When You Give a Homeschool Mom a Morning (inspired by If You Give a Mouse a Cookie)

This morning, we waved good-bye as Mike and Ryan went off to church camp. Then I immediately dropped Kaylin and Jason off for a week of Vacation Bible School. I suddenly had three hours all to myself. 

Let me repeat that: THREE HOURS. TO MYSELF. 

Do you know how rare that is in my world? 

Do you know what three hours equals in homeschool mom hours??? Practically a week. 

I intended to run some child-free errands, but decided to head home and cross a few things off my to do list first. It was only 9am, so I had plenty of time to do both.

But before I sat down, I started a load of laundry and cleaned up the kitchen from breakfast. 

Then I sat down at my computer. My eyes wandered over to the cluttered desk around me. Papers, Legos, football trading cards, drawings, lists, receipts…I couldn't concentrate. I decided to spend 30 minutes re-setting my house. Clear surfaces, clean floors, tidy nooks and crannies. 

But I had to go to the bathroom first. Once in the bathroom, my sink counters made me cringe. With Mike gone for a few days, I decided to stick all of his toiletries under his sink. 

But the counter was still gross...toothpaste crusties and stray whiskers everywhere. So I quickly wiped it down. And cleaned the mirror. And while I was at it, I may as well clean the toilet and just call it, "done," right?

It took me all of 11 minutes, so I carted my cleaning supplies over to the kids' bathroom. 

As I walked past the schoolroom, I noticed Jason's bedding all over the floor. I had forgotten that he wouldn't stop talking to Ryan last night, so I separated them. I grabbed his pillow and covers and went into the boys' room to re-make his bed.

While I was in there, I tidied up a bit. Hangers hung up in the closet. Books on the shelf. Clothes in the hamper.

The hamper looked pretty full, so I grabbed the clothes to bring to the laundry room. While I was at it, I emptied Kaylin's hamper, too. And pulled the clothes out of my hamper.

After the clothes were sorted in the laundry room and the towels were moved to the dryer, I decided to clean the hall bathroom. And disinfect the kitchen sink. 

Then the dishwasher was ready to be unloaded. 

Then I noticed Ryan's birthday party decorations all over the house. Time to take those down!

Then I picked up all of the paper and peripherals from the kids playing "hotel" with their friends in the front room yesterday.

I casually looked at the clock. Only 10:15!??!!

Time for a snack. I poured myself some Rice Chex and almonds and gathered some stuff to bring upstairs with me. Like an idiot, I tipped the bowl and spilled Chex everywhere. I figured I should vacuum it up before accidentally stepping on them and made a bigger mess.

And while the vacuum was out…I think you see where this is going...

Then I finally got back to decluttering the surfaces. It is now 11:20am, I have completely picked up my house, cleaned the bathrooms, done a load of laundry, unloaded the dishwasher, vacuumed the kitchen, disinfected the sink, written this entire blog post, and I still have 30 minutes to spare before I need to go pick up the little kids.

What on EARTH am I going to do with myself for the next four mornings??!?!

Picking up the pieces of my day. Literally.

This post was supposed to be very different...but my day went downhill as I was typing, so I went with it.  Sorry for all of the variation in present vs. past tense...I wrote this at various points in the evening.

6:30am - Woke up tired, but in a good mood. Caught up on some things on the computer before getting Jason out of bed.
7am - Put in a load of laundry.
7:45am - Put laundry into the dryer and notice that there is stuff piled on top of stuff on the laundry room counter.  Realize there is no where to put folded laundry.
8:30am - Attempt to fold laundry, putting piles of clean clothes on every flat surface possible.
9am - Have a mini meltdown because of all of the clutter. Everywhere. Convince kids to help put everything back in its place so Mommy doesn't go ballistic. Take a new Christmas toy out of its package to keep Jason captivated while we tidy up.
9:30am - Everyone's sick of frantically putting things away. We stop to begin our school day. (I'm not taking a regular break like the schools because we just started and I don't want us to lose momentum.)
10:30am - Jason is not staying occupied while we learn, so I have Ryan put on a Bubble Guppies show for him downstairs.
11:00am - Come downstairs to find the contents of our pantry strung all over the family room.
11:01am - Left a message on Mike's phone asking him to make it his #1 priority to put a lock on the pantry.  For my sanity. And the safety of our two year old.
11:30am - Took a break from school and attempted to put together Kaylin's new Color Me Playhouse from Christmas for the kids to color.  Failed miserably.
12:00pm - Put Jason to bed and sent everyone for a quiet time.  Ahhh...sweet silence...!
1:45pm - With Jason asleep, suggest to Ryan that we organize his room.  Ryan pulled out absolutely everything that's not nailed down. The floor is a disaster within 3 minutes. Make signs for "Put away in room," "Put away elsewhere in the house," "Keepsakes," and "Trash."
2:00pm - Explain to Ryan that he can't keep everything. After some back and forth, he gets the idea and agrees to throw out lots of silly stuff.  We negotiate that he must limit his keepsakes to one particular box and he can keep whatever will fit inside.
2:30pm - Kaylin comes out of her room from quiet time asking if we can do her room next.
3:00pm - Take two trash bags full of junk out of Ryan's room and put away the final items. His room is spotless.
3:05pm - The doorbell rings and the kids go outside to play with the neighbor.  She teaches them the words to "It's a Barbie World," complete with hand motions that a 4th grade boy taught her after school. I never realized that 2nd line was "My boobs are plastic...it's fantastic." Awesome.
3:45pm - Jason tries sneaking a "lala-pop" from the glass dessert jar in the pantry. He drops it and it shatters into four million pieces. Double awesome.

4:00pm - Sweep, vacuum and mop the area thoroughly so that I don't step on a shard and limp around the house like I've been doing for the past week after dropping the microwave plate on the kitchen tile. Jason is summoned to the playroom so I can regain my composure.

4:15pm - Feeling hungry (or maybe I wanted to stress eat...whatever...) but was too lazy to make something healthy. Heat up stuffing. With gravy.  Proceed to eat ALL of the remaining stuffing in the fridge. 
4:20pm - Feel nauseous.
4:30pm - Put Jason's shoes on to play outside.  Clearly this kid needs to release some energy and I need him to be in a wide open space where he can't destroy anything.
4:40pm - The big kids beg me to go door to door, singing the Barbie song. With the hand motions. I declined their request, letting them know that rubbing their chests and singing about boobs is inappropriate. They asked to sing Jingle Bells door to door. I declined their idea to go post-Christmas caroling, too.
5:00pm - Jason accidentally kicked over my beloved K-State rock. It splits in half and I almost cry. Not awesome.

