Our morning routine looks something like this...
RA is up at 5:00, I'm up no later than 5:15 to make sure lunches are packed and clothes are ready (both of which I more than likely did the night before) and make breakfast. The boys are usually up by 6:00, although Ellis likes to lay in my bed and stretch/play with the dogs for a few minutes before he officially gets up and gets going. They eat breakfast, get dressed, and brush their teeth. We have a no TV during the school week (morning or afternoon/evening) rule, so the boys usually play in their room while I get dressed. We are all out the door by 7:00. RF is at school about 7:20 and I'm at school by 7:30. RA drops off Ellis about 7:30 before heading on to work himself.
Our afternoon/evening routine looks something like this...
RF rides the school bus to my school and is usually to me about 3:15. My work day ends at 3:40 and RF and I head out to pick up Ellis about 4:10. We are usually back home by 4:45. I prep dinner while the boys play - sometimes inside, sometimes outside. Three days a week we head to the gym for my 5:30 spin class and by the time we get home about 6:30 RA is home from work. We have dinner together and then the boys have a few more minutes to play in their room while RA and I catch up on each other's day. At 7:15 the boys take their bath and begin their bedtime routine. RA usually reads to them for 20-30 minutes and by 7:45, they are laying in their beds snug as bugs in a rug drifting off to sleep. They've recently transitioned to their own twin beds (they used to share a queen bed) and it has made a HUGE difference in their ability to fall asleep all by themselves. RF is usually zonked within 10 minutes of lights out and Ellis is usually about 20 minutes behind RF. RA and I spend the evening straightening up and getting things ready for the next morning to start the process all over again. And he and I are usually in bed by 9:30 or 10:00 at the latest.
Monday, August 6 --- Motivational Monday
A little motivation for the first Monday of the school year. I change the quote each Monday so the kiddos have something to think about the whole week...
Tuesday, August 7 --- Muscles
He walked up to me after dinner and said, "Mama, look at these muscles! You definitely want to take a picture of them. They are really big."
#heishilarious
The hardest thing about this transition to big kid school is that I can't control the elements of the world with which he comes into contact. That is a really hard thing to cope with as a parent.
We have to pray that we've raised him to be a confident, smart, kind young man who will do good and make the right choices.
Thursday, August 9 --- Keeping Watch
They are such beagles. They love to sit and watch all the things (there is nothing...) in the backyard that could try and enter their territory...
Friday, August 10 - Safety Patrol
Thursday was the first day that I dropped RF off in the car rider line and he walked himself to his classroom. There is a team of students who wear safety vests and are called, "The Safety Patrol Team". They are upperclassmen at the elementary school and their job is to help monitor the halls and make sure that the younger students are getting to their classrooms. RF made a friend (Jake, I think) who is one of the safety patrols and when he came home Friday he asked me to make him a safety patrol sash (out of his snake stuffed animal) so that he could pretend to be a member of the safety patrol team. He said, "They are super cool, mom. I want to be one when I'm one of the big kids in my school."
#goals
Saturday, August 11 - Bedtime Story
Each night he lays in one of their beds and reads to them. Tonight's choice was "The Wind in the Willows." RA even does voices for each character. The boys think its the best thing.
Sunday, August 12 - New Light Fixture
I didn't like the light fixture on our front porch, so RA found me something more our speed - a railroad lantern. The Boston & Maine Railroad was in operation from 1836 - the 1980s and this particular lantern (and it's pair that will be hung on our back porch) was used on the Boston & Maine Railroad in the 1920s. He's so good at finding me things for the house that fit our style. Thank you, RA. :-)
Thanks for checking in on our family! We hope you have a great week!
