"Maybe if we do this mom will start using a schedule"

"Maybe if we had a schedule we could do things like make bread more often?"

"Maybe she could put it in an awesome binder like ours? Nah...I bet she will just blog about it instead. That would be easier."

It is time to try and institute a schedule into our days.  I am sure we will stray from it here and there, but I think it will help our days have more purpose and organization.  I also think my house will thank me for it.  We have been improving in certain areas, but things still seem a bit chaotic at times (okay…a lot chaotic at times).  This should help a bit.

In case you don’t know us personally, I am a stay at home mama of 3 little ones.  We are slowly entering our homeschooling years.  The twins are 3 (almost 4) and our babe is 18 months.

The schedule only has a couple actual times on it.  It is more of an “order of operations” rather than a “schedule” I suppose.  I prefer to have it a bit more free-form and then make sure the main things like meals and naps occur at close to the same time everyday.

Basic schedule goal for M-F (exceptions based on the focus of the day and activities/visitors)

Breakfast for tots and I.

Read Proverbs to kids and work on a memory verse.

Clean up breakfast.

Go get little one when she wakes. Start a load while upstairs.

Nurse/feed little one.

Start school if she is happily eating in highchair and go as long as we can.

School (alphabet, writing, counting/sorting, art project, educational busy bags, flash cards etc.)

Clear her breakfast.

Get dressed with clothes I brought down after kids bed time the night before. Do this right after twins eat if little one is still sleeping.

Kids play in play area. I shower and switch laundry.

Small treat if they stayed in play area and played nicely.

Start preparing lunch at 11:55.

Eat lunch together.

1-1:30 Potty, pray, put Little Man down, Little Lady, and Sweet Baby.

Make our bed if there has not been a chance before.

Clean up any remaining lunch/kitchen mess.

Do devotions.

Check email etc.

Attempt nap if lack of sleep.

Do paper work stuff/work on project.

Cuddle with kids individually as they wake.

Give snack and let them watch shows for a bit.

Check laundry/cleaning.

4:00 Read books together

Kids play while I prepare for Hubs to come home and work on dinner if he is not cooking.

5:40ish Dinner

Cleanup

Daddy play with kids (while I sometimes work out)

Take any dirty clothes or things that need to go upstairs.

Baths if needed/get ready for bed.

Family worship time-Read Crossroads to Character, sing, read Bible. (Consider moving to right after dinner and try to find our “Truth and Grace” books).

Kids in bed by 8:00.

Bring down clothes for kids for the nest day.

Straighten up kitchen and catch up with Hubs.

Insert into day when appropriate.

Character quality flashcards. The kids LOVE these.

Children helping with chores-right now we are trying to teach joyful helpfulness and skills to complete chores.  I am hesitant to put them into the schedule.  I want to have the kids get excited about helping me throughout the day and teach them how to help (rather than assigning chores and having a specific time to do them).  As they get a bit older we will add this to the schedule.  Right now they know how to fold some clothes, vacuum with the light wt. vac on hard surfaces, scrub with a towel, pick up while focusing on one thing at a time (sometimes), lining up shoes by the door, gather dirty clothes and take to laundry room, and a few other things I forgot.

(More as I think of them)

Daily focus tasks

Monday-Coupon organization, look at ads, make lists.

Tuesday-Kids and I upstairs to do laundry and put anything clean away.

Wednesday-Bathrooms and garbage.

Thursday-Extra School or sometimes go see Great Grandma and Great Papa.

Friday-Errands (or flip flop with wed)

Saturday-Big projects, errands, and FUN!

Sunday-Church and planning for the week.

Do you use a schedule in your home?

You make reservations so you don’t have to waste precious time waiting for a table.

You request “al fresco” so you don’t have to worry as much about noise or crumbs.

You walk a few blocks to get some gelato and let the tots ogle the selections a bit to build the anticipation.

You make them pose with you on a bench to try and get the perfect mama/child shot on the perfect shade of green bench…and then give up.

You ask for extra cups to split the yumminess and you dive in.

You find that the local book store is still open and the pull is too strong to resist.  You try to explain to the twins why you are supposed to talk softly in a book store.  Cultural norms are confusing to 3 year olds.

You find them both separately assuming the same posture in different parts of the store and realize that yes, they really are twins.  And also growing up.

You attempt to get a family shot. Fail. And call it a night.

Admit that it was more fun with the kids than it would have been without.

