Our Five Ring Circus: A Week In The Life of a Big Family {Week 1}

Tuesday, January 14, 2020

A Week In The Life of a Big Family {Week 1}

A Week in the Life of a Big Family

We are one week into 2020, and life is just as busy as ever! I honestly don't think it will ever NOT be busy. When you have a big family, there's literally never a dull moment!


Remember when I used to do weekly recap posts? They slowed down last year as I adjusted to life with five kids, but I plan to bring them back this year, and hopefully, stick with it! Time goes by so quickly, and I just want to remember all the little things that made my days with my kids so special! (Plus a few followers asked if I could share more of my family, so that's my plan!)

It's hard to believe that two weeks have already passed since Christmas, and that everybody is already back to work and school. The holiday break is my favorite time of the year, and I was sorry to see it go. The first few days of the new year were a bit rough, but we're back on track this week, and the year is off to a good start. 


Week 1: January 1st - January 7th


Wednesday, January 1st


Happy New Year! We had four extra kids sleep over on New Year's Eve, so after everyone was picked up or dropped off, I took my girls, and their best friends, to see Frozen 2. We all loved the movie, and decided that should be our new tradition!

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Frozen 2

Mom Life


We came back to our house so the kids could play for a bit. Just before dinner, I dropped off Lexie, and her best friend, Lexi, at Lexi's house for dinner, then drove Lily's best friend and her brother (family friends) back home. When I got home, we ate dinner, then had to prepare for the next day, because Grant had to go back to work, and the kids had to go back to school. I really wish our holiday break lasted just a few days longer!

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2020

Down syndrome


Thursday, January 2nd


Back to reality!  Lexie woke me up around 4:30 AM to tell me that she threw up. Grant was really queasy the previous day, so I didn't want to mess around, and she ended up staying home. When Dylan went to log on for cyber school just before 8 AM, his laptop needed to be repaired, so we put in a call to tech support. They didn't get back to us that day, so Dylan missed his two live classes for the day, and couldn't log on to do homework. 

After dropping off Liam and Lily at their schools, Coen and I went for a quick 1 1/2 mile walk at the park to get rid of some stress! That evening we spent some time together as a family before rushing back into our usual night before school/work routine.

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Exercise with kids

Babywearing


Friday, January 3rd


Friday was a ROUGH day! It was rainy and dreary, and we waited around all morning to get Dylan's computer fixed. Lexie was still not feeling well, Dylan was very moody and full of teen angst, and we had to cancel our afternoon plans so we could get Dylan's laptop repaired. Tech support finally called around 1 PM, and Dylan had to log on and make up a bunch of work quickly. 

I picked up Lily and Liam from school, then took Dylan to his girlfriend's house. I'm usually busy on Friday evenings, but decided to stay home that night. Our friends came over, and we watched TV/movies all night. When Dylan came home, he took Coen to his room for a while, and we found them both asleep and snuggling.  It was actually nice to have a relaxing Friday evening at home!

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English Mastiff

Saturday, January 4th


We had a quiet Saturday at home. I got a lot of cleaning and organizing done! That evening, we went over to my best friend's new house. We all had a great time, and they live a minute away from my parents, so I was able to drop a few kids off at their house when they got antsy. We ended up staying until just after midnight, and when we left it was snowing quite a bit! We picked up Liam from my parent's house, and Lexie ended up spending the night at their house.

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Sunday, January 5th


We spent Sunday afternoon at my parent's house, and had dinner with them to celebrate my dad's birthday, which was the following day. Back at home, we put away laundry and got ready for the upcoming week of school/work.

Monday, January 6th 


Happy Epiphany and Happy 80th Birthday to my dad! We had a busy Monday. After dropping off Liam and Lily at school, Coen and I went to the park for a workout. After that, we stopped at CVS, the grocery store, Target, and Aldi to do our weekly shopping. Coen fell asleep at our last stop, slept the entire time I shopped, and slept as I unloaded the car and put away groceries!

Exercise with baby

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That afternoon, my parents stopped by for a visit. I ran to pick up Liam, and as soon as Lily got off the bus, we gave my dad his presents, and celebrated his birthday. How blessed we are to have him in our lives! He is a wonderful dad, and an amazing grandpa!

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Large Family


That evening, we went to Grant's hometown's borough meeting, because they were presenting Lexie with a letter of appreciation. Lexie  is smart, sweet, responsible, kind, and thoughtful, and she makes us proud! She loves STEM, and STEAM was her favorite class in 5th and 6th grade. One of their big projects was to design something using the 3D printer. It could be anything! Lexie decided to replicate the spaceship that sits in the center of our town, in honor of her PapPap, who was the mayor of Mars for many years before he passed away. 

This past year, the town of Mars had a big Mars New Year celebration, and employees from NASA were there. Lexie was at the STEAM booth for a while explaining how she created the spaceship and printed it with the 3D printer. Her STEAM teacher printed her model, and sent it home with the NASA employees - I believe 28 NASA employees received this! At the end of the school year, Lexie presented at the school board meeting, and gave each school board member one of the spaceships. And last night, the mayor of Mars, who was also a friend of her PapPap, presented her with a letter of appreciation for honoring Mars, and its former mayor, at the borough meeting. This sweet girl is going places!

Mars, PA


Tuesday January 7th


Everybody was dragging on Tuesday for some reason! Coen and I went to the park for our usual morning workout, and the weather had warmed up a lot from the weekend. It actually felt like early Spring! When I picked Liam up from school, he fell asleep on the short drive home, for the first time in weeks. I so wanted to join him for a nap, but there was too much to do!

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That evening, Lily had a private tumbling class with her best friend. She finally did her back walkover with a little help from her teacher! We all headed to bed early that evening, exhausted after the first week of the new year.

Fire & Ice Tumbling


CURRENTLY


READING


I did not read much last year, and I plan on changing that this year! I started one book last year, and couldn't get into it, so I tried again, and had much better luck! I'm about a quarter of the way through Time's Convert by Deborah Harkness. I loved The All Souls Trilogy, and this one is actually pretty good, too! 

WATCHING


Grant and I are currently catching up on This Is Us, Peaky Blinders, and How To Get Away With Murder. We just finished season two of You and the last season of The Crown. Both were really good! 

EATING


Last week for dinner, we had:

  • Potato Chip Chicken, Parsley Potatoes, and Butter Beans
  • Spaghetti with meat sauce and salad
  • Pork Chops, Couscous, and Zucchini with cheese
  • Homemade Cheesy Tuna Casserole and rolls
...and I forget the rest!

LISTENING TO


I finally gave up on Christmas music, and started to my Spotify playlists again!

WEARING


I got a lot of cute shirts and sweaters for Christmas, so I've been wearing those with leggings, jeggings, and boots. The weather was actually warm for this time of year, so I haven't had the chance to wear many of my new sweaters yet. I'll be sharing a few of my favorite outfits in the upcoming weeks!

Coming up this week:


The week ahead is not as busy as usual. I mean, it's busy enough, but we don't have anything extra. Other than work, school, and our usual weekly activities, we just have tumbling, a doctor's appointment, and reading to Liam's class! Something always pops up, though!


A Week In The Life of a Big Family

I hope your new year is off to a great start! Tell me what's new with you in the comments!

3 comments:

  1. Always good to catch up with you and your family.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I’d love to read more about your decision to homeschool, if that’s something you feel comfortable sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I love these posts! Definitely sounds like you've been busy lately. That picture of Dylan and Coen is adorable! And congrats to Lexie on her certificate - that's awesome.

    -lauren
    www.shootingstarsmag.net

    ReplyDelete

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