How I Do It: Our Daily Routine + New Fave Striped Top

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I can’t believe another weekend has come and gone.  We had the best time enjoying our city.  We’re so used to taking the boat out, which we obviously love, but spending a weekend on land was just what we needed.  Since Lanier was out of town, watching the Panthers unfortunately lose to the Saints in New Orleans, I took advantage of some girl time, lunches out, golf cart rides with the kids in tow, and I even managed to make it to church with all four (we weren’t on time, but hey, it’s better than nothing).  With all of that being said, we did miss him while he was gone.  We’ll be excited to see him later today!

As many of you long-time followers know, I used to post a series (usually on Mondays) answering readers questions called “How I Do It.”  I started the series after receiving so many emails asking how I did certain things, as a mother of four.  Those “How I Do It” posts included everything from topics about laundry and naps to discipline and what to feed a one-year old.  Obviously, most of those past posts are outdated now, but if you were a fan then, you’re in luck!  I’m bringing the posts back, and plan on updating each of my past posts with how I’m doing things now, since my children are older.

I know all of you know that I put myself out there each and everyday, when I post to SSP.  There are critics, which I completely understand.  I know not everyone has the same views or opinions as I do, and I don’t expect you to have the same exact ones as I do.  That’s why with every ‘How I Do It’ post, even the ones in the past, I preface them by saying this is how I do it and not how you and everyone else should do it.  If you’ve got a better way to handle certain topics, by all means, do what works for you.  I’m sharing because I have readers who ask and want to know, and while I love fashion and giving styling advice and sale info, I’m also happy to help as a mother too.  And no, I’m not perfect, even the advice I give, it doesn’t always work for me, every time.  So I feel like these posts encourage me to be a better mother, wife, friend, etc. when I can work on these topics too, and will hopefully help you too!

So to start things off, I thought I’d share our latest daily routine  with you.  I’ve just recently started using my dry erase calendar in the kitchen again, and I’d always thought it was helpful for me.  But the other day, I heard Wheeler reading one of the dates to Effie and got so excited about an up-coming party she saw.

Our Daily Routine

6:00-6:30am – Children wake-up and get clothes on for school

6:30-6:45 – Breakfast, pack lunches, brush hair, etc.

6:45-7:05 – Take girls to school (they can be there as early as 6:50, the tardy bell rings at 7:20); the boys always ride with us, even though I could leave them with Lanier – they love saying help to the carpool helper and crosswalk helper every morning

7:10-7:30 – Come back home and finish getting boys ready for school

7:45 – On a good day, I take boys to school at this time, they can be there as early as 8 or as late as 9.

8:30-12/2 – Work-out, clean the house, do some laundry, pick up groceries, etc.  I say I do this until 12 or 2 because some days the boys have after school activities like art or karate, and they stay longer on those days.  But today, they’ll be home by noon.

12 – Pick up boys from school

12:15 – Eat lunch, put boys down for naps

2 or 3 – Depending on the day, if the girls have an extracurricular activity, like today they have piano after school, then I’ll leave around 2 and pick them up at parent pick-up.  Their bell rings at 2:15.  If they don’t have an activity, then I let them ride the bus home.  I wasn’t a huge fan at first, but after much begging and pleading on their part, I finally gave in about a month ago.  And of course they love it!

3-5 – Homework, snacks, down time to play, read books, etc.  Because all of my four are so close in age, they’re really good (most of the time) at playing together.  Whether it be legos, dinosaurs, train tracks, kitchen, Barbies, etc. they’re surprisingly all still really good about wanting to play with the same things.  As for tv, they only watch PBS Kids, Disney Jr or Nick Jr.  I usually like when they watch PBS Kids the best.  Even Wheeler will still watch Sesame Street and I love it!  We do have iPads, but I use them as a last resort.  They always seem to get way too into them and at that point I usually hide them for weeks and weeks on end.  I can’t remember the last time I pulled them out.  The girls play on the computer sometimes too.  My rule is that they can only play on the computer if it’s educational.  Their favorites are ABC Mouse, ABC Ya, myON and a new one called Smarty Ants which helps them study their spelling words.

