The Chatty Homemaker

My Morning Routine

Here is what a typical busy day in the life of this stay at home mother of seven looks like.

Every time we have a new baby things change just a bit as far as our routines. My new morning routine looks very similar to life before Simon was born, just 4 short weeks ago. This amazing little guy has made the transition from 6 to 7 kids an easy one indeed.

On a normal morning I get up with my husband between 4 and 4:30. The first thing I do is change Simon’s diaper if he is awake once I am out of bed. Then I will dress myself and go down to the basement to start a load of laundry.

Once that has been done, I will sit down at my desk for my quiet alone time with God. This looks a little different from day to day. Some days I spend a lot of time in prayer, other days I spend a bit more time in the scripture, and every now and then it’s a bit of both. Of course right now I am not always alone since I have an exclusively breast fed baby, but the time is sweet and cherished deeply in my heart even still. Who better to share your time dedicated to God with than your brand new baby? III John 1:4, Psalm 127:3

Some Time for my Husband and Myself

Once my quiet time has ended, I will lay Simon down or give him to his daddy, and make Aaron’s coffee, and pack his lunch box up for him. I spend as much time with him in the morning as I can until he has to leave for work. Then I take a few minutes for myself, after making sure Simon is fed and clean, by washing my face, brushing my teeth, and doing some exercises to strengthen my core after child birth. After my “me” time I go back into the kitchen and clean up any mess made getting my husband ready for work, then it’s back to my desk where I prepare for the homeschooling day and begin to work on this blog.

The School Day

Once the kids start to wake up we have breakfast. This usually consists of warm homemade foods, but every once in a while we just have some cereal. After breakfast we all pitch in and help clean up the kitchen for the second time.

We then all sit down in our classroom and pray together to start our school day off on the right foot. When the prayer has ended we take a couple of minutes for everyone to give one thing they are thankful for and one thing they love about someone sitting next to them. We then do a group Bible devotion and after that the older kids get their assignments for the day and begin to work. Of course I will go over any new information with them or review things they are having some trouble with to be sure they understand and are getting the full benefits of the lessons assigned to them. The little ones and I then work diligently on each of their assignments for the day. Some we do as a group, such as Scripture memorization and math, and others we do individually, one on one.

At noon we break for lunch. My oldest daughter and I will usually tag team lunch, especially now that I am nursing a newborn on demand. We all eat and again clean up the kitchen. Somewhere around, one o’clock, head back to the classroom and finish up our schoolwork. If there is any time after finishing up, before dinner must be started I will either finish up anything that did not get done here on the blog, or I will sit down at my sewing machine and work on making diapers, or mending, or any one of the projects my family has asked me to make.

Dinner Time

Dinner time around here with seven kids and a working husband can be very involved. By that I mean, we have one child who for the last 2+ years now has been eating a vegetarian diet, so I have to remember to have a meatless option for her. I also have quite a few people to feed, and boy do they like to eat!

I love cooking from scratch and have always had a problem making too much food for the people I have. That is not so much the case anymore, however. I am really loving the fact that we don’t have an overwhelming amount of leftovers anymore. I will say, though, that was not the case on Thanksgiving Day this year. We will be eating those leftovers for the rest of this entire week. I have some really creative ideas to keep it fresh, though. Tonight we will be enjoying gnocchi, with a creamy Cajun sauce and turkey with sweet potato casserole.

I normally start cooking around 4:30pm to ensure that dinner is hot and on the table when Aaron gets home. To make sure things are calm and as quiet as can be expected in a home with seven children living in it full time, I will sit all of the kids at the kitchen table while I cook. They can play a game, color, or read to each other, just so long as they are quiet. After I am all finished up with the cooking, if there is any time at all left before Aaron is due home I will sit with them and read a chapter out of our quiet time book. Right now that book is “More Stories from Grandma’s Attic“, which you can find here, or by clicking on the book title.

Aaron’s Arrival

Once he is home we dish out food and have a great time of fellowship with one another around our family dining table. Some of my favorite memories happen here. Then, you guessed it, we all clean up again! Then off to the shower with me and one of the little ones, we alternate between our 2 year old, Mary, and little Simon every other night to shower with me. I just feel like I can ensure they are getting properly cleaned this way. Of course Aaron helps me with Simon. We have a time of family devotions and are off to bed by 8pm.

Conclusion

Not every day is exactly the same of course but this is a typical day for our family. This is how today went and I enjoyed every minute of it. Of course today we also had my little cousin here as well. Her and Mary are close in age and love to play together, most of the time. We enjoy having her here 3 days a week.

I hope you had fun reading about a basic day in my life. I will share a day in our kitchen soon.