Day in the life: Summer schedule.

July 12, 2019

(Laughing at Gabe who was doing his best monkey impersonation.)

The summer as a parent + business owner is a complete marathon! We did the majority of our traveling in June so July we have tried to settle into a somewhat lose routine for the sake of everyone’s sanity. We seem to have a revolving door of kids in and out of our front and backyard from dawn till dusk, and this simple schedule has helped remind our kids that mom and dad aren’t able to be their live entertainment every hour of every day;) Below is a lose breakdown of what our days look like right now!

7:00 AM – Gabe and I get up and ready for the day + morning prayer. (Sometimes this is when I will do a power walk and a podcast!)

7:30 AM – Kids get up and immediately demand to be fed…. and we remind them of the wake up routine. (Make bed, brush teeth, get dressed.) Breakfast is usually quick and easy.

8: 00 AM – Chore time. They all have daily pick up and cleaning times, but they also have special chores they can choose to do for a weekly allowance.

8:15 AM – Reading time. Practice reading with Max or read books with Rocco and Azelie while Gabriel and Veronica read their current library picks.

8:30 AM – Play time for the kids + babysitter arrives. My sister helps us a most weekday mornings, and usually stays until after lunch. They do lots of indoor crafts, backyard water fun, or library time. I’ve been meaning to share some of the fun activities we have done, but for now there are some good ones in this pinterest board.

9: 00 AM – Gabe and I get to work on blog post prep, home projects, emails, or whatever tasks are needing to be addressed for the day.

12:30 – Lunch

(And yes there are days we feel like we have lived an entire day by 10 am.)


1: 00 PM – Rest time/ Quiet time – All of the kids come in from outside to have an hour or so of quiet time to do art, read, construct, etc. Azelie and Rocco generally still take naps during this time. This is an essential surviving point of our day for all parties! Gabe and I usually continue to work through this time or run any errands needed.


3:00 PM – Play time for the kids outside. We will sometimes meet up with friends or family during this time of the day.


5:30 or 6 PM – Dinner followed by family time. We spend most evenings out in our backyard. If it is too hot we will watch a movie from our summer movie list.


8:00 PM – Bedtime routine. Baths, books, prayers, and they can look at books till they get sleepy.

9:00 PM – This is when Gabe and I try to spend this time just hanging out together.

Hair trim day;)

There are weeks some of the kids are in camps or doing swim lessons, but for the most part they are having a very simple summer of just being wild and free together. The best summers of my childhood felt hours long where my sisters and I would basically live outside with nothing on our agenda but when the next meal was. It’s been fun to see our own gang chase lightening bugs, play in the sprinkler, make popsicles, invent their next creation, and build fort after fort. I hope these are the days they remember too.

“Mom can we feel the baby move?”

I often feel like I am short on energy or patience, and being super pregnant makes me feel so limited in being able to do much activities outside the home. However, school starts in ONE month. So instead of feeling like the constant interruptions and limited work hours are cumbersome, I am trying to welcome this extra time with my children all under one roof. Because as I was so painfully reminded too many times all over instagram last week was that I only have “18 delicious summers” with my kids, and that was enough to put me in the right headspace!

Thank you Chelsey Heidorn for capturing a morning at our house! (Check out her work!)

Leave a Comment

  • Lianna McCabe

    Hi Anna,

    I really admire the way you and your husband are raising your precious family! You guys are incredible! I have four little ones myself and just wondering how you handle the never ending snack requests. Ha! Also- curious what type of chores do y’all give allowance for? God bless you guys!

    • Lianna that is so kind! Thank you! The snack requests are endless over here too. We have a 3 pm snack time after rest time, and sometimes a 10am snack depending if they are going to the park or something. Otherwise I’ll do an earlier lunch at 11:30. I have to be consistent at telling them when the pantry and kitchen is closed! Toddlers will often throw a tantrum over it, but I’ve noticed how they have gotten used to the routine now that we are a month into the summer! After dinner they are always welcome to have a banana, glass of milk, or another serving of dinner if they claim to be hungry;)

      For allowance chores we have different ones based on age like load the dishwasher after breakfast and wipe down countertops for our oldest, sweep the floor in the morning for Veronica, and unload the dishwasher or clean a bathroom sink for Max. If they stick to it for a whole week they get allowance money they can save toward something. Gabe will also give them opportunities for dollar chores in the yard:) They have really taken pride in doing their chore surprisingly to me! It’s so nice to get to these ages of independence!

  • Kathleen

    Loved this! My oldest just turned 13 and we have 5 kids. I feel everyday the desire to slow time and breath it in.. (except when they are arguing 😂😂😂) but in all seriousness, I am so grateful for these slow summer days!

  • Ok, but really, how long does bedtime take? I have 3 kids and it takes at least an hour for us 😆 You guys are the sweetest family – thanks for sharing your smiles and laughs with us!

    • Anna Liesemeyer

      I should definitely change that last time slot to 9pm because more often than not lately it takes an hour even when we are tag teaming! “MomI need more water.” “Mom I have a mosquito bite, I need a bandaid.” “Mom just one more book. Can you sing a song?” You know how it goes! 😂

  • Diana Lupu

    hi there! I love seeing schedules like this because it gives me great ideas when i’m in a rut! thank you for sharing that pinterest board! i’m so curious tho when you guys have time to cook… i feel like i’m constantly in the kitchen cooking. and then cleaning up/washing dishes/etc. takes foreverrrrrr.

    • Diana, that is a great question! To be honest, in the summer months we don’t cook much! It’s easier to do casseroles and crockpot meals in the winter, but in the summer we do a lot of grilled chicken, salads, tacos, pizza…anything easy! I agree though it takes so much time to make and clean up meals. Gabe actually likes to grill or make dinner more than I do so we juggle it 50/50. I try to meal prep on Sundays as well by planning meals and ordering groceries online so I have the right things on hand.

  • Hey Anna,

    I really love seeing how other familys days look, it really inspires me to change a few things around in our day. I’m a business owner and stay at home mom and its always a hard time trying to find time to work on the things I need to run my business. I think its time we get a baby sitter to come a few times during the week so I can work on our blog stuff and everything else.

    thanks for sharing!

    Stephanie | A Learning Story

Copyright © 2024 In Honor Of Design powered by chloédigital