One of the hardest things about "homemaking" or running and managing our homes...is figuring out how to DO IT ALL. On the best of days it can be difficult to juggle it all. 

Throw in a sleepless newborn, a teething toddler, a sick kid, a difficult circumstance, or any variety of weird things that can creep into our days...and it gets downright hard. 

Even one little thing can throw off our routines and before we know it, we are stuck feeling overwhelmed and defeated. Sound familiar? 

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Last week I got an email from a reader and I could SO identify with her struggle. So I decided it would be perfect to address here on the podcast and on my blog. Melanie said: 

"I was wondering if you could share a schedule on your page, or with me! Your post about distractions really opened my eyes. How do you schedule your day without too many distractions?"

Honestly, this is a tough question to answer because it seems like every time I get into a smooth routine and schedule...something my life changes and turns it all upside down. 

Five children in Four Years

Our family has undergone some immense changes in just four years. If you have hung around here for very long, you know that we have five kids, four and under. WHAT? How is that even possible? Well, we have two sets of twins and a baby girl.

In December of 2012, we had our first kids, twin boys. In July of 2015 we had our second set of twin boys. And in January of 2017 we welcomed our baby girl. (And yes, I know curious minds want to know: we just won the jackpot of fertility. Our twins were conceived naturally. And yes, it does run in our family. My dad is a twin :))

A family photo - February 2017 <3

It seems like each time I get into a new routine or habit, someone's sleep schedule changes, we add another baby (or two) to the family, someone gets sick which then leads to the whole family getting sick, etc. On top of that, Jason quit his full time sales job in January 2016 so that we could run our ministry together full time. (If you are wondering how we make this all work, you can come on over and watch our Week in the Life videos.)

Learning to be Flexible 

One of the keys I've learned while juggling a home based business and five kids four and under, is that I need to be flexible in my daily schedule but stick rigorously to my priorities. If I can manage to do this, then I can allow myself that flexibility that I have to have in my life and still get the things done that I need to. 

This lesson applies to whatever season you are in that presents its own unique challenges: working from home, marriage with no kids but working outside the home, homeschooling, figuring out new routines as an empty nester, balancing your new role as a busy grandma, and the list goes on...

I am going to share my ideal schedule for my day. Now I hesitate to share this because I am in no way saying that this is the ideal schedule for anyone else but myself. AND I hesitate to share this because like I said, my schedule is constantly reshaping and changing to fit our ever changing family life. But I think it will be helpful to illustrate my next point so hang in there...

My ideal schedule:

6:00 am - Wake up and make coffee

6:30-8:00am - Bible reading, prayer, book reading

8:00 am - Kids up (Here's my secret to 8am wake up for kids. It's a LIFE SAVER!)

8:00-10:00am - Kids up, breakfast,