Welcome to my day in the life as a mom of 5 boys. I am a mom, homeschooler, homesteader (kindof), and hold two jobs. One as a day job and one as my own business. Come along and follow a day in our lives as we work, learn, and play.
It’s the kind of morning where the alarm clock feels a little too loud and the world still feels heavy under a blanket of early darkness. The heat is out, and the house is very cold, which means I’m embracing extra warm cups of coffee and keeping my kids in warm, fluffy Christmas jammies.
Our furnace is only two years old, so having it out (again) feels a bit defeating. It’s funny how life keeps giving you these small tests in persistence.
The video and accompanying blog post are going to be a bit different this week. Instead of having a topic at hand, we’re just going to chat while I go about my day as a mom of five wonderful boys. There is a blog post with all the resources mentioned, so make sure to check that out. I also hope you will check out my latest book, titled Fruit of the Spirit for Moms: Lessons for the Homemaker. It is filled with devotional thoughts, recipes, discussion questions, and photographs of our life here on our 40 acres. Welcome to Healing Home. I hope you are encouraged and inspired by your time here.
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Day in the Life as a Mom: Early Morning Work & Warm Pancakes
On this particular day, I tried getting up at my normal time of 2:45 am, and it just didn’t work. My body was just too tired, and I slept through multiple alarms. I still ended up clocking in to my day job by 4 am, but that felt late to me, and the rest of the day felt just a bit off. I clock in and out throughout the morning as my kids wake up and I make breakfast. I’d like to get back into the routine of getting a 25-minute workout in, but the baby has become quite a mommy’s boy. I’m finding that grace is often my fuel as I shuffle through what I consider an ideal routine, and why my body and children actually make a reality.
Sometimes I think about how funny this balance is—working mom life, stay-at-home mom life, homeschooling life, homestead life—all woven together. It’s messy, but it’s mine.
If you’ve watched the last few YouTube videos, you already know that I’ve made Puff Pancakes in pretty much every video for the last two months. Sorry, but my kids love it, and they are rediscovering their love for honey-sweetened strawberry jam, which is a recipe from Melissa K Norris’ Everything Worth Preserving cookbook. The kids love it so much, I think they’d eat it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner if I let them.
Fresh Air & Mental Peace
When I finally step outside—usually between work and homeschool—it feels like exhaling. This time, usually between 8:30 am and 9:30 am, is my reset. There’s something about the crisp morning air that resets me. Even just a few minutes feeding the animals or checking on the garden gives me more patience and peace for the day ahead.
This hour is also when the boys tackle their chore list, which, just like any other family, we have good days with their attitude and chores, and we have bad days. I need to review their chore list and switch out tasks as the colder weather sets in and needs a shift, but I quite honestly just haven’t gotten around to it.
Right now on their task list is getting our pigs apples or picking buckets of weeds. They often chose apples because it’s much more fun to throw apples into a pig pen than to pick 5-gallon buckets of weeds.
As I come back inside, I make a mental note of my three to-do lists:
- The Business (my blog, YouTube, social media content)
- My Day Job Tasks
- Homemaking (the planner, chores, meals, and that never-ending grocery list)
If you’ve followed along for a while, you know I’ve created my own homemaking task list template and planner—and if you want it, you can grab it in the description below or check out my monthly membership. Each month, I release a new planner and homemaking layout designed to bring beauty and rhythm to your daily life.
The Sourdough Season
As we transition into our homeschooling time, the boys continue to complete their chore chart, which has a schoolwork section on it. This is their independent work, which right now is a shape booklet for Wylder and Bible handwriting copywork for the older boys. Waylin just pushes his way into everything so he can be included in the chaos! If you have any interest in these printables, code YOUTUBE20 will get you 20% off on my Etsy Shop.
Meanwhile, I’m returning to the kitchen; this time of year always draws me back to the kitchen. The days are shorter, the air colder, and my sourdough starter seems to whisper, “It’s time.”
Today, I felt like getting out one of my favorite recipes, which is sourdough brown bread. To be honest, he kids gobbled the loaves I made in less than twelve hours. It’s that good! I am finding that using my Kitchen Aid for bread making is such a fantastic way to make bread. I know it’s not what the recipe says to do, but I have been just leaving the dough in the Kitchen Aid and letting the hook do the stretch and fold a few times throughout the day. I know, it’s not what you are supposed to do, but I’m more about making nutritious bread for my family instead of the art of it. I do a couple of stretches and folds toward the end, but beyond that, I just turn on the dough hook a couple of times throughout the day, and that quite honestly works for me right now!
There’s something sacred about stretching and folding bread between lessons, diaper changes, and quick hugs in the living room. It slows me down and connects me to generations of women who did the same—hands dusted with flour, babies on hips, hearts grounded in faith.
