A day in the life...

Just so you can fully understand why Crock pot recipes are so valuable to me, I would like to share what Tuesday's at the Swenson household look like.

Here goes:

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

6:15am Wake up call from Tessa.  Feed her and change her diaper.  Share some quiet alone time with her.

6:45 Jonathan up and at them, and I make our bed.

7:00 All of the other kids up, and serve them breakfast.  (Cereal and Sausage- a little protein for their brain)

7:15 Make beds, straighten bedrooms and put Tessa back to bed.

7:15-8:00 get everyone dressed, clean up breakfast, brush teeth, get Jex off to school, and tidy the house.

8:00 exercise

8:30 Breakfast for me

8:45 Shower and get ready all while entertaining the older two

9:30 Tessa is awake again.  Begin another feeding

9:45 Change Tessa and Isaac's diaper

10:00 put dinner in the crock pot

10:15 Cut my friend Michelle's hair, and juggle the kids and their needs

10:30 sing to Tessa and put her back to bed

11:15 make lunch for the kids, and Michelle and I.

11:30 Feed Tessa while I eat my lunch.

12:30 Clean up lunch, change a diaper and put Isaac down for a nap by laying with him and rubbing his back

12:45 Tessa back down for another nap

1:00 clean up the mess that Isaac made in my room.  He decided to get out every game we own.

1:15 begin a sewing project with Michelle, and listen to Stella as she tells Michelle stories.

1:30 cut my friend Christy's hair

1:45 interrupt Christy's haircut to feed Tessa

2:30 Finish Christy's hair, enjoy girl time with Christy and Michelle.

2:45 put Tessa down for a nap in her car seat so she will be ready to go in the car

2:45 get Stella ready for dance, and finish cleaning up the hair mess.

3:15 wake Isaac up from his nap

3:20 Drop Stella off at a friends to go to dance, and go get Jex from school.

3:30 pick up Jex, and take him to golf.

4:00 meet a Pampered Chef consultant in a parking lot to exchange checks and reciepts. and feed Tessa in the car

4:15 go to the beauty supply to pick up more color

5:00 pick Jex back up from golf

5:15 arrive home, and clear off the table from my sewing project to have dinner.

5:20 Hug and kiss my amazing husband who just walked through the door.

5:30 take dinner out of the crock pot and enjoy dinner with our financial planner who had an appt. with us at 5:30

5:45 Change 2 more diapers

6:00 continue tidying the house, and cleaning up dinner

6:10 help Jex with his homework

6:15 Stella gets home from dance, and feed her

6:30 Feed Tessa, sing songs with Isaac, and talk to the kids about their day

6:45 Tessa bath and jammies on.

7:00 Tessa in bed, give the older kids a bath, and get their jammies on.

7:15 We all clean up our stations(more to come about this later)

7:25 Prayers, scriptures, and bedtime.

7:40 trying to keep Isaac in his bed

7:45 Color Luanne's hair, and plan for our next Relief Society meeting

9:15 sit down and enjoy some time with my husband

10:00 brush teeth and off to bed

This is just a brief synopsis of what an average day can look like.  Along with all of this, I am entertaining, giving the kids snacks, playing, answering the phone,chasing, teasing and kissing my family.

My job lasts much longer then just an 8 hour day.  The crock pot made my life so wonderful yesterday.

It felt good to have a nice home-cooked meal on a Tuesday.  Tuesday's are really busy for us.

Here is the crock pot report:  We had the Southwest Chicken Nachos, from Elise Ford and Heidi Parson.  They were delicious.  The cilantro made the dish taste so great.

Here is how I would rank it:

How Easy?  10 

It took me 5 minutes to throw it together.

Taste?  8 

It has really good flavor. Everyone seemed to like it.  Stella scarfed it down.

Appearance?  9 

It was beautiful, and very colorful.

Clean up?  7 

I had a little more cleanup with this because of all the fixings that you add.  I did use a crock pot liner so that was so convenient.

Cost?  8 

This meal cost me about $12 to make.

I hope you find ways to make life easier on yourself.

I truly believe that the work we do in the home is the most important work we can do.  Lets continue to find ways to help each other be successful at it, and make it easier on ourselves.