A Day in the Life: December 2016

I realized as I sat down to write this post that I’ve been doing these day-in-the-life (also known as “DILO”) posts intermittently for nine years now.

In 2008, I was 27, finishing up my bachelor’s degree. The most stressful thing in my life was homework and riding the train to and from school. At the time, it felt completely overwhelming, but sometimes, honestly, I’d give anything for the most stressful thing in my life to be homework again. 🙂

My older DILO posts were posted on Flickr from when there was an active group doing them each year when the season changed. I also did one when I was Stephanie Langford’s assistant at Keeper of the Home. And then I also have a few laying around here. Most of them are probably not interesting to anyone but me, but I like to have these records, primarily to remind myself of what life was like at a given time, especially with one child….or how things changed after C came along. And I know when other people have done them, it’s been neat to see how they structure their days, especially those who have a similar family setup as we do.

It’s always interesting for me to go back and see what I was doing at a given time. I think one of the very early ones had me going to class in the morning, then coming home to have lunch and watch a few episodes of Ugly Betty, before taking a nap. What a life.

The DILO chronicle I’m sharing today is from this last December, so you’ll see a few of our Christmas traditions thrown in there. It’s very picture-heavy, so you can partake in my day after the cut. 🙂

We usually start the day at around 6:30 to 7 when C wakes up. By this time, E is either gone for work or won’t be around for much longer, so it’s just the kids and me. I change a diaper and then go downstairs to the kitchen to get C a banana and some water, then switch the laundry over to the dryer before starting on the folding.

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B usually sleeps until 8 or so which I haven’t decided if I like or not. I enjoy having the alone time with C as we sometimes read books or lay in her bed while she surrounds me with her animals and babbles, but it also takes him a long time to get to sleep at night when he sleeps this late. It is what it is right now, though, so I just kind of go with it.

At 8, I do my morning office.

A day in the life... - ahumbleplace.com

Then put laundry away, get a load started, and make breakfast.

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KonMari!

While breakfast is cooking, I pop some yams into the toaster oven to make fermented yams later (I use the recipe from NT, but this one is very similar). This is one of the easiest sides to have on hand for lunches and the kids love it with a little cinnamon sprinkled on top. While they’re roasting away, we sit down to run through our scripture memorization and then eat breakfast (which is pretty much always scrambled eggs, avocado for the kids, sauerkraut, frozen berries and bananas, and gluten-free oatmeal for me).

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B’s hands. <3

Camilla is fed after that and then I hop in the shower while the kids play in their rooms.

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Normally, after my shower, we’d either head down to the basement to have our school time or leave for our weekly nature hike. But we were on our Christmas break during this particular DILO day, so the kids head outside to play in the backyard and I take advantage of the quiet time to get some work done.

A day in the life... - ahumbleplace.com

While the kids are outside, I pull the yams out of the toaster oven and leave them on the counter to cool.

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Ooey, gooey goodness.

The kids come back inside after about 40 minutes, so I close my computer, switch out the laundry again, and get started on lunch. It’s a chilly day outside, which means one of their favorite lunches – butternut squash soup.

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While I’m chopping squash, C plays with the seeds and B delivers little messages to me in his mailbox.

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Once everything is simmering in the pot, I sit down to read some stories to C. Then it’s lunchtime!

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After lunch, we head upstairs for nap time. I think C is getting ready to give up her nap (SAD) as some days I can get her to sleep very quickly, but many days she just rolls around and laughs at me as my frustration grows. Today is a nap day….thankfully. B is usually either in his room creating something or playing with his Snap Circuits, or downstairs playing with Legos during this time. I use this big chunk of time to do most of my work. Sometimes it spills over into the afternoon after nap time, but I try to get as much of it done as I can while C is asleep and B is occupied.

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After quiet time, we have a snack of raisins and kombucha.

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Then I commission the kids to make some more Christmas decorations for me, so we get started on stained glass paper chains from The Artful Year.

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While they’re cutting away, I finish making the fermented yams.

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It takes them a little while and a few rounds of cutting, but I love the finished chain and hang it up in our dining room.

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The remaining hour or so of the afternoon is spent doing random things – reading together, playing with toys, etc. Then at 5 I do my Vespers office before starting on supper. E usually comes home around this time and alternates chatting with me about our respective days and playing with the kids in the living room while I prepare the food.

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Tonight is Swedish meatballs, a quick and easy favorite, with roasted beets and carrots, and spinach. After about 45 minutes of roasting and sauteeing, supper is artfully arranged on the table.

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After Thanksgiving and during Advent, every night around supper, we light our advent candles and the kids alternate hanging a new Jesse tree ornament while I read the coordinating story. Tonight is the hammer and saw, which represent Joseph.

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After supper, while E cleans up the kitchen and B cleans up other areas, C and I head for the bathroom for her to take a bath. The kids alternate this also, which has worked very well for us.

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I get C changed into her pajamas, brush teeth, and she says good night to E and B before I read a few stories to her and lay with her until she falls asleep. During this time, E and B are doing B’s nighttime routine. Once I’m done with C, I head into B’s room, sometimes for one more story, and sometimes just to snuggle with him for a bit before saying good night.

After that, I head downstairs to the family room to spend a few hours with E watching shows and rewarding ourselves for a successful day (no one died!) with chocolate. Because it’s that time of year and I’m always behind, I also use the time to wrap a few Christmas presents for the kids.

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Eventually, we call it a day and head to bed.

Of course, not every day looks like this… some are chaotic and filled with various mini-crises. Some include playdates with cousins. Others have me running around trying to clean bathrooms or scrub floors because I finally can’t put up with the filth anymore (I’m not the world’s best housekeeper). And some days, especially on the weekends or days that E doesn’t work, are last-minute adventures to see sites in the area. These are probably my favorite days.

But this day, in all of its excitingness, is our basic routine. 🙂

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