September Schedules.

The BIG EVENT of the summer for us has been the great anticipation of another truly monstrous thunderstorm.

We've had several this season and we kicked off the first with an impromptu play date in the water.  

It was the most fun I've ( I mean the kids?) ever had.

SO... we've made it a habit that when a storm rolls in we drop everything and play!  

This was our last warm storm day... and Silas' first participating in the fun.  

One thing I really wanted to do differently this year was have a daily schedule for the kids to follow.  More than just specified meal/nap/bedtimes... I wanted them to have plans for their day that incorporated more than what you see below- which is what unscheduled, mom-feels-extra-pregnant days become:

I think free play is super important so I scheduled times during the day for me to get a few household chores done and for them to wreak havoc on the luxurious orange beast along with Woody, Buzz, and the 72 piece set of army men (*sigh).

The general timeline is based on 1 hour increments.  We have a wake up/breakfast time, AM chores, and then head outside for an hour for outdoor time.  If it's a nice day I always extend this... I like fresh air first thing in the morning.  There's nothing like it.  

Silas takes a morning nap after this, while Elijah & I do "seatwork"... which is truthfully me forcing him to sit down at the table with a good attitude and work on something that he might not necessarily feel like working on... Little Buddy has difficulty with transitioning quickly from one task to the next so  in my head, this is my way of prepping him for full days of kindergarten next year.  The first 15 minutes are spent on handwriting- one of his greater challenges- and the last 15-20 are spent on a craft or painting-either seasonally based, or based on a book or story we've recently read.

Below is a photo of us working on his VERY FIRST HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT which was weirdly thrilling for me :)

Si gets up after about an hour, we have a small snack and then go downstairs for "FREE PLAY!"... which is less exciting for Mom, in that it means "LAUNDRY!"  Truthfully it's nice to have an hour sort of to myself:)  It's not quite as productive as it once was, now that Number 2 needs a little bit more adult supervision with the walking and the frequent staircase acrobatics.

After this we have lunch, Eli heads to school, Silas lays down for his long nap, and I 

a. Do the responsible thing and work ahead on housework.

b. Do the responsible thing and finish one or two lingering home improvement projects.

C. Nap.

It's been "C" for me, lately.  Making babies is exhausting!

Once Eli gets home and Si wakes up (about 3 hours later) we have another round of outdoor time, followed by PM chores, dinnertime, and then either a "family outing" (a short hike, a trip to the mall, ice cream cones, etc) or we do a nighttime round of "Free Play"-otherwise known as WRESTLEMANIA!!! for any of you out there who also have multiple male children :)  I am currently out of commission for this event, but Dad really doesn't  need me on this one so I definitely check out:) I think the boys are rooting for a baby brother they can include in this action... I know in my heart that if we end up with our first girl, she'll absolutely insist on joining in anyways.  It'll be a win-win for them!

Bath/Story/Bedtime follows all of this.

It's not quite as regimented as it all sounds typed out-Thursdays are library days, Saturday are pretty much devoted to family activities, and Sundays we take it easy. And sometimes you just have to run errands.  But since having some sort of plan to follow each day, we've all been a lot happier- and we seem to get a lot more accomplished.

How awesome is fall weather?  It's my all time favorite season. Packing in every ounce of nature we can before the the snow comes!  Happy Sunday!