The summer as a parent + business owner is a complete marathon! We did the majority of our traveling in June so July we have tried to settle into a somewhat lose routine for the sake of everyone’s sanity. We seem to have a revolving door of kids in and out of our front and backyard from dawn till dusk, and this simple schedule has helped remind our kids that mom and dad aren’t able to be their live entertainment every hour of every day;) Below is a lose breakdown of what our days look like right now!

7:00 AM – Gabe and I get up and ready for the day + morning prayer. (Sometimes this is when I will do a power walk and a podcast!)

7:30 AM – Kids get up and immediately demand to be fed…. and we remind them of the wake up routine. (Make bed, brush teeth, get dressed.) Breakfast is usually quick and easy.

8: 00 AM – Chore time. They all have daily pick up and cleaning times, but they also have special chores they can choose to do for a weekly allowance.

8:15 AM – Reading time. Practice reading with Max or read books with Rocco and Azelie while Gabriel and Veronica read their current library picks.

8:30 AM – Play time for the kids + babysitter arrives. My sister helps us a most weekday mornings, and usually stays until after lunch. They do lots of indoor crafts, backyard water fun, or library time. I’ve been meaning to share some of the fun activities we have done, but for now there are some good ones in this pinterest board.

9: 00 AM – Gabe and I get to work on blog post prep, home projects, emails, or whatever tasks are needing to be addressed for the day.

12:30 – Lunch

(And yes there are days we feel like we have lived an entire day by 10 am.)

1: 00 PM – Rest time/ Quiet time – All of the kids come in from outside to have an hour or so of quiet time to do art, read, construct, etc. Azelie and Rocco generally still take naps during this time. This is an essential surviving point of our day for all parties! Gabe and I usually continue to work through this time or run any errands needed.

3:00 PM – Play time for the kids outside. We will sometimes meet up with friends or family during this time of the day.

5:30 or 6 PM – Dinner followed by family time. We spend most evenings out in our backyard. If it is too hot we will watch a movie from our summer movie list.

8:00 PM – Bedtime routine. Baths, books, prayers, and they can look at books till they get sleepy.

9:00 PM – This is when Gabe and I try to spend this time just hanging out together.

There are weeks some of the kids are in camps or doing swim lessons, but for the most part they are having a very simple summer of just being wild and free together. The best summers of my childhood felt hours long where my sisters and I would basically live outside with nothing on our agenda but when the next meal was. It’s been fun to see our own gang chase lightening bugs, play in the sprinkler, make popsicles, invent their next creation, and build fort after fort. I hope these are the days they remember too.

I often feel like I am short on energy or patience, and being super pregnant makes me feel so limited in being able to do much activities outside the home. However, school starts in ONE month. So instead of feeling like the constant interruptions and limited work hours are cumbersome, I am trying to welcome this extra time with my children all under one roof. Because as I was so painfully reminded too many times all over instagram last week was that I only have “18 delicious summers” with my kids, and that was enough to put me in the right headspace!

Thank you Chelsey Heidorn for capturing a morning at our house! (Check out her work!)