5-6 – Dinner (mac and cheese, spaghetti, grilled cheese, etc. It’s never anything fancy, but if I can get all four to eat something and enjoy it, then that’s what I’m fixing)

6-7 Bedtime prep (in all honesty, I’d put baths/showers in there (obviously) but they don’t take them every single night; so since they took them last night, and if they don’t get too dirty at school, I probably won’t bathe them again tonight)

7-8 – Prayers, song and lights out.  The girls’ room has a bunk bed and Logan and Vaughn have separate rooms.  Although for the past few months, they’ve been sharing a bed.  They switch off each night whose room they’ll sleep in.  It’s actually been pretty nice because if they play instead of go to bed, then I tell them they’ll have to sleep in their own beds and not together, and that usually quiets them down.

8-11 – If we didn’t eat dinner with the kids, then we’ll eat a late dinner.  We hang out and catch up on shows too.  As many of you probably already know, we only have one tv in our  house.  We have room for more, but we’ve always done it this way.  Thankfully, we have a lot in common, so we usually both agree on what shows we watch.  And yes, that includes sports too.  I also have my laptop out too, but rarely actually work on it.  I almost always put it off until the morning.

Many of you ask when I find the time to blog.  I usually work on it after the children go to bed or in the morning before the children wake up.  I used to have time in the afternoon, while the children napped, but those days are over now.  If we’re around on the weekends, they’ll still nap (like they did yesterday, yes, even Wheeler, my 8-year old still naps), but that’s only if we’re at home in the afternoon.  More on that on a later ‘How I Do It’ post.

So that’s a start on ‘How I Do It.’  If you ever have any suggestions on a certain topic, don’t hesitate to comment or send an email.  I’d love to hear from you!

You Want This Top

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This top was a hit on IG over the weekend so I wanted to share it with you.  I plan on wearing it a lot this season.  Love the length and it has side slits too.  Fit is true to size.  It comes in four different colors (I already have three of the colors) AND it’s only $16.94!  Order this one quick if you’re interested.  It won’t last long!  I paired the top one with these jeans and the bottom one with these jeans.  These heels are great.  Have had them for years; they fit true to size.  But I plan on wearing this top with flip flops and flats too.  Super versatile.

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Hope y’all have a great start to your week!

13 thoughts on “How I Do It: Our Daily Routine + New Fave Striped Top

  1. Love these type of posts. As a new mama to an 8 wk old little guy, I’d love to see your previous posts on your daily routine when your kiddos were younger. Any way you can include links to them?

  2. I love your how I do it posts. I have actually gone back and looked at a lot of them as we got to each stage! Look forward to more! You’re a supermama!

  3. These are the kind of posts I like! Blogging has changed to mostly just photos, but I love hearing about you, your family and lives! Keep it up!

    Also love the other posts they just are not as personal. Do whatever works!

  4. Love this! I missed your lifestyle/family/parenting posts. We’re living a little leaner these days so we can save to pay for our kid’s college in the future, so I’d mostly stopped visiting – just the sale and spending posts made me sad, haha. I’d love to see one on how you handled the overnight routine with your littles and how you and your husband split household responsibilities since you’re a SAHM and he works. How did night shifts work with your newborn? That kind of thing. It would be so helpful!

  5. Love this blog. Tell us more about you growing up, favorite music, first concert, first date, etc!

  6. I’m so glad you are doing these posts again! They are my favorite! I love getting ideas from other moms.

  7. Get them Logical Journey for the computer. It will help them with math and critical thinking and they will have no idea. My kids loved it! All are in STEM fields now, Logical Journey helped them love the sciences!

    1. I’m curious about Logical Journey but couldn’t find anything when I googled it. Would you share more details? Thanks

      1. It’s a great game that is on going. You have to get the zoombinis home and you start with a big group. And you have to figure out how to get them past each obstacle, if you don’t you lose that one. It’s about patterns and training the brain to think logically and disciplined. BUT ITS SO MUCH FUN! They have no clue they’re doing school. ? The packaging seems to have changed. Also depending on your child, they should be 6-8 years old. Six being very young and showing a technical ability already. For example, being able to put together a lego set unassisted that’s marked for 8 and up. I found it here, but I hardly looked. I googled logical journey. https://www.amazon.com/Zoombinis-Logical-Journey-PC-Mac/dp/B00005LBVU

  8. Hey Ashley! Any chance you’d want to do a post on storage? I know you love to shop (me too), and with 4 children I know things must accumulate like crazy- heck I only have one and it seems like I constantly deal with clutter. I’d love to see how you do it.

  9. Love these posts-Thank you for bringing them back! We have two under two in our house and these are super helpful! Love your blog! 🙂

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