Call it the best night ever.

At Trader Joe’s we shopped like we still didn’t have a local store.  You would think we were preparing for Y2K like pretzels and counterfeit “Pirates Booty” were going to save our life.  “Divide and conqueror” turned into divide and “double up”.  Pretty sure we won’t need to buy snacks for 2 months.  My kids were “those kids” and I blame those darn little carts.  Last time Hubs took the kids he let them use them.  This time mean mommy said we had too much shopping to do.   I did not want to spend 3 hours using my nice voice to try and protect other shoppers ankles.  We went with the push the double and single  BOB’s and drag a cart approach.  What we ended up with was 2 toddlers who wanted NOTHING to do with the stroller and know how to push each and every button of their twin counterpart.  But, lucky for us they offered our kids taffy and suckers (I think we were the suckers).  Only 3 minutes later daddy was crawling around the van looking for which crevasse the taffy fell into and revoking the sucker for being stuck to inappropriate surfaces.  Next time I think we might pass on the “Mojo” basket.

The next stop was Fred Meyer.  Needless to say I went in while the rest of the family stayed in the car.  I was happy with my trip. I came out to pleasant kids and a patient daddy and Buzz Lightyear sticking out from our mini van’s sunroof.  I love my life.

Here is a tiny snapshot of my FM loot (Hubs has the good camera and phone today).

Came home from with…

2 Crayola colored pencils 99 cents

3 Crayola 24 ct. crayons 39 cents

2 packs of Avery 3 ct (with bonus) glue sticks. On sale for $1.49 and had a B1G1 coupon hanging from price tag.

Johnson’s Natural body wash. Had coupon for $1.50 off. (Having a hard time finding a good price on a good natural baby wash. This will do for now.)

Cottonelle wipes (great for toddlers!). Coupon for free product, but the shelf price was more than coupon would allow for. Anybody ran into this before? I think this shows that Fred Meyer’s regular prices are a bit high. I just asked if I could pay the difference.

3 big organic peaches on sale for $1.48 (decent price)

Whoppers (yes I said whoppers) $1.49ish or $1.25 with in ad coupon

Kettle chips. $1.50 after $1 off coupon at coupons.com

Pantene conditioner. Coupon for free product

Total $13. 24!

I also noticed that they had their clearance toys an additional 50% off.  I was at the South Salem store.  I did not find anything amazing but they did have quite a bit.  Might want to check it out!

Happy Tuesday!

Turn on some music that perks up the grumpy person.  If you are grumpy turn on something you love.  If the kids are grumpy turn on something they can’t resist or ignore.

Pray.

Do something for someone else!  Talk about who you could do something for and then decide together what you could do.

Do something messy!

Take a bath.  You could even let them use some things in the bath that they usually don’t get to (maybe things from your kitchen).

Go for a walk around the block.

If you are overwhelmed by all there is to do start with 2-3 easy things that will get you moving.  Or, set a timer and clean for 5 minutes in the area that it will show the most.

Call someone on the phone…unless that always results in meltdowns and fighting over who gets to talk and push buttons…then don’t do that.

Get out stickers.

Open more blinds.

Light candles.

Make a fort and read a book in it.

Plan something fun for the next day so you have something to look forward to.

Give the grump a big love till their needs are met and finish with a tickle to make them smile.

If all else fails sprinkle a bag of marshmallows on the ground and run for a “potty break”.

Hope your house doesn’t need any of these suggestions today!

Blessings!

P.S. I am writing this post for myself

How many of these things did we do today? NINE

Okay, here is my goal.  I am going to try and do something “fun,” mildly creative, or educational with the kids every day.  We spend lots of time playing, but I want to try to do something out of routine with the twins (recently turned 3) Monday through Saturday.  We started around Thursday March 31st.

Here are a couple of the things we have done so far.

-Play Doh (and I did not even hide that extruder toy that creates a big mess and mixes all the colors)

-Went on a “nature walk” at Minto Brown Park.  We even saw a bunny.  But we did not see any “red peckers…um wood-pokers” (woodpeckers) as Little Man calls them.

-Played with the magnetic board and alphabet magnets.

-Forgot to do something fun and pretended something normal was “fun.”

-Went to the opening day of the Saturday Market in the rain.

-Played outside with a little friend.

-Let Sweet Baby (her blog name changes often) roam the play room which is not easy to do with all the tiny pieces of chaos that float about the room (talking about the toys not the twins).

