As we mentioned yesterday, it’s Blogiversary Week, baby (still can’t believe that we have been at this for half a decade). So we had some fun recording an average day in the life from both of our perspectives, so you can see what each of us – and even Clara and Burger – may be doing at any given time. Woop, here it is:
6:00 am – 7:30 am
JOHN: The whole house is sleeping, so I duck out for a 5-mile run down by the river. I’m home by 7:30 and no one even knows I’m gone.
7:30 am – 8:00 am
SHERRY: I wake up around 7:45 and the house is too quiet so I know Clara is still sleeping but John’s not next to me so he probably went for a run. Burger stays in bed, but I drag my butt up and walk straight to the office and sit down in front of the computer where I see John sitting at his desk squeezing in a few minutes of work between his shower and Clara waking up.
SHERRY: I check blog comments and answer a few questions and then glance at my planner which always looks like this. I know it’s crazy, but it makes sense to me (I use it to write notes about post ideas, appointments/calls we have, book promo stuff that we have to do, deadlines for articles, etc). I check what’s going on for the day and notice that I owe a little blurb to a magazine by 2pm today (wish I could tell you which one!) for an article they’re writing, so I just dive in and get it done so I don’t forget or feel rushed later.
8:00 am – 9:00 am
JOHN: I hear Clara starting to stir, so I go say good morning, change her diaper, and sit her down for some breakfast. While she’s chowing down on some yogurt, I try to get organized for the day – which includes writing out a few things I have to do and grabbing the coupons that Sherry has cut out for a trip to the grocery store later.
SHERRY: I continue answering comments and Facebook questions and then play with Clara for a little bit (since once the post goes up around 10am I usually don’t get to spend much time with her for a while). She’s great at playing independently, but we like to connect with her a few times a day and really get in there and interact. Besides, I might like her play kitchen even more than she does…
SHERRY: Once I get Clara dressed for the day, John and I hop back on our computers while Clara plays on her own – taunting Burger with her snack.
9:00 am – 10:00 am
JOHN: I make some scrambled eggs for me and Sherry to wolf down before having to get Clara off to today’s activity: music class. It’s just one day a week for thirty minutes at a local church (the program is called Musikgarten), but she loves it.
SHERRY: I proof-read the post that’s going to go up at ten. Proofing usually involves previewing what we wrote to make sure photos are centered and reading it through at least two times (sometimes three times if it’s a detailed tutorial- just to make sure things make sense and are in order and I haven’t written “I love panting” instead of “I love painting”). I also add links to things that I reference. We still average about two typos a post so I can’t imagine how bad it would be if I didn’t read things through beforehand.
JOHN: Clara and I give mommy a kiss (Burger’s too hard to catch) and we hurry off in the car for music class.
SHERRY: Sadly I have to miss Clara’s music class since it runs from 10:00 to 10:30 (which is right when the post goes up and I usually have 100+ comments that I have to approve/respond to). I used to get to go when her class was later in the day, but after it got moved up I tried going to a 10am class and just letting comments build up and answering them after class but it was too crazy (lots of the same question and confusion over something that could have easily been explained if I had been “on”) so it just works better for one of us to work and for one of us to go to class with Clara – at least for now. Here’s hoping her next semester will be a later class again, so we can both sneak out to spend that hour a week singing songs with her and dancing in a circle (I promise it’s just as awkward and hilarious as it sounds).
10:00am – 11:00 am
SHERRY: I get the morning post up and squat comments for the next hour while John and Clara music class it up. I can’t wait for them to come home so I can hear what I missed from Clara, like “the little boy was dancing so nice – I think it was wonderful.” One of her favorite things to gaze at while she’s at the church for her music class is a little diorama of Noah’s Ark. She’s in love with it. So there’s always some time accounted to staring at that before and after class. Meanwhile, over two hundred comments roll in over the course of the hour, so I’m at home furiously trying to keep up with them and answer every last question that comes in.
11:00 am- 12:00 am
JOHN: Since we’re already out and about, Clara and I head out to the grocery store to reload on some essentials.
SHERRY: I take a break from comments and glance at my email but it’s crazy so I just skim the page and delete the junk mail so the number in my inbox goes down a smidge. Because seeing 84 new emails at 11am when there were none the night before can make your head spin. A lot of it is sponsor & giveaway stuff along with book stuff (tour scheduling, press blurbs or fact checking things they need, etc). Mixed in there are sweet reader letters that we love. I save those and read them out loud to John a few evenings a week so we can permasmile at my laptop together.
