A snapshot into our daily life

Video: Catching the tram into the city.

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Hi all my lovely readers. Wow it’s been a busy couple of months for me. End of school year craziness, Christmas, and 6 weeks of summer school holidays. I don’t actually like business. I know many who thrive off it. My personality type screams for peace, quiet and slow. Otherwise my head gets cluttered and I have a tendency to get overwhelmed, brain fog and shut down a little. However I am slowly learning how to cope when life gets busy – I just keep rolling and don’t give into the stress and hope that a quieter time is around the corner when I can think…and write. Daily rituals that I have embedded into my life in recent years have helped me to cope better with stress too such as cups of tea, walking in nature, talking regularly and deeply with my husband, lists, daily prayer and journaling.

We got back from a lovely holiday 6 days ago. We were very blessed to have the opportunity to stay in my uncle and auntie’s holiday house which happens to be right at the most popular sea side location in the city! Luke and I vlogged one day of our holiday where we caught the tram which goes from the coast all the way into the city. We had a great family day out while we walked to the museum, mall and a guitar shop. Luke edits and does all the graphic design for our Youtube channel, he is very talented in this area!

I hope you enjoy! Blessings, Peta xo

 

Vlog – Day In The Life Of Us and What I Eat In A Day To Maintain My Weight Loss.

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In this video:

What I eat in a day to maintain my postpartum weight loss.

Come with me for my bike ride and see a day in the life of us including seeing the aftermath of baby Willow eating her tea. Also see a little of our family devotion time and family worship.

Blessings, Peta 

My non perfect weekly laundry routine that actually works! – Vlog!

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Here’s some exciting news – I have begun a Youtube channel! You can now watch 2 Punks Had a Bunch Of Kids on Youtube! After being inspired by some other fellow mum Youtube vloggers – I decided to give it a go myself. And thankfully my husband is a Tech nerd and also has a Youtube channel Beard Tech, and has been teaching me how to edit videos and helped me set up my channel. It’s a work in progress, but I’m having so much fun!

In this vlog I demonstrate my weekly laundry routine.

This is the plan:

Monday: Wash dirty clothes from basket in boys room

Tuesday: Wash basket in Mine and Luke’s bedroom

Wednesday: Wash basket in girls room

Thursday: Washing basket in laundry room

Friday: Wash sheets and other linen.

Saturday: Wash boys school uniform.

I hang out the washing outside after lunch and fold the previous days dry washing straight off the line.

I then sort the washing into tubs – one tub for each child and one for me and Luke.

The older 3 children put away their own washing into their drawers and I put away the two little girls washing and mine and Luke’s.

It’s doesn’t always work out when I have a few busy days in a row where I have to do lots of running around to appointments and other errands. You’ll see in the video what happened on that particular week that threw me off course and why I needed to spend Saturday bringing it all back together again.  I hope you enjoy getting a glimpse into our home. Don’t forget to like and subscribe to the video and leave me a comment below if you would like to see more videos and what you are interested in seeing/hearing about.

Blessings, Peta

Holiday vlog – farm stay – Colin Buchanan concert – boots full of water – puppies eating my shoes!

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I kept the camera handy in the past week and filmed snippets of our school holidays. Follow us in person to see Colin Buchanan live in concert, what I packed for a day out in the city, how we buy all our children an ice cream each at the mall large family on a budget style, see our holiday cottage on my parents farm, picking asparagus, hiking up a hill, catching tadpoles, my sisters puppies eating my shoes, and a running commentary from me of all that’s going on.

CLICK ON THE PHOTO TO WATCH THE VLOG!

 

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Blessings, Peta

 

A day in the life of a mum with 5 children ages 8, 6, 5, 3 and 16 months.

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Once again I am doing a day in the life post! I love writing these because it’s so fun looking back and reading my old posts and seeing how much my family changes every 6 months. Children do a LOT of growing in 6 months! I hope you enjoy getting just a little taste of what a typical day is for me caring for my family. Every day is so different yet seems to always follow the same pattern.

7am – My alarm goes off. You know that playschool song that goes

“I jump out of bed in the morning

I jump out of bed in the morning

I jump out of bed in the morning

I hope it’s a very nice day.”

That was NOT me this morning. Actually it’s not me any morning. I do struggle with getting out of bed and always have. I was particularly tired this morning because of a little middle of the night visitor in our bed who then got a blood nose, which went all over our bed!

I roll out of bed and do my morning routine which consists of;

Packing the boys school lunches (I’m not quite organised enough yet to do this the night before). Getting all the children their breakfasts. Getting dressed. Helping the children dress and supervising their morning chores.

