Your Questions Answered

I have shared several posts about this and my cleaning routine has changed as my season of life has shifted.
Right now, my cleaning routine is maintenance cleaning throughout the week and an all-over clean on Fridays. I shared all of it in my Autumn Cleaning post.

It’s hard to remember exactly how things were because I was quite tired. lol I also handled things differently when I had two kiddos than when I had three or four.
I will try to explain, though, how I ran my days.
When I had 1-2 kids, my body was so in shock from the lack of sleep and I felt tired constantly.
When my kids were little, I would have my kids in my bed with me in the early morning and they would watch tv, eat cheerios, and drink milk while I laid in bed with my eyes closed.
I simply felt exhausted.
By the time I had my third (and then fourth), I was used to being tired and I learned to push through. I desired to get up early and have productive mornings, so I worked towards that.
Once my baby was sleeping through the night (this was with my 3rd & 4th) for a good 6 months, I started to rise early. It started slowly and I inched my wake up time earlier and earlier.
After we were all awake, our day looked like this:
7- breakfast
7:30- television show
8- reading time
8:30- school time
10- snack and outside time
12- lunch
12:30-3- naptime for all kiddos
3- snack time and TV
4- outside time
4:30- I start supper while kids play at my feet
5:30- supper
6- baths
6:30- bedtime for kids

I have always been careful not to spend much on decor, especially seasonal decor (except Christmas- lol). Try to buy things that aren’t trendy so that they last and last. Another way I keep things under budget is that I thrift and search at antique stores.
I love to use things in our yard- pine cones, twigs, flowers, acorns, etc. Simply moving things I have in my home around or into another room changes things up.
Also, candles and simmer pots on the stove are thrifty ways to bring in some cozy.
Buy good pillow inserts and swap out pillow covers. You can find cheap ones online.

This is a really good questions: make my bed, clean my kitchen, sweep my kitchen floors.

I only have succulents, but in our last home I had tons of plants inside and I loved it. Pothos do really well and require very little attention.

I shared this in my Homemaker’s Gift Guide post.

I use thieves household concentrate solution and I have for years and years.

5/5:30- wake up
7- fix breakfast for kids
7:30- get ready
8:30- start school
9- eat breakfast while doing school
12- lunch
1-3- work time for me/meal prep
4:30- run kids to their activities
6- supper
8- family discipleship time and bedtime
9:30- bedtime for me

I have some posts that outline this in more detail:
School Morning Day in the Life
A Day in the Life- Evening Routine

Just do it. Start inviting people over or start saying, “yes,” when they ask if they can come over. The more you do it, the easier it is and the better you’ll be at it. I’m still working on this.
Keep your main living area tidy so you don’t have reservations about people coming over.
How to Quickly Prepare for Last-Minute Guests
Have some popcorn ready to pop or cookies in your freezer so you have a quick treat when people drop by last minute.

I have an entire post coming SOON on exactly how I manage laundry in the home and what my routine is for this. Stay tuned! 😊

The post is now LIVE!
Homemaker’s Laundry Routine

The hardest part with finding a personal style is to peel away what is trendy and settle in on what YOU like.
I have always loved classic style, such as colonial homes. That is my dream home… an old colonial with a center staircase.
I try to bring in bits of that in this home, even though it isn’t a colonial. Other than that, I add in European and English cottage elements.

For me, decorating slowly is what works best. I search for items I’m wanting and slowly add them to my home. Antiques are, hands down, one of my favorite things to add to our home. I have a couple of posts on this:
Vintage Gallery Wall
Decorating with Antiques
Other than that, I like to peek at H and M Home for inspiration.

Each situation is different, so it’s hard for me to answer this. Girls and boys are different. Older kids and younger kids are different.
I’d try to find the source. Is the child bored? Is the work too hard/easy? Am I catering to the child’s learning strengths?
Is your child being disobedient?
I think you have to find out the source, as best as you can, and then adjust things from there.

You pray. You pray daily and you ask the Lord to give him wisdom about this decision. And, then you submit to what your husband deems best.
It’s not the easiest answer, but I think that is what has to happen and that is what I did.
My husband didn’t want to homeschool. The Lord put in on my heart first. I took scripture to my husband and I told him I would submit to what he thought was best, but I asked him to also pray about it.
A year later (we both prayed for a year), we decided to homeschool our oldest for prek. Now she is in 8th grade and it was THE BEST decision we have ever made. BUT… we made it together- united.

I’m not sure. I guess my advice is to always pick the best, most thorough curriculum. I don’t think your child will be at a disadvantage by not using the exact same line of math teaching that is used in the public schools.

At first, absolutely. I had big dreams of their public school experience and it was super hard and isolating when all of my friends were sharing the school pictures on social media.
That goes away though when you get to see what a blessing homeschooling is for the family and the culture of the home. I am beyond thrilled that the Lord brought us down this path.
I never feel like I’m missing out now.

We start at 8:30 and break at 12. We do not take any breaks during that time. When my kids were younger, their school time wasn’t quite so long and there were lots of fun activities woven in.
Ella and Liam have work they do after lunch for a little bit, too. We get in, at least, 5 hours of school per day.

I shared that in my School Morning Day in the Life post.

Homeschool Curriculum for Preschool to 2nd Grade
Homeschool Curriculum for 3rd grade through 6th grade

I will work on this. A lot of you have asked for a tutorial for those double braids I wore the other day on stories. I will work on it. 👍

I used to buy clothing from a lot of different places, but I’m finding it more difficult these days to find brands I want to support.
Ann Taylor Loft
Carly Jean LA
Poshmark- an app for thifted clothing
Local boutiques

I like booties and a waterproof boot of some sort.

I get ready on Sundays, Mondays, Wednesdays, Saturdays. Sometimes, I get ready on the other days, depending on if we have places to go, but I always get ready on the days listed above. I do always get dressed, but I might not put makeup on during my “off” days.

I do a capsule, so I wear whatever I have for that season in my closet. I rewear things over and over. I don’t have a huge wardrobe, so people see the same stuff on me. I will link my capsules below.
Simple Fall Capsule Wardrobe
Simple Summer Capsule Wardrobe 2021