-Cut out little pieces of cardboard and played “recycling” with their recycling truck.

-Had a tea party with Great Grandma during her Monday morning visit.

…more less-interesting things that I already forgot.

If you want to join in on the fun please do.  Post some fun activities you are enjoying with your kids on your blog, or leave a comment.  If you are feeling extra ambitious try to do something fun every M-F or M-Sat.  This is not meant to be tons of work! Just a fun challenge to get you to think outside your mommy box.

Because, Ya know…tea parties with Great Grandma are always more fun than…

…fighting over a stool with your sister.

Happy Monday!

I can’t believe it has taken me this long to get back to my blog. Well, Okay…I really can.  You would too if you knew what it has been like around here.  A very wonderful sort of crazy!  A lot of updating needs to happen.  Baby girl needs a proper introductory post, but I did not want that to keep me from just hopping back on here.  Currently typing during baby girls first forced nap.  I fed her a snack, walked her up the stairs and put her in the swing, and walked away.  This only has the possibility of working because she was already tired.  This is the first part of operation ” Put Baby on a Schedule.” Because dude, (reference for my fb friends) it’s time!  Nothing scary here, just hoping for at least two naps a day from her (which would be a HUGE improvement), less “snacks” and better “meals,” and some contented play time here and there.

Update- SHE HAS BEEN SLEEPING FOR 2 HOURS! I may have happened to try to put her on a schedule on one of her occasional sleepy days, but I will take it!

Here is an approximate schedule/order of operations I will head towards when possible.  I will adapt it as I see what is working best for her and us.

Dry cereal and cup of milk while watching a show for twinners (if up earlier than I want to start official breakfast.)

Breakfast for mama

Play a little

8:00-Make and start real breakfast and put twins in chairs.

Feed baby while kids eat

Get kids more food, continue with feeding

8:45 Get twinners diapers changed and dressed and put in play area to play.

Change and dress baby

Go into play area with all 3 to read and play

9:15- Give baby “snack”

9:30-Put baby down for morning nap upstairs

Put a load of laundry in and lay one out

Play with the twinners, work near them, or do a craft or project with them, give out vitamins, go outside, etc.

Feed baby when she gets up

Change twins diapers

Prepare lunch

11:50 or 12-Feed them lunch

Check diapers

12:50 or 1 Nap

Feed and try to get baby to take another nap based on when she got up from morning nap

Try and rest (rare)

3:00 (at least 1 kid almost always up by this time)

Diapers 3 X

Snack for tots

4:00 Activity or play area time

Prepare for daddy to come home

Dinner (feed baby)

Play, go for family walk, run errand, etc.

Check on laundry status

Have kids help pick up

745 ish-Feed baby after getting her ready for bed while daddy helps get twinners  ready for bed

devotions and then kids down

9:00 Usually down time for us

10:00 Babies last feeding

10:30 (or a bit later) BED

Enter-More purposeful play and structure

In my silly head I think of this as “homeschooling”. That’s a joke because the kids are a young two and time time we spend on these things could hardly be labeled as “school.”  This new time of chaos has left me searching for new options to occupy my kids time and our brains.  They are quite capable of learning simple things and I don’t want to waste our time just trying to get through every day.

Here are some of the things we are doing at 2 years 3mo:

-Sometimes staying in our chairs after breakfast to work on something rather than going straight to free play.

-Getting ideas off a really cool blog called Tot School. (Likely more on this later)

-Doing flash cards. Some people don’t like flashcards, but my kids seem to love them and we stop when they get bored. It is very interesting to see what types they are interested in. Little Lady loves the clothes and accessory types (jeans, hat, belt, watch) and Little Man loves the animals and vehicles best. Go figure.

-Working on colors. We frequently ask them what color something is, look at color flashcards sometimes, help them associate colors with objects they recognize (“It is green like Rex.”), ask for things by name and color (“Can you bring me the pink bowl?). Colors seem to be one of the tougher things for toddlers to learn. This is why we have focused on them a little more than other concepts or objects. It is interesting that the colors they are having the easiest time with are the colors that have less shade variation like white, brown, black, red, etc. Green, blue and other colors like them seem to be harder.

-Talking about the days of the week and what we commonly do on those days.

-Coloring

-Playing with Play-Dough

-Folding paper to look like things like butterflies etc.