12:00 pm – 1:00 pm
JOHN: I get home with Clara and spend some time unloading groceries while Clara runs off to play with her trains. Then Sherry and I chat a little about a new project we want to tackle next week and start planning what we’ll need to do first, what we might need to pick up at the store, etc. I also send out a few sponsor emails and coordinate next week’s giveaway along with making sure I have the right image for the one that will go up this week.
SHERRY – After John and I chat about that new project together for a while, I answer more blog comments, get through a few emails, and I’m just about to begin writing a post for the next day when Clara comes in and asks for lunch. She had been playing at her desk with her crayons and messing around with her dollhouse, but it’s officially lunch time, so momma needs to get on that.
SHERRY: We all take a break and meet at the dining table for some grub. We usually just eat some soup, homemade deli sandwiches, or hummus and flatbread but John actually picked up sushi for us while he was at the grocery store, so we chow down on that while Clara has some tomatoes, grapes, hummus, and crackers (and takes a nibble of california roll).
1:00 – 2:00 pm
JOHN: Lunch is done, so it’s back to the computer to finish up my emails. Meanwhile Clara’s running in and out of the room playing with some books and small plastic animals. Occasionally she calls us for some help, but most of the time she’s psyched to do her own thing. Speaking of doing their own thing, I let Burger out to do some early afternoon acorn hunting. He takes his job very seriously.
SHERRY: I proof-read as much of the afternoon post as I can (it usually goes up between 2 and 2:30) and then I finish up by adding some links, catching some more typos, fixing a few unclear parts, and it’s finally ready for me to publish it right before two o clock rolls around. Then since I have five minutes left in the hour I squeeze in some train-board time with Clara, and Burger ambles over to see what’s going on.
2:00 pm – 3:00 pm
SHERRY: Two o’ clock means it’s time for Clara’s nap (she just takes one a day, usually from around 2-4) so I change her diaper and tuck her in. Our routine is super fast (sound machine on, curtains closed, lights off, kiss, door closed) and then it’s back to answering comment questions for the rest of the hour.
JOHN: We’re sharing a video in a few days (our annual Q&A one), so since we already recorded the footage yesterday, I get to work on editing the video. I have to find music, edit the clips down since a bunch of them are super long, and just generally clean it up and add transitions and type so it all makes sense. It usually takes me about three hours each year since it’s our longest video and it has tons of questions and answers (and I’m married to a talker!), so by the end of the hour, I’ve made a small dent in the assignment.
3:00 pm – 4:00 pm
JOHN: I’m itching to keep plugging away on the video since I’m in the zone and Clara’s sleeping, but we have a book call at three to talk about the still-not-finalized tour schedule (we’ll share all the dates with you guys as soon as they’re pinned down!), hammer out what we’ll be speaking about at each location, and do some other book-launch planning stuff. It’s funny how we thought that once we sent in the manuscript it would be nice and quiet, but planning all of those events, scheduling things, and doing little press interviews just picked up where writing and shooting left off. It’s exciting though, so we’re not complaining. At this point the book is like our third kid (behind Clara and Burger of course).
SHERRY: Our call lasts the whole hour but we’ve hammered out a lot of stuff so it feels good. I hop back on comments with big plans to write a post as soon as I’m done with a few quick comment answers.
4:00 – 5:00 pm
JOHN: I get back into video editing and then take about 15 minutes at the end of the hour to edit and size photos for a post that we’ve already written for tomorrow afternoon (the thing about sharing 8 posts in a 5 day period is that we’re always working on finishing some that are already written, writing new ones, and answering questions for the ones that are already up). Thank goodness Sherry is a list-maker or we’d never stay organized.
SHERRY: Before starting that post that I planned to write, I click back over to my email and see a few urgent things I have to respond to for our publisher and our accountant (he’s running some numbers for our next quarterly tax payment, so he has a few quick questions). I finally get to start that post, but about ten minutes into it Clara wakes up, so I go get her and hang out in her room for a little while with her at her request. I’ll admit that for some of the time I’m anxious to finish that post hanging over my head, but it’s nice to just chill with Clara in her room for a little while (John and I attached to our laptops all night long, so little slivers of time away from it during the day keep us sane).
