I'm forever doing new schedule/routine posts because I am a schedule/routine person, but our little family is always growing and changing, so the schedule tends to change with that.
Here is our current schedule/routine, on an ideal day (because, of course, not every day goes like we expect and sometimes we just don't have the energy).
At 6:00 (on weekdays), Ben and I wake up. This is really hard usually, but we have a wake up streak going, which helps. We have this app called loop track that keeps track of streaks, longest streak if you lose it, and all sorts of stats. We really like it.
We're supposed to shower and get right to work when we wake up. This is my only guaranteed writing time for my business, so I try to use it. Sometimes we just snuggle on the couch, though. Honesty, some days we're too tired and it's so cold. We try though.
Parker usually wakes up by 7:30. I get her and feed her. When she's done, I write in my journal for a few minutes while she plays next to me and we get Ashtyn at 8:00. We change diapers and get dressed and then pick up the upstairs before heading downstairs for breakfast.
Parker and Ashtyn play and watch Signing Time while I make breakfast and clear out the dishwasher. I love clearing out the dishwasher in the morning so that the rest of the day, keeping the kitchen is easy. I'll also do any natural yeast stuff, since it needs to raise for six to twelve hours, so doing it in the morning or night is best.
Then we all eat breakfast (I take breakfast up to Ben and he eats while he works; he works all while I am doing all my morning stuff) and hang out until Parker's nap. She usually goes down between 9:30 and 10:30, depending on when she wakes up in the morning.
During Parker's nap, Ashtyn and I do her homeschool stuff. We start off with a devotional, where we sing a church song, say a prayer, and read a section of our family BOM. This is something that I use the streak app for as well, because I've been trying to do it with Ashtyn for a while now and have not been consistent with it. After our devotional, we count to 20 together (Ashtyn can now count to fifteen, but she still skips sixteen and seventeen) and work on learning the sounds of each letter. She knows all her letters and has for awhile; lately I've been watching videos on YouTube about how to teach kids to read because I've felt that Ashtyn is ready to move on from where she was at with letters and books. We have little flashcards and she loves them. We'll go through them together over and over because she asks to do it again.
After that, I've been trying to consciously spend the time while Parker is asleep with Ashtyn (not on my computer or running errands). We do all sorts of things, but I usually try to do school things still, even if it's not the focus. For example, we'll play with playdough and I'll use the playdough to work on number recognition. Sometimes we sit and color (which works her fine motor in preparation for writing) and we can talk about things like numbers and letters. We do a lot of tracing lines and shapes, sometimes we go to the library story time, sometimes we play in the snow, sometimes we get out busy bags. We just go with what we feel like doing.
Parker usually wakes up between 11:30 and 12:30. Ashtyn and I eat lunch at noon, Ben comes down closer to one for lunch, and I feed Parker when she wakes up. I put Ashtyn down at one and then hang out with Parker until her second nap. They're naps overlap 98% of the time for at least a little bit, so that's nice.
When they're both asleep, I usually do whatever I want. Sometimes there are things I want to get done, sometimes I do writing or crafty things, and sometimes I watch YouTube videos or TV.
I get Ashtyn at 4:00. She's usually awake and playing happily in her crib when I do, but every once in a while I have to wake her up. Parker usually wakes up between 4:00 and 5:00. When I get them, we hang out or do chores and errands. I've separated all my chores and things into different days. Monday I do shopping, Tuesday is a free day, Wednesday I make staple foods (like ketchup or granola bars), Thursday is my laundry day, Friday is my big cleaning day, and Saturday I do all the Sunday prep (making Sunday dinner, baths, preparing lessons, etc), and then Sunday is church.
Around 5:30 or 6:00, Ben comes down from work and we eat dinner and either all hang out or go visit family. Then it's just the stretch until bedtime.
Close to 8:00, I feed Parker while we do scriptures and pajamas for the girls and brush teeth and everything. Then I take one girl and Ben takes the other and we put them down for bed. The time from 8:30 to 10:00 (when we go to bed) is our time together. We play games or watch TV or snuggle and we love that time together. Then we do our bedtime stuff (start the dishwasher, brush teeth, read, whatever).
We reserve Monday for FHE and I've actually made that a streak as well, so that we don't forget about it. Friday is generally date night and we switch off who plans each week. We have some other streaks, with exercise and things, that we try to do throughout the day as well.
Of course, it doesn't always go smoothly. There are messed up naps, snow days when I'm supposed to go shopping, holidays, traveling, sickness, and lazy days, but we try to stick with this. Having my main jobs assigned to different days of the week and the streak app have really helped me stay motivated and do the minimum things when I don't feel minimum.
And I have to say, I am loving this schedule. I love that Parker and Ashtyn are growing and learning, I love that I get to spend so much time with Ben, I love that we are making steps towards being and staying healthy, and I love feeling so balanced with the important things in life. I feel so grateful we are in a place where we can do things like this.
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