a day in HER life [Rachel]

My name is Rachel. I am a wife to Matt and mom of 2 adorable little kids, Hannah (2 and a half) and Owen (just about 5 months). My husband and I both work (although, I am currently on maternity leave) for a ministry called Power to Change Students (formally known as Campus Crusade for Christ) - a ministry that works on campus helping students change the world by discovering Jesus and helping others experience and discover the life changing power of Jesus. I first met Emily on a missions trip to Tanzania while we were both still in University and although she may not know it, she has been inspiring me ever since! 

 

My adorable kids

To be honest, this post in a lot of ways is a struggle to write, simply because I do not know how to communicate what a day in my life looks like because, no day is exactly the same. I am not a highly structured, schedule person and although I know kids do well in that environment, we live a more "predictable weekly routine" as opposed to hard and fast schedule and it works for us!

Each day includes meals, snacks, naps and bedtime at approximately the same time. If home my youngest goes from awake, eating, playing/outings for 1-2 hours and then nap, cycling through 3 times each day before bedtime. With Hannah extras in the day include; helping with a chore, special play time like a game, baking, or more intense craft while Owen sleeps, and personal quiet play (Hannah does not play on her own well for long so much of the day is myself doing activities with her, except when feeding and putting Owen down. I dream of the day they play together and don't need me as much).

That said, there are certain things I strive to include in our days throughout the week:

Music - Hearing encouraging worship music throughout the house lifts my soul, and creates the atmosphere I want for our home. I love sitting working on a craft with my daughter of changing my sons diaper singing along with my little one. Or sometimes it’s my daughter deciding to turn on her favourite kid’s cd, calling out "dance party" and together we dance and laugh. To some loud music and kids singing/dancing/screaming is chaos. To me it means joy, peace and fun! 

Matching cousin dance party!

 Other Weekly Stimulating Activities – This includes going to the library for a music and reading program, going to a kids ministry at our church (Cubbies for Hannah, nursery for Owen) while I get be a part of and lead a women's bible study, as well as other special events. In the winter Hannah will start dance lessons (her Christmas gift from us!) 

A special outing to Oaklawn Farm when the grandparents came to visit!

The great outdoors! - I crave getting outside and get seriously stir crazy when I can’t be. My daughter is the same way (probably both due to personality and my influence). If possible, every day includes the park, the beach, a walk, and/or playing in the backyard (we recently invested in a trampoline for the family instead of extra toys and clothes for our new baby and couldn't be happier with the decision). I am that mom, that will bundle their kids up in the cold of the winter, just to get out even for 15 minutes. Fresh air keeps our sanity!

Hannah testing the trampoline (don't worry we were right there and the net went up right after!)
Note: Hannah is still in pjs...truth be told this is not unusual in our home to be in them until lunch

Matt gearing Owen up for his first time in the ocean!

Quiet reading times - we read a lot! Could be alone, myself to one kid, to both, kids to each other, etc, but this is a reoccurring part of every day.

Creativity - Being creative, making something out of seemingly nothing and making it beautiful is something I love to instill in my kids and I have fun with too! This is also, a great activity where we can think of others by making cards, or gifts to encourage and thank people in our lives (another key quality I hope to instill in my kids).

For my day to go well, I personally need a couple of things throughout the day. First thing in the morning when I wake up I grab my phone, check the time and right after check the "verse of the day" on my bible app. If no child is screaming at the time, I also take that chance to scroll through and read a couple chapters of the bible. It’s quick. It’s easy. But it focuses my day and I love it! (I wish I had that when my first was young and I
struggled to fit in Bible reading.) At breakfast we go slow and I enjoy a great cup of coffee. During nap time I am usually guaranteed at least 30 minutes when both kids are asleep and get me time. This is my main recharging time, especially important if it’s been a rough morning. It doesn't always look the same, often devotional reading (currently pouring over this book for our Women’s study and I love it!), often food and/or hot drink, but sometimes I’m so tired it simply means putting on a show where I can lie down and turn my brain off and just relax. Whatever I choose, it’s something that will help me get through the rest of the day well with my kids.

