{I love his bed head look — and the fact that he came downstairs dressed in a button down shirt. He might not remember to comb his hair, but nine times out of ten, you’ll find him wearing a button down shirt it seems!}
It’s 9:26 p.m. and I am t-i-r-e-d! It was a good day, but a long day and I am ready for bed.
I went to bed early last night because I knew I needed to get up early this morning. Jesse woke me up right before 5:30 as he was getting up and around to leave for the gym.
It took me about 10 minutes to officially wake up and then I was ready to dive into my day! I went downstairs and made some coffee, prayed, and then decided to go ahead and get most of my blogging work done for the morning while it was quiet.
While I was finishing up with blogging/emails/business work, Silas came downstairs ready to eat (he always wakes up so ready to eat!) and Jesse walked in the door right about that time so they made eggs and then I made some sausage and berries and sat down to eat with Silas while I read my Bible and wrote a note of encouragement to a friend.
The girls got up and joined us for breakfast and while they were finishing up, I worked on Math & Language Arts with Silas. And then we all gathered around for our Morning Time together.
I then assigned them their projects/Daily Lists for the day and got started on cleaning up the kitchen.
It wasn’t too bad — mostly breakfast dishes and a few dishes leftover from the night before when Jesse and I had made an Oreo Pie together to take to Dessert Night with friends tonight.
I loaded the dishwasher, swept the floor, and wiped down the counter tops and table.
Before I was finished in the kitchen, I chopped up some apples and peppers to take with me for afternoon snacks.
I also packed some turkey and made some coffee to-go. And then cleaned that up and the kitchen looked as good as new… until the next meal. 😉
Even if it never lasts long, I love a clean kitchen!
I then headed out with my book to the treadmill in the garage to get in a brisk walk. I am still loving this book!
Afterwards, Jesse and I took some time to chat and catch up — talking about a few business and life things and he checking in and encouraging me (I’ve had a few pretty discouraging things happen in my life in the last few days and a few other things I’ve been feeling fairly overwhelmed by. Jesse is always so good to listen, pray for me, and just encourage me!)
And then I hopped in the shower, washed my hair, got ready to go and left to go meet my brand-new assistant at the shared office space. I spent the afternoon teaching her the ropes of some of her new responsibilities and getting in some blog work, too.
Before I knew it, it was almost 5 p.m. and time to run and errand and then head home. Jesse had a yummy soup waiting for dinner for us and we ate dinner and chatted about how our afternoons went. Then, we loaded up the kids to go over to to hang out with friends for a Dessert Night. It was so good to catch up and laugh until we cried.
8 p.m. came all too soon and we said our goodbyes, headed home, cleaned up, made a pot of tea, snuggled with the kids and said our goodnights and now I’m finishing up this post while Jesse finishes up a few projects. And it’s 10 p.m. and our bedtime. So I’m signing off for the night…
I hope you had a great day, too. I’d love to hear about it — tell us in the comments!
Crystal:
Thank you so very, very much for sharing your life with us and doing so much work to maintain this blog. May God bless you.
Thank you so much for your sweet encouragement! Your comment blessed me!
This might be a weird question, but how to you keep the cut apples from turning brown?
You keep cut apples from turning brown by dipping them in a mixture of lemon juice and water. Works like a charm!
Or you can use lemon-lime soda (if you happen to have that and no lemon juice).
That Silas is such a handsome boy. I too love your DITL blogs. But they make me exhausted! Bless you.
Why do I love reading about your everyday life? So weird. Maybe I’m just nosy. 🙂 Maybe that’s why I love blogs so much? Because they’re a glimpse into a person’s life? I dunno.
Anywhoozle. Love your Asics. I have some just like them! 🙂
I was dreading a couple things I had to do yesterday like a visit to the nursing home and volunteering at school, but both of those things brought a surprising sense of purpose that felt really good. Like so many other “hard” things in life, I suppose.
I can’t wait to “meet” your new assistant! Again, back to the nosy thing. 🙂 When you posted the job, I wished I lived in Nashville – for a brief moment.
And I’m VERY excited to hear about these upcoming projects! So much good stuff, girl!
OK, this might come across as too squooshy, but I wanted to take a moment to affirm you.
My day yesterday went very well because my heart’s been stirring to grow in gratitude. I took all the unpleasant household tasks and turned them into opportunities to love. I took some time out of my evening to drive somewhere to support a friend going through a difficult time, and this made me grateful for having friends to love. And I got a lot of cleaning and miscellaneous “get-a-round-to-its” done at home. Perhaps all that sense of accomplishment was my attitude?