-Working on having fun with music and learning about different types of instruments. Doing puzzles. Looking at different pictures of instruments and doing the motions that you would do when playing that instrument. Talking about the different sounds and trying to identify what they are. Listing to the Jazz station on our “Music on Demand” channel and naming the instruments they show pictures of during the music.

-Talking about the sizes of things and using words like “tiny, small, medium, big, large” etc.

-Talking about some basic shapes. We are working on these slowly and using the same sorts of techniques as we use with colors.  We name things like crackers by their shape (circle crackers-whole grain Trader Joe’s crackers and square crackers-Wheat Thins) etc.

-Reading Bible stories together before bed and letting them repeat the words they are interested in and point things out in pictures.

-Looking out the windows and naming objects, animals, and colors we see.

-Put up a book rack at their level to encourage them to read their books and organize them on their own.

In case you are interested these are the flashcards we are using. Links are embedded in the images.

The first set we got was the Baby Einstein Numbers and Shapes Discovery Cards. I got them at Tj Maxx for a great price, but I have to say they are just okay.

The second set we got was Trend Enterpirse’s “Picture Words”. I chose these because they covered a variety of topics in one pack. Topics include; animals, clothing, transportation, common objects, shapes, safety signs, and colors. I figured this would be a better value than purchasing a bunch of separate sets. I got mine at Learning Palace. I signed up for their email list and they sent me a coupon (I think it was 20% off one item?). Worth a shot if you are needing something there.

What are your kids enjoying lately? Do you have any suggestions for fun ways to learn, play, and add structure to the day?

So here begins my attempt to intermix personal thoughts with the other stuff. Don’t get too excited. It’s really nothing juicy or earth shattering.

I will start with my thoughts on my 17th week of pregnancy. Wait a second, you didn’t know I was pregnant? My mistake. That might be my fault since I have not included anything of the personal nature (except the last time my mailbox freebies picture included a Kotex sample).
So YES, I am pregnant and most definitely thrilled.

The stats:
17 weeks pregnant
Due June 17th(ish)
“Only” one baby this time. We checked.

Back to the thoughts…

1) I first worried when I was not gaining weight. Then I gained weight. Then I was frustrated that I gained weight. Then I had a small bowl of cereal for lunch. Then I got a headache. Bad idea.

When I was pregnant with the twins I was fairly happy with every pound because they were practically eating me alive. I worked hard to find things to eat (I mean my husband), made smoothies to get enough of the good stuff in, drank Boosts for extra protein and calories and only gained about 25 pounds during my time incubating the babies until they were born 11 days before my due date. This time I don’t think I will be needing the Boosts, my nausea has largely passed, and I am now taking my cell phone out of my pocket for weigh-ins at the doctor.

2) I am missing some of the “perks” of my twin pregnancy and not overly thrilled about being “co-managed” with a nurse practitioner. Apparently this means I only get to see my doctor every other visit for most of my pregnancy. Unless they call you to notify you that your doctor won’t be in the office for your January appointment and that you are being rescheduled to see some other doctor. I am not a pushy person, but c’mon. Four months between seeing my doctor? That is nuts. So I rescheduled to see her a week later (at 5 weeks). The lady at the desk told me this was “not medically advisable,” but I figured it was not medically advisable to not see my doctor in four months and made my own executive decision (after calling my husband to confirm my thoughts and get up the nerve to call back…and praying that I got a different lady on the phone).

3) A little annoyed that my Old Navy maternity clothes from my last pregnancy looked so worn out when I took them out of the tote.

4) I am wondering why I decided to get the test that will change nothing except worry me if it comes back abnormal.

5) Making a mental note to never go to the lab at 10:50 ever again. 30 people in front of me and 2 behind me. For some reason I would feel better if a whole bunch of people kept coming in after me. Also thinking the male Phlebotomist named Shannon did not use the little alcohol wipe on my arm before drawing my blood. Hope there was not any scary germs in that tiny area of my arm.

6) Loving that the little flutters are turning into more noticeable kicks. My hubby might have even felt one of them last night.

7) Can’t believe how many CRAZY dreams and nightmares I have been having.

8)  Counting down the days till we find out what our baby is next week (also a tiny nervous to get such a clear peek at our little one…praying everything looks good).

9) Most grateful for a new baby to welcome into our crazy house, happy to be pregnant again, thankful it did not take years to get pregnant, thinking of others who have lost or are still waiting, trying to embrace the whole process and happy to be a mom.