Thursdays.

This was my project last night. I got rid of two full trashcans full of stuff, and organized everything else. We are moving this from a playroom to an art room this Christmas, and hoping to move a few toys or lego type things up to the kids bedrooms.

My friday night dates when Nate is at school :)

Nate and I have not seen one another in a while. Nate took the kids to school last Friday morning, I came home Monday night at 9, he left Tuesday morning at 5:30, he got home last night (thurdsay) at 9, he left this morning at 7. He will be home tomorrow night (Saturday) around 5........which means we miss one another terribly.

This brings up the concept of schedules. My sister (with a newborn) asks me about schedules frequently: WHEN DO THEY HAVE THEM? I remember having one baby. I still viscerally remember his schedule. I remember having two babies, and manipulating their nap schedules with much luck......and I know that I am going to forget this having three kids this year (at 4.5, 3.5 and 17 months) schedule very vaguely. So, for posterities sake, here it is.

Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays: Bigs have preschool. Leave at 8:50. Drop off both by 9:15. Either go to gym or run errands or meet friends for sanity time. Pick up bigs at 11:40. Race home for lunch. Feed three (if Jake stayed awake). Put three to bed. Indulge in 2-3 hours of free time to nap, cook dinner, run errands or run (if Nate is home) climb in the tub, or argue on the internet,, depending on my/our needs.

Alternative: Jake falls asleep en route to pick up bigs.....Jake naps in car, I feed bigs while he naps in car in garage, and he wakes around 2:30. These are the hard days as I don't get much of a break and Jake is a pain in the neck come dinnertime.

Tuesdays: Go to gym. Kids have (free) t-ball, kids creative center, and game room. Have to pack Luke's lunch prior to leaving at 9. Leave gym at 11:15, to drop Luke off for lunch bunch/enrichment (his afternoon preschool). Wake up (grumpy) Jake and Jules at 2:40, pick up Luke, pick up CSA, go to playground, go home and cook dinner.

Thursday: Thursdays are the awesome day, as no one has school. That translates to going to the gym, the kids having kickball, creative center, and then taking everyone straight home (we live 1/2 mile from the gym) so they can all sleep for a good three hours of nap. This is my awesome day.

Saturdays depend ~ if Nate is at school we roll into the gym or see friends or do some community activity then head home for a lunch of leftover pizza, naps, and a countdown to seeing Daddy. If Nate is home, we do yard stuff, family stuff, or are out of town.

Sundays also depend ~ Nate is always home ~ so we usually go out to breakfast as a family, I head to the gym with the kids while Nate studies, and then Nate and I get to watch the first game together like the old days while the kids nap (THIS IS GREAT!) ......then Nate studies and we eat big. Sometimes Nate and I play golf....though that is getting more rare as winter is upon us.

Mornings? Most days Luke arrives in our room first, usually around 6:45. He climbs right in our bed (my side is near the door) and I love him to pieces. Many days I wake up before him and go downstairs for computer time, coffee, and general awakening. Jules usually gets up around 7:15. We read books, or they play, or they help me start breakfast (generally whole oats with raisins and bananas and flax seed come fall....yogurt and peanut butter toast and fruit are our alternates). They start eating around 8, when I go and wake up Jake. I nurse him while I play some more on the computer and talk to the kids. Put Jake in his seat to eat and go get dressed and lay out the clothes for the bigs while Jake devours his oatmeal and yogurt and fruit. Kids and I are dressed, so I go downstairs and get Jake dressed. We leave.

Afternoons: Depends on Nate's deal. If he is out of town we either have friends over, go to a friends house, cook, or go to the gym. We (seasonally) play outside, but now with everyone waking up around four our options are limited. This is the season when we tend to cook a lot, if Nate is home. The kids love to cook. We make muffins, or bread, or cookies, or prep dinner. Hence, my expanding waistline.

We eat as a family for all of our meals, Nate here or not. I love sitting around the table with these 3 little people :).

Post dinner I/we clean up while the kids go wild (they are very annoying during this time, for serious.. I'm tired and impatient) . Every other day we give them a shower (you would not believe how cute Jake is walking around the shower like a big guy), on the shower days, I let the kids watch a show ~ put Jake to bed ~ then do something like a puzzle or a game before letting them watch one more show. The general on demand line up that the bigs are into these days is one Berenstein Bears, and one Scooby Doo episode. If we shower, I put Jake right to bed (this baby sleeps from 6:45 till 8 am...........without a wimper) and the bigs get to watch two shows or part of a movie from 7 until 8 when they go to bed. We brush, read (we are into chapter books, these days).........we are reading the Magic Treehouse series and are on book 6.

This is life, at the moment. Schedule holds us all together without a ton of difficulty! The bigs dress themselves. They handle their bathroom needs independently. I do Jules hair. I cook for them. I nurse Jake. THEY NAP. My life is really pretty easy...........but don't tell anyone.