Our Daily Routine

 Our daily routine is constantly changing as we move into different seasons and times of life. Recently, we changed the flow of our days and have gotten back into a routine after being in survival mode, so I thought I'd put it down. 

Ben and I have been trying to go to sleep by 10:30 at night and wake up by 7:00 in the morning. I wake up and do scriptures and journal first. I also have been trying to read for a few minutes in a parenting book after reading in the Book of Mormon and I do my affirmations. 

At 7:10, Ben and I shower. I don't shower everyday, and on the days I don't shower, I put away our clothes while Ben showers. I love doing that because it gives me a definite time to put away the laundry, so it actually gets done. 

Around 7:30, I get the girls. They get dressed and then I help them get breakfast while I clear out the dishwasher and make myself eggs. I also slip a load of laundry in sometime in the morning. Then Ben and I do ten minutes of yoga. We try to be done with that by 8:30 so that Ben can get to work and I can write for thirty minutes. Writing is one of my top priorities each day. 

Around 9:00, I do the girls hair while we listen to children's songs on the Gospel Library app. Parker has been finding hair do's with me on Pinterest and wanting me to try them out on her. I'm not the best at hair, but I'm getting better out of necessity! 

By about 9:30, we start reading. We start with picture books (including whatever nonfiction picture books the kids picked out, recently it's been books about bugs). I also like to read out of the Friend with them. Then we read in our chapter book/s. Right now we're reading The Hobbit and The Boxcar Children. Then Ashtyn reads to me out of one her books. 

When we're done reading, we get a snack (sometimes we do that while we're reading) and go to the table to do Ashtyn's math and art lessons, letters with Parker and Rylee, and their journals. Then we do whatever activity I had planned for the day. 

I try to be really present with them during our homeschool time (9:00 to noon-ish), but I do take a minute once I settle them at the table to switch the laundry to the dryer and to start a loaf of bread in the bread machine if we're out of bread. 

Then we do lunch around noon. Ben comes out a little before that and goes down to jog. The girls love when he comes out and they can show him what they were doing for homeschool! 

After lunch, Ashtyn practices piano. She's still young enough that I go in with her and help her get through all of her songs. Ben is usually getting lunch around this time and helps keep an eye on the other two, though he often comes and helps Ashtyn with piano since he knows how to play and I don't. 

At 1:00, I go up and put Rylee down for her nap. When it's warm, the girls often go play outside. If it's cold, they find things to do inside. This is also when Ashtyn can play her DS if she wants to (now that her stuff is done). 

Rylee often sleeps until 3:30 or 4:00. I like to catch up on my ReaderTurnedWriter accounts and read in the afternoons, as well as recording, editing, and uploading videos for my YouTube channel when I can. I also have different things I do on different days of the week (more on that in a minute). 

Around 4:00, I usually start dinner. I like to have one of the girls help me if they aren't busily playing (I try not to interrupt them if they are playing well, even for starting homeschool, because I know that free play is the best thing they can be doing). 

We usually eat around 5:00 or 5:30. I do monthly meal planning now (maybe next week I'll do a blog post on that). The girls are usually in charge of moving all their craft stuff from the table to the counter as I'm making dinner. 

After dinner, we try to spend time as a family. We have made a list of activities that we can do together besides just turning on a show, especially for winter. It's been fun to spend more time together in that way, though it's a habit we're still working on. We also like to do a quick clean up as a family after dinner most days to help keep our house manageably clean. We'll turn on music and set a five minute timer while everyone cleans, or Ben and I will clean up while we let the girls pick 3 or 5 things to put away to help them not feel overwhelmed. 

At 7:45, we all sit down on the couches together to do family scripture. Ben and I take turns being the one to read. We do a prompt from Come Follow Me and then we read from The Book of Mormon a little (as long as we can with the kids; sometimes it's one verse, sometimes they want us to keep reading). Then we do family prayer and brush the kids teeth. 

We try to finish that by around 8:00 and get the kids upstairs to get on pajamas and get their beds ready. Then we all sit down on the couch in Parker's room and read together. Ben and I take turns reading. Right now, we've been reading a chapter out of The Princess in Black books with them each night. Then we sing a song and get them in bed. Sometimes the bedtime routine can feel exhausting, but I know it has so many benefits for our kids and we're teaching them to prioritize the things that are most important. 

After bedtime, Ben loads the dishwasher and then Ben and I get to spend time together. We usually have homemade ice cream and often watch a show or play in Stardew Valley. On Monday nights, we visit over Facebook chats with Melissa and on Tuesdays, we have writing group. Other than that, we just relax together. 

There are different things I do on different days. During naps on Mondays, I take the older girls grocery shopping and then they play while I put away groceries and work on my stuff. On Tuesdays, Ashtyn has her piano lessons at 1:00 and we usually get home from that around 2:00. On Wednesday evenings, I have Young Women's, so the girls have a "no mom party" with Ben. Fridays, we do movie night as a family and often Caleb, Hannah, and/or Dalin will come over while Danny and Lindi do their date night. 

I also have my cleaning broken up now. Grocery shopping Monday, cleaning the bathrooms on Tuesday, vacuum and sweep and mop on Wednesdays, a deep cleaning item on Thursdays, and helping the girls clean their bathroom and vacuum their rooms on Fridays. On Saturday, we take about twenty minutes before lunch to all clean together as a family (right now, we're focusing on our walls, because the girls went through a drawing-on-the-walls-phase recently). 

Saturdays are our day to relax. Often the girls watch a show in the morning while I read. Ben will do things with Ashtyn like chess or building video games. If it's warm, we like to do yardwork or hang out in our yard. In the afternoon or evening, Ben and I usually do our date night (sometimes we do date night on Thursday night instead). The girls can also play with friends on Friday and Saturday afternoons, which they really like. 

After Rylee's nap on Saturdays, we often go to Danny and Lindi's to break up the day. It's nicest when it's warm. When it's cold, we don't spend as much time there just because it is harder with the kids. When it's warm, we spend as much time there as possible because they have a nice yard and plenty of space for the kids to explore and play. Plus it's nice to spend time with them. Saturday evenings we do baths for the girls and wash their hair. 

Sundays are our busiest days. We have 9:00 church this year. Ben gets the girls on Sundays and makes breakfast to give me a break. With 9:00 church, I can only stay in bed until 8:00, but it's still nice. Then we get ready and go to church (sacrament only still right now). When we get home, I finish planning my day and writing my blog post. At 11:00, we have our classes over Zoom. Ben is in charge of Sunday school and I'm in Young Women's. They've also recently started doing Primary over Zoom after Sunday school.

Then we do lunch and during naps, Ben and I spend time together. I also usually work on starting dinner in the afternoons. At 3:00, we do a Zoom call with my mom and then we get together with Ben's family after Rylee's nap. We used to do a dinner rotation, but the amount of his family in Vernal is expanding, so we've recently moved to a dessert rotation, to give everyone a chance to get together and visit. 

And then we start the week all over again. I'm liking our routine, and even when we don't get it all in, it helps us to get the most important things done consistently.