5:10pm - Called Mike to tell him that I was NOT going to be in a good mood when he got home from work. He sounded thrilled.
5:30pm - Poured my first glass of Skinnygirl White Cranberry Cosmo. It went down really, really easily.
5:45pm - Realized I cut my finger on a piece of glass while cleaning up the dessert jar.
5:48pm - Poured my second glass of Skinnygirl White Cranberry Cosmo.
5:50pm - Reheated leftovers for dinner.  I was in no position to cook.
5:55pm - A friend came over to borrow a stick of butter.  I let her finish my drink.
5:59pm - Jason threw his fork and flipped his dinner plate, spilling it all over his high chair.
6:00pm - Poured my third glass of Skinnygirl White Cranberry Cosmo.
6:10pm - Wondered where Mike was?  He's unusually late from work. Why wouldn't he want to come home to this madhouse? He must be hiding. Smart man.
6:35pm - Mike walked in the door from work. With flowers.  He's smarter than I thought. I kind of hoped he was at Lowe's or Home Depot picking up a lock for the pantry. But flowers are better.
6:40pm - Opened the mail while Mike ate dinner. The kids were so quiet upstairs...I should have been suspicious, but I was too tipsy to care. Plus, Christmas cards make me happy.
7:05pm - Heard Kaylin yell, "Mo-om! Jason's got the flash cards!" I didn't budge.

7:10pm - Went upstairs to find ALL of the flash cards sprinkled across the school room. 52 card pick up isn't such a big deal, but Jason had separated the color and shape cards, phonics cards, alphabet cards, sight word cards AND numbers cards...mixing them all together. This is what I get for mentally checking out before bedtime...
7:25pm - Put Jason in bed.  Then clipped Ryan's finger nails, which is a big deal because he was going through a phase of biting them to the nub. I promised that if they got long enough for me to have to clip them, he could sleep with his blanket that night. This is the second time I've had to clip them. He is thrilled.
7:45pm - Mike reads to Kaylin while I read to Ryan. I. am. exhausted.
8:20pm - All kids in bed. This post was supposed to be a detailed account of how our organizing adventure went this afternoon. Then the day went downhill and I felt the need to document it. Never a dull moment around here.
8:24pm - Hit "Publish Post" on this drawn out explanation of my day and went to watch something useless on t.v.

Family Day Challenge

I've been getting a lot of questions about our "Family Day" since posting about it last week.  I'm getting the feeling everyone thinks I'm nuts, but it's not that hard.  Really, it's not.  If I can commit to having a weekly Family Day, so can you.

We started honoring Sunday as our Family Day about a year and a half ago.  I think it started as a month-long challenge to see if we could avoid making plans on Sundays and just hang out at home all day without getting bored.  Since then, it's become our favorite day of the week. 


Here's what we try to do:

...avoid making plans or agreeing to outside commitments

...avoid the t.v. and computer (though lately the Cardinals game is usually on for a few hours, which is fine because Ryan and Kaylin end up watching it with Mike, instead of Mike zoning out while I care for the kids)

...find a few things that we can do throughout the day as a family (ex: go to the park, wander around Costco eating the samples, have a picnic, go swimming)

...find a few things that we can do a couple at a time (ex: Mike and Ryan taking a bike ride, Kaylin and me baking together, Mike taking the big kids to Home Depot)

...pull out forgotten toys and games (ex: Slip 'n' Slide, tea party sets, puppets)

...make unplanned trips to the store for ice cream or decide to go out to dinner on a whim (very unlike us...we're planners)

...immediately stop productive activities to polish Kaylin's toe nails and play Wii boxing with Ryan
 

...stifle our Type-A personalities and let the little things go

...have fun and laugh with each other...a lot


Here's what we don't do:

WE DON'T...have rules or guidelines about the day (our house rules still apply)

WE DON'T...have expectations of any kind, other than relaxing and enjoying the day together

WE DON'T...plan a bunch of things to do all day (ex: 10:15 paint, 11:05 go on a walk, 11:38 sing Kum-By-Ya)

WE DON'T...spend every minute of every hour together as a family


Most of the people I've spoken to about this have given me a dozen reasons why it won't work for them. 

"There's only so much I can do with the kids before going stir-crazy."

"My husband will never go for it."

"I just have too much to do."

"I won't be able to stay off the computer for the whole day."

"Sunday is sacred NFL time for my husband...he watches games all day and I'd be alone with the kids."

"We have too much going on in our schedule to stop everything for a whole day."


So I decided to pose a challenge to you. 

Pick a day on the calendar and decide to try your own version of Family Day.  If your husband is too into football to engage with the family on a Sunday, choose a Saturday.  Or if your kids aren't in school yet and your husband gets days off during the week, pick a Tuesday or Friday.  It really doesn't matter when it is.

Don't make any plans that day.  Nothing.  That doesn't mean you can't leave the house, just don't agree to be anywhere at any certain time...even if it's to meet other family members.  Make this day about just your little family unit: you, your husband and your kids.  And your dogs if you want.  But that's IT.

Vow to be media-free all day.  The t.v. and computer can allow people to get in a self-focused zone, but remember that your cell phone can be just as big of a distraction. Anything that takes your attention away from your family, specifically your kids, should not be allowed on Family Day. Video games might also be a no-no for most people, but we play the Wii as a family, so we do allow limited (about an hour of) video game time. (plus, in our family, no one gets angry or irritable if they don't win, so it's positive time together)

Sundays work best for us because we can go to church on Saturday night, but also because Mike's really, really, really kind of into college football, which is an all-day Saturday affair. 

Also, we purposely set aside time on Saturday to clean the house and run errands so that most everything is done on Sunday. (this summer, I posted about our Family Chores power-hour each weekend)  We don't have looming projects hanging over our heads by Sunday...we're able to truly relax.

The other question I've gotten a lot is: What do you DO all day??? 

Our typical Sunday looks like this:

- Either Mike or I sleep in...we take turns.  The other gets the baby up and fed at 7am.  The big kids get up and play in their PJs.

- If I get up first, I usually make something fun for breakfast like Waffles, Crepes, Apple Fritters or Cinnamon Rolls. A while back, we went through a "let's go get donuts" phase, but that's over for now.  If Mike gets up first, he usually makes pancakes or eggs.

- Mike and the kids make coffee, then Mike goes outside to sit on the back patio and drink his little cup coffee.  If it's nice out, the kids will play outside while I clean up the kitchen.  Otherwise, they stay inside and play.  But this is a huge relaxation thing for Mike.  Sometimes that transitions into yard work, sometimes not.

- While Mike's outside, I'm usually cleaning up breakfast, folding laundry or doing something else productive.  Because I can't relax until the kitchen is clean and a few things are off my to-do list.  That's just me.

- Around 10ish, Jason naps and the kids start getting bored, so we usually all play something together.  A board game, the Wii, rolling a ball down the hall to each other...it just sort of naturally happens.  Someone comes up with something and we all join in.  Or some of us play while others watch.

- 11:30ish, Jason gets up and we all eat lunch.

- 12-1ish, we'll usually go somewhere or run errands.  Or swim.  Or play catch in the backyard. Or go to the park.  This week, we went to the Pumpkin Patch.

- From 2-3, the kids usually have a quiet time in their room while Mike watches football and I catch up on stuff: meal planning, cutting coupons, recently scrapbooking, whatever.  Jason's quiet time is always a nap, the big kids tend to fall asleep most days, too.

- 3-5pm - Anything goes.  If it's hot out, we'll swim or do something around the house.  If the weather is nice, we'll usually do something outside.

- 5:00ish - Dinner.  We usually grill on Sundays...Mike offers, I don't argue!  Sometimes we go out to eat, sometimes we do something simple like smoothies and popcorn.

