A Day in the Life 2017- 5th edition!!

6:45- Alarm goes off. Whole bunch of nope. (I was up super late cleaning and making pies for our Pi(e) day party today.)

7:00-Again. Nope.

7:15- Gavin crawls into our bed and asks to watch TV. I tell him to wait a little bit, as it's pretty early. (He's been waking up super early so he can watch more TV before school...the little turkey.) I give him kisses and convince him to snuggle with me for a moment. Awwww!

7:35-I give in and let him watch TV.

7:40- Ruby starts calling for a 'bobble'. I make her and Gavin their bobbles (sippy cups with milk), and lay back down. I scroll through e mails and Facebook.

7:45- I sign in to the computer to start typing out 'A Day in the Life 2017 edition'. I confirm that it is my FIFTH year of doing this. Exciting! I think it's a pretty cool way to have an accurate view of what life looks like through the years.

7:47- It automatically signs in to Justin's account. He has an e mail from a recruiter in Boulder. (He gets e mails constantly, but this one looks intriguing! They pay 100% of medical coverage for the employee and their dependents. (Justin is self-employed and his business is doing well. We just like to see what is close by, as he is currently commuting to California.) I check out reviews on Glassdoor. com. I tell Justin as I'm getting back into bed that he should check it out.

8:10- Awww, man. I'm up again. Daylight Saving Time is killing me. I used to wake up super early, but lately, I've been staying up late to get stuff done. So, I'm zonked in the morning.

8:11- I get Gavin dressed, and try to get him to decide on what he wants for breakfast

8:13- I make breakfast for Gavin (blueberries and an English muffin).

8:20- I encourage him to hurry. I get dressed.

8:30- I am looking for his inhaler and spacer, but one piece is missing. I suspect a tiny toddler.

8:32- I give him his 2 puffs without the spacer. It's more important to take the meds, right?

8:37- I tell him to get his jacket. I wasn't where he left it. I get his Captain America jacket out of his closet and tell him to get his backpack.

8:43- Finally out of the door. We cut through the fence and head over to preschool. I love that it's so close.

8:46- We made it! His coat was in his cubby. Of course.

8:47- Our Scholastic Book order has arrived! Yay! Kiddos will be so excited.

8:50- I get back home and start calling Waste Management. We cancelled service with them weeks ago because they never picked up our garbage. They still haven't picked up our recycling can. Don't get me started on how many times I've called.....They promise that it will get taken care of within 24 hours. We shall see.....

8:56- I wake up Justin for his dentist appointment.

9:08-I sit down and start typing this.

9:14- Automatic delete is happening. Ack. Make it stop!

9:15- Justin is changing Ruby's diaper. What a good dad. She is happily chatting with him. That is a good sign. Rubes is not usually a morning person.

9:07- Ruby has now joined me, and is sitting on my lap and playing with her glasses.

9:09- Ruby has vacated my lap.

9:11- Justin is out the door for his dentist appointment.

9:12- Justin is back. He forgot a credit card. He grabs mine and heads out.

9:15- Ruby is yelling at me and spinning my chair as I type.

9:19- We are off to read a book. "Rudolph" it is! And then "Pikachu", of course!

9:45- I get Ruby dressed, get her set up with booberries (blueberries) to eat, and I get dressed for the gym while she eats.

10:00- Ruby is pounding on something.

10:16- Ruby has shoes on, I pop a Crock Pot meal in (Prepped it on Sunday. Yay me!), and we're eating chocolate graham crackers on our way out!

10:20- Just kidding. Ruby wants a water bottle like Mommy. I have our jackets on, waterbottles, Ruby's to go bag, and everything is set. I take Ibuprofen on my way out. (Doc said it'll help with the cramps I've been having since we moved here. My body has had a hard time re-adjusting to high altitude.)

10:21- Ruby is watching Octonauts on the way to the gym, and is happily munching chocolate grahams. :) (Yes, that's a bike in our van. Gavin rode it at the park the other day, and I haven't bothered to move it yet. :))

10:28- We are at the gym. I admire the beautiful scenery. I really love Colorado, and the mountains


10:29- Ruby is taking FOR-EV-ER to walk to the kid zone. I pick her up and she screams like she is being abused. I get lots of stares. Oh well, we're used to it now, as we are the parents of a banshee.

