A day in the life...

One thing for sure is that no day with 6 kids is a "typical" day.  Everyday is different and every day changes and goes off what is "supposed" to happen.  But I wanted to document this phase of our life.  I picked a day that the girls are in school (they go full time) - but the boys are home (they go hybrid).  This ended up being a particularly productive day - I would say 3 or 4 days out of  7 end up being productive, but there are days (the other 3 or 4) where I spend more time... not being productive.   Warning - picture overload.  This took a lot of pictures (more than usual) because it takes a lot to document what 8 people are doing during a given day. 

My day starts at 6:00 am.  Well... it should.  My alarm goes off at 6, but I get up around 6:20 and have my own personal time praying, reading my scriptures, and studying a conference talk.  This time has become a life-line for me.  I have always had scripture study as part of my life, but this is different.  Everyday I commune with God, I ask Him what I need to do that day, which of my kids needs me, I repent, I discuss with Him my to-do list, I ask for help and for Him to consecrate my efforts and to make-up for where I fall short. 

Then I take a look at my to-do list.  I plan what needs to get done that day and add stuff that came to my mind.  During this time I make sure I hear showers turning on.  The boys should be up at 6:15 and showering and getting ready.  If I never hear the showers come on I will go wake them up.

At 6:45 I go out into the hall and turn on *something* for the kids.  Today it is Saints.  They have listened to it once before but asked to do it again.  Sometimes it is a podcast or sometimes the Book of Mormon.  

They listen while the boys finish getting ready...

and the girls slowly wake up.   When it is over (7:15) we say a morning prayer. And the girls shower and the boys start school.

While the older kids listen I go back to bed with Jason.  He is still asleep and we cuddle and talk about our plans for the day.  At 7:10 my alarm goes off, we say our morning prayer (or supposed to but more often then not we talk too long and I have to jump out of bed because of a crying baby or a kid not "moving along"), and I go back out to the kids.  He will eventually wake up about 7:30 and get ready for work.

Speaking of alarms this is how my day is kept.  I honestly have an alarm go off every 30 minutes or so.  It is a little ridiculous, but totally necessary.  They are mostly to keep me on schedule with Eve and Noah.  When Noah is home he needs a lot of help staying on track.  I have to check on him in the middle of every class to make sure he is doing the work and see if he needs help and then at the end of every class to make sure he is done and switching to the next class.  That is 16 check ins a day!  This is not how it has always been nor how it will always be... but this is what he needs right now.  But I have alarms for everything, literally.

Eve wakes up about 7:30.  I get her out, change her diaper, and then usually leave her with Jason in bed until he wakes up

while I go get ready.  I also make sure the girls are up and getting ready.  You will notice what is missing is my shower.  I have learned that showering is for suckers... ha.. I don't totally mean that, but kind of.  But really, to get hot water I would have to shower at 5:30 am or 9:00 and neither are feasible.  So I shower about 2 or 3 times a week and I wash my hair once.  Haha - TMI.  But I do wash my face, brush my teeth, and brush my hair.  And if I have somewhere to go that day I will put on make-up (that happens about twice a week)

Then I hustle downstairs to help Noah get organized for his day.  He does his school work at our kitchen table.  We look at all of his assignments and make a plan.  The kids are supposed to go to their classes live - but Noah doesn't - we have a different arrangement for him.  

However, Brock has to get "on" all of his classes, he does his work in his room.  He is doing FANTASTIC at school and is completely independent (what??), so he gets to do what ever he wants.  So grateful that as one child needs more help another child needs less, Heavenly Father is always assisting me as a mother and helping to carry my load - He goes before me and goes behind me.

Eve comes downstairs with me and plays with her toys while I help Noah with his school.  She has about 3 or 4 of these baskets around the house.  Eve get's set down a lot with her toys and we all try to randomly stop by and play with her as we go about our day.  She is the highlight of our house and we all love having her next to us while we work.

At 8:00 Dane wakes up and the real party begins!

