New Schedule

As I said earlier, I've reached the point where I'm completely overwhelmed and ready for some order in my life.  After talking with friends who seem to have it all together, and reading blogs of Christian homeschooling mothers, it seems like the people who have happy, productive, intentional lives are the ones who have daily schedules.  I'm kind of torn on this.  I like flexibility.  I like going wherever I want, whenever I want.  But something isn't working for me.  I am wondering if this is it.  Maybe I NEED more order to my life.  Maybe all this freedom and flexibility is actually causing me more stress and less real freedom (because if I have a time and place to do stuff, I'll have more free, fun time available instead of always feeling overwhelmed)?  I don't know, but I'm going to find out!  My friend and I sat down today and put together a schedule of how I'd like my day to run.  It's going to be hard because I'm not a very disciplined person.  I am still willing to try, though.  I figure, if this doesn't work, it's ok.  What I'm doing now isn't working anyway, so what's the harm in trying ;-)  So, here it is!  My new daily schedule!

7- wake up!
7:30- head downstairs and make breakfast.  After we eat, the kids will clear the table and then have quiet play while I finish cleaning up.
9- morning chores.  The boys have chores but we don't enforce them.  I will start.  I will also come up with daily chores for me.
10- school starts!  I will have a very specific schedule for school this year, too.  That's to come in another post.....
12- kids get an educational show while I get lunch ready.  Then we eat, clean up, and head upstairs where we rest from 1-2, or later if needed (like by L)
2-4- catch up on morning chores or school work.  Once that's done, it's time for free play.
4- afternoon chores (in other words, get ready for Daddy to come home...)
4:30- dinner prep.  The boys can pick another tv show or play on the electronics.  I hate that they will have all this screen time, but at this point in life, I'm going to just accept it and not beat myself up for it.  I have three children, my oldest isn't even 5.  I will show myself grace.  Lots of grace.  And someday, when life (hopefully) gets a little easier with the kids, they will have less tv time.
5:30- DINNER.. Yum.  Everyone helps clean the kitchen after.
6:30- time to head upstairs and start the bedtime routine.  Brush teeth, diapers, books, devos, kisses, water, good night! 
7:30- lights out!
After the kids are in bed, I would like to do a 15 minute clean up with my hubby, then prepare for the next day (review what's for breakfast, dinner, any outings, whatever) and then finally, kick my feet up and relax. 

Tomorrow, I want to spend some time figuring out what chores need to be done, by whom, and write it all down.  That way, when we start this schedule, the kids and I will know exactly what to expect.  I also want to be more specific in my meal plan.  I've done well planning dinners, but I think I need to start planning all meals and snacks out.  That took extra work up front, but it definitely made my week run smoothly.  So, there you have it!

The Past Three Days

Forget goals, we are back to just surviving.  But here's why:

T woke up "dizzy" and had an upset stomach, so off we went to our second home, the doctor's office.  Turns out he has strep throat.  Again.  Have I mentioned our recent history with strep?  6 weeks ago, T had a terrible case of it.  A week after that, I came down with it and was absolutely and completely miserable.  So sick!  A week after that, my sister came to visit and guess what... got strep.  That's when I decided to take L in to see if he was the carrier, even though he had NO symptoms whatsoever.  He tested positive.  Yay!  We know why it's going around our family and we can finally get rid of it.  Right?  WRONG!  A week later, we were visiting Stacy and had to make a trip to urgent care for...you guessed it, strep.  Thankfully I wasn't as sick this time as last, but sick none the less.  A week after that, I had to take Princess in for a tick bite and she was put on antibiotics.  So we are up to five weeks in a row of someone being up on antibiotics.  But I was happy because we went a whole week without someone coming down with strep!  We finally beat it once and for all!  Then comes this week, and this appointment, and strep again.  Exhausting.  At this point, I am SICK AND TIRED of strep going from person to person.  So after T's test came back positive, I asked them to test C.  She's negative.  I scheduled an appointment for L even though again, he was acting perfectly normal.  Positive.  Two down in one day.  I also scheduled appointments for J and me.  I had mentioned having everyone tested last time I had strep (two weeks ago), but this time, J decided to give in and go this time.  I had my appointment first.  Negative!  Yeah!  J is the ONLY one who hasn't been on antibiotics.  He has felt fine, no symptoms, nothing.  His test came back...POSITIVE!  The man has been getting us sick for the past SIX WEEKS!  He's lucky we love him so much ;-)  I afraid to "jinx" it, but hopefully, prayerfully, this is the end of strep throat for our poor, poor family!  C is still on the antibiotics for that tick bite, so I'm currently the only one not on them!  I'm a little worried they pasted it onto me and it just hasn't had time to settle before my test yesterday.  But I'm praying THIS IS IT!  So, that's why I haven't been setting goals or blogging.  I've spent my days at doctor's offices and pharmacies.  Today's goals are:

