Picture an Hour: August 2023

Hey friends! I’m back in action today recapping this weird limbo phase we’re in right now through a “one picture per hour” post. We have one foot in school mode as Chase went back to school last week but one foot is still firmly planted in summer mode since Rhett and Ryder don’t begin preschool again until after Labor Day. It makes our days feel a little all over the place but we’re having fun and doing our best to embrace days that have some routine but also not a lot of routine. What a time to be alive.

August 22, 2023: One Picture Per Hour

6:15 a.m. Wake up

(Quick recommendation request! As you can see above, we got an Apple AirTag for Pepper to wear at all times because I worry she might accidentally get out when the boys are coming in and out of the house and we don’t trust her outside off-leash. If your pet is small and wears an AirTag, have you found something small/sleek to put it in when you attach it to their collar? The best I’ve found is this silicone AirTag holder but I feel like there must be something better and smaller out there.)

Okay, back to the post… It’s 6:15 a.m. and I’m awake!

When we’re in summer mode, I’ll often wake up at 5 a.m. to work before the boys are up. The previous night I slept horribly and knew I needed the extra rest so I opted to sleep in on Tuesday morning. Ryan left Sunday afternoon for a less-than-24-hour work trip to Boston (he had to speak at a conference early Monday morning) and I swear I never sleep well when he’s gone. Every little noise I hear in the night makes me think someone is in our house which makes for a rockin’ good time all night long. Anyway, sleeping in a bit yesterday felt like the reset I needed and you know I always love starting my day with a little Pepper love.

7:10 a.m.  Breakfast + Coffee + Daily devotional

Since the sun is still rising early, our boys are typically awake on their own by 6:30 a.m. This makes school drop-off mornings run a little smoother than they do in the winter when our kids are more likely to sleep in because it’s still dark outside for longer in the morning. Chase and Ryder know to brush their teeth and get themselves dressed before they come out of their room and then they typically go right into play-mode, pausing only to quickly eat whatever I make for breakfast. Yesterday they were all about creating a marble run course and Rhett joined in the fun once I got him dressed and fed as well. Since the boys were all happily entertained after breakfast, I jumped at the chance to spend 5 minutes at the kitchen counter sipping my coffee with my devotional after we all said goodbye to Ryan. Doesn’t the above picture make it look like my morning was super chill and relaxing? It sure was for 5 minutes.

8:05 a.m. Chase’s school drop off

Rhett and Ryder high-fived Chase goodbye and he was psyched to find a feather to add to his always-growing feather collection on the way into school. A sign of a good day when you’re eight-years-old!

9:00 a.m. Whole Foods

I had a couple Amazon returns to make, so we headed to Whole Foods after drop off and ran into Brittany! Chase and Ryder love “helping” with returns and think the self-checkout counter is the coolest thing in all the land so thankfully they don’t mind errands that involve these tasks. We also picked up macarons for their friend Dane since yesterday was his fourth birthday!

10:00 a.m. Boot camp

Rhett and Ryder joined me at Burn Boot Camp for the 9:15 a.m. camp and while they hung out in childcare, I completed an upper body workout. By 10 a.m. I was done and we loaded into my car and drove to my friend Lauren’s house to say hi and deliver our happy birthday macarons to Dane!

11:30 a.m. A trip to the consignment store

Before heading home for lunch, we made a quick trip to a local consignment shop to drop off some of the boys’ clothes and browse their used books selection. Nothing jumped out at us this time but it felt good to offload some kid clothes we no longer needed.

12:15 p.m. Lunch + Shower

(Waffle-knit jumpsuit: Amazon – I’m in a medium / Sandals: TKEES/ Crossbody bag: Amazon / Bracelets: Shopbop but old) 

We arrived home hungry dove into lunch before I did my best to settle Rhett down for his nap that never happened. While Rhett sang and played and did basically anything other than sleep in his crib, Ryder played with his Hot Wheels track and I took a shower and actually washed my hair. Oh happy day.

1:20 p.m. Work

Though Rhett never fell asleep, he seemed content to play in his crib and since Ryder was also happily entertaining himself, I squeezed in 45 minutes of work on the computer which mostly looked like tackling my horrifying inbox and responding to Instagram DMs. (Side note: I loooove responding to Instagram DMs from my computer when I can. I prefer using a block of time to respond to a bunch of messages at once so I’m not on my phone/social media all day long, especially with the boys around.)

2:55 p.m. Pick up Chase + Urban Air Trampoline Park play date

And just like that Chase’s school day was done and we were back in his parking lot waiting for our favorite second grader. Once we picked Chase up, we were off to Urban Air, a local trampoline park, to meet up with friends for some playtime before their summer hours end next week.

4:45 p.m. Still at Urban Air

We spent a solid two hours at Urban Air because the boys were having such a blast. Chase also tried the ropes coarse and zip line with his friends Claire and Lily for the first time and loved it!

5:30 p.m. Back home!

The boys were all about outside playtime while I prepped dinner.

6 p.m. Dinnertime!

Ryan had a work dinner last night so I opted to finish off Monday night’s leftovers for my dinner and plated up grilled cheese sandwiches, blueberries, pineapple and carrots for the boys.

7:30 p.m. Stories and bedtime for the big kids

Rhett was in bed by 6:30 p.m. yesterday (no nap will do that to ya) but the big kids and I spent some time reading before they were settled into bed around 7:45 p.m. We finished our latest Boxcar Children book (I LOVED that series when I was a kid), said prayers and goodnight!

8 – 10 p.m. Speed clean + Snack + Bedtime routine + Reading

I did a little speed clean around the house after the boys were in bed. Eventually Ryan arrived home from his work dinner and we spent some time snacking and chatting at the kitchen counter before letting Pepper out and climbing into bed to read.

I recently finished reading Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros (loved it!) and started With Love from London by Sarah Jio last night. She was one of my favorite authors when I was in my 20s and it’s been too long since I’ve picked up one of her novels. I read until my eyes could no longer stay open and went to sleep a little after 10 p.m.

Plans for today include open house at Ryder and Rhett’s preschool and possibly some pool time later because it’s supposed to be a hot one here!

I hope you all have a great Wednesday!