I’m sure I’m not the only one, Crystal, to be thankful for this blog. Because you have been such a good steward of your gifts, so many of us can be blessed by them. You inspire me more and more every week. Thank you!
I love that about the unpleasantness being an opportunity to love! Gotta remember that.
oh, Beth, it’s so true. For example when I’m getting attitude from one of my children I’ve painfully learned the hard way to replace frustration with how to think ‘thank you God for the opportunity to love my child’. Or when the kitchen seems to just get cleaned up someone is hungry again. Practicing an attitude of loving service instead of feeling beaten down just changes everything. 🙂
Yikes! That is quite the busy day. But it’s those busy, productive days that are the most fulfilling 🙂 You’re blessed!
Love your little guy, by the way. What a cutie!
The kitchen looks great! Love that you made a pot of tea in the evening. I didn’t get to declutter yesterday, just really needed a break instead. But I did get a lot of homeschool planning done, which has been a relief. Thanks also for commenting on how you homeschool.
Yesterday I realized that I have a pretty smart baby & he’s bored. I could blame it on the fact that we are living in a motel room during the week but I’m tired of making excuses. I’m limited on what I can do since he chews everything but again- I’m fed up with surviving. I know I’m capable of better. We have bought toys & he gets tired of them pretty quickly. So I tied two ribbons together, tied mismatched socks onto them, emptied a wipe container & let him go. He had a blast & didn’t even realize that he was learning! I made a list of other cheap things I could fill boxes with, picked up 3 more boxes of wipes (instead of refill packs) & now have a project for today. I didn’t get as much other stuff done as I would have liked but I felt like I had a productive day.
Good for you, Beth! Claim it.
What was he doing with the ribbon/socks and wipes container? Can you give more details? I’d love to know for my daughter. And how old is your son?
He is 10 months. He is mostly just threading them through the hole. I realized how much he loves pulling out wipes or Kleenex & then chewing them so I decided to let him have the same action with less mess & choking hazard. 🙂 We also discovered that toys seem new if they can be put in the wipe container & rattled then taken out & rediscovered. He loves figuring out the lids. I almost feel silly typing this but it has made a huge difference. I plan to buy some dollar store kitchen utensils & try that next- maybe he will play with his instead of mine!
Wow, thank you SO much for this idea! I just took fabric swatches and stuffed them in a wipes container. My 10-month-old daughter was so excited pulling them out that she was hooting like a monkey! I think we found a new favorite toy!
Whooooohooooo for finding ways to keep 10 month olds occupied! I will have to try fabric swatches next.
Crystal, I am so sorry that you have had some discouragements lately! Praying for you today.
Thank you so much! That means a lot to me!
This post is so inspiring! I just had newborn twins and have a five and three year old at home as well. This post has so many great ideas that I want to incorporate into our day instead of drifting through it in chaos. I also love the ideas for connecting with your spouse. I just love your blog and always come away inspired!
Aw, thank you so much for your kind encouragement! And congrats on your newborn twins!
My husband and I finally went out for a special dinner for Valentine’s Day. We are not Valentine’s people but like to go out to a place we would normally not go to around this time. We had a fantastic dinner and came home to play a game instead of crashing in front of the TV or computer. A very nice evening!
I love it! How fun!
I headed back to work after being in Phoenix and San Diego for vacation all last week. My body is confused and tired after being in 3 different time zones in the span of 7 days! I know getting back to my normal routine ASAP will set things right sooner rather than later, so I exercised after getting home and made a healthy dinner. I got to bed about a half hour later than usual, but hopefully that improves over the next few days as my body gets things back in order!
3 different time zones in 7 days is hard! I hope you’re able to get rested and recovered this week and that you have a great week!
LOVE reading on the treadmill. My YMCA just got new treadmills and let me tell ya “you know your a bookworm when…….you are excited that the new treadmills at your gym have a ledge to hold your kindle paperwhite” LOL. Yep the gym added free internet and your own personal tv on ever treadmill and this girl is excited about the ledge that holds her kindle.
Haha! This comment cracked me up!
How do you fit homeschooling into these days? Is Jesse still doing most of it? Or is it part of the daily lists? Or who is watching the kids while you exercise etc?
I was going to ask a similar question! My daughter goes to school 2 days a week but we learn at home the other 3. Since she’s an only child I do feel like we spend a lot of our day together (as opposed to her playing with siblings) but I don’t see her entertaining herself if I were to exercise/work. Are your kids able to do this or do they have extra help? It’s hard to know how much to expect out of a 5 year old, especially when you don’t have any more to know what’s “normal.” 🙂
Such a great question!