1. give kids medicine
2. don't get sick
3. enjoy my family
4. don't get sick
5. make dinner

and a bonus goal again- don't get sick!!!!

July 23

I did well on yesterday's goals.

1. swim lessons went well.
2. laundry-check!
3. Hubby was pleased with the amount of dishes I did (I HATE dishes!!!!  Hubby has always done them, but with his crazy work load lately, he's asked me to step up and do a few.  Ick)
4. Made ham and potatoes for dinner.  I was planning to make something else, but accidentally forgot to take the meat out of the freezer.
5. I packed most of the bag last night for swimming today.  So my list wasn't completely done, but I'm happy :)
I also did my bonus goal.  Well, half of it.  I stuff a lot of diapers.  Again, not all, but most.

Today's goals:

1. Be on time for swim lessons, and then stay late to do extra swimming.
2. Wash diapers AND one load of laundry.
3. Make dinner.
4. Pack bag for tomorrow.
5. Dishes :(

I'll be honest, swimming is done, dinner is done, the diapers are drying and the regular laundry is in the wash.  I added them anyway!  I've also done a few dishes.  I know I need to do more before J gets home (in the next 15 minutes...), but it's a start.  I'm really tired again today.  Thankfully, Princess slept 8 hours last night.  Meaning.... this Mommy slept 8 hours!!!  I'm praying she has another amazing night!

Today's Top 5

I feel like I've been living in survival mode for the past several months.  I have a friend who is now pregnant with baby #5 and said told me once that it takes a good 6 months to adjust to a new baby.  Everyone in the family has to figure out their new roles and routines and it just takes a while.  I think she's right.  Princess is almost 5 months old, so we have about another month to go.  I have to admit, I'm tired of just surviving.  I want some order to my life again, some type of control (I realize I cannot control life, but I would like to be able to go to sleep when I'm ready to go to sleep instead of when C allows me, or to sit down and eat an entire meal instead of two bites before someone starts screaming. or at the very least, to pee when I have to pee!).  In an attempt to try to get a little, just a teeny tiny bit, of control back into my life, I'm going to write out my top 5 goals for the day.  Some won't seem like much.  Don't judge.  I'm tired and not wanting to stress myself out even more!  So, here goes!

1. Swim lessons for both boys.  Be on time!  (DONE!  Boys did great!  I'm a proud mommy)
2. Cook dinner.
3. Try to have most of the dishes in the dish washer by the time J gets home.
4. One load of laundry.
5. Pack swim stuff for tomorrow.

And Bonus points for me if I stuff diapers ;-D

But for now, all three kids just fell asleep.  This .NEVER. happens.  Forget the list, I'm taking a nap!

Menu Plan- July 21

I'm getting back to menu plans, but only doing dinners for now.  Eventually, I'd like to plan out all of our food.  But for now, just dinners :)

1. Carnitas. Mmm.  I have a friend who had a baby yesterday (YAY!!!) so I'm hoping to bring her some.  I'll cook these whatever day she tells me she wants a meal.
2. Meatloaf
3. Chicken Fried Rice
4. Tatertot Casserole
5. Ham and Potatoes

We usually go out to eat once as a family and then eat out with my parents on Sundays, which is a late lunch due to church.  We end up getting a light snack instead of a meal Sunday evenings.

