routines & free time.

Well, here we are.

I have been in school for 3 days now and the girls start this Tuesday.

Things are about to get crazy.

The last few years, we have figured out that it works really well for the girls to have a morning, afternoon, and bedtime routine.

They don't always stick to the evening routines, 100%, depending on what activities we have going on after school...practices, piano lessons, games.

However, the morning routine has really become a natural way of life during the school year for us.

And as long as the girls get out of bed when they're asked to (that's a whole other situation), it really helps our mornings to run smoothly.

To the right, you'll see what Harlee's Monday routine looks like.  We went through together and came up with a list of the things that must get done every morning before school to keep the house under control during the school year.

The two older girls switch back and forth between putting clean dishes away each morning and sweeping the kitchen & dining room (a new chore with all hardwood floors in the farmhouse!).

I've laminated these lists and the girls use a dry-erase marker to mark them every morning.  They like the satisfaction of checking off items in a list, just like their mama.  

​We have done a list like this for every day of the week, including Saturdays.  Saturdays also includes what we call a "quick clean" list that we all work on together for an hour or so to get the house spiffied up for a new week.

Sunday has become our "stop day" here at the farmhouse.  

I am trying really hard to just have our family enjoy each other through the whole day and just take an hour or so in the evenings to prepare for the next week.

In our world of busy, busy, busy...it's nice to just breathe, breathe, breathe every once in a while.

Just a few years ago, I was trying to squeeze in photography sessions every extra minute I had (including Sunday afternoons) to help pay off debt and to make sure I wasn't disappointing people.  

I've learned that no matter how many sessions I squeeze into whatever extra time I have left, people will still be disappointed when I run out of sessions.  

And they will still love me.  

So it's really okay!

And because I'm choosing to make Sunday afternoons our "stop days", we will spend time watching Harlee play volleyball and then we will have time for fun board games or projects together.

My mom gave me her old Cricut a few years ago for Christmas and I had literally cut ONE project on it since then.

Until the other night, when I needed some letters cut for the focus wall in my classroom.

When I finished this (completely simple and totally amateur) project, I decided to try something a little more complicated.

I found a purple cup in the cabinet that I've been wanting to buy some sort of vinyl decal for and I decided to try it myself to start.  

​I decided I could always peel it off if it didn't work out.

I found a free SVG image online  (I never even would have know what an SVG image was, if it wouldn't have been for my crafting sister-in-law, Tiffany!) and had to do a little modifying to since a few of the letters were way too small and tedious for my novice, fat fingers to navigate just yet.  

I also added a little piece of free sunshine clip art I found online.

I set the Cricut to cut and off we went.  I switched the vinyl colors when it told me to and I am happy to report that this is what I ended up with!

Can you even believe it?

Yeah, me either.

​It looks kind of bumpy because of the light in the picture, but I assure you...it is not.  

It looks like a real professional did it.

​Thanks for the help, Cricut!

​So here is the point of this whole blog post...I'm praying that with our routines in place through the week, we can keep on top of our busy schedule, laundry, dishes, & keeping the rest of the house manageable.

Used my #cricutexplore to cut out some bulletin board letters for my classroom tonight. Had so much fun that I also decorated my #backtoschool cup that sits on my desk each day. #crafting #cricut #vinyldecal #teacher #education #farmhouse654

A post shared by Hannah Newkirk (@farmhouse654) on Aug 10, 2017 at 10:19pm PDT

That way, we'll be free to enjoy each other in the evenings and on the weekends...crafting, and playing outside, and making slime.

Just kidding.  
We tried that once.  
I am not the "slime-making" kind of mom.

I've realized that I spent too many years in the old house trying to manage the home, keep up with my small business, and being a teacher...without spending enough of my time and energy making memories with my babies.

It's time.  

Happy Weekend, friends!  Make it a good one!  ❤️?❤️