10:30- I drop Ruby off at the kid zone so I can go exercise.

10:31- I start running on the track while listening to my 'La clase de espanol' playlist. I love it, and it makes me miss my students. I usually do one fast mile on the track, and then 2-5 on the treadmill.

10:40- Bam. I did a 8:50 mile on the track.

10:41- I start on the treadmill. There's a show on about a play production that lets people of all abilities participate. That is pretty cool!

10:59- I finish two miles with a 9:14 average pace.

11:00- I head over to lift some weights. I do lunges with 50, 60 reps on an inner thigh machine, bicep curls with 17.5, tricep extensions with 30, and good mornings with 50.

11:15- I realize that Gavin needs to be picked up from preschool soon. I call Justin to see if he's home. He is almost there. He will pick him up. Phew! I am so grateful that he has been home the last week and a half! Poor guy can hardly talk from all the dental work he had done to him today.

11:16- I start sit ups with a 15 pound medicine ball on an exercise ball, do 20 push ups with the exercise ball, and do 40 alternating legs while planking with the exercise ball. (Not sure what to call it. ;))

11:25- I pick up Ruby, and I take her to the playplace in the gym. Seriously. Coolest family gym ever. We LOVE it!

11:27- We see Maddie and her kiddos from the ward, and I sit down to chat with her.

11:40- I get a call from Justin. The house is locked, and he doesn't have a key. Whoops. My bad! We boogy out!

11:49- We make it back home and open the garage to let the troops in.

11:53- I start making lunch for the kiddos. Pot stickers, pineapple, strawberry, and peas with apple juice it is!

11:55- I show Gavin the Scholastic books, and he is SO excited!

11:56- Gavin checks out the books while Ruby opens the giant chalk pack we bought for our party today. (Yes, that is cinnamon on the patio that she spilled yesterday.)

12:10- Lunch is served. The kiddos happily eat their food, and I get my lunch ready.

12:15- My lunch consists of potstickers, potato soup, and a salad. Weird, I know. The soup was for dinner, but it was already done and it smelled delicious.

12:23- I am in LOVE with this salad. Lynette gave me the recipe and it is divine.

12:25- I get bottles for the monkeys, and we sit down together to read some books.

12:27- They are squabbling over who can sit on my lap. I manage to get them both on me.

12:37- I leave them in 'quiet time'. Let's see if it'll actually be true to its name.....

12:42- I hop in the shower. Gavin comes in to go potty, and Ruby is right behind him. I tell them to go back to their room once Gavin is done.

12:44- Gavin is screaming that Ruby hit him. Alright, I'm out. I put Ruby back in her crib.

12:46- Dressed. Gavin screams that Ruby hit him with a giant ruler. I discipline her.

1:10- Justin requests a smoothie, as he can't eat anything. I make him one. Poor guy. 😓

1:15- I look up some things for him as he is submitting taxes. We have had to submit a lot of adjustments, deductions and credits for 2016, as he started his own business in July.

1:28- I'm back to typing as I hear the sounds of playing and shrieking alternating from the kids' room.

1:50- Quiet time has been ruled unconstitutional by our wee constituents. They are running around the patio and playing with their new chalk set.

2:08- Kids have been playing peacefully. Yay! Gavin shouts that Ruby got out the whipped cream! Eek!! She dumped feta cheese all over the patio.😑

2:50- I am hanging up wet laundry, as our dryer is still broken. The part should be here any day.

2:55- The kiddos start to play and snuggle in Justin and I's bed.😍💗

3:00- The kiddos take off their clothes, and start running on the treadmill.

3:15- I finish my make up, get dressed, take a dorky selfie, and send it to Justin. Poor unfortunate soul.

3:18- I head out with the kiddos to pick up their cousins after school.

3:30- We arrive at the pick up spot. I read an article on the abuse of migrant female Romanian agricultural workers in Sicily while we wait. How awful. I get all riled up. How can people treat each other this way? I make a mental note to find ways to help.

3:45- Mason and Marshall arrive. Yay! Ruby keeps shouting their names and smiling, and Gavin keeps chatting with them. We're so lucky that we get to live by family.

3:56- We arrive at King Soopers to cash in on their $3.14 pies for Pi Day. We also grab milk and some other groceries. The kiddos try to convince me to buy Cheetos and every other junk food they see. Turkeys.