Night time routine is the most regular in schedule. On a "normal" day (currently we are in an "off-normal" season as university ministry is in high gear, but we strive for at least a couple “normal” days a week), Matt is off work around 5, time for kids to play with Daddy and me to make some dinner. I am not a gourmet chef. I am a quick, easy, good meal, type of person, so dinner is on the table by 5:30 (sometimes with the help of my friend the Crockpot!).We eat, we talk, we share, and we enjoy time all together as a family. Then leaves a little play time, some nights bath time and then time to get ready for bed. 

I love bed time (and not just because it means I soon get me/couple time, although that is a perk at the end of the day)! It includes, potty, brush teeth, getting changed, (feeding baby) and then we all cuddle on Hannah’s bed for reading - sometimes if time allows lots of books, but always a new story in Hannah’s Bible. We read together, "talk about it”, share what we can thank God for, what we have learned (important to review when misbehaving has been happening) and then we pray. It’s a lovely, special family time that we strive to protect whenever possible! Then, we say goodnight to Hannah. She usually convinces Daddy to cuddle "for just one minute" (sometimes turns into me waking him up after an hour) and I put Owen down in his bed. 

And then I breathe! 

At night sometimes we do things together intentionally as a couple - games night, watch a movie or show, talk and rock on the swing outside, etc and sometimes we simply just unwind by each other, on our own. Of course, some nights we are out for fun, serving, meetings or our small group too!

Above all else, what I strive to have in each day is...

• for myself to be in awe of God and depend on him
• my kids and myself to
  have moments of awe of God's creation 
• learn how special and unique they are 
• laugh and enjoy life 
• and care for others

That does not always all happen. Some days are just plain rough which is why grace is another big part of our days. Grace for the kids when they are over tired, feeling sick or just simply having a hard day - I need to realize that and be there for them instead of loosing it. Grace for me, when I make mistakes ore loose it, that my to do list may not get done, dishes may stay dirty all day and toys may be all over the floor and sometimes that's okay. (Housework always looses to quality time, helping out a friend or anything else really. It is my weak spot I need to improve on.)

Things change with each season. Our days change depending on life, but the themes and goals stay the same!

If you want to read more about my life, family and attempt to find balance in it all check out my blog Balance that Matters. (fair warning, busy season = a lack of posts lately)

a day in HER life [Vanessa]

Hey! I'm Vanessa Strickland from Strickly Speaking. I'm Mama to three little boys {Noah is 5 years old, Jude is 4 years old and Blaise will be a year old on the 17th}. I'm married Jamie. We've known each other since we were 9 years old. I'd follow him anywhere. I first met Em when she was a student in University. It's been a long time since then, but we've stayed in touch via the glorious, glorious interwebs.

My "normal" day has been radically changed in the last several months as we've moved from Kampala, Uganda {where we'd been living for the past two years} back to Canada. My two oldest boys start school this month for the first time and we've moved into our very first house that's stuck in the 80's. So I've got a full plate and I'm still trying to wrap my head around what a day in my life actually does look like!

But as of this week, this is my average week day:

7am

My alarm goes off. Either that or one of the boys has already woken me up.

I'm usually up after this.

Stumble downstairs, open the pantry, pull out the coffee cart and either plug in the Keurig or the coffee pot {depends on how I feel. Will this be a multiple cup of coffee day or a single cup?} to get the caffeine started.

The whole morning routine starts in full swing. Breakfast is made {we are kinda obsessed with waffles right now, by the way} and eaten. Jude is told multiple times to come back to the table and finish his breakfast {my kids, by the way, are completely mixed up on what meals are called. I'm not sure how I failed them in this respect, but it's not unusual for Noah or Jude to refer to breakfast as lunch, lunch as breakfast and dinner as anything but.}. Jude starts Junior Kindergarten next week and I am certain it's going to come as a shock to his wild-child system.

