A Day in the Life--Ralene

January is the month where we all give in and say we'll make some changes, tweak a few things, and make our lives just a little easier/better/smoother. Sometimes, though, we feel that the solutions to our problems are just beyond our reach. What better to renew our creative ducts than to see how other people do it. If you are one of those people who know that you need to get on top of your schedule this year, GYHS is ready to share! For the next two weeks, GYHS contributers will give you a glimpse into our day, show you how we do it (though we're far from perfect ourselves).

This is my crew. My husband, a military soldier who has been gone quiet a bit, but thankfully has been home for a year! Alana is 5 and Kyra is 4 (both in Kindergarten this year), and Connor is 18 months.


Ralene's Ideal Day vs Ralene's Real Day:

6:30--My alarm went off too early this morning. Let me tell ya, my new year's resolution to wake up at 6:30 every morning may not work. For now, this is the time I wake up, have my quiet time and start to check emails/blogs. Most mornings it works pretty well--if I get up. Otherwise...

7:00--Kid are up and we're having breakfast. They may watch a couple of cartoons while I finish with my emails/blogs.

8:00--Morning Routine/Chores--The kids march upstairs to make their beds, brush their teeth, get dressed, and then move to their morning chores. The girls alternate chores like dusting, picking up toys, vacuuming (some), taking out the bathroom trash, putting away clothes. As they finish, they run off to play before school starts.

9:30--School time. We tend to run our school like this: Subject, 10-15 min break, Subject, 10-15 min break. We start with Group/Bible time where we sing, read from the Bible, go over our verse of the week, talk about the calendar (20 mins). Next we move on to Math (w/ Math-U-See) for about 15-20 mins. Then we split up for Phonics. My son doesn't do well when I try to have both of the girls working at the same time, so usually one will play with him while I work with the other, and then we switch. Last of all, we spend about 15-20 mins working on a unit study. During the breaks, I usually try to do a little cleaning.

12:00--Lunch

12:40(ish)--Reading time (this is when we read from a chapter book, right now we're enjoying the Little House series--talk about flashbacks!)

1:00--Rest Time (the girls are allowed to either watch a movie or read books), My office hours (1-3)

2:00--The girls are allowed to get up and engage in a quiet activity like drawing, or else go outside on nice days.

3:00--Snack time

3:30--I shoo the kids away so that I can workout while I watch one of my shows.

4:30--Cleaning

5:00--Dinner Prep, Cleaning

5:45--Dinner

6:30--Cleaning. Baths

7:00--Hubby takes over with kids and my evening office hours begin

7:30--Kids Bedtime Routine: pick up toys, brush teeth, bedtime stories

8:00--Kids in bed

10:00--My office hours end, I unwind with a tv show or a good book

11:00--Lights out!