections. We loved them!! Keith especially loves the Pub-Style Beer Batter Cod and wants my readers to know that he gives it two thumbs up!

6:15 p.m. While I get dinner cleaned up, Keith and the boys set up his new Amazon Echo that arrived in the mail. It’s a very cool piece of technology, and the guys have fun asking Alexa to tell them a joke, play a song, add items to their shopping list, and give them the weather forecast. Keith also checks March Madness scores and gets the schedules for some of his favorite sports teams. Amazing!

The kids and I snack on some fruit for dessert, and then I bribe Spencer to take his medicine for an ear infection by giving him fruit snacks when we’re done! No shame.

6:30 p.m. Keith takes the boys into the living room to watch part of Star Wars while I sort through mail and get this post started on my computer.

7:15 p.m. We all head upstairs to get the kids ready for bed.

8:00 p.m. After pajamas, tooth brushing, and books, the kids are tucked in and I can sit down at my computer to write up most of this post (before I forget what we did during the day!). I also get on Instagram to share a photo from the day’s blog post, give my Facebook page some attention, send an invoice, and tie up a few other loose ends before turning off the computer for the night.

8:45 p.m. Keith and I watch some March Madness games on television, I read my book for a few minutes, and then it’s light’s out shortly after 10 p.m.

THE END (and congrats for making it to the bottom of this loooong post)!