- 6:00ish - Lately, we've been doing movie night.  Last night, I was crazy and decided we all needed to bake pumpkin-shaped sugar cookies.  It made quite the mess and hyped everyone up right before bed, but the kids enjoyed it.

- 7:00 - Bedtime, as usual.

Family Day usually feels very long, but isn't that how it should be on the weekend?  Most of us are busy, busy, busy all week and Family Day is the perfect excuse to stop and rejuvenate ourselves before we turn around and do it all again on Monday.

Even God took a day of rest...don't you think He might have been setting a precedent??

I know some people who honor the Sabbath so strictly that they'll prepare meals ahead of time in disposable containers so no one has to cook or clean.  You decide what works best for you.  But seriously, talk to your spouse and kids about giving this a try.  Pick a date, block it off on the calendar and vow to relax and enjoy your family.  I promise (I wish I could give you a money-back guarantee) ... you will not regret it. 

My head is spinning...

I have wanted to sit down and type a dozen different posts this week, but my life has been crazy. I've had so many plates spinning this week, I can't keep my head straight.

Here's my week so far:

After coming home from my weekend away as a mom of 7, the first thing I did was slept like the dead (I seriously don't think I moved for 9 hours), then woke up and did mega-laundry all day Monday.

It was around that time that I remembered that our van has been acting up. We're taking a road trip this weekend and, wanting to avoid being stranded in the middle of the desert, I needed to take it in for a check up. So I begged my sweet friend to haul me and all three kids to and from the mechanic to drop off the van Monday, then to pick it up Tuesday night.

Being stuck at home Tuesday was nice; I was thrilled to play catch up and regroup. I even made lasagna while Kaylin and Jason played. Since I've been horrible at meal planning lately, I was proud that I thought ahead and bought cottage cheese and lasagna noodles last week, knowing that I had an eggplant that I wanted to use.

I cooked the noodles (only to find out that I didn't need to, but whatever) alongside the eggplant in one pan and the ground beef in another. I went to line my 9x11 pans with spaghetti sauce only to realize I didn't have any. Very unlike me...it's one of my pantry staples.

No problem, I stocked up on diced tomatoes when they were on sale recently, so I just pureed those in my new Magic Bullet that I got for my birthday. (love it!)

Once the layers were assembled, I went to put mozzarella on top and realized I was out of cheese. Completely. Now I ask you: WHO makes lasagna without checking to see if they have spaghetti sauce and mozzarella cheese first?!?!? And, of course, I was stuck without a car to go to the store. Thankfully, another sweet friend stopped and picked me up some cheese. (Don't I have the greatest friends???) Problem averted.

While I was making the lasagna, I noticed Kaylin stealing Jason's toys and dangling them in front of his face to try to get him to crawl where she wanted him to go. I wasn't thrilled that she was teasing him, but figured Jason would cry if it bothered him.

After a while, I heard Kaylin sigh and quietly say, "No one wants to play with me." It wasn't a bratty complaint, she genuinely seemed sad. It broke my heart! I scooped her up and said (in my best hero voice), "I'll play with you!" She said, "But you're cooking and Jason won't play with me. He keeps crawling away." I asked if she wanted to play or help me cook and she chose to help me cook. That killed two birds with one stone!

I forgot to mention that over the weekend, we got a ton of calls from some things I'm selling on Craigslist. So in the midst of everything this week, people have been coming by (2-3 per day) looking at stuff to buy. One gal drove from across town, stayed for over an hour, picked out $12 worth of clothes and said she only brought $10. Whatever lady, don't lie to me. You didn't drive across town with only $10. If the $2 means that much to you, please take the stuff as my gift to you. And stop eating up my time with my babies!

That was a little frustrating, but what annoys me more is the people who no call, no show. I even say, "If you think you'll be late or don't think you can make it, please call so I'm not sitting around waiting for you." This girl last night immediately said, "Oh I WILL be there. I really need this." I squeezed her in between Kaylin's gymnastics class and babysitting a friend's kids last night (during our family dinner, mind you) and does she show up? No. Did she call? Of course not. (*sigh*)

A logical person would pull the Craigslist ads and just wait to sell everything later, right? After things settle down, after our annual family vacation, just...later. The problem is that I've had these ads running for over a month with virtually NO interest. Now, for some reason, emails and phone calls are coming in by the dozens. I'm a little concerned that if I wait until next week, everything will get quiet again.

Moving on to Wednesday. Ryan had his 6 year well check last week and they found some protein in his urine. (TMI? If so, feel free to skip down a few paragraphs.) So they asked me to get another sample from him first thing in the morning and bring it in during another appointment. At 5am, I get a tap on the shoulder.

"Mommy, is this the day I need to pee in the cup?"

"Yes it is. Don't forget to put the top on it." (I drifted back to sleep)

(a few minutes later...or it could have been hours for all I know...I was exhausted)

"Um, Mom? I didn't pee in the cup."

"Why not?"

"Because I had to go so bad that it made it all bubbly in there and it looked like I put soap in there but I didn't so I just dumped it out."

He dumped. it. out.

You have to realize that last week, I drove across town to pick up this sterilized cup while I had five kids in the car. My schedule has been so packed that I had to book out this doctor appointment more than a week for a problem that could be serious and that Mike is kind of anxious about.

And now we can't go to the appointment because he dumped out the reason for our visit.

My initial reaction was to wig out a little bit, but the new "I'm gonna miss this" me used restraint. "Buddy, you shouldn't have dumped it out. We really needed that for the appointment today that now needs to be rescheduled in an already hectic week before we leave town. That was a big mistake. Please go back to bed and we'll talk at breakfast."

A few minutes later, I get another tap on the shoulder. "Mom? I thought of a solution. I can rinse out the cup and try to pee again and get the sample we need for the doctor."

"Don't worry about it, Ryan. I need to get a new cup from the doctor and it has to be the first pee of the day. Thanks for trying to think of a solution to the problem. Go back to bed."

"Are YOU trying to think of a solution, Mom?"

"No, buddy. The only solution is to reschedule the appointment and try again a different day. I need to go back to sleep and so do you. It's 5:15am on a school day."

So I rescheduled the appointment and now need to find time to go pick up a new sterilized cup for tomorrow morning. And get my oil changed. The mechanic said nothing was wrong with my car, I just need an oil change. Sure - because I have time to drag two squimy kids to a dirty car place and sit around for an hour while they change my oil. Not this week! But I really should do it before we leave town.

In the middle of all of this, there have been conflicts with my scheduled times to volunteer at both kids' schools that I've been trying to work out. And I needed to reschedule "meet the teacher" for Kaylin on Tuesday because I didn't have a vehicle. And my mom is having a garage sale tomorrow and Saturday and really needs an extra body there so she doesn't get ripped off. Which means I'm racking my brain thinking of things I can bring over to sell if I'm going to be sitting around there anyway, right?

My phone has been ringing off the hook, even my doorbell has been ringing a ton. I've been through periods of chaos and back-to-back appointments, then moments of quiet, when I catch up on some reading. (I've been reading Grace Based Parenting and can't wait to share what I'm learning.)