I have all these ideas in my head of things I'd like to do with the boys; morning times with Jesus with the boys using the Jesus Calling book for kids, playing specific worship music songs inviting Jesus into our day, but honestly? They haven't happened at all or at least consistently. I'm giving myself grace at the moment, though. We are still living in a barely unpacked house that still needs uber work on it. So we're makin' due with where we're at for now.

I put Noah's lunch in his backpack {I've started making them the night before. It's much more enjoyable and way less stressful.} and call the boy from their toys {or iPad/tv watching} to go pee and then we hustle out the doors with shoes on and sweaters or whatever the current weather calls for.

8:30am

We are out the door and hopefully getting in the car.

I drive to the school first, we all get out and walk Noah to the playground. We wait for the bell to ring and then help him get in line and walk in with his classmates. It's only the fourth day {as I write this} since he's started and it still makes my heart ache to watch him walk into that big school on his own.

8:55am

We're back in the car and we drive Jamie to work, say goodbye and then head home for Blaise's nap.

9:30am

Blaise is in bed napping. Jude is playing with toys and probably bugging for second breakfast since his first breakfast was either barely eaten or not at all. I am cleaning up the kitchen. No dishwasher. Le Sigh.

10am

I read some books with Jude for awhile and then let him watch a show on NetFlix while I go online to try and find good deals on things we need for the house or Skype with the team who replaced us in Uganda.

11:30am

If Blaise isn't up by now, I wake him. I need him to take a second nap in time for us to be able to pick up Noah from school around 3:20pm. I breastfeed Blaise {this is the longest I've ever exclusively breastfed any of my boys thus far. To be honest, it's easy, cheap and available. I haven't had time to think about weaning him and he is quite content at the boob. So there's that.} and then I get lunch together for us.

We'll either hang around the house, go for a walk or run errands.

1:30pm

Blaise is hopefully back down for another nap and Jude and I will do the same routine all over again. Books, toys, snacks, Skype. I don't even bother to start projects during the day. Jamie told me a couple days after we moved in that I need to give up any notion of getting projects done around the house when the boys are awake and it's just me. Wise words from my husband. I am, however, feeling a bit like our place is *cue overly dramatic sigh* never going to be finished.

3pm

Time to pick up Noah from school! The day has flown by and I know that if I blink, it'll be Christmas already.

We pick up Noah and talk through his day. He is happy to see his brothers and the feeling is definitely mutual although him and Jude are fighting within minutes.

3:45pm

We're home and eating a snack, whether it's Noah's leftovers from his lunch or something else I've been baking. Or goldfish crackers. Those always score big points in our house.

From now until around 5pm is flex. Maybe we've gone to the park {although I banned Jude from it the other day due to his apparent inability to walk, listen to me or ask politely for help. So...we're not at the park for the next few days.} or maybe we're hanging out in our living room that's currently littered with painting supplies, toys and two oversized couches. The boys are either playing with toys together and getting along famously or fighting bitterly. I may read a story or two.

5pm

Daddy comes home! I start prepping dinner. Jamie will hang out with the boys and play outside or take them swimming {yay for town house complexes with pools!} while I get dinner going.

6pm

We are eating. It's loud. And chaotic. And usually over pretty quickly. By the time I'm seated and eating, Jamie and Noah are probably done and Jude's done a preliminary pick-over. Blaise is squawking to either be done or for more food depending on what I've given him. I shovel in some food and then take him upstairs for a bath and he's in bed around 6:30pm.

6:30pm

Blaise is sleeping. Jamie and I clean up and hang out with the boys. Sometimes there's a bit of tv. Okay. Most times there's a bit of tv.

7pm

Baths are on like donkey kong. Fill it up and let 'em splash. That is our unofficial motto. Not really.

But the boys will happily play in the bath {usually} for 20 minutes. Sometimes less. Sometimes more.

 The rare occasion that all three boys bathe together. They all love it. Water.Goes.EVERYWHERE.

