Life lately

I always dig it when I see other bloggers posting about their typical days.

I mean, I'M NOT A CREEPER.

Or maybe I am?

Either way, here's a slice of how I have a weak grasp on cooking/cleaning/parenting/getting by.

My husband wakes up at 5 am to get in his morning workout. I "sleep in" until 5:45 and then get in a 2-3 mile walk. It's absolutely my favorite time of year for morning exercise because the sun is up, the air is cool, and it's that brief time when both crabapple trees and all the lilacs are blooming.

I spy a blue jay!

I've had a breakfast cookie for my morning meal for nearly two straight years. Still not sick of them. They keep me from getting hungry 'til lunch. I wish that was stiff one pictured with it- rather it's berry kombucha in the last clean glass in our cabinet.

The twins are up around 7 am and I'll get them going with breakfast while their big brothers sleep in 'til 8ish.

This morning it was both blueberry oatmeal and whole wheat waffles. And yes, Annika prefers to eat her breakfast while perched on the garbage can.

Once brothers are awake and fed, I fully cop to using PBS Kids as my free babysitter so I can sneak away and shower. Not sorry.

Time for the first vacuum session of the day, followed by laundry, and some sort of cooking- this morning it was finishing the Instant Pot lemon yogurt.

I spend 17.4% of my day wiping butts. Fact.

In the midst of Coronavirus, curbside pickup is my jam. This morning we're heading to Home Depot to get some topsoil and grass seed. And yes, Annika dressed herself.

We're home by 11:30 so I can prep some lunches. Nothing fancy today- as is the case almost every day- ham and cheese sandwiches, lemon yogurt, and berries.

After brothers and sister eat, Sabrina likes to make the rounds and eat up their scraps.

These three love to "help" me with baking. I have a yellow cake in the freezer and decided to make a salted caramel frosting to top it and have after supper.

My oldest had been dying to make his own slip and slide, and since temperatures were in the upper 60s, he decided today was the day. It was actually a great success! Buuuuut I was dreading having to schlep the twins in from fun time to get naps going.

By 1:30 they're down and I can get a hot minute to eat my own lunch. 99% of the time I'll have last night's leftovers. This honey-mustard broccoli with tofu and quinoa was awesome- I need to perfect the tofu before I can post it though. I'll then clean up the lunch mess, start the next load of laundry and then...

I try to get get in a little computer work done if the boys will let me focus.

Most afternoons while the twins nap I'll work on some sort of outdoor chores. The boys are pretty good about helping- any excuse for them to use their Power Wheels Gator.

It's just a sparkling water guys! At least...I think it is...

By 4 pm it's a matter of killing time without anyone getting killed. My husband is home around 5 and I'll head in to get dinner going.

For the sake of full disclosure, this is "the corner." It's the one space in the house that the twins haven't figured out how to reach, so it's a total dumping ground/tiny prep space.

This is what happens when I try to prep on the peninsula.

I made this easy lemon thyme chicken sheet pan meal.

And of course I needed to have a sliver of that cake.

More vacuuming! This time, cake crumbs and dinner scraps.

I clean the kitchen and the yard while my husband bathes the kids. The twins are currently obsessed with brushing their teeth.

Bedtime reading with my boys- lately it's been a lot of Berenstain Bears. Note to self: peach shorts on pale legs do not photograph well. Yikes.

If time allows, I love to treat myself to a 10 minute bath. Don't judge the reading material. A one year subscription was only $10! I'm all for deep reading, but, ugh, at this point in my day I just want superficial fluff.

My husband and I are both in bed by 8:30 and IT IS AWESOME.

Is my day the "healthiest" it could be? Goodness no, but my platform will always be doing the best one can do! In the real world when there are no nannies, no personal chefs, and no cleaning staff, a parent (or two!) cannot do it all. Get some sleep. Drink your water. Eat a veggie or two. Move a little. Eat that occasional slice of cake with salted caramel frosting...

...but just don't expect me to vacuum up YOUR crumbs.