A peek into our day today (with lots of pictures plus a video of Katie!)

I haven't done one of these posts in a long time, but I *always* enjoy reading them on other people's blogs, so I thought I'd do one just for fun! Today was a pretty normal day at our house.

6:30~My alarm goes off. Ten minutes later I finally roll out of bed and grab my Bible. When I finish my reading, I get my workout clothes on (not because I work out early in the morning, but because I'm more likely to work out if I start the day in workout clothes!).

7:15~Katie wakes up and we start making breakfast. It's baked oatmeal this morning.

7:35~Benjamin wakes up and after getting a clean diaper, he steps in as my kitchen helper.

7:50~Once the food is in the oven, I make my to-do list for the day and start tidying the house (I try to get the living area, bedrooms, and kitchen as close to spotless as possible every morning). While I tidy, Katie plays Starfall.com and Benjamin whines nearby. He finally decides he's happy drawing while Daddy plays guitar.

8:35~We eat breakfast as a family and then do family worship. Our family worship is pretty simple--we sing a hymn, read one chapter of the Bible, and then pray. Benjamin sits with Ben and Katie sits with me. They distract each other too much if they sit together!

9:25~I help Ben with a couple things for our business before he heads out to the shop. Then I get the children dressed and do a little bit more tidying.

9:50~The children decide they're ready for a second breakfast (!), so I get them a little more baked oatmeal, finish tidying the house, and start a load of laundry.

10:00~We put stickers on Katie's chore chart for her morning chores and then the children play while I clean the bathrooms.

10:30~I start getting ready to work out. This includes changing a diaper and rescuing a stuffed dog from a bath in the toilet (yes, really). About ten minutes later, I actually start working out with the children "working out with me" or playing nearby.

11:20~I drink a big glass of water, switch the laundry to the dryer, and then freshen up and get dressed in real clothes. After five minutes in my room, I come out and find that the children have pulled almost all the books off of one shelf of a book case. So, they help me clean up their mess.

11:45~We make smoothies for lunch. Strawberry, banana, spinach, and milk for Ben and Benjamin and a Peanut butter smoothie for Katie and me (though Benjamin does have a few sips of ours!).

12:10~When we're done drinking our smoothies, I practice the children's catechism with Katie. She's doing really well with memorizing it, so I secretly took a video (she'd be way too shy to do it in front of a camera!). As a side, she wanted to wipe her own face. ;)


12:30~I get the children ready for naps and we read a few books.

12:55~The kiddos are down for their naps and I'm hungry again, so I grab a snack and then do some work for my paid job. My parents own a home health agency. Before Katie was born, I worked in the office. Now, I work from home 10 hours per week (while the children are sleeping) reviewing applications, scheduling interviews with caregivers and checking references.  I also do evening/weekend on-call scheduling. Katie takes a while to fall asleep and I go in her room several times, but she finally does drift off. And, I get another snack somewhere in there.

3:15~I finish up my work for the day and work on some blog stuff. Frustratingly, I was trying to work on a new header and got absolutely nowhere.

4:00~Both of the kiddos are up. Benjamin starts stirring at about 3:30 but just plays in his pack-n-play (they share a room at night, but he naps in the pack-n-play in the guest room) until Katie gets up. Ben comes home for a snack and the kids happily join him while I do a couple more things on the computer. We piddle around for a while.

4:50~I decide to pull everything out of my kitchen cabinets and re-organize them while the children are watching a DVD. Last weekend, I completed my collection of glass food storage containers, so I'm reorganizing to get rid of most of my plastics. When the movie is over, the children join me in the kitchen and play with the stuff that's all over the place. At some point, I stick some leftovers in the oven for dinner.

6:20~I'm finished reorganizing (whew!) and dinner is ready but Ben isn't home yet, so I turn off the oven and leave dinner in there to keep it warm. I take the children outside to play and bring the laundry to fold while we're out there. Then a massive hornet flies by the porch and I freak out and rush everybody inside (I'm so scared of bees/wasps/hornets/etc--probably in large part because I've never been stung!).

6:30~Ben comes home and we eat dinner.

7:10~Ben does the dishes (what a guy!) and Katie helps put away the silverware. While they're cleaning the kitchen, I fold the clothes. Katie joins me to fold the towels once she finishes with the silverware. We put the laundry away and then I finish tidying up the kitchen while Ben helps the children pick up their toys.

7:55~I help the children get their pajamas on and brush teeth and then Katie and I snuggle up on the couch and read stories. Benjamin joins us for part of it and then gets down to play nearby.

8:45~The children get tucked in. They fuss about a few things for a while but eventually, all is silent in their room. I'm working on this blog post and Ben is reading something on his phone. Once I'm done, we have a date with a Netflix DVD and some Ben & Jerry's.

And that's that! :)