At some point I should probably switch to my age for titling these posts, shouldn’t I? A decade from now am I going to title this: 25 & 22 Years Old?? It made since when I had toddlers, but it’s making less sense now. So, let’s ease this transition: Day in the Life: 43 Years Old

Time flies. It blows my mind that I have an entire category dedicated to these day in the life posts, and I’m so glad I do. I really enjoy looking back and seeing what our days looked like at different ages and stages. The years go fast but these posts remind me that I was there for it all and how lucky I am for that.

I will say that looking back on them make me wish I would have used the “good camera” for these pictures, but the iPhone reigns supreme for convenience. Maybe I’ll try to level up the picture quality on my next one!

These days my alarm goes off at 6:15 and I’m fairly quick to pop out of bed. The quiet time lures me with the promise of a peaceful and creative entry into the day.

I start the coffee, grab a cup, and sit down to blog. David wanders in a joins my in the living room with some coffee, too. After a good morning smile, I’m back in my little creative bubble for about an hour. When the girls start to wander in, I give them good morning hugs, then they start their breakfast while David and I take Finley on a walk down the street and back. We check on the chickens on our way back, then come inside and I realize it’s closer to 8:30 than I realized and so, quick breakfast it is!

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The girls and I meet in the playroom at 8:30, ready for morning time. Morning time lasts 45-60 minutes and we rotate between history, artist study, composer study, devotionals, and self-improvement type books. Currently we are reading 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens.

Morning time is 100% my favorite part about homeschooling my teen and tween. These topics lead to some of our best conversations and our days run so much more smoothly when we have this dedicated time together to ease into our days. We’ve experimented with opting for sleep over morning time a couple times, but morning time always ends up being the winner for making a day run more smoothly.

From there, we jump into their individual studies. On this particular morning, K was able to be fairly independent with her stuff, which worked out well since I planned to dig into things with H. We spent the next two hours organizing her due dates and calendar, combing through the details of MLA works cited pages, learning how to use a new engineering design software, and studying cell structure. All good stuff, but I miss the days of studying apples by reading books and baking.

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Late morning, I throw together a quick lunch as H and I throw things in the car to head to her piano and music theory lessons. After dropping her off, I walk around the lake path at Furman and then find a place to sit to enjoy a bag of chips while I attend to some admin tasks like making appointments and returning calls.

Afterwards, my 15 year old driver chauffeurs me home while we discuss what she might want to be when she grows up. Currently she’s most excited about the idea of being an author, teaching piano, and being a mom, which has her wondering why she’s trying to cram all this algebra into her brain. I remember feeling very much the same at her age. But she does want college options, so her current path remains unchanged.

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Back home I chat with K while she’s eating a late lunch, then David and I pour our potions (pre-workout, creatine, then aminos) and head to workout. We complete Madeline Moves 30 minute upper body in about 45 minutes with all our in between chatting.

From there I head to the chickens. They need fresh water and for their eggs to be collected. I bring them some blueberries and Grubblies. Finley joins to be supervisor. H joins me for some chicken snuggles.

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We realize the time and rush to get ready for basketball practice. We leave the house at 3:45 most days for this and we’re cutting it close. K, H, and I run around throwing waters and bags in the car then head out. We just finished listening to Peter Pan (so good) so we are re-listening to The Goblet of Fire until we pick a new audiobook. Any recs?

I drop the girls off at practice and swing by Publix for a few things. I have a friend who makes the cutest themed lunch for her kids and she talked me into being fun mom and packing my girls a Halloween-themed lunch for co-op so I grab some edible eyeballs.

I get gas on my way home then unload all the goodies and rush to make supper. I make a one pot meal – sausage and tortellini soup – and help myself. It’s good! And it will keep warm until the kids are home from practice. David grabs a bowl himself and I sit with him while he eats, talking through life stuff and logistics, then I realize we’re losing daylight fast so I head out to walk Finley before we lose daylight.

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We get in a leisurely mile, but it’s a win in Fin’s book. David has taken off to run an errand and he’ll be in charge of basketball pick up so I keep up with the home tasks.

I make the themed ham and cheese sandwiches then clean up the kitchen. I make a round of all the typical things: switch the laundry, put things on the stairs for the girls to put up, tidy the living, get the coffee ready for the next day, go through the mail, break down any boxes, etc.

In the mail were the circadian light bulbs I ordered. I am really liking them! I have them in a living room lamp and the lamp in the scullery that I turn on in the mornings. As I’ve been working on ways to improve K’s sleep, this is one of the changes I’m implementing, so I head to the girls’ rooms to switch out their lamp lights.

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At this point it’s about 8:15 and I realize the sauna is still heated up from when David used it. I decide I have time for a session. The sauna has been such a fun challenge for me. It’s been a lesson in mental toughness to embrace the sweat and stay in the full 20 minutes.

Afterwards I get a good shower and head back to the living room to fold laundry until I see the headlights pull in the driveway around 9:15.

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The peace of the house gives way to the chaos of hungry kids chattering about practice, groans of exhaustion, and eagerness to scoop as many tortellini as possible into their bowls.

We do our best to keep things moving in the food to shower to bed sequence. By 10:00, we’re all in our respective rooms, which is pretty good in this new season to be honest.

And that’s a wrap! This phase of life is bringing later nights and more juggling, but it’s a fullness we chose and are very much enjoying. I won’t lie though, I’m quite looking forward to a chill Saturday morning at home this weekend 🙂