Willow has a blow out nappy! Luke hadn’t left for work yet and he dealt with that! Phew

I make myself a green smoothie for breakfast and sip it as I head out the door with all the kids to drop the boys off at school.

I drive the wrong way home even though it’s been several weeks since we moved to our new house. I must be tired!

Once home I head to my room with a green tea and spend some time in prayer. The Lord will give me everything I need to get through each new day!

9.20am – I begin my morning chores which consists of putting a load of washing on, doing all the dishes, clearing and wiping the table and benches and sweeping the kitchen and dining room floors. Sometimes I am not finished this until 11 in the morning or later. I have no idea why it takes that long. It just does.  I guess I have lots of people to clean up for by myself and during this time I also get the little girls some morning tea, take my supplements and maybe deal with a cranky toddler. Or a change poopy nappy or two.

10:30am – My parents in law drop in and give us two boxes of yummy oranges from their tree and a birthday present for Francis. We chat for a while.

11am – I settle Willow for her nap, then make myself another green tea. I continue the breakfast dishes which are still not done yet. Savannah has come down with a fever and is now asleep on the couch.

11.30am – I head outside with Holly. It’s a beautiful spring day and I spend an hour digging and pulling out weeds where I plan on planting some summer veggies. Holly loves finding worms and is having a great time in the dirt.

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12.45pm – Holly and I have lunch. Holly has a peanut butter sandwich and I eat butter chicken, baby spinach and brown rice leftover from last nights tea.

1.20pm – I have an oat straw tea and sit down to have my quiet time of Bible reading and devotions. I get out my journal and write a little. I read Holly a book about colours in bed and try to get her to have a nap but she just quietly plays in her room for a while.

2pm – Savannah wakes up and wants to watch a movie. She appears to be coming down with the flu that we all have had in the last few weeks. I put on Tarzan for her on the laptop then head outside to hang out the washing.

2:05pm – Willow wakes from her nap. I give her lunch and she eats it sitting outside watching me hang up washing.

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2:15 – Holly is knocking on her door and wants to come out. She had a ‘play nap.’

2:25pm – I put on a second load of washing and whip up a marinade for the chicken wings I’m planning on cooking for tea.

3:05pm – Shoes on for everyone and I buckle 3 girls in the car to pick up the boys from school.

3:30pm – Luke is home from his work training day. We have a quick chat, cup of tea and ‘handover’ as I prepare to leave the house.

3:50pm – I take the boys to their cooking class. They’ve had a block of 5 cooking classes and this is the last one. Savannah is upset about being sick and missing out, poor thing! Holly tags along with us and Luke stays home with Willow and Savannah.

5pm – We arrive home from the cooking class. I put the chicken wings in the oven. Savannah is in her bed now feeling very sick. I read her a book and try to cheer her up a bit.

6:15pm – We eat tea. Chinese chicken wings with brussels sprouts, cucumber slices and brown rice. I let the boys eat their pizzas that they made at the cooking class.

6:40pm – I sit with Francis and Arrow and help with their homework. Luke puts the little girls to bed and does some dishes.

7:15pm – I give the boys their supplements. Francis practices piano. He does a bit but he’s so tired he’s beginning to lose the plot and act loopy. Piano can wait for tomorrow – it’s bedtime.

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I brush my teeth with Francis. He’s really excited about some toothpaste and a teeth cleaning chart that he got at school today. He loves charts and orderly things.

Luke sits with the boys in their room and does a Bible story with them on his phone. He’s been using ‘The Bible App for Kids.’ By Youversion. They are really enjoying it.

I do a few more things in the kitchen like get out some meat for tomorrow’s tea and some chicken carcasses for some chicken stock I’m planning on making. We say our good-nights and pray for the boys.

8pm – Blogging and writing time and checking emails and replying to text and facebook messages that I haven’t been able to check yet because of our full evening and afternoon so far.

Luke and I have a cup of tea and usually head to bed between 10 – 10:30pm.

Our life with our family is busy and full and I love being a mum so much! It really brings me so much joy! I do hope to home school our children again in the future but for now I am enjoying this season and it’s restful simplicity.

You may also be interested in A day in the life with 5 children ages 6, 5, 4, 2 and 3.5 months

A day in the life of us: Homeschooling with my four under 6 while pregnant.

Blessings, Peta

Make sure you check out the I Quit Sugar Kids cook book. It’s full of great kids recipes and are all sugar free. I took my children to the dentist this week and the dentist gave us a handout pamphlet about how much hidden sugars are in our foods. It’s scary and so unnecessary! As soon as Luke got home Savannah ran up to him with the pamphlet and says “look how much sugar is in your iced coffee dad, you can’t drink that anymore!” Haha he was totally busted!