Megan brought Eve up to see Dane.  Everyone loves the babies and are always taking them around the house and playing with them. 

Then Evee gets spoon fed.  I am almost always the one who spoon feeds her.  In my head I would assume this would be a job I would "farm out" - anyone could feed her and then I could get other stuff done.  But they also have stuff they're doing and I don't like "farming out" too much stuff.  I prefer to be the one who takes care of the babies.

Miss Maddie prefers to do her homework in the morning.  It is a constant fight discussion.  She is usually frantically flying around the house trying to get everything done, and often doesn't, and she wants to get to school early so she can stand outside and talk with her friends.  Wouldn't it be easier to do homework in the evening?  One would think.

Megan however has her mornings perfectly together.  She is one of those perfect/low maintenance children.  She gets herself up and ready (including doing her own hair), she does her jobs, makes her own breakfast and practices the piano all usually by 7:30.  She spends the rest of the morning sitting on a heating vent and reading (even though it is a family rule we don't sit on a heating vent, but I would be delusional if I didn't acknowledge that that is Megan's preferred reading spot).

About 8:00 am Jason starts work.  He doesn't have a home office (he is still working from home due to covid), so he just bounces around to where ever we aren't.  Last year he was usually in the spare room - but that became Dane's room.  So now he is usually in our room or downstairs in the x-box room.  He mostly just works all day and randomly appears every now and then, although he is super helpful if I need him for something (like having a monitor on a sleeping baby while I go somewhere or helping me manage something if both of them need something at one time).  It has been great having him home this last year.

It seems that Brock has stolen Eve and she is helping him with school work.

We are rushing to get out of the house and Madison runs up to brush her teeth and clean her room.

During this time Dane is usually just quietly playing with his toys.  He is a great player.  He currently loves his trains and animals and his kitchen. 

Then the three of us hop in the car to take the girls to school.  Eve stays with... someone... whoever isn't busy at the time... so she doesn't have to go in the car seat. Some things about Covid are awesome!   Dane almost always chooses to come with us because he likes to find the "big trucks" and all the school buses.  

When we are home it is 8:45 and time for Dane to eat breakfast.  While Dane eats I nurse Evee and put her down for her morning nap. 

During this time of the morning (while nursing) I am usually fielding texts about things that I need to respond too, set up, follow up, catch up, or reach out.  One of my BIG GOALS is not to have my phone out around my kids.  It is a hard goal, and I probably fail more than I succeed, but I am always trying.  Anyways that makes it hard to keep up on all the texts I receive during the day.  On this particular day I am trying to set up a get together with some women in my church to check in and see if they need any help or ministering to.

I come downstairs after putting Eve down and attack my house and put everything "back in order" and try to do one thing "extra".  I have a pretty good schedule/routine to keep things clean.  One big part is having all the kids do jobs, and Jason helps a lot.  I deep clean the house every Monday while the babies nap and then I do some spot cleaning on Wednesdays and Fridays - then throughout the rest of the week I just always stay on top of the dishes and toys.  It is pretty manageable. 

Now I sit down to breakfast.  Dane is still eating (he takes about 30 minutes to eat breakfast) if he gets done he is happy to get out and play with his toys alone for a little while still.  I sit and eat while reading an article in a church magazine.  I do this so I DON'T look at my phone.  Plus I like it.

By 9:30 it is Dane time.  This looks a little different everyday, but I try to give him all my attention from 9:30 to 11:00 (when Eve wakes up).  About twice a week we go on a fun outing, once a week we go on an errand outing (like the grocery store), and the other days we play something fun at home.  Today that is tractors and rice.

Then Dane and I do some baking.  Before Dane was born I made all of our snacks (yogurt, muffins, granola, granola bars, mini quiche, energy balls, over night oats, etc), but since Dane has been born I couldn't keep up.  I still made things every once in a while - but it wasn't consistent and it wasn't enough.  I tried different strategies (like having the kids make them) but nothing worked.  Until now.... Dane loves to bake and is honestly a great helper!  So we try to make one thing a day together.   This also includes making Eve's baby food.  Today we made overnight oats and pea baby food. 