In the midst of my crazy week, the kids still need to be cared for and nurtured, I'm still doing my normal household duties like homework, cooking, picking up toys, bathing a baby whose knees and tops of his feet are suddenly black all the time...it's just been never-ending!

Oh. And we're going to California on Sunday. So I need to figure out a time to get us all packed and ready for THAT!

This would have felt like a hectic week without the California trip. And without the van issues. And without the garage sale. Thank goodness there's a vacation "light" at the end of this tunnel.

Thanks for listening to me vent. I just needed to rant for a bit. I let Kaylin watch Dora, Jason's asleep, my van is packed with garage sale stuff for my mom's as soon as he wakes up and I'm already feeling better getting all of this off my chest. Now if you'll excuse me, I have another family coming to look at stuff from Craigslist any minute. Then I'll drop off the garage sale stuff, come back to our side of town for "meet the teacher" for Kaylin, drop the kids off with a neighbor to go to the dentist (why did I schedule that this week???) and race home to make dinner before going to Bunco tonight.

What a week. Let the whirlwind continue...

Five Minute Clean Up

My house is quiet. The little kids are napping and Ryan is in his room for an hour of "quiet time." All is still...

Just a minute ago, I ran downstairs to refill my water before putting myself down for a nap. (WHY did I stay up until midnight last night!?!?)

One look around my kitchen made me cringe. Dishes were scattered everywhere. Crumbs (from the kids making their own sandwiches for lunch) covered the counter. Smushed cracker crumbs littered the floor. Trash was sprinkled all over: produce stickers from apples, cut up pieces from this morning's paper craft, wrappers from snacktime, even a wrapped up wet diaper sat next to (but not IN) the trash can. (okay, that last one was my fault)

Seeing everything in disarray like that made me shut down and want to go upstairs and hide. But, in the spirit of my new "set the timer for an hour" Saturday morning ritual, I gave myself five minutes to pick up as much as possible.

In five minutes, I:
- Piled the plates, cups and silverware into the sink
- Threw away every piece of trash I could find
- Wiped down the counters and kitchen table with a wet sponge
- Quickly ran the vacuum over the floors
- Tossed dirty washclothes and dish towels into the laundry room
- Put the phone on the charger
- Returned shoes to the hall closet
- Grabbed a couple of things to put away on my way back upstairs

With the exception of the sink-ful of dishes, my kitchen is no longer a disaster.

And it only took five minutes. I'm doing the five minute quick clean more often! But for now, I'm off to take a much-needed nap...

Q&A Wednesday - Summer Fun Ideas

Dawn asked, "What plans do you have for the summer. This is your first summer with Jason so will it be more diffucult to do things you usually do. I babysit my baby cousin who will be 2 soon and she has a napping schedule and can't do everything outside yet without help and has to be constantly watched over. Any ideas or advise would be helpful."

Tomorrow is the last day of school for us. Ryan's Kindergarten year went so fast!!! Probably because I birthed a whole child since he began school...

I'm looking forward to summer, to be honest. I've quickly tired of waking Jason up to drive Kaylin to and from pre-school. And I noticed that the kids got along better during Spring Break than they normally do when Ryan is in school during the days. I'm ready to de-program him from his "school attitude" and get him back on track with how he knows he should act at home.

As far as things being more difficult now that we have baby Jason, I'm not expecting that much will change. I'll be more limited as to when we can get out of the house due to naps, but he's the third kid: he's learned to tag along!

Summer here is different than most of the rest of the country. It gets hot. As in "you-can-rarely-go-outside-for-more-than-five-minutes" hot. I liken it to winters up north...we just do a lot indoors for those few months. (and by "few months" I mean May through October)

Before it gets too hot (highs in the 115 range where it cools down to 102 during the 10pm news) we'll pull out other water toys like our Slip 'n' Slide, sprinkler, baby pool with buckets and water guns.

With a pool in our backyard, we swim daily. Sometimes twice a day toward the end of the summer. By July, if you're not wet, it's unbearable to be outdoors in Phoenix. Having a pool has major perks: I can take the big kids swimming during Jason's naps. We can also take a quick dip without committing to a whole hour in the pool. We can throw on our suits, lather on some sunscreen, and go play for 15 minutes if we want.

My daily routine in the summers usually involve going to the gym and running errands with the intent of getting home and staying home by 10:30am. I try to rotate toys every few weeks, so the kids don't get bored. We do crafts, paint, color, do puzzles, play games, bake, have puppet shows, dress up, build forts, occasionally we'll have play dates, things like that. I also try to take advantage of events around town like the free story time at Barnes & Noble and the library, playing at the play place at the mall (anything for free A/C) and "open gym" at a nearby gymnastics studio.

Last summer was right after I decided to turn off the t.v. and boycotted most media for the kids. They learned to use their imaginations and found ways to get creative. I don't think I'll ever go back to having the tv on much in our house. This will be another tv-free summer, but we'll make a big deal out of family movie night on Sundays.

Before I had Jason, I made a list of all of the activities that Kaylin could do both with and without my help. You can see my pre-school activity list here. I'm the type of mom who schedules "independent play" into our days so that my kids don't need me for every. little. thing. If I have a project to do or a phone call to make, I can look at that list and get the older kids started on an activity to buy some quiet time for me.

Both kids' birthdays are in the summer, so between those, my birthday, Father's Day, Independence Day and Christmas in July, we always make a big stink over holidays to keep things fun. Last year, I involved the kids in the planning and preparing for Ryan's Carnival Party and Kaylin's Princess Party and Mike took the kids camping with some of our other dad friends. Having a few bigger events to look forward to keeps the day-to-day from getting too boring.

To get the kids out of the house a couple times a week, I've scheduled some other activites into our summer:

Movies - The local theatres here offer a "Summer Movie Fun" program where you can see one kids movie each week at 9:45am (before the theatre gets busy) for 10 weeks for a mere $7 per person. $21 and we'll get to see 10 movies this summer! I'm planning on bringing Jason with me, but we'll have to see. I might try to find somewhere to lay him down for his nap while I take Kaylin and Ryan.

VBS - Many nearby churches offer a week-long Vacation Bible School for cheap or even free. I signed up the big kids for two different VBS programs this summer; one in June and one in July. Those will be a fun break for them.

Phoenix Children's Museum - I think I'm going to break down and buy an annual pass to our children's museum. The kids love it, it's air conditioned, and by the time Ryan's back in school, Jason will be turning one and won't be free anymore. I'm planning on getting it in July so we can utilize the passes part of this summer and part of next summer.

That's what the summer holds for my family. Anyone else have different ideas?

My Weekend To-Do List

We got SO MUCH done this weekend. I am practically floating around my house, high from the huge sense of accomplishment. It's like a drug for me.

Last weekend, nothing was crossed off my "to do" list. We got some things done, but not the things I had planned. So the list carried over to this weekend and had several items added to it. And it was long. Very long. I'm shocked that we got all of it done and more.

Part of the reason we were able to accomplish so much was because Grandma Cindy took the big kids overnight on Friday after Ryan's football game. They didn't come home until 2:00 yesterday, so we were able to run around checking off errands all morning. Thanks mom! They returned home from hiking with a bouquet of wild flowers and package of chocolate chip cookies "for Mike" since I'm not allowed to have sugar yet. Soon...so very soon...