5:00 pm – 6:00 pm
SHERRY: I’m back in the office trying to write a little more of that post while Clara plays with a box of spare ribbon on the floor behind me (she has loved doing that since before she even turned one – it’s pretty cute).
JOHN: About half-way through the hour, the ribbon-playing has lost its magic and the bean is restless and ready to get out of the house, but I have one last phone call to take care of. We’re coordinating a really complicated giveaway so it takes a little bit of planning with that vendor. Stay tuned for it in a couple of weeks!
JOHN: My call takes around twenty minutes and then we’re ready to pile into the car. We’re off to Home Depot (one of Clara’s favorite places, believe it or not – she even recognizes the logo and squeals “Yay! Home Depot!” when she hears a commercial for it on the radio). We need to grab some materials for a little bathroom project that we’re planning, so after I make a sketch of what we need and Sherry and I tape things off to be sure we like where it’s headed, we all pile into the car (Burger included).
6:00 pm – 7:00 pm
SHERRY: At Home Depot we pick up what we need while Burger and Clara get their kicks in the car-shaped cart.
SHERRY: Then since we’re out we decide to stop to grab dinner at Chipotle, which is at a walking mall near our house. That way after we eat we can all walk around for a while and soak up the fresh air and the nice fall evening. We usually eat out sparingly (and try to choose places like Chipotle or Jason’s Deli so the food is nice and fresh) and otherwise we’ll eat at home, where the average meal can be anything from spaghetti or perogies to veggie chilli, bean burritos, rotisserie chicken, or veggie burgers.
JOHN: Walking around this particular mall after getting to eat there is especially nice because Clara loves it and it’s even dog friendly (so Burger’s allowed into the stores with us too).
7:00 pm – 8:00 pm
JOHN: We’re back at home and have unloaded our Home Depot materials from the car, so this is sort of family hour in our house before Clara goes off to bed at eight. We do our best to log some good reading-time with her and also end up scribbling with crayons, and talking about our day.
SHERRY: Burger is usually full of energy around this time of the day, so he’s bounding around the sofa and Clara’s laughing and chasing after him. But 8 o’ clock is here before we know it and it’s time to put that baby to bed. After brushing her teeth and slipping her into some pjs, we just do the same nap routine for nighttime (sound machine on, curtains closed, lights off, kiss, door closed) and she’s snuggled up under the quilt I made her and pretty close to drifting off by the time I shut the door.
8:00 pm – 10:00 pm
JOHN: Once Clara’s in bed, we usually get most of our work done. Tonight it’s more video editing for me along with some other post writing and picture sizing.
SHERRY: I’m finishing up some other posts, trying to get a head start by proof-reading the post for the morning, answering some emails, and looking at a bunch of Reader Redesign submissions (all of which get me so inspired that I want to hop off the sofa and paint/upholster/rearrange something, haha).
10:00 pm – 12:00 pm
JOHN: It’s pretty normal for us to have both of our laptops fired up until around midnight, but we try to get cozy and sit on Karl with the TV on in the background so it feels more casual. Some nights we do major DIY stuff together between 8-12 (like building/painting/demo/etc) instead of sofa-computer stuff since during the day it’s hard to get anything other than very small projects done with the bulk of our comments rolling in and a toddler running around, but not tonight.
SHERRY: We sit in front of the TV (The Voice is on, and then it’s Parks & Rec time) and I finally finish the post that I’ve been writing on and off all day. It’s normal for a post to take us around 2-3 hours total (usually not all at once) since we have to edit/size/upload photos along with writing things up (that doesn’t include the time it takes to buy materials and do the project). Unless it’s fast like a giveaway – those only take around 30 minutes to write, but probably take an hour or two to coordinate via email beforehand. Around midnight we finally decide it’s time to put the laptops away and get ready for bed. We’re zonked.
12:30
SHERRY: Burger, John, and I climb into bed and we lay there recapping some of the highlights & challenges of the day and then do a quick run-through of any important tasks that we have to knock out tomorrow (gotta finish building/painting something, write two posts, proof two posts, and hop on two more calls). Before we know it, we’re out cold, with Burger and Bearger beside us. Zzzzzz.
Psst- You can check out how things have changed over the years by peeping this rundown from last year, this one from the year before, and this one from the year before that.