  Check out these cuties. They sure love each other!

4:00- People are very entertained by my motley crew. We keep getting giggles and smiles from everyone we pass by.

4:15- The kiddos discover the pony ride, and all of the boys take a turn. (Ruby doesn't like it.) Their one cent rides are amaze balls.....and they last forever. Thanks King Soopers!!

4:20- All of the crew is packed up, and we are on our way home.

4:25- I unpack groceries and cut up the fresh French bread for the kiddos to have for snack. Mason plays a video game while the littles play in the patio. Ruby is breaking the chalk pieces and spreading them all over the patio. Marshall brags that he is SO strong because he can break the chalk. I now have a giant 50 piece chalk pack broken all over the patio.😂

4:30- I begin to clean and set up for the party. Gavin is really excited to have ice cream, and play with friends. I am excited, too. I love having friends over. I finally put the last frame in on our 'frame wall' that I put together yesterday. I hope it's cute.

5:40- Our first guest, Christina, arrives. She is so sweet and generous! She brought 3 pies from Village Inn, and she stays and chats with me for a while. I'm so happy she's my friend.

5:50- I start making some mac and cheese so the kiddos will get some food in them besides ice cream and pie. Ruby runs off with the cheese packet, dumps it out, and tries to lick it off the patio. Ugh.

6:05- The Cooks come. Gavin and Ruby are so happy to see their friends. Ruby keeps shouting, "Liv- beth!!"

6:10- The Kaisers arrive. Gavin is really excited to see Rhett, and the kiddos continue to have a blast playing together.

6:20- The Larsens arrive. They brought the most beautiful AND delicious lemon meringue pie. Check it:

6:40- Amanda, Kim, Koa, and Jessica all arrive. I keep encouraging people to eat more pie! I'm so happy that lots of friends were able to make it to our little shindig. I make Justin take a quick picture of some of our friends who came.

7:50- Kim starts to tell us about the refugee family she has just been assigned by Lutheran Family Services. They are two girls from Burma. (Amanda and I also volunteer with the same program.) I think they are swell gals, and I am happy that there are so many good people in the world helping refugees and others in need like them.

8:00- Friends start heading out. The Cooks and us start watching Storybots. They are trying to convert me into a fan. I'm pretty sure Justin, Nicole, and James could sing the whole episode if they tried. 😁And....now I'm a fan.

8:35- The Cooks head out, and I start cleaning up. We are so lucky to have friends like them!! They rock. Ruby and Elizabeth give each other goodbye hugs. 😍I put Ruby and Gavin in the tub.

8:40- I bribe Mason and Marshall to help me clean up the kiddos' room by offering more ice cream. I know, I know. Best.aunt.ever. 😉

8:45- The turkeys are done, and I get them dressed. Mason and Marshall tickle her. She is such a pampered little princess when her cousins are around!

9:00- I finally get Ruby into her crib, and Mason, of his own volition, decides to read her a story. 😍

9:05- Mason and Marshall fill Ruby's crib with her stuffies. She is in heaven. I let her enjoy the moment, and then take them out so she can sleep.

9:10- I check in on Ruby, and she shrieks at me. Whoops. Should have left her alone.

9:15- I get ice cream for Mason, Marshall, and Gavin. They watch "Lava" as I clean up the kitchen.

9:25- Marshall decides to watch "The Peanuts Movie". I sit down with them for a minute, and update their parents on the excellent parental decisions I made for their kids on a school night. ;)

9:40- Amy and Gage arrive. (They were at a class to be certified to be foster parents.They are amazing.) They get the boys ready, and take some pie. Yay! We will be eating pie for a LONG time.

9:42- Ruby hears Mimi, and I go in and get the kiddos so they can say hi.

9:44- I take them back to bed, and give Ruby another bobble.

10:00- It is all quiet now. I realize that I hadn't eaten dinner and I go and get some more potato soup out of the fridge, and make a small salad.

10:05- I sit down to type by Justin in the living room as he is watching "The West Wing."

10:50- I keep thinking of the Anatomy homework I need to be doing, but I am zonked. It has been a busy day. I will be headed to bed shortly.

Thanks for reading everyone! 😘😘😘

A Day in the Life 2016!