Homeschool Rhythms
I’m not sure about anyone else who homeschools, but I’ve found myself in a recent rut, and it’s the rut of getting overwhelmed by all the clutter that homeschooling brings, and then losing my temper. Last week, I broke down in a way that I can’t describe and realized I needed to evaluate our homeschool routine.
I feel unhinged by the amount of books and paper that eventually surround me, and then overstimulated by a baby that is constantly connected to me in some way. I’m the problem, as the saying goes, and I need to repent and do better, so I’m trying out some things that will help me feel more grounded and, in turn, give my boys a more productive day. One of the things is starting our reading time on the ground and then picking up the materials we need during that lesson time before moving on to individual work.
We’re working through U.S. History 1 right now, and I think it’s the perfect thing to study as we approach the United States Thanksgiving. The boys are fascinated by the early colonies, and as a history buff myself, I am enjoying diving into this! We’ll be finishing up US History the week before Thanksgiving and then doing a four-day Gather ‘Round Homeschool Thanksgiving lesson, and then an entire month of Christmas lessons, which I am so excited for.
We do our math and handwriting separately, but the rest of our lessons are through Gather Round Homeschool, and it’s been such a blessing. This January will make one full year of investing in the Gather ‘Round Homeschool curriculum. I get exactly zero for promoting them, so please know that I really do love them and talk about it with no other motivation.
I love that homeschooling allows us to do life together. It’s not always neat or quiet, but it’s real. There’s something holy about reading history while the baby takes a morning nap, or listening to my older boys debate the Pilgrims while a load of dishes hums in the background.
The Pig That Escaped (and the Lesson I Needed)
Later in the day, it’s time to face my “one big thing.” Today, that’s grinding pork from the pig we processed last weekend. He was a mean one—an escape artist with a bad attitude—and though it wasn’t in the plan to butcher him, sometimes farm life makes the plans for you.
Here’s the thing I’ve been learning (through a bit of kicking and mental complaining): I can only handle one big project a day outside of working, cooking, cleaning, and homeschooling.
Some days it’s errands. Some days it’s a garden task. Today, it’s grinding the pork.
Our exact meat grinder – The BigBite #5
There’s peace in that slow acceptance—letting go of trying to do all the things and instead doing the next faithful thing.
“Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men.”
— Colossians 3:23 (ESV)
Motherhood Isn’t a Job—It’s Holy Ground
As the afternoon fades, I step outside again with the kids. We chase the chickens, the kids are running around with sticks, and I get to hear laughter in that soft golden light that only autumn gives.
Motherhood isn’t a job. The idea that we need to treat motherhood as a job has been a trend on social media lately. Or at least on my social media, I’ve been seeing that trend.
Jobs have clock-in times and performance reviews. They have promotions and vacation days. But motherhood? It’s a covenant. A calling. A sacred ministry woven into who we are.
It’s not about productivity; it’s about presence. Not about achievement; about love.
And while the world might try to measure it in checklists and progress charts, God measures it in faithfulness.
“She looks well to the ways of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness.”
— Proverbs 31:27 (ESV)
I continue to learn to let go of the pressure—to stop “treating motherhood like a job” and start treating it like holy ground.
Evening Rhythms & Closing the Day
Dinner time comes fast—brown sourdough bread hot from the oven and homemade chili soup. A perfect combination on a chilly fall day without a furnace working.
It’s messy and beautiful and loud. I think about the little moments—the quick hugs in passing, the laughter over spilled flour, the homeschool conversations that took unexpected turns into life lessons. None of it feels big or glamorous, but it’s in these small, sacred pieces of everyday life that God’s presence feels the most real.
There’s always more I could do—emails to answer, blog posts to write, content to edit—but I’m learning that the best thing I can do for my family isn’t to chase more productivity. It’s to rest in gratitude. To sit in the glow of the living room lamp with my Bible open and let my heart exhale.
“It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep.”
— Psalm 127:2 (ESV)
So I close the day with a whispered prayer of thanks—for the work, the noise, the love, and the lessons. I remind myself that homemaking, motherhood, and work aren’t separate callings—they’re threads of the same tapestry, each one held by the steady hand of God.
Tomorrow will bring its own challenges, its own grocery lists and to-dos, but tonight, peace wins. Because even when the heat is out and the to-do list is long, His grace is still enough. Always enough.
And I remember why I do all this—why the early mornings, the tired eyes, the juggling act, the busy schedule—all of it.
Because this life, even in its chaos, is good.
And tomorrow, Lord willing, we’ll wake up and do the next faithful thing. 🌿
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