Update – Some of the most frequent requests that we get are for info about professionally blogging (how we made our site, how we grew our following, how we make money, etc) so we shared all of the details about how we started a blog, grew our traffic, and turned it into a full time job.
I LOVE these kinds of posts. It’s so interesting to see what a typical day is for people. I actually did my own a little while ago (http://mailboxjourney.com/2012/08/31/a-day-in-the-life-twenty-twelve-edition/) but my day is super boring compared to yours!
Again, Congrats on 5 years! :)
I love that!!
xo
s
I’m exhausted after reading that! It makes me respect what you guys do on a day-to-day basis that much more. Clara & Burger are lucky to have parents who are so dedicated, even with a million things going on.
Aw thanks Linda!
xo,
s
You guys are just too cute!
My hubby makes me eggs in the morning too as I race around getting ready for work – it is little things like that, that just melt my heart.
Holy smokes – had to add…you guys go to bed at 12:30 then John gets up and runs 5 miles at 6….I officially have no more excuses to avoid exercising. WOWSA!
Every time he gets up I think “youre crazy! Our kid sleeps in!” but he says those morning runs keep him sane. Haha!
xo,
s
I wouldn’t want my hubby to make me eggs in the morning lol But I do love when he lets me sleep in when he is off work! I can’t believe you guys do all that in one day! Crazytown
That sounds like a very full day! It has to be wonderful (and difficult) to work from home. I’d be distracted all the time!
Sherry, you’ve inspired me to dig my planner out and start planning/writing posts in advance, too!
Me too! I need to put my pretty-pretty day planner to better use :-)
Ya’ll are awesome. Just thought you’d like to know that. :)
Aw thanks Audra!
xo,
s
Man, I love panting too.
Um…
I’m glad you guys are so honest about how much work goes into running this thing. I know most people think it’s a cushy job, but it’s obviously beyond full time.
You’re so sweet Allyn!
xo,
s
I took my dog to that mall recently and he tried to sniff the bronze dog statue’s butt and couldn’t understand why it wasn’t playing with him…
Hahahaha!!!
xo,
s
Wow, that’s a lot of stuff in one day! It certainly has changed a lot from when you guys were selling mood boards. I remember that one!
Congratulations!! I have been following for years and I love reading these posts. By the way, I LOVE that you take Burger with you to Home Depot and he sleeps in your bed. We are guilty of the same thing :)
Wow, I feel tired just reading this! You guys are rockstars – I’m continually amazed by your work ethic. And the best part is that you love what you do! Reading this post, I can’t help but wonder what if you guys had both stayed at the ad agency in NYC… I wonder where you would have been today…
The ironic thing is that we moved to Virginia to work less and slow down. Now we laugh out loud about that. Haha!
xo,
s
thanks for the recap of your daily life.
sherry-question—
do you ever go out driving somewhere on your own with clara? i see that it’s either john and clara together or all of you together. just wondering if you and clara ever go out on your own running errands during the day. just mommy and daughter time.ok, have a great day:)
We definitely have mommy and daughter time a lot but not in the car (I don’t typically drive, although I do have my license). Sometimes John has to get materials and he drops us off at the park, or we go on a walk around the neighborhood without him.
xo,
s
I would love to read about why you don’t drive…
Signed –
Charity, a reader who only reads one blog daily – yours ;)
I only drove around 6 months before moving to NYC for college (no one drives/has a car there thanks to the subway) and then I lived there for 6 years! That’s a lot of not driving compared to not much driving before that. Then we moved to VA together, but we only had one car and John took it to work while I freelanced from home. That was 7 years ago and I’ve only driven a handful of times. I can in a pinch, but I don’t mind letting John take the wheel and he seems to prefer being in charge of things like that (he has a much better sense of direction than I do, anyway). Haha!
xo
s
Wow, that’s a long time not driving.
My cousin’s husband injured himself in a company baseball game..he broke his leg..his wife hardly ever drove also and she said she wished she drove more before that since he always drove.
You never know so it’s good to get the practice….
OK, I’m officially exhausted after reading that! It’s a good thing you’re both such high-energy people. Good luck with the next five years….and more!
I have to be honest…don’t know how you do all that everyday. It sounds exhausting just reading it. One question, why so much time on answering comments? I’ve noticed that y’all answer the same question over and over…does that not bother you?
