So in the interest of keeping it real, keeping a record (or diary of sorts) of our day to day lives and to help those who read and enjoy keeping up with what's going on around the Vaughan household here is a true to the moment glimpse into a typical day for us.
Monday morning, April 13, 2015
6:47 am-I wake up to the sounds of Audrey screaming, "Momma!" and slowly crawl out of bed. Rich is home from work and beats me to our little girl who is pitifully clinging to her Daddy. Audrey decides she wants me and we all sit on the couch together. Rich and I get a few moments to talk before Katie wakes up. She runs into the living room shouting, "The trash truck is here! We have to go watch it Daddy!" Then she drags her Daddy to the front door to watch the trash truck. That's the way the girls are...Audrey wakes up grumpy and clingy and Katie jumps out of bed ready to go.
7:07 am-After potty breaks for all we gather at the table for breakfast. Audrey just wants milk, as usual we try to convince her to have something else besides just milk. I make a smoothie for her and I to share while Rich grabs the cereal. The smoothie goes untouched.
7:43 am-I head for the shower while Rich chases the girls around. They absolutely love to wrestle with him!
8:11 am-You would think getting two little girls dressed in the morning would be easy.....not! But, this morning it wasn't too bad. We each grabbed a girl and wrestled them into some clothes. Then we brushed the girls' teeth. This task has become much easier lately because Audrey has finally relented to us helping her brush her teeth without screaming and rolling around like we are torturing her. I brushed Katie's hair while Rich got ready for bed. The girls and Daddy wrestle while I get dressed. Audrey falls off the bed and cracks her head on the nightstand. We tuck Daddy in and head to the main part of the house. I clean up breakfast and do a quick vacuum and sweep before starting our school day.
8:57 am-We start off earlier than usual today with our Bible reading and some random book reading. We have been learning about caterpillars and butterflies so I try to get the girls to pick some of the books we've gotten from the library about butterflies. After 3 or 4 books we take a break and I let the girls play while I get more housework done. Knox and Brex are coming over today so I like to get as much done as possible before they get here.
9:17 am-Katie has found some letter dice that I made so she asks me to come in the den and help her play a "letter game". We roll the dice and make words, some real and some silly (hmmm phonics lesson done for the day?).
9:40 am-Knox and Brex get here and the girls run to the girl. They are so excited to see their friends! The kids start playing while Julie and I talk for a bit (yay, for adult conversation!).
10:02 am- We start school again with the boys. We do our calendar time first. The kids start by saying what day, month and year it is. Then we sing "Days of the Week" and "Months of the Year". Next we count 1-30. The kids are getting really good at counting. We sing "How Are We Feeling?" and "How's The Weather?" and discuss our feelings, what we have been doing since we last saw each other and the weather. We also talk about what our theme for the week is and our Bible verse. Our Bible verse comes from a cd of Bible verse songs so the last thing we do during calendar time is sing our Bible verse while the kids dance.
10:20 am-We start on a new writing program to do with all the kids. Having multiple ages and abilities makes it difficult to accommodate everyone so we just do the best we can. Today I introduce the wooden pieces that go along with the curriculum. The kids use big lines, little lines, big curves and little curves to make capital letters. We practice making a few capital letters. We make an A, K and B for each of the kids' names. Katie points out that B makes the "buh" sound in words like "butt". The kids roll on the floor laughing because they've found out how to sneak in a silly word. But, they remember exactly how to form the letter B and what it's sound is so I call that a win! We then sing some songs that go along with the curriculum to help the kids learn the differences between all the pieces. In the middle of it all Audrey loses interest and plays with the guinea pigs while the big kids continue to work on letter formation. Audrey always wants to be right in the middle of our school but, there's only so much she can do before she starts playing with something else.
10:35 am-The kids sit down for a snack of popcorn and cookies while I get their art ready. Today we are making butterflies using buttons, clothespins and coffee filters. After snack we sit down for art. The kids color their coffee filters with markers then use a paintbrush and water to blend the colors. They glue buttons on their clothespins. Audrey eats the markers as she colors and the kids all get done at different times which makes it slightly chaotic to try and get the butterflies put together. But, we get it done and they turn out really cute.
