Every so often I document what our days looks like. I print my blog out as a book every year and these are always some of my favorites to look back on, a little time capsule of each season.
Four days a week I wake up early, like before sunrise early, while J gets ready for work. The other three days I sleep in until Scarlette comes and crawls in bed with me. Today was one of those days, which means I will be feeling perpetually behind all day.
I pack Scarlette’s lunch while she eats breakfast.
Today she has requested salami and a granola bar. I throw some fruit in there for good measure. Her school is nut-free so I’ll make her eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich when she gets home. Be jealous of my amazing lunch packing skills. I know you’ve never seen a bento box quite this fancy.
I read a devotional by Katie Davis (I support Amazima ministries and they sent us a devotional series that she wrote as a gift, I haven’t seen it anywhere else.) and I listen to an album by one of my favorite new Christian artists, Amanda Opelt as I get ready for the day. And by that I mean search frantically for a hat and sunglasses in what I like to call “Unshowered Preschool Carline Camouflage.”
Scarlette brushes her teeth in my room. She spends the entire time watching herself dance in the mirror. Actually, she spends the entire morning dancing, which is why it takes seventy two minutes to get her dressed. But also why I spend most of my day laughing. I love this kid.
I drop her off at preschool, come back home, shower, make breakfast and get to work.
Today I’m working on some really exciting gifts for people who pre-order my new book. I’m so thrilled that my publisher is going to do this for my readers and so today is spent working with some other amazing authors that I am so thrilled are going to take part. I can’t wait to get to share it.
Then I take a quick break to open all of the windows in my house, much to my husband’s chagrin. He prefers to have the air conditioning on but I can’t stand it, I need lots of light and fresh air in my life, y’all. So every day I open all the windows and turn the fans on and then shut them all and flip on the air before he comes home, because I am very servant-hearted like that. Then spend some time rehearsing for the Listen To Your Mother Show in my mirror. The Atlanta show is Saturday night (get tickets and come hang out with me!) and I’m equally excited to be a part of it and really nervous to share from my book for the first time.
Then I do some blog work, which involves taking pictures of the books I’ve read lately. I stack like, three end tables on top of each other so I can grab a quick shot in good lighting before the precariously balanced set-up falls over.
It’s almost time to pick Scarlette up (she only goes for a few hours in the morning three days a week) and so I turn on the diffuser of Thieves oil in her bedroom. I do this every day to help stave off the preschool germs.
Then I remember that I am supposed to bring a baby shower gift for her teacher and wrap that up and run out the door. I’m super glad I found a ton of gift bags 90% off in the Easter clearance at Target. If you are friends with me, please expect to get all your gifts in that exact bag for the next two years, regardless of the holiday.
After I pick her up we head to the farm to get our meat and eggs for the week. Scarlette stands at the gate and yells “MOO!” at the cows and then wonders why they won’t come over to see her. The farm cat just had kittens so we stay for awhile to play with them.
I realized that I brought a checkbook that is empty because I am very organized and totally on top of things. One of the things I love about being in a small town is that they tell me just to take our food and drop an IOU in the box and pay next time I’m there.
We have lunch at home and then it’s time for chores. Scarlette unloads the dishwasher while I scrub the pots and pans that I “let soak” overnight, which is code for “stuck in a sink full of water because I was way too tired to deal with the dishes.” Real life, y’all.
We play legos for a little while and then we go outside. Scarlette’s job is to water all the plants. She takes this very seriously. Then she waters herself.
Then I sit and read my kindle (I’m in the middle of this series) while Scarlette plays in the sand/water table. That thing was the best money I have ever spent on a toy.
I finish up a load of laundry while listening to a podcast. I just took this free homemaking ecourse and they suggested a totally different approach to laundry than what I’ve been doing. I wasn’t totally sure about it because I thought it seemed inefficient but I am finding that it works well for us and makes me feel accomplished. It doesn’t take much, y’all.
Scarlette plays in her room and then comes out to help me make dinner. We’re having breakfast for dinner and she loves to crack the eggs, which means I spent approximately forty six minutes of my day picking out tiny pieces eggshells from the bowl. I sincerely hope that translates into good childhood memories for her on account of SO MANY TINY EGGSHELL PIECES.
After dinner and bathtime we get ready for bed together, washing our faces and brushing our teeth and then one of us has to take out my contacts and slather on the moisturizer because she’s in her thirties and did not listen to the advice of people telling her to avoid the sun when she was a teenager. Learn from me, grasshoppers.
It’s J’s night to read a bedtime story so I tuck Scarlette into bed and she reads Madeline to herself while she waits for him to get home from tennis.
Then I forget to take any more pictures because I’m busy chatting with J and I’m super professional so that means this is the end of this post.
(Except it’s not totally the end because this week is the flash sale for the Ultimate Homemaking Bundle and it is one of my favorites. It’s been a really helpful resource to me in both setting a homemaking routine that works for our family and implementing more ways of natural living into our lifestyle. I highly recommend it + it comes with some incredible freebies. So worth it. You can learn more + grab it via my referral link for just 3 more days here.)