We think chatting with readers and helping them gain the confidence to DIY stuff in their own home is what got us here, so we are completely happy to answer comment questions whenever they come in :)
xo,
s
That’s exactly why I love you guys so much. I pestered sherry so much about Karlstad couch before taking the plunge and she was so sweet to answer my questions.Not only did I buy the couch , we love it so much! Love it guys. You guys are too good at this.:)
Aw, so glad!
xo
s
I honestly feel like the fact that you answer/respond to so many of your comments is one of the reasons you guys are so successful. It make us little fans feel like we know you and I know I get really excited when you answer my question or respond to my comment!
Aw thanks Jennifer! We love chatting with you guys :)
xo
s
I agree…. So many times I have seen blogs where they have done something great and then in the comments you see readers have questions about it and they approve the comment but never answer their questions… Thanks for giving us so much of your time and for all the inspiration!
It’s crazy to see how busy the blog keeps you guys! I love seeing Instagram pics of y’all eating out or visiting museums and parks because it’s nice to see you don’t blog 24/7. Thanks for sharing a typical day.
P.S. Clara’s shirt is adorable but we all know she has excellent taste.
John is up until 12:30 at night and wakes up just a few hours later to run? Is he perpetually exhausted?? Great post!
I think he’s crazy but he swears those runs keep him sane!
xo,
s
I too was concerned about his lack of sleep!
Haha!
xo
s
Phew – what a long day! You both are very organized to get all of that done!
Random off topic question but what lightweight stroller is that and do you like it?
We have a Joovy Kooper, which we love.
xo,
s
YAY! Congratulations on 5 years blogging! You guys are such an inspiration, and I love how you share each detail of the day. I don’t think people realize that blogging is not all awesome projects all the time. Keep up the good work!
I’m exhausted just reading that post. I knew you guys worked hard everyday, but WOW, just wow.
So interesting! It’s fascinating to me how people can spend their time so differently.
I really didn’t realize you spent quite so much time on the blog – no wonder it’s one of my favorites :)
Thanks for giving us a glimpse into your typical day.
It’s amazing that you get so much done with DIY projects between “business” time and family time. You two are an inspiration! Happy 5th Blogiversary!
I actually took some time this morning to reminisce and read your first posts. I love the one that even said you would be in your first house “a long, long time”. It’s amazing the adventure you have been on and thank you for sharing it with us oh-so-grateful readers.
This is so great!
I think that a big part of your success is your commitment to answering comments and engaging with your readers. I never thought about how truly time consuming that must be until this post!
I just celebrated my three month blogiversary – which I don’t think you can really call a blogiversary – but already I struggle with how time intensive it is when you do it right. I want it to become a way I can work from home eventually, so I’m trying to be consistent. What did your blogging routine look like when you were still working?
Y’all are the best and congrats!
Sarah
We just wrote stuff on nights and weekends. Posts were shorter and we tackled fewer projects, but we still posted every day to stay in the rhythm, so sometimes posts were just about what inspires us, things we were planning, and other random home realized stuff. We still love peppering that stuff in here since it’s all part of the smorgasbord :)
xo,
s
Love this post! So fun to see how much work it really is.
As fellow DIY-ers, how much did you love this exchange from Parks & Rec?
Ron Swanson: Not to worry, I have a permit.
Park Ranger: This just says “I can do what I want”.
Hahahaha. We fell off the couch laughing.
xo,
s
My personal diy-esque quote was this one:
Lowe’s associate: hello sir, can i help you with anything?
Ron Swanson: I know more than you.
Hahahahhahahahahahhhahahah!
xo
s
I just want to send y’all a BIG THANK YOU!!! You work hard and your time and effort is much appreciated by me. I look forward to 10:00 am every weekday!!! Keep up the great work.
PS..I do hope your book tour will bring you close to Columbia SC. I can’t wait to see your schedule.
You guys are workaholics! Kudos to John for waking up that early to run! I did that for awhile, and then I decided that I loved sleep too much!
Clara & burger as so cute! I too love seeing what you guys do! I work from home as well, and I can stay up late doing stuff, but recently I have a cut off time! My hubby take the computer from me at around 8 pm to watch football.. I usually fall asleep on the couch.
Jazmin
I am so glad I’m not the only one glued to the laptop way past typical “office hours.” (And my blog is a grain o’ sand compared to your big ol’ boulder of a blog!) I love to see how bloggers spend their days. I would squee if I saw Burger in a cart at Home Depot. I got a flash of paparazzi surrounding him asking him for his autograph and John whips out an ink pad and he stamps his paw print on a piece of paper.
