Picture An Hour: January 2024

Hey friends! How are you? How is your week going so far? It’s been a hot second since I’ve sat down and recapped a day in the life post to share with you guys but I made it a point to snap a lot of pictures yesterday so I could do just that today! I’m back in action with a “picture an hour” post to give you a glimpse into our day yesterday through one photo per hour.

Tuesday

• 6:15 a.m. Coffee + Devotional

I was up at 6 a.m. to let Pepper out and eased into the day with coffee and my daily devotional before jumping on the computer and working until the boys were all awake and ready for breakfast.

• 7:40 a.m. School drop off for Chase

Ryan takes Chase to school several times a week but he had an early meeting on Tuesday so Rhett, Ryder, Pepper and I dropped Chase off before making our way back home. Pepper loves being a part of the drop off routine and always enthusiastically wags her tail at the door, hoping to be included every morning. I’m positive every single one of our boys would sneak her into school in their backpacks if they could.

• 8:45 a.m. Get dressed + Head out the door for preschool drop off 

(Leggings: lululemon / Shoes: Amazon / Sweatshirt: Free People (but old ) / Vest: Amazon / Crew socks: Amazon / Beanie: Walmart — but last year) 

We didn’t have too much time after Chase’s drop off until we had to head back out for preschool drop off so while Rhett and Ryder played at home, I quickly put on a little makeup and then packed up backpacks, refilled water bottles and loaded everyone in the car for school drop off 2.0.

• 9:50 a.m. TSA Pre-Check Appointment

(Forgot to snap a pic of this one!) 

When Ryan and I took the boys to Disney earlier this month, he ended up taking all the kids through security with him because he has TSA Pre-Check and I do not. As I waited in a 45-minute line in Orlando by myself, I figured I should apply for TSA Pre-Check since we have a decent amount of travel on the agenda this year. The appointment was a breeze — I just needed my birth certificate, marriage certificate and driver’s license — and now I’m crossing my fingers everything will go through a little faster than the 30-60 days they said it can take.

• 10: 30 a.m. Quick consignment store pit-stop 

Having three boys (all with summer birthdays!) is a dream for hand-me-downs but shoes are getting trickier to pass down because our boys run them into the ground. Since I was close to one of my favorite consignment shops, I popped in to check out their shoe inventory because our kids fly through shoes like it’s their job. Ryder’s favorite sneakers are currently on their last leg and just about falling apart so I majorly lucked out yesterday when I spotted a pair of like-new Nikes in his size! I couldn’t buy them fast enough. Score!

• 11:00 a.m. Leg workout 

Before making my way back home, I stopped by the gym for a quick 30-minute leg workout. It was short but efficient and I am glad I was able to fit it in! I simply did three rounds of 15 reps of the following exercises: Bulgarian split squats (each leg), deadlifts, leg extensions, weighted glute bridges, hamstring stability ball curls and single leg deadlifts (each leg).

• 12:10 p.m. Lunch 

I swung by our house to check in on Pepper, grab snacks for the boys, make myself a quick lunch and get a little work done before it was time to pick up Rhett and Ryder from preschool. Lunch was an easy one thanks to dinner leftovers and I simply reheated a bowl of chicken soup and ate it along with several handfuls of Annie’s cheddar snack mix, a snack I bought for the boys that I cannot stop eating myself. That extra dusting of cheese all over everything gets me every time.

• 1:30 p.m. Park play date 

After preschool pickup, we met up with my friend Lauren and her youngest son at a local park so the kids could run around and play before we all had to leave to pick up their older siblings from school.

• 2:55 p.m. Library 

After we picked Chase up from school, the drizzly weather had me thinking it would be a good afternoon for a stop by the library on our way home. I have such vivid memories of my mom taking me to the Palatine Public Library as a kid. She’d let me spend as much time as I wanted browsing the books and I’d leave so excited about all of my “new” books (aka lots of Judy Blume and Sweet Valley High). Seeing our boys light up at the library brings back a little bit of this joy.

• 3:50 p.m. Pack lunches + Play 

Once we made it back home, the boys unloaded their backpacks and played in the living room while I immediately repacked their lunches. I started doing this a while back and it’s been a game changer. I give their lunch boxes a quick clean in the sink and then refill them with the next day’s lunches. There have been no complaints about gross sandwiches, stale crackers or anything like that (I still swear by our Bentgo lunch boxes) and it definitely makes our mornings a little easier!

• 4:30 p.m. Early bath time + Stories 

I LOVE an early bath time. On Monday, Wednesday and Thursday afternoons, we have piano, martial arts or basketball but Tuesdays and Fridays are my favorites because we have no commitments. More often than not, this means early bath/shower time and I love it when we’re all home and cozy before 5 p.m. After bath time we cuddled up on the couch and read some stories from the boys’ library haul until I began prepping dinner for our gang.

• 5:45 p.m. Dinner

A little before 6 p.m. Ryan was done with work and we sat down to dinner! I made teriyaki salmon bowls for the grown ups while the boys had a semi-deconstructed version (really just brown rice and cucumber slices with grilled cheese and raspberries instead of the salmon).

• 6:30 p.m. Indoor football

Our boys love to get some end-of-the-day energy out with “football” in our house. When we were building our home, one thing I really wanted was an easy-access walk-in storage area. Well, this unfinished area upstairs quickly became a hybrid storage/kid free play area where the boys can throw and kick balls and do whatever they want inside without us worrying about them denting walls, etc. Ryan and I had the idea to put down some cheap carpet down last year to resemble a soccer /football field in the space and when I say this is one of the most-used areas in our home, I mean it!

• 7:15 p.m. Boys’ bedtime 

A little after 7 p.m. it was time for more stories and our usual bed time routine with the boys. Ryan read books to the big kids while Rhett and I read a couple of stories from Daniel Tiger’s 5 Minute Stories book for the 5,000th time. Once Rhett was settled in his room, I joined Ryan for prayers with Chase and Ryder and then we headed downstairs to do a quick clean up and let Pepper out.

• 8:00 p.m. Reading with Chase 

Chase and Ryder share a room but since Chase is three years older, he’s often not ready to fall asleep at 7:30 p.m. like his younger brother. Most nights, we let Chase come back downstairs to read with us in our bed after Ryder falls asleep. Since Ryder typically falls asleep within 15 minutes, Chase sneaks back downstairs into our room around 8 p.m. and we read a chapter or two of a “big kid book.” Right now Chase is really into the Percy Jackson series and we’re about halfway through the second book.

Before we started reading with Chase, I plugged my phone in across the room, so that’s the last photo I have for the day! Once Chase went back up to his room, Ryan and I read our own books until we could no longer stay awake. I’m about three quarters of the way through Happy Place by Emily Henry and think it’s okay so far. I know this one got a lot of hype but it’s just not grabbing me.

As for today, it will be a full but good one! I hope you all have a wonderful Wednesday and thanks for taking a peek into our Tuesday with me!