One of the things on the list was to put the laundry room back together. I flooded it on Thursday. AGAIN. How does one flood a laundry room twice? I blame the first time on serious sleep deprivation. This time, I have no excuse. I don't even remember leaving the water running into the plugged up sink and walking away. It's my "Oxy Clean sink" and I was preventing a poo-explosion stain on one of Jason's outfits. The outfit is now fine, but I wasted two hours and every towel in the house mopping up my mess. The water-filled drawer and cabinets below are squeaky clean...again. But this time the counter is warped so the drawer won't close properly. Lovely. I'm such an idiot!

Last night after church, Ryan and Kaylin played "cops" for almost an hour. Ryan "copped" (he later learned it was "cuffed") Mike and Kaylin together because they broke the speed limit. Don't mess with Officer Ryan.

Today we went to a Spring Training game with Mike's dad and brother. The weather was a. maze. ing. What a wonderful way to spend our Sunday!


Afterward, we came home and colored Easter eggs. I think the kids ate 4-5 each, so I didn't even bother making dinner.

Then while the kids played with a neighbor outside, I ran to Target to stock up on Easter basket treats. I saw this deal on Good Deal Gal's website and couldn't pass it up.

Leapster Games - on sale for $15.00 each.
Use a $5 off $30 Target printable coupon wyb 2 games PLUS
use 2- $5 off Leapster game coupons to get two games for just $15 total!

And because Jason didn't get any screen time today, here he is in all of his adorableness. He is getting so big, so fast. I just want to stop time and kiss him until his cheeks are raw. He is so stinkin' cute!!!

This is my POD from the other day. He pulls his pacifier out and tries desperately to put it back in his mouth. The looks he gives that pacifier crack me up. With his furrowed brow, you can almost see him thinking, "Wait a minute - how did that get there?"

A Day in the Life...with THREE

I feel like today is the first day I tackled real life with all three kids. Of course, with Ryan in Kindergarten during the week, I guess it won't really be "my life" until school is out for the summer. (He was off today for Veteran's Day.) Regardless, I had a crazy busy day and successfully managed it with all three in tow. And I'm about to collapse with exhaustion...
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7:00am - Fed Jason, Mike left for work, argued with Kaylin about wearing a black shirt and jeans for our baby photo shoot.
7:30am - Breakfast.
7:45am - Ryan and Kaylin started a cutting project with 1/4 inch pieces of paper all over the kitchen table and floor. I didn't have time to deal with it and was grateful they were occupied while I made sure we had everything we needed for our morning out. Diapers - check, wipes - check, pacifier - check, sack lunch with ice packs - check, camera - check, coupons - check, extra shirt for me (just in case) - check, water cups for everyone - check, coloring books and crayons - check, M&Ms to bribe the kids to cooperate during the photo shoot - CHECK.
8:00am - Drove across town for Jason's newborn photo shoot. Jason slept, the kids watched a movie, I daydreamed of a nap...
8:50am - Arrived at our destination, unloaded everyone and everything from the van.
9:00am - Stripped Jason down for his naked baby pictures. (No child porn here - his bits and pieces were covered the whole time!) The kids colored peacefully in the other room.
9:15am - With plenty of pictures of Jason crying, I took a break to feed him. The photographer took pictures of the older kids in the meantime.
9:35am - Jason peed through a beautiful, thick, fluffy, white baby blanket and all over me. What did I expect with him diaper-less for an hour? Thank goodness for the backup shirt.
10:00am - Photo shoot ended, loaded back into the van. (pictures to come soon...she's sending me the CD after she edits the best of the shots)
10:30am - Decided that since Jason was fed and sleeping and everyone was piled in the car, we should run some errands. Gave the kids an early lunch in the car since they were magically starving knowing that there were still M&Ms left in the bag.
10:55am - Dropped off kid clothes to a friend, ran into my aunt cleaning her house. Showed off the kids, talked about Thanksgiving, went along my merry way.
11:00am - Returned jeans for Kaylin to Target. I can't find jeans that fit that girl's body. Suggestions?!?!?
11:15am - Went to Trader Joe's. They were sampling hot apple cider; it tasted like a little bit of Christmas in a tiny paper cup...
11:30am - Drove to the new Krispy Kreme that actually makes donuts on site. The line was out the door with so many kids being off school for the holiday today. My kids watched the donuts bake and get glazed along the conveyor belt and we all enjoyed a hot, glazed, little round piece of heaven. Or two. The Voice could be heard very faintly, but was pretty muffled with the sounds of me moaning over the donuts I was shoving in my face.
12:15pm - Headed home and fed Jason. The kids made cards for Mike's birthday on Friday and Ryan made a birthday card for his teacher tomorrow.
1:25pm - Kaylin went down for a nap, Ryan went to his room for a quiet time, Jason drifted off to sleep on my bed and I gladly laid down next to him.
1:30pm - Woke out of a dead sleep realizing that I'd signed Kaylin up for a free trial Gymboree class at 2:30. So much for my nice, long uninterrupted nap...
2:10pm - Ryan woke me up, per my request. Woke Kaylin up and changed her, loaded Jason into his car seat.
2:30pm - Dropped Kaylin off at Gymboree, drove back home.
2:45pm - Ryan watched a cartoon while I fell back to sleep.
3:40pm - Took Ryan to Taekwondo.
4:00pm - Fed Jason while Ryan was in class. Met a nice mom who just moved to Phoenix. We exchanged numbers.
4:25pm - Ryan's class ended, quickly loaded the boys into the van.
4:30pm - Barely made it on time for pick up at Gymboree. Exchanged pleasantries with the owner as she tried to sway me into signing Kaylin up for a month of classes.
5:00pm - Pulled into the garage as a friend dropped off a hot, homemade dinner. I love my friends and Food Tidings!!!
5:30pm - After eating, I cleaned up our mess of a kitchen. Dishes, fallen rice from dinner, craft items and tiny pieces of paper all. over. the. floor.
6:00pm - Folded and put away laundry, made lunches for tomorrow.
6:30pm - Someone came over to pick up some of my maternity clothes that I was sick of that I posted on Craigslist. Pray for that sweet girl...she was only 18 and seemed so scared!
7:00pm - Sat down to feed Jason and blog while Mike put the older kids to bed.
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And here we are. I can't believe I ran around town with all three kids for four hours this morning. I also can't believe Jason slept through it all! He took all of his naps in his car seat today with the exception of 30+ minutes on my bed with me. Poor kid. I guess this is what everyone means when they say kid #3 is naturally more flexible. He did manage to stay on a loose version of his schedule, though!
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Last night, I barely got 2 hours of sleep at a stretch, hence the attempt to take 2 naps today. I'm topping Jason off with some formula tonight to try to get him to sleep a little longer. I'm barely functioning right now!!!

#26 - One of 25 Random Acts of Kindness

I want to complete 25 Random Acts of Kindness in the 1001 days I gave myself for my 101 goals.

For some reason, this morning I had an overwhelming desire to bake cookies for the men working on our house. I just thought it would be nice, I guess.