Clearly I need to get out more.
Hahs!
xo,
s
You guys are very busy. As much as I like to blog, I am happy that I do it just for fun now and have a job that I go to part time. It would be very stressful for me to try and do it full time. You guys do it well, and are no doubt reaping the benefits. I cannot wait for your book to come out!
Whew! What a day! Greta used to go to bed at 6 (from 3 months old to 2 years old) and now that she is getting a little older (2 1/2) it has bumped back to 8 and it is suddenly harder to break out our paint brushes at night. It’s inspiring to see that that is around the time you guys get down to work. I commend you!
What a crazy busy day! But I love being able to see the whole “day in the life thing.” It makes you guys seem more real haha!
Thanks for this, you make me feel not so crazy for the chaos that is our lives since we had our son 4 months ago! My husband works on his own website full-time, I am still working full-time outside of the house, so he has the baby during the day. I take over when I get home, once the baby is in bed I try to blog and get to bed by 11, while my husband stays up to work until 2 or 3. I’ve been getting up with the baby around 4 (suspected 4 onth sleep regression!) and then pass him off at 6 to head off to work and start all over! Needless to say, we’re both tired.
I’ve only been back at work for a month so I have yet to hit my stride with all of this. Throw in three, THREE nursing related illnesses and yeah, not many house projects have been going on. Trying to be easy on myself for now. I know that when you love what you’re doing, you find the time and energy. I’m sure you guys would agree :)
I know its probably because of the “grass is greener” phenomenon, but a day in your life sounds simply divine. Meanwhile, I am sitting in an office working on taxes 8-5 and off to my last semester of graduate school 6-9. Maybe next year for Blogiversary VI you can do a freaky Friday switcharoo with one of your loyal readers (me!).
Haha, that would be pretty funny!
xo
s
You guys make me tired! Thanks for keeping up the momentum to keep us all entertained and inspired! Happy 5!
This is a great post–so interesting!! You all really seem to juggle work and life really well. Keep at it! I love that Clara gets to grow up seeing her parents love her and their jobs! xo
I almost feel bad for writing this comment, since it seems so much of your day is spent reviewing comments and answering questions! :/
But, that’s why we love you – because you’re so responsive and interactive. Too bad it eats up so much of your day.
Aw thanks Kate! No worries at all, we love chatting with you guys! You’re the reason we’re here and you guys inspire us endlessly!
xo
s
I always feel bad for posting comments, too! I try to only comment when I can’t help but not post, but I probably include a lot that’s not very interesting/helpful. Hopefully the 30 seconds needed to read and approve this comment are worth it to you, Sherry. Lol!
Totally worth it!!!
xo
s
I think I need a nap just reading that. You guys are crazy committed and focused and that’s what makes you AWESOME.
Also, John makes me feel like a slacker for never going to the gym. I only have to work 8:30-5:30 and I still don’t go.
I just want to know…HOW HOW HOW does your first born, only (for now) child play so well independently all day without the use of TV?!??! You are seriously blessed! My little guy (who is just a few months younger than Clara, so it’s been fun watching her grow up just ahead of him) wants/needs my attention a good deal of the time, and so if I really want to get something done, a little Barney or Thomas or Super Why is my only solution. He plays independently SOMETIMES, but certainly not for large chunks of time like Clara seems to according to this post. Seriously, you have it made in the shade and I am super jeluss!!!!
Aw thanks Amy! Maybe it’s an age thing? Since your guy is younger, he might grow into wanting to do more himself. Clara’s really into that right now “no mommy, I do it myself!” is one of her catchphrases these days. She even does things like get out her playdough, climb into her seat at the table, play with it for a while, put it away, and climb down and go do something out. It’s a relatively new thing and she’s getting better and better at it, so hopefully it comes with time!
xo
s
Every kid is different. Our son was also very dependent when he was around 2 — needed one of us to be with him / watch him / do stuff with him almost all the time. Super Why, Thomas, or the Cars movie were the “emergency” tools used for his parents to catch their breath. :) Fortunately in the past year (he’s now 4) he has started doing more independent play. On the other hand, our daughter (two days older than Clara) is much more independent, and equally content sitting with a pile of books or chasing her big brother (and parents) around. :) She just started the “I do it” phase too, but doesn’t quite have Clara’s vocabulary.