8pm

Big boys are in bed now too. Jamie and I breathe a collective sigh and do a final tidy up before relaxing for the evening.

There's so much to do around our house, but at this point it's all we can do to just spend some time together before hitting the proverbial hay. Usually we'll watch a tv show on Netflix {House of Cards} or stream one online {Suits} and look at stuff online. Decorating stuff and blogs for me. Sports for him. 

Time flies by and it's usually 10pm before we know it. We start to get ready for bed and it's already 11pm somehow. Blaise will usually wake up around this time and I'll nurse him back to sleep. He's my worst sleeper out of the bunch and will  wake at least once more during the night where I'll again nurse him back to sleep. {And this is the best it has ever been so far!} For now, it is what it is. 

As I look upon this and know that next week we add sending Jude off to J/K 2-3 times a week I am exhausted! Life in Uganda was slow, simple and I rarely left the house. But we're back in Canada and I'm trying desperately to make good choices for our family to keep our schedule as simple and pared back as it can be as we readjust back to life here in the fast lane. I love it, but it is an adjustment.

a day in HER life [Vénusia]

Today's guest blogger and life shar-er is my new friend Vénusia. She's also a pastor's wife in Montreal and I love her French blog Buttons In A Cup Mama. She's graciously written her post in English, but check our her blog if you want to practice your French :)

4am - Each night is different, this one is a good one, she slept 6 hours straight. Nursing and falling asleep soon after.

Until 7:30am - Well, sleeping, good thing to do in those hours.

7:30am - My son wakes up and my husband gets up to play with him before breakfast. Mommy and the little sisters are sleeping. My IPod rings to let me know I got an email, hem... it can wait! The deal is: mommy nurses in the night and daddy takes care of the kids in the morning. Wonderful hubby!

8-8:30am - Nursing in my bed, enjoying a little bit more time under the covers!

8:30am - Getting out of bed, it is going to be a chaotic day, like each day with a young baby is. The sky announces a cloudy day. Putting clothes on, changing diapers. Eating breakfast with my oldest daughter still at the table. While the boys are prepping for the day.

9:20am - Kids at the table, doing some activity books. 20 minutes late on my planning. Trying to put the family back into some routine before the back to home school next week. Coffee in hand, I enjoy 30 seconds of the rainy temperature by my window, before someone is asking me for something. Doing some random prep for next week. My husband is blessed to take 6 months away from work to be with us and try to finish his theological studies at Sembeq. He leaves to go study somewhere with more quiet.

10am - Interruption, my mom calls via Skype. It's this day of the week where we chat while the kids are screaming to get her attention around me. Today, they are quite calm, playing Playmobil by my side. I nurse again and put baby in bed after.

10:30am - Random cleaning, Nursing a little again while reading. Today it's Having a new kid by Friday and a bit of Creation regained (for a course in Sembeq). Putting back the baby in bed. Repairing a kid's book, putting away the luggage from yesterday's going back from weekend. Kids play alone.

11:30am - Lunch prep, kids have to clean the mess they did in the living room.

12pm - Daddy comes back and we all eat lunch.

1pm -  Relaxation time. It's this time of the day when the kids (not the baby) have to "read" books or play quietly in their room. I nurse and read again. Write a blog post. All that while the oldest sister is still eating... that is a big problem over here right now... no more comments on that ;-)

2pm - Having a good 15 minutes where all the 3 kids are quiet and I can come before the throne of the Almighty in prayer to ask him to help me in my mom job. I don't always have a good quiet time in the day when the kids are awake, but when I have, it is so good. Kids come out of their room.

2:30 - Testing a new muffin recipe with my little helper/daughter and also baking a peach pie.

3pm -  Nursing again and snacking on muffins... it's a winner.

3:30-4:30pm - Going for the first time on a walk alone with the three kids. The girls are quiet and happy in the stroller while I have a want-to-be detective by my side who entertains me talking all the way long.

4:45pm - Dinner prep, taking pictures of the muffins for my blog, cleaning up kids mess (again), unloading the dishwasher.