Kids Cookbook

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A Reality check on my to do list.

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My Life has gotten pretty busy since baby number five was born six months ago. Actually things have been super busy since baby three was born, really. Every morning I get up and write a to do list like I usually do. But ‘extra’ things just aren’t getting done. (By extra I mean cleaning something or baking a cake or …having a shower.) I realised that I needed to get real about how long it takes me to do the important and urgent things in my job as home schooling mum of five. It is time-consuming caring for a baby, even a super placid and happy baby like Willow.

Learning to work out how long it takes me to get things done and accepting how long it must take has been a saver to my sanity. I have had to say no to many other activities I could be involved with inside and outside the home so I can completely focus my time and energy on these five. And still have energy left for my best friend and hubby Luke. This is a full on time in my life and I take my job seriously. I’m raising future leaders for Christ and it’s taking a lot of sacrifice and prayer and choosing to have a good attitude.  There are lovely happy moments in each day that I treasure and there are other moments where I feel like running away or hiding: or both. God gives me grace as I continue to learn how to do this parenting-thing. And he gives me the strength to begin each morning and get through the day again and again.

This is everything I must do on my home school days and how long I have worked out it takes; give or take a few minutes.

  • Feed Willow – 30 mins
  • Serve and eat breakfast – 30 mins
  • Change and dress Holly and Willow and help the children with their morning routines – 30 mins
  • My own personal grooming (shower, dressed, moisturiser etc) – 30 mins
  • Clean up from breakfast – 30 mins
  • Sort and put on a load of laundry – 30 mins
  • Hang out laundry – 20 mins

This brings me to 10:30am and we sit around the table and do school work. – 1 hour to 90 mins.

  • I often feed Willow again while we’re doing school and change a stinky nappy or two, fix 100 snacks for starving children and deal with a meltdown or two.

The afternoon goes much like this:

  • prepare lunch including baby food – 45 mins
  • Eat lunch – 20 mins
  • Quiet time and devotions – 45 mins
  • Home school session 2 – 45 minutes
  • Clean up from lunch – 30 mins
  • Feed Willow – 30 mins
  • Give Willow solids – 20 mins
  • Hang out laundry/fold and sort – 45 mins
  • Cook/prepare tea/ set table etc – 1.5 hours
  • (Bath/shower children – Luke usually does this when he gets home while I’m cooking)- 1 hour (3x a week, more if someone is extra dirty or stinky)

We eat tea around 5:30 – 6pm

  • After tea I feed Willow again – 30 mins
  • Tea clean up (Luke usually does this) – 30 mins
  • Bedtime routine including listening to my two sons reading and family worship – 45 mins to 1 hour

We put the children to bed around 7:30pm, lights out for my 7-year-old at 8pm. Our 5-year-old goes to bed at the moment at 8:30pm because he doesn’t get to sleep very well and is noisy and disturbs his older brother that he shares a room with. He is asked to sit quietly on the couch with books or a quiet toy.

There you have it – my day is full! I’m accepting it and acceptance gives me peace and contentedness. I am no longer trying to fit too much in anymore after having an honest look at how long everything takes in my day.

If I need to do something extra I need to pray about it and get wisdom about how to go about it. For example I really want to get in a little exercise so I often pop tea in the oven, put my shoes on and leave the children with Luke and dash out for a 20 minute power walk or bike ride around 3 times a week. We do our cleaning, too, in small bursts here and there.

I’m learning to not get upset anymore if certain things aren’t getting done. I choose to ignore mess on the floor as I feed my bub her life-giving milk.

Don’t be shy to have a chat in the comments. Do you have a new baby? How are you going with getting stuff done around the house while caring for little ones?

Blessings, Peta

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A day in the life of us with 5 children ages 6, 5, 4, 2 and 3.5 months.

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I do enjoy reading a good ‘day in the life’ post. So I thought I’d share what we got up to on a typical home school day with our 5 children.

This was a weekday of homeschool and home stuff  a few weeks ago.  (I’m typing this while breast feeding Willow haha!)DSCF2080

5am – Feed Willow in bed and doze

6.20am – Luke leaves for work and a 2 year old girl appears in bed with me followed by a 4 year old. There are three cute little wiggly girls in bed with me!

7am – I roll out of bed and rescue the baby as Holly (the 2 year old)  is banging a book on my head she wants me to read.

7.10am – Gather up the washing from 3 different baskets and set a load going in the machine.

7.15am – Shower for me and getting ready for the day.