A few guys came inside to wrap our windows as the cookies were coming out of the oven and I overheard one whisper, "I should go over and snag one of those peanut butter cookies...they smell so good!" I said, "Oh, these are for your crew. I was going to put them out on the front porch, but you guys can have first dibs, if you want." The look on this guy's face was priceless as he said, "Really?!?" They were thrilled. I'm glad I got that reaction before the one from a guy outside who said, "Oh, um...okay..." like I was nuts. I secretly hope everyone else ate all of the cookies before he got one.

So do you want to see what my beautiful house looks like? That thing on the left is a huge dumpster that spans the width of our front lawn to our neighbor's yard. Very attractive!

They pulled everything away from the patio and put it in the yard. (They extended the plastic on the patio a few feet into our lawn before they realize it was killing our grass. Mike's beautiful yard now has a huge, long strip of completely dead grass.)

They replaced our stuff with all of their junk supplies...

Ryan has been walking around all week wearing his tool belt, knocking on the windows and proudly displaying his costume to the workmen.

Kaylin has (somehow) been sleeping while hammers pound her walls and ridiculous amounts of noise fill her room. (you can see her crashed out in bed while men work LOUDLY outside her window)

I'm only 3 days into this month-long process and I'm already feeling unsettled. (*sigh*)

Can I get a do-over?

I need to vent. Can I do that for a minute? Even if no one wants to hear my negativity, I have to get this out so I can move on with my life.

Yesterday was a tough one for me. Mike and I were at odds and hadn't had time to really talk in several days. Before we went to bed, we aired our issues and hugged it out, so all was well with the world again.

But at dinner last night, I'd had too much iced tea and I was WIDE awake after our late night pow-wow.

I haven't stayed up that late in ages. I guess I have stayed up past my bedtime a handful of times, when we've gotten together with friends, but never on my own, at home. I finally fell asleep around 1:00 after getting in and out of bed to do things around the house because I was SO awake and antsy.

Oh wait, I had planned on venting about TODAY. But those of you still reading need some background.

I woke up at 6:00 and couldn't fall back to sleep. This was not a good thing, considering I'm an 8-9 hour-a-night sleeper. 5 hours does not make for a nice or happy mama. But I did my best to put on a smile and not take my caffeine accident out on my kids.

First thing in the morning, some guys came to build the scaffolding that is required to rip apart my house over the next month. (14 of our 17 windows leak, so they'll be removing stucco, replacing windows, repairing dry wall and interior paint and basically tearing apart my home and my life until just days before Ryan's 5th birthday party. They promised to be done with all but the exterior paint on 6/17 and the party will be 6/20. I'm not usually one to bite my nails, but...)

We went off to a play date for a couple of hours and came home to a hot house. Our temperature is always set between 79-81 degrees, but the thermostat said 83 and the A/C wouldn't stop running. Then it was 84. Soon it was 85 and completely unbearable. I felt the air coming out of the vents and it wasn't even cold. Lovely.

I called the head honcho in charge of my house, then the foreman, but I couldn't get a hold of anyone so I found the only English-speaking worker outside and asked him to figure out why my air wasn't working. Apparently they shut off the A/C for a minute earlier in the morning and forgot to turn it back on. Thanks, guys.

Right about that time, Kaylin peed on the kitchen floor. (?!?!?) At least it was on the tile, I suppose...

The house cooled down over the next hour (it was 105 outside, after all) and I put the kids down for a nap. Time for ME to catch some Z's, too!

But just as my head hit the pillow, I heard what sounded like a chain saw. Coming through my bedroom wall. It wasn't really coming through the wall, but it sounded just as close! Believe it or not, I was so tired, I actually fell asleep through all the racket. Until they started banging on the house with a hammer to remove the dry wall. That was my alarm clock.

It was so loud in the house that I couldn't even veg in front of the t.v. - I couldn't hear it! So once the kids woke up (Ryan never fell asleep and Kaylin was awake as soon as they moved around the house to chainsaw her outside walls) I threw everyone in the car and went to the gym.

My workout was lame because my stomach suddenly felt like I'd inhaled a gallon of water. It was an odd feeling and definitely not one that encouraged a workout. So I left.

By this time, I was spent. My patience was gone, my attitude was horrible and my stomach hurt. Thank goodness we had leftovers in the fridge for dinner or I'd have served cereal. Oh wait, we're out of cereal...so it was a really good thing we had leftovers!

The one bright spot in my day was that Mike brought me 18 roses when he came home. I haven't gotten flowers in quite a while, so that was a huge treat. Thanks, honey!

I guess I was also pretty thrilled when I figured out how to use Photoshop tonight, but now I'm feeling limited because there's SO much you can do and I only have a teeny bit of information. It's very restricting.

Did I mention that Kaylin peed right in front of the toilet as we were getting everyone ready for bed? What's that about? I begged Mike to take over from there because I had truly had it. I was done. And now it's time to sit and watch the American Idol finale before collapsing into bed and waking up to hike with my neighbor at zero-dark-thirty.

I'm so glad this day is almost over.

Questions, Questions, Questions

My kids talk constantly. Ryan, especially. He has to be talking. All. The. Time. Even if he's speaking non-sense or asking questions that he already knows the answers to. As an only child, some days this trait drives me nuts.

I remember when Ryan was two and I used to take him on walks in the stroller. A girlfriend with a daughter the same age would call me from her cell phone across town while she was walking with her stroller. She could talk on the phone uninterrupted, and when we hung up, she listened to her ipod. Not me. I don't think I've gotten away with that since Ryan's first birthday. He's constantly talking and asking about things on our walks as I huff and puff away, pushing the stroller with (now) 70+ pounds of kids in it.

Half of you who read this will think I'm a horrible mother for complaining about such petty things, but I'm sure the other half of you will nod along in sympathy. And for those of you who know me in real life are personally invited to ZIP IT if you're thinking of some cleaver comment like, "I wonder why he talks so much? It's a mystery - I wonder where he gets it from???"

Today was a long day for me, so by the time we got in the car to meet Mike for a last minute dinner date, the constant line of questioning was particularly annoying. I hate to admit it, but before we'd even left the neighborhood, I reinstituted an old rule to keep myself temporarily sane: "You each may ask THREE questions before we get to the restaurant. Choose them wisely." Those next few moments were delightfully silent, but then it began again.

Ryan: "Mommy?"

Me: "Yes?"

Ryan: "Are we..."

Me: "Is this going to be one of your questions?"
Ryan: "Oh. Um, no."

(10 seconds later...)

Ryan: "Mommy?"
Me: "Yes?"
Ryan: "The next time we go to the zoo, can I feed the tigers?"

Me: "Do you want this to be one of your questions?"

Ryan: "Yes."
Me: "No, they don't let you feed tigers. They get angry when they eat and would probably bite you."

Ryan: "Oh. Why do they get angry?"

Me: "Is that going to be your second question?"
Ryan: "Well, um...no. I'll save it."

Kaylin: "Mommy?"

Me: "Yes?"

Kaylin: "When we go..."

Me: "Is this one of your questions?"

Kaylin: "Um, yes. When we go to the zoo, can I feed the ballerinas?"