5:15pm - Dinner time

5:25pm - Nursing, yes I eat fast those days. Baby seems to always want to be held or to eat during meals.

5:50 - Cleaning dinner table, while eating my dessert (multitasking mom), big sister "reads" a book to baby while big brother is in the bath.

6:15-7pm - Chatting with the baby, nursing, taking it slow. While the hubby does the bed time routine.

7pm - Washing dishes

7:30 -  Doing some altering on hubby's new skinny jeans.

8pm - Sketching for future craft while watching Les chefs.

8:30pm - Doing an important phone call.

9pm -  Chatting with hubby, nursing, looking at olds pictures of my kids.

10pm - Shower, putting baby into bed. Reading my Bible and praying. Than ZZzzzzzzzzz !

a day in HER life [Brittany]

 Hey "Our Nest in the City" readers! My name is Brittany and I blog over at Celebrating Daily. I live in the Twin Cities, Minnesota and my husband and I have a little girl named Eowyn. Ben's a software developer and I'm a stay at home momma.  Its an honor getting to guest post for Em while she and her family celebrate their new little life. Praying for all sorts of joy, magical sleep, and peace as new normals set in being a family of 5! Thanks for having me here today.

 A Day in the Life:

I stay at home with my girl Eowyn during the week. Previously, I worked in a profession that required a lot of structure so I have a natural bend toward routine. As many of you moms know, however, some days are a hit or a miss. The day I decided to pick up my camera was a good day that left all of us feeling refreshed. It was a gift and I was happy to capture it.  Here's a peak into what this day entailed.

Ben has to be doing overtime for his work, so this saturday morning it was just me and my girl. We warmed up some frozen pancakes and enjoyed ourselves. Eowyn has started laughing at everything which I'm totally into. She found me, her pancakes, and every other thing funny this morning.

After breakfast, we do as we always do and headed out for a walk. It was one of the last cool days we've had before the "dog days," so we were fortunate. This walk had a bit of a Fall-feel, which left me anticipating the chai lattes with pumpkin, the boots,  and overall good things that always come with fall season in the Midwest. These walks have proved to be such a gift this summer. It gives me time to talk to Jesus and Eowyn to stare at squirrels. So, we both come home in a good mood.

Before her nap at 9:30, we play and read some favorites. Eowyn's a big fan of the touch and feel books. So, every morning we circulate through our handful of those. When we were done, it was time for a nap!

When Eowyn goes down for her nap, I've been trying to intentionally sit down and read off my bible app before getting to the other things I have for the day. Today, since it was Saturday, I wanted to spend some more time in this by continuing my reading of  "Calm My Anxious Heart." It's a book that's been really doing me good-I've read it already a few times, but I always walk away with new things. I took time to write down some of the things that have been leaving my heart anxious lately and just in general talk to Christ about hurts, healing, what He's doing... This time spent ended up taking most of E's nap, but it was good for me.

So, around 11,  I got her up to have some grub, and then we played till dad got home. When he arrived home (around 1:30) He and I ate together and rested while Eowyn took her second nap. After, we headed out to a Barnes and Noble date.

We've been budgeting and working at really sticking to it. We both were hankering for some coffee yet didn't have any more funds for coffee in our budget, so we emptied our piggy banks and found just enough to cover us both! It was fun giving the barista several quarters (he was amused.), and still getting some drinks for the bookstore. 

When we got to B&N, we parted for about 10 minutes while we got the books we were interested in then  met up in the middle and found a table to lounge at. This Barnes and Noble has a super laid back vibe with several people perusing and reading, so we often take it as an opportunity to skim through books we are interested in. Eowyn crawled around once she got restless in her stroller and the other book-lovers all talked with her. Her day was made.  It was a good time for all of us. The belly of her onsie was pretty much black from sweeping the floor as she crawled, but she was happy, and so were we.