The boys start swimming lessons tomorrow.  They are very excited.  T has done a great job swimming so far this year and I'm sure he's going to do amazingly well with his lessons.  L has been timid, but has already come a LONG way with being comfortable in the water.  Since he's only 2 and timid, his lessons might be interesting.  But he will love them :)  (Swim pictures are from our visit to my sister's house)

Princess hasn't been sleeping.  I am one tired momma.  Being tired makes me cranky.  Poor kids.  But I keep reminding myself that this phase is temporary.  Hopefully the up-all-night phase will be very, very temporary!  For everyone's sake.....

Where has the time gone?

I realized the other day that it's been forever since I last blogged.  About two and a half years ago, I felt overwhelmed with house work, mothering, and life in general.  Well, baby girl is now the same age L was, and guess what!  I'm overwhelmed with, well, the exact same thing!  My house feels out.of.control!  We have way too much stuff and every time I start to go through it, I feel like we need to keep all of it. I feel guilty getting rid of things that were given to my kids, or things they picked out and bought (like Awana store stuff, or cheap stuff they spent "their" money one.  It's mostly pure junk).  If it's something big, like their basketball hoop, I feel like we spent too much money to just get rid of it!  We haven't gotten our money's worth from it.  But, they don't play with it so we probably never will.  And papers.  Those are the worst.  Stuff. Everywhere.  No where to put it!  Plus, we've decided that we want to pay off our car.  Besides our mortgage, it's our only debt.  BUT, God has convicted us that we need to pay that off.  We shouldn't be in debt to anyone, and while it's unrealistic to try to pay off our house right now, we need to put more effort toward paying off the minivan.  That thought is overwhelming, too.  Especially because I have a hard time passing up a shopping trip!  Those two issues kind of go together for me.  I have all of these grand ideas (thanks, pinterest) for how to organize my life, but those things cost money.  That's why it's overwhelming.  I feel trapped in a cluttered home, a cluttered life, with no way to escape.  God has also been working on my contentedness.  I cannot tell you how many times I have complained about one thing or another over the past couple of months.  The big one is that I feel like we have outgrown our house.  Like I said, we have too much stuff and nowhere to put it all.  I also feel like we NEED a yard.  A big one, with lots of room for two little boys to run and play.  And a driveway to ride bikes, scooters, and play with sidewalk chalk.  And we "need" a garage to store their bikes and scooters.  See, I have a long list of things we "need" and I have allowed myself to dwell on that way too much.  Thankfully, I have an amazing husband who knows when to (gently) call me out on these things and remind me that we have more than many people and we need to be thankful for what we do have instead of focusing on what we don't.  Sure, a yard would be amazing.  But we have parks nearby, a pool that we're members of, and a lake with beaches to swim and play in.  My boys have bikes and fun things, I just need to be creative about where to store them.  They won't feel like they are missing out on anything by not riding them in our driveway, because they're not.  They can ride their bikes other places.  Anyway, enough with my rambling.  I'm hoping that by getting back to this blog, I might become more disciplined and force myself to get my act together.  It worked two and a half years ago, so it should work again, right?  ;-)  But since it's been so long since my last post, I think I'll end this one with a recent picture of my sweet family:

Let's get back to meal plans!

Princess C will be a month old tomorrow.  Tomorrow!!!  A month!  Wow, how did that happen???  Anyway, now that she's been here for a month, it's time for us to start cooking for ourselves again.  We are eating our last freezer meal tonight and meals from friends have stopped (but I have been beyond blessed with almost two full weeks of meals from people!).  I really don't want my family eating out a ton, and even if I did, we are very limited with our food allergies...especially now that the Princess is having reflux and we have decided to see if cutting dairy from my diet (which will take it out of my breast milk).  So, it's time to start planning meals.

1. Meatloaf tonight.  Our last freezer meal :)
2. Ground Beef Shepherd's Pie  I have not tried this recipe, but we already have all of the ingredients so I'm going to make it.  Hope it's good!
3. Pot Roast in the crock pot, because I love my crock pot.
4. Hamburgers on the grill.
5. Either chicken tacos or chicken taquitos.  I'll probably decide which one at the last minute.
6. DH's bean, ground beef, and (dairy free) cheese meal.  It's not my favorite, but he loves it.  Plus he will be the one to make it!  Whoop whoop!

I'll end this post with a picture of my beautiful daughter.  I have a DAUGHTER!!!!   Yay!