4:40- Why the heck do I wake up so early? Snooze x 10 times.
5:20- Fine. I'm awake.
5:30- Scrolling through CNN's newsfeed to wake myself up
5:40- Showered and dressed in BYU shirt and jeans. Gotta love being able to wear jeans at work.
5:50- Start to wonder if I want to drag kids all the way to daycare. Ruby vomited on the way home from SF last night in the car. We think she gets motion sickness. It's been happening a lot lately, and would make sense with her vision issues.
6:00- I wake up Justin to talk about him keeping the kids today so that they can sleep in after our uber long rode trip yesterday, and to prevent Ruby from being sick again.
6:05- I verify that it is ok with Justin, and that he wants to keep both kids instead of just Ruby. Alrighty then. I gotta get going to get study guides written for Spanish 1 and to grade stuff for Spanish 2 before they kill me.
6:20- On the road. Headed to Starbucks, as I will generally not get to eat until 2 p.m. unless I eat now.
6:23- Wow. Fastest Starbucks drive thru ever. I congratulate the barista. Lovin' me some caramel hot cocoa and gouda egg sandwich.

6:25- The 5 is pretty clear, and the rain is beautiful. My stack of Spanish papers makes a great shotgun rider.

7:15- I get to school. There's a giant RV in the teacher parking lot. Strange. I take some of the garbage out of the Civic and chat with a Math teacher on my way in.
7:20- I'm here. Time to get stuff done! This is the most productive time of my day, as I generally don't have anyone bugging me to grade stuff or to turn on the video game. I turn on some music and enjoy the peacefulness.
7:22- I'm writing the study guides for my Spanish 1 class.

7:35- Checking e mail. English teacher wants a picture for the Foreign Language Dept. I offer an epic sombrero selfie. He wants it. I'll get to it.....someday....
7:37- Call back parent who wants to check on student's grade. It's an A. It's on the online portal. She answers. Can you call me back later? I put post it on computer to remind myself.
7:39- E mail parent about all of work from last week, as student was absent.
7:50- Done with the study guides. Boo-yah. I head to the copy machine.
FOR THE LOVE. THE STUPID THING IS BROKEN AGAIN. FML.
Calling the secretary. Only emergency copies. Urgh....Fine. I need 160. She'll give me 40. I convince her to let me have 80 copies and my students will share. Why must I beg for supplies? You have no idea how silly it is to beg for supplies until you're a teacher and someone likes to bring up the exorbitant amount of money we pay for public education. I've never seen it. This is the first year I've had legit textbooks, and they're from 2004. Pretty sure I had the same textbook, or an earlier version of the same one when I was in high school.
8:30- While waiting for my copies, I stop by the attendance to give them attendance from 6th period on Friday. Whoops.
8:31- Copies done. Hallelujah! Gotta hurry back to my classroom and write down the inspirational quote of the week before my student Mark brings it up that it's not on the board. Kid can't remember to put his name on a paper, but always remembers when I forget to do something that isn't 100% academic. Funny.
8:35- I find an inspiration quote and out it on the board, and write in schedule for the week.

8:38- Students are going into the classroom next door to mine. I remind them to not go in unless a teacher is there. There are 4 classrooms you can get in and out of through my classroom. They're never locked. Still on the hunt for a stapler and an iPad charger that went missing. A stapler? Really? I must really like high schoolers. Silly kids.
8:39- Justin has called twice. Then texted to ask why he has the kids. HAHAHAHA! He doesn't remember anything from our conversation this morning. I text them that I'll call him back at the end of class.
8:40- I get students on task with getting out their journals (Diarios) and take attendance. I go over the journal entries they need to have for Wednesday for our journal check.
8:50- Justin sends me a picture of a big boo-boo Ruby got while climbing on the mattress on the floor in the living room. (From our sick days last week. We'll put it away....eventually....)
9:00- I look at our family pictures and pictures that Gavin has drawn for me to be reminded of my cuties. :) Love 'em!

9:05- I explain their study guides and assign them partners so they can finish them. Students bring me late work. I respond to e mails from office peeps. I grade stuff...
Repeat, Repeat....