10:54 am-All the kids are done with the art so they run off to play while I clean up after their art project and get some more housework done. I even get a chance to sit down for a few minutes, eat a cookie and play around on facebook. The kiddos are all playing so well together this morning that I'm able to give the bathroom a good cleaning, which hasn't happened in awhile.
11:40 am-I gather the kids together and get them excited about lunch so they'll be more willing to get their toys cleaned up. We go from room to room and get all the toys back in order. Then we take bathroom breaks while I get lunch together.
12:00 pm-The kids gather at the table for their lunch. While the kids are eating I grab some triscuits and spinach dip to munch on while emptying the dishwasher and running back and forth opening containers, peeling fruit and helping the kids eat their lunch. Audrey gets done eating before anyone else and just wants to be held so I get her out of her highchair and we sit at the table while she runs back and forth to the den feeding her guinea pigs her cucumbers. Katie and I are reading a chapter book by Roald Dahl called, "The BFG". I grab the book and read a few pages while Audrey crawls on and off my lap and the other kids finish their lunch. It holds their attention for a few minutes until Audrey starts running around the table roaring like a dinosaur. This sends the kids into fits of laughter and they all run off to join her, chasing each other around the house screaming and roaring.
1:00 pm-The bigger kids have had their potty break and Audrey is taking a nap. It's time for phonics practice. Today we are taking words from our Phonics Pathways book and putting them on our whiteboard using magnetic letters. Knox and Brex work on recognizing each letter. Knox also works on learning the sounds of each letter. Katie works on reading the 3-letter words. She's working on CVC words right now which stands for consonant, vowel, consonant. She is really doing well blending words together and is even getting to where she can read words without first sounding them out. Today she wants to spell caterpillar so we work through the word, sounding it out one letter at a time.
1:20 pm-After phonics the kids get to watch t.v. while I relax, read or work on the computer.
2:30 pm-Julie comes to pick up the boys. The kids start playing and Audrey wakes up. Julie and I talk while the kids play. Usually we end up visiting for a long time working our conversation around the sounds of kids running through the house. Today she is here until 4:15. Lots of good adult conversation!
4:15 pm-The girls and I run to the bedroom to wake up Daddy. He's already awake and the girls start wrestling and climbing all over him. I give him a quick hug and go into the kitchen to start some coffee. The girls want to get out their guinea pigs so we set up their area in the dining room and I try to catch the pigs. They want to hold their guinea pigs which is no easy task. I get frustrated because the girls are wound up and not listening. Luckily Daddy is up now and he reminds to get a cup of coffee and relax. We sit down with our coffee while the girls, guinea pigs and dog run around the kitchen squealing.
5:00 pm- We get the pigs put up after just a little chasing underneath the kitchen table. Then we settle down for dinner. I made lasagna the night before so Rich and I eat leftovers. The girls didn't really like the lasagna so they get cereal, cheese, strawberries and carrots. Mondays are our crazy night because we have to get ready for Katie's dance class. We get dinner eaten and Rich starts cleaning up dishes while I start Audrey in the bath. Katie spills her plate of food on the floor so her and Daddy sweep it up (with lots of help from Lillie). Rich takes over the girls' bath while I finish up in the kitchen and get dressed for dance. I get Katie out of the tub and get her dressed for dance class. We're able to get out the door by 6:00 pm for her 6:30 pm class.
7:13 pm-Katie and I get home from her dance class. We get her dressed for bed and teeth brushed.
Today was a great day! Hectic, crazy, sometimes frustrating. We had a very successful school day and the kids had a lot of fun with their friends. Rich and I got to spend the evening relaxing together after the girls went to bed. He played a game on his computer while I wrote this blog on my computer. He'll head to work abou 9:00 pm and we'll start the whole thing over tomorrow.