Me: "The zoo doesn't have ballerinas, so no, unfortunately not."

Kaylin: "Mommy?"

Me: "Yes?"

Kaylin: "Why do all of the people chew all of the gum?"

Me: "Really? You want to use your second question to ask me that?"

Kaylin: (smiling - I think she just wanted to participate) "Yeah."

Me: "I don't really know what you're asking, but people chew gum because that's what you do with gum. You chew it."

Ryan: "Why did you slow down?"
Me: "Do you realize that this is your second question?"

Ryan: "Yes."
Me: "Because the car in front of me slowed down and I didn't want to run into him."

Ryan: "Mommy?"

Me: "Ryan, this is your last question."

Ryan: "When are we going over to Grandma and Grandpa's house?"

Me: "I don't know."

Ryan: "I said, 'when,' Mommy?"

Me: "I heard you, Ryan. I. Don't. Know."

Ryan: "Mommy, tell me. When are we going back?" (He doesn't accept "I don't know" as an answer to anything. He thinks I'm a psychic information genius.)

Me: "I really don't know. We have no plans to go to Grandma and Grandpa's anytime soon. Now, please stop asking me questions. Mommy's getting a headache."
Ryan: (singing) "SommmeWHERE ov-er the toot-toot!"
Me: "Ryan, don't use potty language."
Ryan: "Language?"
Me: "Potty words. Don't use potty words."
Ryan: "What's language?"
Me: "No more questions."
Ryan: "Why did you roll your window down?"

Me: "You've already asked me three questions."

(10 seconds later)

Ryan: "Are we going to see Daddy's car driving on the way to the restaurant?"
Me: "Please stop asking me questions, Ryan."

(Ryan sighed)

Ryan: "Is a restaurant where you rest?"
Me: (silence)
Ryan: "Kaylin, a restaurant is where you rest when you're eating."
Kaylin: "Yeah and Daddy is going to be taking a nap when we get there because he is VERY tired."

That conversation took place over the course of about two miles. And it is very typical of the dialog we have when we drive. This example was just 2 minutes of the 10 minute travel time to get to our destination.

I wish I could remember to institute the 3 question rule every time we get in the car. Not that I want to discourage my kids from asking questions - I know that inquiring about certain things will make them smart - but I just can't handle the interrogation every time we get in the car, every time we sit down to a meal, every time we watch a movie, pretty much every time we are both conscious and in the same room together. It's maddening.

After dinner, the kids wanted to ride home with Mike. Is it wrong that I was elated?

500th post

Really? I've written 500 posts? I hardly feel like that's possible, but yet, here we are. As a celebratory gesture, I've decided to make my blog public. Up until now, I haven't allowed the search engines to crawl my site, but since I've tailored the content of this blog away from personal details about me and my family and more toward my ideas for frugal living, parenting and all things homemaking, well, I'm going to give the public thing a try.

Yesterday I had 193 individual visitors...by far my highest day yet! Lately, I'm around 100, but I linked the french toast casserole recipe to The Happy Housewife and she gets some good traffic on her blog, so I'm sure that was the reason behind the spike in my numbers. If it gets too crazy too quickly now that I'm "searchable," I may un-do that feature. I'm not sure why, but it still freaks me out a little bit.

On a more personal note (didn't I say I'm trying not to be as personal anymore?), I am having another a rough day. Again, I have NO idea why, but I'm overtired, cranky and every little thing is getting on my nerves.

It could have started yesterday when Kaylin was really whiny all day. And clumsy, causing more whining and crying. And PICKY about every little thing. It wasn't until she was headed to bed that Mike suggested that maybe she's getting molars? It would explain a LOT.

The kids have continued their fighting. I know my post earlier this week was funny, but seriously...I feel like I'm losing my mind. I'm going back to "nasty Nazi witchy Mom." I think maybe I've loosened up so much that the kids don't know what to expect from me anymore. There's nothing worse for kids than an inconsistent parent. So from now on, I'm sticking to my guns and going back to some of the hard-fast rules that have applied in the past. I'm cracking down on just a few things for now and will see if my tension level reduces as a result...

- When the kids fight over a toy, it's being taken away, period. I don't care who had it first.

- If Kaylin screams (this always sends me over the edge)...everyone gets in trouble. I'm no longer concerned with whose fault it is. Ryan knows her hot buttons and can avoid them if he chooses to. It will give him good practice for being a husband someday!

- When I say, "No" to something, that's the end of the discussion. No more attempts to negotiate a different answer out of me! Ironically, I don't change my mind after I've given my answer, but they continue to ask again and again. NO MORE!

Over the last few days/weeks, I couldn't figure out why I was doubting my parenting and questioning every little decision I made. Why was I being so insecure? Then it hit me: I have been feeling really, REALLY bad about my body. No seriously, people. This 10 (okay, 15) pounds that I've been joking around about as being my "unemployed look" is getting old. Mike has a job. The holidays are over. How am I continuing to make excuses for eating this way? Even as I sit here, there are rolls in places I'm not used to having rolls. I feel like I'm in somebody else's body and I'm SICK of it.

I'm reminded of this new, fluffier version of myself every morning when I get dressed. Because, you see, I refuse to buy bigger, comfier clothes. I refuse to get comfortable at this size. This is temporary, now I just need to decide to DO something about it. And I have, but it's a slow process.

I've lost 3 pounds in the last 2 weeks, which doesn't feel like anything. Especially since I am conscious of this desperate desire to lose weight every time I make a food choice in the kitchen. And believe me...I have the appetite to prove it. I've completely stretched my stomach to be used to bigger portions and much more food than my body needs. I'm hungry all the time, it's awful. I'm chewing a lot of gum and snacking on a lot of apples to cleanse my pallet after meals and tide me over in the afternoons. I hate losing weight...HATE it.

Anyway, I told you all of that to vent, but also to keep myself accountable. I'm ready to shed these pounds. They are unwanted and unwelcome and arrived WAY too quickly!

On to another irritation: our computer has been having tantrums for weeks and finally...FINALLY...we have a solution! We were going to get new memory until I was informed that our computer will only hold 768 MB and nowadays, you need 1GB at the LEAST, preferably 2GB of memory to run the programs we use. That meant upgrading our 2001 computer, which I didn't think Mike would go for. But our I.T. genius friend, Erik, found a great deal on eBay. This guy is selling a bunch of refurbished Dell computers for $290, no shipping or tax, and it's perfect for the limited purposes in which we use our computer. (PS - if you're interested, the link to the auction is here. The Buy It Now price was $290 and we offered $200 - which I thought was low-balling the poor guy - but he totally accepted the offer!!!) I'm so excited to get our new computer and put this OLD thing in the craft room for Ryan to play his little online Disney games on.

I have to jot down that Kaylin finally got her first piece of gum this week. She asks (relentlessly) every single day when Ryan asks for gum. Last week, I almost let her try a piece, but we were in the car and if she choked and I couldn't pull over, she'd probably die and I am not in the mood for that. But on Tuesday, Ryan asked for gum at home and when Kaylin asked, I agreed. She chewed it without swallowing and has had a piece each day since. She feels so grown up and gets so excited that she does a lap of skipping around the house after I give her the gum. It's quite cute.