Amy I’ll just jump in and say I have two children, girl (5) and boy (2) and Sophia was just like Clara, happy to play on her own at my feet, and Jonathan is. not. I don’t want to call it a gender thing, necessarily, but they are different as night and day, so I think it’s a personality thing. I understand totally where you are coming from, and also Sherry. Each child is just so different, that’s why you just never know. But I know our family is so great with the both of them, we love them to death.
Congratulations on 5 years, and all your success. You might make it look easy to all of us, but clearly all the hard work, late nights, and talent are what make this my favorite morning read. Keep up the great work!
Whoa…..soooo, when do you do your house projects? LOL Very intense, very interesting, kudos to you guys. Great job you are doing.
A few nights a week we usually tackle those things once Clara’s in bed (usually from 8-12) or sometimes try to do them over naps if we can (ex: painting something, building something, yard work).
xo
s
You must do a lot of house projects during nap times since most of your progress pictures are taken during the day – not at night as your post would indicate.
I find that even a small blog takes so much time to write posts, take pictures, complete projects so its always fun to see your day in the life posts.
Sometimes we do small ones in the day- and sometimes we stage pics the next day if we forgot to take them or it was too dark! We’ll leave things half done after doing half of it one night, shoot the pics in the morning when there’s light and then finish the next night! There’s definitely some naptime DIYing, but the big things like kitchen demo or painting a room are usually done in the evening :)
xo
s
Sheesh…it’s only 10 whatever in the morning and now I’m tired just from reading about your day. Haha! But what I tell my kids all the time “Hard work never killed anybody!” is shown here as proof positive. I admire your gumption.
My best, Lynn
I’m exhausted just reading this. How do you do so much on so little sleep?
John does sleep in with me until around 8 some mornings (he doesn’t run every morning) and some nights we don’t go to bed as late (we’ve totally passed out on the sofa at 11 a few times). Haha!
xo,
s
Wow, this blog is your life not just your job. Thanks guys, we appreciate it!
wow, holy busy day! you’re very lucky Clara is so independent – my kids would never leave me alone long enough to get anything done (or, if they’re playing together, they start bickering – ugh)!
thanks again for all you do! when I was reading yesterday’s timeline, I was blown away by your reader stats – I knew you guys had a huge following, but you write in such an accessible way that it feels so personal and it’s easy to forget how massive your audience is!
It’s so fun getting a peek into your days. Clara is such a lucky lady to have both her parents (and Burger) in proximity to her all day. Thanks for the daily labors of love to give us the blog we all enjoy so much!
LOVE LOVE LOVE these posts! Mostly because I realize how hard you work for us readers to keep things coming. Wow. The pictures made me smile, and it’s neat to have this little glimpse into YHL daily. It makes me hesitate to leave any questions in these comments because I know it’s just one more for you to answer! Thanks for working so hard and for valuing your readers so much. It definitely shows.
You guys are awesome!
So busy! You guys should take mandatory offline vacations every year!
That is a long day. I admire your work ethic and dedication to your blog. Good for you.
I wonder if my 80lb mutt would be allowed into Home Depot if I promised to keep her in the cart?!
Oh yes, she can even walk on the floor! As long as a dog is on a leash it’s cool, at least in ours. Even the big guys come in and walk around. It’s hilarious!
xo
s
You have to check with the Home Depot – I know I’ve seen a large sign on the door at our’s that says only service animals are allowed. (I don’t have a dog, but was curious after I saw posts of Burger at Home Depot and happened to notice the sign.)
Oh yes definitely check! Ours is dog-friendly. No cats though. Haha. Although the occasional bird from outside does fly in…
xo
s
you guys are rock stars! I don’t know how to do all that you do going to bed past midnight! I am pooped at 10… just after we put our 9 month old down for the night. YET another inspiration from you two!
what a sweet, work-filled day!! yall are crazy busy. but it shows; you’ve got an awesome blog!!!
can’t wait to see what you’re doing in the bathroom…
I am new to your blog. Thanks for sharing your day in the life, it is wonderful to hear about people doing what they love. Can you please tell me the brand of your fabulous couch — or where you purchased it? It is awesome!
It’s a Karlstad sectional from Ikea! Hope it helps.
xo
s