Here is my view from my baking.  Noah doing school work.  I am secretly glad he "has" to be at the kitchen table.  I kind of like him being around.

A few weeks into "hybrid learning" I found that I wasn't happy with the way things went during the day.  My kids were home, in my house, all day, but I hardly saw them or connected with them.  It felt like a wasted opportunity.  So now I create these little random moments, I check in, bring a snack, a piece of gum, or just chat for a second.  

It's 10:30 so I drop off a snack. Noah made peanut butter cookies for family home evening last night so everyone gets a cookie!

It is 11:00 am and Eve has woken up and it is snack time for the littles.

And we read some books.  This is the first picture I have taken of this but I have probably read at least 20 books by now.  It is Dane's preferred activity.

Then we head to the library for a little outing.  I forgot to take pictures in the library, I remembered about my "day in a life" project when we got out to the car, so I snapped a picture of our books.  We checked out 35 books.  Dane's are on top - but most of our books are for Megan and Noah. 

The next hour has no pictures because it is more of the same.   From 12 -1 Dane eats lunch and gets put down for a nap and Eve gets nursed and put down for a nap.  By 1 they are both fed and asleep, usually until 3.  So I have 2 hours.

First I check what is for dinner and I start that.  Today is taco's... easy-peasy I just take out the meat.  I can cook that up in 20 minutes later tonight (or a child can).

Then I sit down to lunch.   I make myself an egg sandwich and go over my to do list and see what I can get done during naps.  Here is my view of my sleeping babies.

I do another check on the boys.  Brock has moved to the floor.

And I move further along in my project of moving Eve from 6-9 months to 9-12 month clothes and Dane from 2T to 3T.  

Another alarm goes off.  Remember I have a million of these.  I check Noah to make sure he is done with Innovation and Design.  He is actually done for the day and asks if I will drop him off at the pool to go swimming.  I do.

I am in the car A LOT.  Somedays I will do 7 or 8 drop offs.  While in my car I listen to my playlist of general conference talks, talks from leaders of my church.  It is lovely.

I get home and grab a quick nap - about 10 minutes.  I am trying to wean off my naps - I don't get one everyday - Eve is still up 3 to 10 times a night, so I usually need something, but I am hopeful this will end soon.

I enter my receipts into my budget spread sheet.

Then I pick Noah up from swimming.  He swims laps once a week. 

He likes to sit in the hot tub after and sometimes I have the time to park, go in, and sit for 10 minutes so he can (it is the rule that a parent has to be there... lame).  I have time today.  So I read my church magazine and catch up on texts while I watch.

I drop Noah back home, talk to Brock for a minute about his school day (he is done) and his plans for the rest of the day and then get Dane up from his nap.  Eve is still sleeping so I take Dane with me and we pick up the girls from school.

When I get home Eve is awake and the three of us read books while the big kids do their after school things. 

Brock heads outside to play football in the street with the neighbor kids.  

Jason takes Madison to gymnastics. Each kid has an activity and every day is different.  Jason is my current runner.  On one hand it is great because it is a hard time of day to leave and it is nice just to stay home and  do dinner and manage everyone else, but I miss having that time with the older kids in the car.  Our current activities are soccer, basketball, gymnastics, art classes, swimming, and piano.

Noah plays some x-box (they get 1 hour of screen time a day)

And Megan can't even take her coat off before she starts reading.

But after about 20 minutes Zoe comes over and they go downstairs to craft. (sheesh... check out our basement, I hardly go down there so it gets trashed fast.)

It is time to spoon feed Evee again.

Jason is home from taking Madison and plays trains with Dane while...

I nurse Eve.