Once home, Ben started dinner by making the Minneapolis-Famous "Juicy-Luicy." Basically its a burger with cheese INSIDE. This results in gooey cheese in every bite. We had it at one of the famous 'original places,' and have since had fun making it at home. Ben did a job well-done, it was amazing. Eowyn, as you can see, approved as well.

 Next,  we played with our girl. A friend found this tent and gave to us as a gift and Eowyn has loved hiding out in it to play. After play time, I give her a bottle of milk, and Ben read her stories then we put her to bed together. Its a nightly ritual that we've had since she was a wee babe.

Then commences the evening to ourselves. Eowyn normally goes down by 7:30 which gives us a good chunk of evening time to spend together. How I love those evenings! Tonight we found a few new shows to watch on Hulu, while Ben uploaded some CD's onto our computer, and I wrote out our financial goals for the rest of our lives-yes, our lives. It felt kind of silly, but seeing projections for 2045 and beyond is super eye-opening. Granted, we may not even live that long-but we had a good conversation about it and it helped my resolve at avoiding the isles of target!  We spent the rest of the evening watching Numb3rs (this mathy crime solving show I had never seen) and resting together.

Then right before bed, I snapped this picture. We took a good 20 just to get us with both our eyes opened, but here we are.  Day well spent.

a day in HER life wrap up

I hope you all enjoyed the glimpses my guest bloggers offered these past few weeks as much as I did. From the beginning, my heart in this guest-post series was to show and remind us that there is no perfect, there is no standard, there is no normal. Everyone's day will look unique and our own days will shift and change depending on the season we're in. And that's all GOOD.

I know personally I can get caught up in thinking I should be doing more personally or with my kids or around the home, and most of that stems from the root of comparison. Of course here there may be the temptation for you to compare too, but I so hope that's not the end result. My prayer for this series was that it would do the opposite - show us how vast the possibilities are! How diverse a woman's day can be and how beautiful each one is! Whether it's in the adventure of international travel, the mundane of laundry and car pooling, the joy of time with loved ones, the satisfaction of working hard and accomplishing goals, our days are from the Lord and they're a gift.

You can read all of the guest posts by clicking the "day in HER life" button on my sidebar, or following this link. In case you missed any of the guest bloggers, here's a list of who posted and their personal blogs if you'd like to keep up with them further:

Sarah from This City Life

Sam from Little Band of Characters

Tracy from Just a Trace

Rhonda from Never Static

Jess from Bucket List Journey

Brianna from Tea with Bri

Morgan from Me and My House

Brit from Mike + Brit

Andie from Williams Family Blog

Maggie from Time of Your Life, Huh Kid?

This is the day that the Lord has made; 

let us rejoice and be glad in it

[psalm 118:24]

a day in HER life [Andie]

I'm Andie.  My daughter Amaris is 3.5 and my son Makaio just turned 5.  Amaris goes to preschool 2 days a week and Makaio is in a full day kindergarden program.  I have my own floral design business, working from a home studio doing weddings and events.  I'm married to Jon.  He works a Monday to Friday 9-5 job and he walks to and from work each way.  This is an average day during a non-floral event week while Amaris is home.

Somewhere between 6:00-7:00am the kids are awake and the Gong Show begins.  I wake up at some point in there depending on how loud the kids are…Next I go pee and brush my teeth.  I can't do anything unless those things happen first.  I can't do anything without clean teeth. Depending on the timing of all the morning, this always varies… So it is sometime between 7:00 and 7:45am that the kids go to the bathroom, brush teeth, get dressed, do hair, make beds, put pjs away, etc.  This is followed by us being downstairs for breakfast by 7:45am

7:50am  Kids eat breakfast, I make Makaio's lunch for school while they eat, empty dishwasher from the night before.

8:15am  Makaio downstairs to go out the door with Jon to go to the bus stop for school

8:25am  Makaio actually leaves to go out the door with Jon

8:30am  I eat breakfast

8:45am  Tidy morning dishes and then putter around tidying upstairs from the morning Gong Show

9:15am  Get workout gear on and either go out for a walk with Amaris or do a workout video at home.   Amaris will sometimes do the videos with me if we stay home, if not she has independent play time.

