A day in the life of this mommy

I'm always interested in what other moms do during the day. So I'm posting this in hopes that it will inspire others to do the same! :)

7:30a Wake up. Sit up in bed and blink my eyes for a few minutes. Read scriptures for 10 minutes. Head downstairs and join the fam for breakfast. After breakfast, J hops in the shower and I tidy up. The kids are usually happy to play by themselves for a bit in the morning, so I get some chores done. Clearing the table, cleaning the kitchen, vacuum the floor under the table{yuck}, head upstairs to make my bed, open the blinds in the kids' rooms and make the girls' beds. Get dressed, then call to the kids to get dressed. Brush four sets of teeth.

around 9:30 Sit down and do reading/writing with Brighton. This usually takes about a half an hour. Try to convince Brooklyn that she doesn't have to sit on top of me. The kids have snack and then watch a movie for about 45 min. I usually put my makeup on during that time, and play around on the computer.

around 11:30 James leaves for school. Make lunch for the kiddos. After clearing up I let them play until 12-12:30 or so, depending on how happy they are and how tired I am. Logan goes off to bed, Brooklyn goes down for quiet time (listening to a tape in her room for about 20 min) and Brighton plays on the computer. After Brooklyn's tape is over she heads downstairs to watch Brighton. On a good day, she stays down there. On a bad day, she wakes up Logan from his nap. Or me.
Anyways, I take a nap for about 45 min. Half of that time is usually just me trying to get my brain to shut off. Don't you hate that when you're trying to take a quick nap?!

1:30ish Up from my nap. I do learning time with Brooklyn and Brighton. Hopefully Logan will sleep until after we're done, but he's been taking short naps lately. We only spend a half hour or so. Something I did this past week is have them trace the outline of the letter we're working on -B-, and then put stickers on the outline. Then we made bear paper bag puppets. I try to let them do as much of it as possible themselves. Brooklyn's on this big "I can't do it" kick and we're trying to move past it. So frustrating. After that, they played with their puppets for a while, mostly taking off the googly eyes and glueing them back on. Logan insists on having his own puppet.

2:30-3 Snack time. I play the piano for a few minutes while they eat. Oh, I eat too. :) James comes home around 3:20 and has ten minutes before he leaves for Des Moines. He takes my car, which means I am stuck in the house. Rats. We'll pretend that this was one of the warmish days and we can go outside.

3:30 Coat up and head out. Brighton loves riding her bike, and Brooklyn loves the idea of it. As soon as she gets on her bike, she's easily frustrated, and then starts in with the whining and the "I can't do it!" I would love suggestions on how to stop this attitude. She ends up walking with me and Logan to the park for our apartment complex. We play pirates, swing, chase squirrels and such until we get too cold.

4:30 The kids get to watch a movie, again for about 45 min -1 hour while I make dinner.

5:30 Eat dinner. Clear the table and then chase kids upstairs for bath. We have to have lots of bubbles, because Logan freaks out if he sees himself going pee-pee in the tub. Which of course he always does as soon as he hits the water. This kid is so funny! So, the bubbles help. Logan is done with the bath first, after being soaked by his sisters. I get him lotioned up and dressed. The girls splash a lot and make a big water mess and then get out. They get their pj's on. If it's not too late, we play for a little bit, then do a quick clean. Brighton is a big helper with cleaning right now. Brooklyn, not so much.

7:00 bedtime. I put Logan down, then tuck in the girls. I read them a chapter from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Sing them a song, say good night. Threaten them just a little. They've been going to bed pretty well since I had Brooklyn stop taking a nap.

I finish cleaning up the house and get my pj's on. I try to decide what I'm in the mood for- sometimes I'm productive and get some sewing project done or go over the budget, but usually I sit and watch a movie and eat a mug of ice cream.

9:30 Head to bed. James gets home around 10:15, and I'm usually fast asleep.

So, there you go. A really long post about what my day is like. I didn't include the tantrums and all the whining that goes on. And the times I lose my patience and start counting a time out for someone. But I've been feeling better, and have more and more good days like this. And James is home a little more on other days. So. What are your days like? :)