7:40am – Give the children breakfast then eat mine. They are having natural greek yoghurt with honey or muesli. I have muesli with coconut yoghurt. Then I take my supplements and hand out the kids ones. I give them cod liver oil and vitamin C everyday.

8am – The children begin their ‘morning routines.’ They have a morning routine written on the fridge which they are required to do everyday. Things that my 5 and 6 year old boys need reminding of like get dressed, put pj’s away etc. I have started them on new chores too this term which they do as part of their morning routines. They also practice their instruments they are learning – Francis piano and Arrow drums.

8.20am – I start the dishes (by hand, we don’t have a dish washer at the moment)

8.30am – Willow wakes up and wants a feed – I stop dishes and sit to feed her while listening to Francis on the piano.

8.55am – Finish feeding Willow and get back to the dishes. I put Willow in the bouncy chair and turn around just in time to see Holly trying to shove a battery in Willow’s mouth! What?! She’s at a challenging age! I tell her off firmly and pull the battery out of her hands which makes her cry. I give her a peeled apple…she’s happy now and toddles off.

9.20am – Two children realise Holly has an apple and want a peeled one too so I peel 2 more apples.

9.35am – Morning tea outside time! We do this everyday, to give us some fresh air- I love being outside and really need this time. Plus I find the children are more settled to do their school work when they have ran around outside for a bit and had a snack. I have a cup of green tea and sit on the swinging chair with Willow. The children have oranges and rice crackers.

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10.10am – Put Willow to bed for  a nap then hang out the washing while the kids are still playing outside.

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10:35am – School work time. Francis (6.5), Arrow (5) and Savannah (4) sit at the table with me. We pray and read out our memory verse;  Psalm 95v1-4. Then the boys do maths and phonics. Savannah does a preschool workbook and draws a picture. Holly is sitting on the floor playing with her money box we made her for school time.

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11:20am – We are finishing up school work session. (I was still waiting for some new curriculum to come in the mail so school was short and sweet that day) The children cut pictures out of magazines and catalogues and glue them in their scrap books. I pack up and work on a meal plan then put a load of towels in the dryer.

11.50am – Francis asks me for a hot chocolate so I make one for everyone. I start browning some mince on the stove for tea but then Willow wakes! I turn it off again and sit to feed Willow.

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12pm – Luke gets home from work, he had a short early shift.

12.35pm – Make lunch for the kids. They have peanut butter  or tuna sandwiches. I make some chick pea flour pancakes for my lunch. A new recipe from my mum I’ve been meaning to try.

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1:15pm – The house is trashed…but I choose to ignore it. It’s quiet time. My favourite time of the day! For quiet time everyone must choose a silent activity and play/read by themselves. No one is allowed to talk to or touch anyone. This saves my sanity. If I can hear the clocks ticking…it’s bliss. I do my devotions and Bible reading during this time. I use this time to pray silently.

Francis is reading a book, Arrow is doing a puzzle on the floor, Savannah is laying down on the couch with a blanket and cushions, Holly is in her cot napping and Willow is on the mat in front of me having tummy time. And Luke is doing the lunch dishes. It’s organised, chaotic, bliss.

1:35pm – I feed Willow again to make her sleepy

2pm – Quiet time is over, I read The Magic School Bus to Savannah, Arrow and Francis because they really want me to.

2:15pm -Get back to cooking that mince and encourage (nag and hoot and holler)  the children to tidy up the lounge, passage way, their rooms…everywhere. They get to watch Netflix once the house is tidy on Wednesday afternoons so they are feeling motivated and are doing an okay job.

2:35 – I leave Luke in charge and head out for a walk. I stop by the opp shop on my way home.

3:35 – Back home and feed Willlow. Luke leaves to go down the street to have his hair cut.

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Yep no make up on…this is real life people!

4:30 – I fold the washing straight off the line and bring it in. I give the kids some dress up things I found at the opp shop. They have a blast trying everything on!

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5:10pm – Prepare tea and we eat tacos.

6:35pm – Luke cleans up from tea while I give one of our sons a head lice treatment. He picked it up from school and it took me a while to get rid of the pesky things! (Our eldest son has been joining us for home school since term 3 week 2.)

We do our evening routine which includes pj’s, brushing teeth etc and Family Worship. We always sing a worship song together every night. Luke usually plays guitar, I do as well sometimes but I’m usually either too pregnant or feeding a baby. We put the children in bed between 7:30 and 8pm.

7:10pm – I feed Willow on and off until 8:45pm when she finally settles to sleep for a while.

Ahh the house is quiet.

 

I feel so blessed to have my precious family. Even though there are hard times, having this many kids really is doable. Even delightful.

Blessings,  Peta

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