10:15am  Shower, Get dressed and get pretty, Amaris plays on her own.

10:45am  Check email, Amaris plays

11:00am  Run errands, Go to grocery store, Do housework, Have appointments (Amaris has speech therapy once a week).

12:30pm Make lunch while Amaris watches a show or plays on the ipad then eat and then clean up dish and mess from that meal. Amaris eats for almost a full hour - she takes a long time.

1:30pm Quiet Time for Amaris which is just more independent play and I do some Dandie Andie Floral Designs.  Work includes writing blog posts, following up with clients, planning events, prepare for consultations, researching trends and techniques, administrative tasks, social media and keeping on top of everything to run my business.  Amaris sometimes needs guidance during this time and will need activities provided for her, busy bags, colouring or other quiet activities.

3:00pm  Tidy up work and Amaris' Quiet Time Mess

3:10pm  Get shoes on to go get Makaio from the bus stop.

3:19pm  Get Makaio at the bus stop then play outside: go to the park, ride bikes, scooter, backyard, etc.

4:30pm  Come inside and kids play together or have independent play depending on how everyone is doing.  Sometimes this is Wii, movie or TV or Ipad time.  But this is always when I need a Diet Coke to keep me going.  This is also my 30 minutes of miscellaneous where its a mix of doing something on my list to do or occupying the kids.  I hate these 45 minutes before Jon gets home.  Makaio is tired after a full day at school, and they are tired of playing outside for an hour and are ready to come in…. So it's a gamble.  Never know.  I do something around the house or play a game with the kids or make them colour or go fix something or do an activity with them or have them do some worksheets or do some more work work or do some cleaning or get going on the laundry or sometimes I turn on the TV a little early.

5:00pm  I start getting dinner ready and for the kids - TV Time!  Yay!  Kids choose a show to watch while I'm busy in the kitchen and we wait for daddy to get home.

5:15pm  Jon arrives home.  BEST TIME OF DAY.

Sometime between 5:30 and 6:00pm  Eat dinner when it's ready
After dinner is Daddy lead play time - play a game, do an activity, go for a walk, burn off some energy, run around, go to the park, play with some toys, baths on bath nights. I start to tidy up from dinner, put food away, start doing dishes, etc.

7:00pm  Both parents do the bed time routine - PJs, Teeth, Bathroom, Stories, Prayers, Lights Out // Other nights I would be leaving the house at this point to go out to work and meet clients for consultations and Jon would do the bedtime routine on his own. This usually ends up being one night a week.  I often will take one evening a week to go work outside the home even if I don't have a meeting just to work outside of the house.  One night a week Jon teaches drum lessons and then goes out with friends after and I do the bedtime routine on my own.

7:30pm  Lights Off for both kids.  This time usually creeps to being later in the summer.  Jon usually picks up from where I left off and finishes tidying kitchen.  Then my evening routine begins of tidying the house, picking up toys, folding laundry, doing laundry, putting things away, etc.  I like to have things tidy before I actually relax for the evening.

8:30pm  We both sit down and put our feet up and relax.  And by relax I mean, work begins again for me.  We will sometimes put the TV on and I multitask by working more on my computer picking up where I left off in the afternoon and watch a show.  We currently trying to go on a date every few weeks and work that into the schedule as well.  We try and have no-work nights and attempt to read books, play games, or do other things that are not on our computers, working or watching TV… But sometimes watching an old episode of The Office eating a tasty cookie and going to bed is just perfect.  So what we do in this time frame changes frequently as well.

10:00pm Get ready for bed.

10:15pm Usually play on our iphones in bed and check our facebook and email one more time before going to sleep…. Just in case.  I know, it's terrible.

10:30pm Lights off.

There's my day!

a day in HER life [Brit]

i'm brit. my husband is mike.  our baby is annie.

we live in toronto, ontario, we love our church, we love books, we love to eat out,

and these are a few little snippets of our day... 

mundane and wonderful!!