11:35- Spanish 2 class. Luckily, I managed to get all the grading for them done. Yay me! I assign them a task and they work while I do attendance. I introduce new vocabulary, and task them to do the memory game with a partner for the 40 words in preparation for a quiz on Wednesday.
12:35- LUNCH!! Yay! My classroom neighbor and good buddy brings me a sandwich for lunch from Jersey Mike's. I got 2 meals before noon. That is amaze balls for me. Yay!
12:40- Run to the bathroom. Student sees me. Proceeds to ask for missing work. Roger that. On my way. Run into teachers talking about all the pink slips that were distributed lately. Yup. I got one last week, too. #welcometoteachingincalifornia

 I am grateful that I am not the primary breadwinner in my family. Poor athletic trainer got let go. Get this- not only does our school not staff a full-time RN, we won't even have an athletic trainer for next year. That means that if a medical emergency occurs, the student is to be attended to by a coach trained in CPR online (with no hands-on training), or to simply wait until an ambulance arrives. That is scary.
12:45- My friend Ginny (athletic trainer) comes with me to my classroom to hang out. I get the late work for the student and we head over to Des' room. (teacher next door). I chow down on the sandwich. I seriously think it's half cheese. No complaints here!! We talk about the future of the school and how the teachers who have been pink slipped will impact the decreasing enrollment for next year.
1:05- Lunch is over. Back to work. I do the same Spanish 1 drill.
1:55- Class is done. I promised Justin I would get home ASAP so he can get to work.
1:56- I call the parent who was in a meeting this morning. We discuss what's going on in the student's life. Poor kid. He is one of my favorites. I offer my help and update her on his grade and work ethic.
2:05- Student walks in. Here are 5 missing assignments. Cool.
2:07- I start walking out the door. The phone rings. English teacher wants me to gather late work for a student,
2:12- Student leaves with all the work he needs. (By taking pictures of the workbook, as it is no longer in print, and I ran out of copies. Classy, I know.) I boogy out the door before anyone can catch me.
2:16- On the road home. Yay!
3:15- Home. Ruby smiles at me through the glass door.
3:16- I play with my people. They're so gosh darn cute. I let Justin start working from home in our room.

3:20- Operation get home clean. I pick up and clean up while the kids play outside. There's a lot to clean up. Wish me luck!

3:27- I stop Ruby from eating chalk. Happened about 4 times tonight.
3:50- Ruby falls again. She fell 3 times today. Poor baby. I comfort her with Kitty.

4:15- Gavin asks me to dance. We boogy. He boogies in Daddy's shoes.

4:35- Seriously. I think our garbage can is violating many health code violations on account of its smell. Blegh. I take it out. I tell Justin that it is his duty to go out tonight at some point to rest. Kids tired him out today.
5:00- House looks pretty darn swell. Justin heads out to check out Best Buy for his "quiet time'.
6:00- I call J to see where he's at and see if he's up for dinner. Yup. On his way. I prep freezer orange chicken and rice. Gavin takes a picture of my booty while preparing dinner. Then, he puts stickers from a free letter in the mail on himself, and then asks for me to take his picture.

6:30- Dinner is done. Opa! We've got orange chicken, brown rice, peas, and kiwi for the kids. Kids chow down.
7:00- Gavin starts watching "Skylander Boy and Girl" videos on Youtube. I get dizzy watching it with him for 5 minutes.
7:10- I convince Gavin to go read books with me. We read books, sip milk, and brush teeth. We snuggle and I leave as my tummy starts to hurt.
7:40- All is quiet on the Hixson front. YAYAYA!! I search for the latest episode of "The Walking Dead". No dice. I decide to work on ragnar stuff.
8:30- I send e mails to my Ragnar people to sign up, ask for volunteers, read the Race Bible, realize I missed the optional meeting tonight, and got excited for the event. It's gonna be awesome.
8:50- Search for Walking Dead again. It's supposed to be on MGO 24 hours after it airs....Let's see. Darn.
9:00- More Ragnar research.
10:20- I start typing and adding photos. Did you know that on Blogger it is linked to your phone so I don't have to e mail pictures. Brilliant. They should pay people that do this stuff handsomely, eh? ;)
10:37- How the heck did it get so late? This daylight savings is trippy.
10:58- All done. Hope you all enjoyed it. This is my 4th year of doing the "day in the life". Tune in next year! Love you friends!