I do Kindergarten with Silas in the morning — which is just language arts/writing/reading and math. And then he sits in on our Morning Time — which covers Bible/Scripture memory, some history, and a number of other subjects depending upon what books we’re reading and what we discuss. 🙂 His Daily List also has a few other independent school things on it and then chores.
The girls have much more comprehensive Daily Lists and they can now do much of it on their own. Their lists include: reading, Bible reading, handwriting, Spanish, chores, and more. They typically do these in the morning after our Morning Time and I am responsible for overseeing/helping out as they need extra help or guidance.
Jesse is in charge of core subjects and extracurricular activities. Since we are using an online school program for their core subjects (this includes math, history/geography, language arts, science, and electives), they can do some of it on their own and some of it with his help. He grades their work each day, meets with them to review areas they struggled with, helps them with problems they missed, and does science experiments with them. He loves doing this with them and having him in charge of core subjects has been such a great fit for our family at this season of our lives.
He’s also in charge of afternoon extracurricular activities. Kathrynne has swim team practice three days per week and Kaitlynn has ice-skating coaching/lessons 3-4 days per week. Silas is getting ready to start baseball.
So that’s how it works in this season of our lives. It’s not the typical homeschool family model, but our kids are excelling and it allows Jesse to work part-time and me to work part-time and the kids to get to spend dedicated quality time with both of us each day and for us to still have some good blocks of family time most days, too.
Thanks for sharing!
Your comment here prompted me to remember that I love how in your writing (even in this comment) you often gently remind readers that something is working for your family in this season. Perhaps the opposite of the parenting book genre you mentioned the other day, the feeling I get reading here is that there is no one “right” way to do things for every family/every time. (Of course, while freeing, that message also can make things slightly more intimidating at the outset, since I have to figure out what works for me which takes attention and effort. A one size fits all plan is tempting because it feels quick and easy. Perhaps why those parenting books sell so much!)
Thank you so much for those sweet words of encouragement! I totally get the whole intimidating thing, too. But in the long run, it’s so much better to figure out what works best for your own family in the season of life you’re in and then go with that!
Here’s the oreo pie recipe link https://moneysavingmom.com/2010/12/15-minute-oreo-pie-recipe.html Since I don’t have an Instagram account, I couldn’t post it there. 🙂
Thanks so much for sharing the link!
You’re welcome!
I feel great today because I was able to post of few items to my blog and Facebook. It has been hard as most of my energies have been spent on building an online memory work subscription product which is very time consuming and tedious. I am now seeing success after working on it for two years!
I want to thank you for your example and helping me to realize I could make something useful and accessible for folks to use. I have followed your blog for a long time and you have given many great pointers and advice freely! I still have MANY things to learn and I realize this sort of project is about “continuous improvement”. Thank you for your diligence, perseverance, and example.
Way to go!! And thank you for your kind encouragement! I’m grateful!
It may sound strange, but I especially love your A Day in My Life posts. Maybe it’s because so much of what I see online is full of hype and hyperbole. It’s relaxing to hear about a normal day. 🙂
Aw, thank you so much for your sweet encouragement! I love sharing these posts and I’m glad you enjoy them!
Aren’t husbands great?!
Yes and amen! Jesse’s heart to serve and give and pour into me and our kids just sometimes overwhelms me with so much gratitude that I think I might burst.
It sounds like a fun, busy day! I also enjoy reading when working out. I read on the elliptical & love it. It is a great opportunity to read. Reading on a treadmill sounds hard!?! I think I would fall. 😉
My day was a rare discouraging one…but I did get a workout in & some quality snuggle/reading time with my girl. And hilarious smiles with my other daughter. So that helped.
The brisk walking on the treadmill while reading thing is something that takes a little practice… but I was determined to see if I could learn how to do it! 🙂
I love reading these kinda of posts and getting a glimpse into the lives of others. Unfortunately it was not a good day here. I definitely had a case of the Mondays- grumpy, frustrated, and everything going wrong. So ready to get to bed and start over tomorrow! 🙂
Here’s to hoping for a better day for you today!
My little man was up before 6am this morning and jumped right into his day! He worked on his schoolwork while I made breakfast and had it all done before his sister woke up. They both had breakfast and school done before my husband was out of bed and music practice was done by 9:30am! It was our most productive morning in a long time and left lots of time for reading, playing outside and listening to audio books!
Woohoo! Sounds like you all had a great day!