Then Dane watches a show... 

and Eve plays with toys...

while I make dinner.. and have a little moment to myself and eat some ice cream while my taco meat cooks.  I used to eat my treat after the kids were in bed, but after I get Eve down I am too tired to go downstairs and make a treat.  So I try to sneak it in during the day, but, honestly, I don't need them as much as I used too.

I tell Noah to turn off the x-box and he spends the next hour or so crafting while listening to an audio book.

It is time to change Evee's diaper and put her down for a nap.  

I put her down awake in her crib and she falls asleep on her own... I don't like to "go downstairs" until she is asleep because it is hard for Dane for me to run up and downstairs to put her binky back in or something, so I stay upstairs until I know she is down.  I use this time to blog or work on my blog book - it is usually only for 3 - 5 minutes but she takes 3 naps a day so that is about 10 - 15 minutes a day and by small and simple things great things are brought to pass. (For example this post took me 3 weeks to write... but here it is)

It is 5:30 and everyone comes home and we have dinner.  

This Wednesday night is extra busy.  The girls have activity days AND Battle of the Books meeting and the boys have Young Men's (all virtual).  It is hard and stressful for me to make sure every one has devices, codes, passwords, accounts, and place to work, and everything set up, not to mention starting and ending on time.

The babies bounce around and get played with while people are in and out of zoom meetings.

Jason usually plays some sort of computer game if the babies are being other wise occupied. 

Dane gets put to bed (usually by Jason) at 7:00.  Once everyone finishes their meetings (8:00) we do our evening activity.  Tonight is read aloud.  Jason is currently reading Cheaper by the Dozen to us.  We are loving it! (our other weekly evening activities include: cleaning (M), work out (TH) (although this one is happening less and less haha), game night (SU), movie night (SA), read aloud (W), and Family Home Evening (T), Friend or Date night (F))

Then at 8:45 pm we read scriptures.  Full disclosure this picture was not taken that day (the only one), I forgot and took it another night.  Dane only reads scriptures with us on Saturday because we do it earlier for family movie night.  But you get the gist. 

Then we put the 4 older ones to bed and I put Evee to bed.  

I sit in my recliner, watch NBC Nightly News and rock Eve to sleep.  I don't have to rock to her sleep, I can just put her down, but I like rocking her to sleep at night.  It is dark and quiet and peaceful.  During the evenings Jason does his own thing.  Sometimes he stays in the room with me, but he hates watching the news, so he usually goes and watches a movie or plays video games, he also has a weekly investing call with his brother or he preps for his seminary class (he teaches an early morning seminary class to our church's youth once a week)

It is almost 10 pm and I am TIRED, I make sure the boys laptops are charging in our closet (they have school AT school tomorrow so they need to be fully charged.  I do a quick check of their assignments/history) and then I go to bed.  Eve sleeps great until about 1:00 am so I get my best sleep before then, so I go to bed as soon as she does.  Then after 1 she can wake up as often as every 20 minutes.  I don't pick her up or anything, she just wants her binky back.  I have sleep trained several times and it lasts for a few days but then... something happens... and we start all over again.  It doesn't really bother me though.  This too shall pass.  It all will.

And for all the things not pictured or mentioned: it was a particularly cold day so we never went outside but usually I am outside with Dane once or twice a day, millions of diaper changes. picking up toys, baths for babies (about twice a week), doing dishes,  kids doing their jobs, practicing the piano, checking email and facebook, errands (hmmm... didn't do that today, that's unusual), and of course the little moments.  That is hard to capture in a post like this, but I try (and usually succeed) at having an emotionally connecting moment with each one of my kids.  I try hard to talk to them about their day and what they are thinking BEFORE I remind them that they didn't take out the trash, or what activities they have that night, or what they should be doing at that moment that they are not.  

Well... that's it.  That is a day.  There are a million things I could throw in that make up a week or a month, but this was just a snap shot of a day.  Tomorrow will be different, slower, I just have the little ones home.  Spring break is coming and that will be totally different.  Hope you stuck with me and made it to the end.  Phew!