toddler schedule mania

Goooooood morning everyone!!!!

Imagine me saying that with the most obnoxious morning-person voice ever. 

Did you know I'm a morning person? Obnoxiously so. 

Night person? Not so much. I went to bed at a time last night that started with 8. 

Last week when I couldn't figure out what to blog about, my sweet friend Jill prompted me to write about our current schedule with the kiddos. Bahahhahahahhahaa. I couldn't even help but laugh because just like we're currently living in the house of rest, we're been living in the schedule of rest too. We've been staying home 4/5 days and basically my only goal has been to have a tidy home at the end of the day. Other than that, it's been a free-for-all. So - I felt spurred on to fix that. 

There have been other seasons where I've meticulously planned out our day (even if it's spent entirely at home) and to some degree I've found that a plan is helpful with so many little ones ankle munching around. I've also found it's RIDICULOUSLY important to give yourself grace if you scrap the schedule at 9:20am. However, we've been living in a whoooooole lot of grace, if you know what I mean - so it's back to a schedule for us. 

So I made a pretty detailed plan for Monday & Tuesday - the two days I know we're staying at home all day, and I'll check back with with you and let you know how they go. If you're a mama of many, I hope it's encouraging and if if you're not - I hope it provides some comic relief to your day. 

(monday) 

5am: computer time for mom: emails, blogs, etc. (our computer also doubles as our tv right now so while I'd rather do something else at 5am, it's important that I get typing sort of things out of the way first. But: if I owe you an email, now you know why)
5:30: NC exercises

6am: quiet time/Bible reading

7:30am: Jessi get dressed

{E & G may wake up anytime from 6-7:30, I ask them to be either quietly watching tv or reading books in our living room}

8am: start prepping breakfast. NC off to work. 

8:30: TV off. Jessi, E & G eat breakfast. Work on Truthcards. 

9am: books/coloring quiet play while I do laundry & straighten up

9:30: song time! {learning songs together or dancing to Beyonce. It happens.}

10am: wake Benja up if he isn't already. Room time for Elias and Glory separately. 

{They do 15 minutes of separate room time, to get some time apart and practice playing on their own.}

10:30: play outside with our "motorcycles"

11am: quick rest on couch for kiddos, watch 1 show or read books while I prep lunch

11:30: lunch for kiddos, clean-up, first vacuum of the day, clean up toys

12:30: baths, dry our hair, lotion, & get dressed

{if you're keeping tabs, I plan on letting them play outside in their pj's and coats because I'm the one doing the massive amount of laundry in this home}

1pm: naps. I eat lunch, return emails, finish bible reading, rest, laundry. 

{Elias naps about 2/5 days and Glory naps about 4/5 days. Some days it's just an hour of them resting and watching a movie if I know naps are not an option. If Elias is up, he helps me do whatever I'm doing or just hangs out pretty quietly.}

3pm: snack. 

3:30: books, coloring, quiet play. 

4pm: clay craft time for all kiddos while I tidy house and prep dinner. 

4:45: free play and/or mom reading & playing with bebes. 

5:30: Daddy comes in. I catch my breath because he's so handsome. Quick updates on day and I'm out the door to go running & run an errand. I'll be back around 7:30 to see the big kids before bed and eat with NC. 

(tuesday) 

5am: up, Jessi to gym

6:15: home from gym, quiet time

7:30: get dressed

8am: breakfast prep

8:30: breakfast for E & G/work on our Truthcards.

9am: quiet books & reading/coloring

9:30am: set up a restaurant in our house for playtime!

10:15am: work on tying shoes, making beds, plan for E's birthday

{i don't want to talk about it. i don't want to talk about it. i don't want to talk about the fact that my baby is turning four. yikes. yikes. yikes.}

11am: roomtime, separately

11:30: one show or books during lunch prep

12pm: lunch

12:30: cleanup, cleanup all toys

1pm: naps. Jessi shower/prep dinner. 

3pm: snack and one show to recoup
3:30: play outside & gather pinecones for craft
4pm: pinecone craft while mommy cleans up
4:45: free play & tidy
5:30: wish Daddy was home, but he's working late. So prob 1 show while I fix dinner
6pm: Dinner, Bible reading, jammies, teeth brushing. 
7pm: begin bedtime mania 


..................................................
In all seriousness, I'm super thankful for these days to stay at home with my kiddos. It used to seem so daunting and as my giant-man-child, Elias, approaches four, it really feels like it's slipping by too quickly. These are the last days I'll have all three of them, home with me, all day and we all still like each other, so I feel like it's going ok. 
In other news - I'm excited about the things coming up on the blog this week!
 Here's a sneak peek of what's coming! (Lord knows I love a plan....) 
- How to/confessional/encouragement piece for slow runners of America 
- Tales from the Thrift, my latest Goodwill successes that are blowing my mind!
- Etsy update, showing you some goodies as I try to work on getting an Etsy shop up
- thoughts on "talents", a la Luke 19


But while we're still here, what's your schedule like? 
What do you love about it and what do you hate about it and 
when in the world do you find time to do your dishes?
(my answer: when the kids eat lunch)