Tonight is a Daddy/Daughter Dinner Dance at our church. While Mike and Kaylin are on their date, Ryan and I are going to have some fun of our own. If I can find the 50% off pottery painting coupon that I know I have around here somewhere, we'll go do that. Otherwise, I heard that Madagascar 2 is at the $1 theatres. I'm looking forward to some bonding with my boy. It was so sweet...I asked what he wanted to do for our special date and he said, "I want to go to a Mommy/Handsome Little Boy dance." Aw, buddy...they don't have those! I'm sure I will cherish those words someday soon when he refuses to hug me as I drop him off at school.

How I get it ALL done

Last week, I sat down and put together a cleaning schedule. I want to tackle #2 on my list of 101 Goals...soon. It popped into my head second out of 101 other goals for a good reason: cleaning is my enemy. (not a great attitude when hoping to tackle the problem, is it?) I love having a clean house, I just hate being the one to clean it.

While coming up with the daily cleaning to-do list, I realized that when Mike returns to work tomorrow, I'll need to come up with a whole new daily routine for myself and the kids. Completely different from anything I've known, considering the fact that since the day Kaylin was born, Mike's worked 5 minutes from home. I no longer need to plan around coming home to meet Daddy for lunch or rushing home by 4:30 every day to start dinner. There may even be days that he doesn't come home in time for dinner becuase he'll go to the gym on the way home from work. The down-side is that he won't be around as much anymore, but the up-side is that I'll have a little more time to get my own stuff done. (always trying to see the positive!) We'll go from eating 21 meals a week together *literally* to around 8-10 if you count weekends.

SO...since I'm often asked questions like, "How do you get so much done?" or most recently "Do you ever sleep?" I thought I'd share my new routine. I should add that I've come to realize that (unless I'm in front of the computer) I don't sit down much. There's always something to do. Dishes, picking up toys, putting away coats and shoes, sweeping crumbs from the last meal...it's never-ending. And now that the kids are old enough to enjoy playing together, I can sneak in chores throughout the day and spend naptime checking emails, blogging, scrapbooking or truly having downtime.

I love routines and don't mind at all if my days are too similar. I'm boring that way. (items that are bolded below are things I'm working on for my 101 Goals list) I am also a natural procrastinator, so I keep with the philosophy of getting things done ASAP. Otherwise, they sit on my to-do list for days and weeks. In fact, Simple Mom just wrote about Doing the Worst Thing First to get it out of the way so the rest of your day you can be free to enjoy yourself, guilt-free. It's a great philosophy and since I'm going to start getting up BEFORE the kids, I'll have extra time to do the things that I currently put off all day. Like Donna Otto says, "It's not what you DO that weighs you down, it's what you DON'T do." So true!

I'm also getting back on track with praying and reading my Bible in the mornings. I'm positive this will be easier if I do it before the kids get up. I'm going to intentionally pray for God's direction throughout the day, his guidance and wisdom in how to raise my kids, patience and grace in dealing with my family, and the strength to handle each situation gently. That's my new goal...I want to have a household that's calm and gentle. (it's currently a little loud to be considered either of those things!) Here goes:

Mondays

6:00am - Get up, read the Bible, read The Love Dare, check emails

7:00am - Kids up, dressed and fed

8:30am - Weekly babysitting swap with Julie

* The weeks that her kids are at MY house, I'll clean the kitchen, which is perfect to do (I can easily stop and start this project) while the kids play in the backyard or the downstairs playroom.

* The off weeks when my kids are at HER house, I'll run errands or catch up on leftover cleaning from the weekend. (probably bathrooms because I always procrastinate those)

10:30am - Pick up kids/Julie's kids get picked up...go to the gym

12:00pm - Lunch

1-3pm - Nap time (free time for me - blog, email, make phone calls, scrapbook, catch up on t.v., shower, stare at the wall, whatever I feel like doing)

3:00pm - Kid time...help Ryan with his reading and writing while Kaylin colors, then all do a craft or activity together

4:00pm - Kids play or watch a movie while I make dinner and pick up the house before Mike gets home

5:30pm - Dinner

6:30pm - Get kids ready for bed

7:00pm - Bible study comes over

Tuesdays

6:00am - Get up, read the Bible, check emails

7:00am - Kids up, dressed and fed

8:00am - Clean glass throughout the house

8:50am - Leave to bring Ryan to school

9:00am - Go to the gym

10:30am - Run errands (CVS for sale items, Costco, Trader Joe's, etc.)

11:30am - Pick Ryan up from school

12:00pm - Lunch

1-3pm - Nap time (free time for me)

3:00pm - Kid time...help Ryan with his reading and writing while Kaylin colors, then go to the park, ride bikes out front or something else outside.
4:00pm - Kids play or watch a movie while I make dinner and pick up the house
5:30pm - Dinner

6:00pm - Family time
7:00pm - Bath time

7:30pm - Kids go to bed

8:00pm - Laundry

Wednesdays

6:00am - Get up, read the Bible, check emails
7:00am - Kids up, dressed and fed

8:00am - Leave for the chiropracter

9:00am - Go to the grocery store

10:00am - Grandma Barb comes over to babysit

10am-4pm - Work for mom, return calls, respond to invitations and emails, clip coupons and write out the grocery sales for the week, meal plan, organize paperwork in office

4:30pm - Go to weights class at the gym

6:00pm - Dinner

6:30pm - Family time

7:30pm - Kids go to bed

Thursdays

6:00am - Get up, read the Bible, check emails
7:00am - Kids up, dressed and fed
8:30am - Leave to bring Ryan to school

9-11:30am - Volunteer in Ryan's class

12:00pm - Lunch

1-3pm - Nap time (free time for me)

3:00pm - Kid time...help Ryan with his reading and writing while Kaylin colors, then do crafts or play outside

4:30pm - Make dinner

5:30pm - Eat dinner

6:00pm - Family time

7:00pm - Bath time...clean the kids' bathroom while they play in the tub

7:30pm - Kids go to bed

Fridays

6:00am - Get up, read the Bible, check emails

7:00am - Kids up, dressed and fed

8:30am - Go to Yoga class at the gym

9:30am - Errands

11:00am - Dust, bake or do a craft with the kids

12:00pm - Lunch

1-3pm - Nap time (free time for me)

3:00pm - Kids watch t.v. while I clean the downstairs bathroom

4:00pm - Play outside, free time

5:00pm - Make dinner
6:30pm - Family time
7:30pm - Kids go to bed

Saturdays
9:45pm - Kickboxing class
11:00am - Vacuum, mop and do master bathroom
12:00pm - Lunch
1-3pm - Naptime
4:00pm - Leave for church
7:00pm - Bathtime
7:30pm - Kids to bed

Sundays
NO SCHEDULE - day off

So there you have it. I'm going to do my best to stick to the cleaning portion of this schedule if it kills me. I've come up with a very managable system for doing my dishes and laundry. (I run the dishwasher most nights before bed and unload it after breakfast and laundry is done on Tuesday and Friday nights) I would love to feel the same way about the rest of the household chores! I really hope my new schedule works for me. Does anyone have any other tips for helping me get a handle on my house cleaning???