(and sorry the video ends so abruptly.  i'm not too good at the endings.)

xoxo

a day in HER life [Jess]

Alarm goes off at 6:45AM. I Slowly get up and get a glass of water and groggily drink it, change in my clothes for a run, eat a bowl of cereal or a gluten free waffle, get my Nike Frees on and go for a jog with my Couch to 5K program. I use the podcast and RunKeeper simultaneously. I usually run down by the Lachine Canal that flows through our borough of St. Henri. 

I stretch after my run while reading Flipboard and then have a shower, eat breakfast and then head to work as the clock hits 8:30 for my 9AM meeting. Few days are the same with my specific role at work. I have a few weekly standing meetings for those I mentor or train. Otherwise, my schedule can vary from week to week.

If it's a Monday, I take the metro to Université de Montréal and meet my coworkers in Pavillon Jean-Coutu where I lead our team's staff meeting. Our bilingual meeting that often weaved between English and French depending on the current speaker and their current thought pattern. After the meeting, depending on what was going on that week, I'd often take the 135 bus over Mount Royal down to Guy-Concordia Metro and over to our office on St. Catherine and St. Alexandre. The days I go for a run in the morning, I don’t have time read my Bible so I do this first thing when I get to the office since our walk with God is a key point of the health of my work. On the non-running days, I read my Bible and pray instead of running. Next, I finalize my weekly schedule after the meeting. Ideally I would have taken some time Sunday evening to do everything but this time that didn’t happen.

This (example) Monday, I have some posters to design to advertise a few events we're putting on during the week and then a meeting with my boss to go over the things he wants me to help him with. I'll eat lunch at my desk, while thinking through my next meeting with a new staff I'm mentoring. We'll meet at 2PM at a Starbucks down the street so we can get some privacy (the office is beautiful glorious, but most conversations are easily overheard). I order a latte, she orders a tea (ever time). My mentorship meetings (with Sam and the rest of the girls) are the highlight of my week.

When I get back to the office, I get ready for a Fuze meeting online with the rest of the Team Leaders across Canada. The meeting finishes up just before 5PM so I collect my head and my things, get an idea of what I need to start with the next morning as well as where I need to be (which could vary between any one of the four university campuses in the city).

I take the Orange line back to Metro St. Henri, more often than not chatting with Andy, my boss, who lives a few blocks from me. I get home and make dinner right away. My husband and I got used to eating early because of my weird blood-sugar problems and my husband Willy's night courses. After dinner, we read a bit of the Bible: a chapter of the Old Testament and a Psalm. We clear the table and then Willy tidies my messy kitchen (LOVE!), loads the dishwasher and does the dishes.

He does this every day when he isn't rushing off to night class.  A blessing that I never miss. The feeling is glorious as I go sit on the couch as he's cleaning and most days I write. I'll write one or two or even three blog posts and schedule them to publish. If I’m ever really in the zone or have something ‘important’ to write but need the space to do it, I will often go to our local coffee shop Café St. Henri to write and reflect.

 

Willy will come and sit down next to me while I write and watch an episode of Top Gear on Netflix. I'll read for 30 minutes or more from one of my (copious) free books I get for Kindle, with Willy beside me reading either the internet or another book he's picked up. Some days we'll read all evening, other days we'll watch a bunch of Netflix. Our parents always poke fun at us because we're always together with our laptops on our laps, surfing the web and watching TV at the same time.

I'm usually heading in bed by 10:00PM if I've been a good girl and woken up at 6:45. No matter what, if I'm not in bed by 10:30, I'll be a grinch the next day. I've always needed a lot of sleep. Willy usually comes to bed shortly after me.

That's my day! Some parts are more typical than others, since few days are the same from week to week. You can follow along with what I'm learning about living an optimized life in Montreal and reaching my goals (all while doing it sugar/wheat free) at http://jessversteeg.ca or follow me on twitter @jesslin.